The Beat Goes On: In just 3 months Americans bought enough guns to outfit the entire Chinese and Indian army's [sic] combined. You also bought 1,529,635,000 rounds of ammunition in just the month of December 2008. Yeah that is right, that is Billion with a "B". This is an evaluation of overall firearms and ammunition purchases based on low end numbers per Federal NIC instacheck data base. The numbers presented are only PART of the overall numbers of arms and ammunition that have been sold. The actual numbers are much higher... http://www.ammoland.com/2009/04/22/usa-buys-enough-guns-in-3-months-to-outfit-the-entire-chinese-and-indian-army/ --- Florida Deputies Killed at Shooting Range: Two north Florida sheriff's deputies were fatally shot at a shooting range by a suspect who was later killed by deputies after he fled across the county line, authorities said. It happened around 1 p.m. Saturday when the two Okaloosa County deputies went to Shoal River Sporting Clays and Shooting Center in response to a domestic violence call, sheriff's officials said. Deputies Burt Lopez and Deputy Warren "Skip" York were pronounced dead after being airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, about 45 miles away, the sheriff's office said. Sheriff's officials identified their killer as Joshua Cartwright, 28, of Fort Walton Beach... (A sporting clays range is not the typical venue for this sort of violence. Remember the theme from Candid Camera, "When you least expect it, you're elected...") http://connect.lawofficer.com/forum/topics/two-florida-deputies-fatally --- From Clayton Cramer: The Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog just crossed a rather significant milestone: the 4000th entry. Since I started this project in 2003, Dave Burnett and myself (and Pete Drum, before he went on to other activities) have been posting every news story that we could find in which civilians in the U.S. used a gun in self-defense. By "civilian" we mean persons who are not active or retired police officers (who have a special status in the law when it comes to carrying and using weapons)... There were 212 incidents involving concealed carry permit holders. Not every outcome was happy. There were 30 incidents in which the defender was killed (although often saving the life of another, or preventing the attacker from escaping). There were 191 incidents in which the defender was shot (although not necessarily killed). For all the talk by gun control advocates that "a criminal will just take away your gun and use against you" there were only six incidents in which the defender's gun was taken away and used against the defender. By comparison, there were 183 incidents in which the criminal's gun was taken away and used against the criminal! More startling is that many of these involved victims that were unarmed at the start of the crime... (In my experience assembling these reports for over a decade, I can recall three incidents in which a private citizen (police officers are civilians too, unless they are military police) were disarmed by assailants.) http://www.claytoncramer.com/weblog/2009_04_19_archive.html#6156324322914958524 --- Man Shot Trying to Stop Wife's Suicide: A 63-year-old man remained hospitalized Friday with a gunshot wound to his chest after a gun went off he was trying to wrestle away from his wife, who also was shot in the hand during the argument late Thursday, according to police. Neither of their injuries are considered life-threatening, according to Sgt. Edward Wessing, spokesman for Mesa police. Police responded to the shooting about 7 p.m. at a residence in the 3600 block of North Sonoran Heights, near Power Road and Loop 202, Wessing said. The woman was threatening to commit suicide, Wessing said... (Even with training in disarming, it is a risky proposition. Disarming attempts are not normally advised unless you feel that you will be shot if you fail to attempt the disarm.) http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/138323 --- Czech Tea Party?: Two artists have offered Czechs angered by politics the chance to take revenge on their lawmakers by shooting them literally in the face, by turning their photos into air gun targets. Tomas Cap and Michal Kraus have displayed the portraits of 200 lower-house deputies in plastic boxes on the wall of a Prague alternative gallery, in front of an air gun and a boxful of ammunition. "We have seen lawmakers breach the promises they gave to voters so many times. The visitors of the gallery have a unique opportunity to show these politicians what they think," the artists said in a statement. Two weeks after opening, the exhibition was a sad sight as most of the faces had been heavily damaged by airgun slugs, with some destroyed beyond recognition... http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090424/od_afp/czechpoliticsentertainmentartoffbeat_20090424162731 --- From John Farnam: 21 Apr 09 ILEETA, 2009 Vicki and I are attending this year's ILEETA Conference, again in Wheeling, IL. The vendor display area is huge, and we spent this day going through all the new stuff. Some highlights: Kahr's P380 pistol, in utility, shoot-ability, and function, is superior to the LCP and the Kel-Tec. Thinner, and with more functional grip than either, the Kahr also has useable sights, and a nice trigger. I am making a point a acquiring a copy. My friend and colleague, Mas Ayoob, has had his copy for several months and loves it! Glock's new "RTF" (Rough-Textured Frame) finish is now becoming standard. It is similar to "cat's tongue" and makes for a secure grip. A company called Vir-Tra is now marketing a video-simulator with an IMAX format. When you "step into it," you are surrounded by five screens. Projection is from the back, so, no matter where you step, you don't have to worry about getting in front of a projector. I found myself moving my head with great enthusiasm in order to see what was behind me! The goal with all manufacturers of video simulators is "suspension of disbelief." That is, they are doing their best to make the training experience sharply realistic, in order to draw out of the student delineative responses to threatening circumstances. Much progress has been made since these simulators first made their appearance. More tomorrow! /John (I have argued for several years that I see no reason to downgrade to .380 ACP [9x17mm] when Kahr offers 9x19mm pistols smaller than many of the .380 offerings on the market. I like to maintain the tactical option of shooting to damage pelvic bone, which the .380 does not offer reliably. I can appreciate that a minority of people may need the discreetness of the smaller pistol so I will inject the usual caveat - it's best to wait until a firearm has been in production for at least a year before making the investment. While I have never had a bobble from any of the Kahrs that I have purchased, it seems to have taken Kahr at least that long to get the bugs out of the PM9/PM40 series.) 23 Apr 09 More on ILEETA Conference in Wheeling, IL. Our conference this year is wonderful, as always. Lots to report. All PD/SO Training Officers need to be here! This is where we all get updated, and cross-pollinate! Today, we had the Panel Discussion, moderated by Mas Ayoob. Our friend and colleague, Ron Borsch from OH, made us all aware of current research on active shooters/murderers: 1) The active murderer is acting alone 98% of the time. 2) He is suicidal 90% of the time, usually on-site. 3) He almost never takes hostages, nor has any interest in "negotiating." 4) He is preoccupied with a high body-count. Indeed, that is almost always his one and only goal. Active-murderers race to murder everybody they reach in an effort to avoid contact with police. In fact, most such events are over within four minutes! 5) He bursts upon the scene with multiple weapons and an ability to reload his weapons several times. Longarms are involved 80% of the time. He predictably cuts a bloody swath through the innocent and unarmed! 6) At least 50% of the time, where such bloody rampages are stopped, the person doing the stopping is a single citizen (non-police). Most are unarmed! Ron's conclusions are difficult to challenge: 1) By far, the least effective police response to "active-murderer" calls is for responding units to arrive, indecisively dither about on the perimeter, finally entering the critical area long after it is all a moot point! 2) Teachers, administrators, and others most likely to confront active-murderers first need to be armed, trained, and courageously willing to defend themselves and other innocents with precision gunfire. 3) Patrol officers first arriving at the scene must be willing to enter the critical area immediately, not waiting for backup nor SWAT Teams, and straightaway seek out and confront active-murderer(s). 4) All patrol-cars need to be equipped with military rifles, and competent, aggressive rifle acumen needs to be part of every patrolman's skill-set. 5) We all need to know and understand that there is no "tactically sound" way to execute the foregoing. There is no "safe way" to enter a building and precipitously initiate contact with murderous sociopaths. There will be multiple, bloody casualties, no matter what we police do, or don't do! 6) We're going to see a lot of this, within CONUS, sooner than most of us think. We need to be ready! More later! /John (When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.) 24 Apr 09 More from the ILEETA Conference in IL: I attended both the Glock and SIG/250 Armorer's Courses yesterday. One interesting fact I learned from my old friend, Dennis Tueller, who taught the Glock Armorer's Course: Glock users sometimes complain about Glock locking-block pins (1) coming loose and falling out, because the frame-holes in which they sit have become oval, (2) breaking and then falling out, and (3) becoming bent into a "U" shape (prior to breaking). I have see all of the above on Glock pistols brought to our Courses by students, both in and out of law enforcement. The source of these symptoms, in nearly every case, is a worn-out recoil spring! Depending upon how much the pistol is shot, all autoloading-pistol recoil springs, no matter what brand, should be changed-out regularly. Police departments should routinely change them all out once a year. Worn recoil springs lead directly to (1) excessive rearward slide velocity and (2) insufficient forward slide velocity. The result is bent pins and oval pin-holes, as noted above, and also failures to feed. My friend and renowned pistol-smith, Jim Garthwaite, once advised my to treat pistol recoil-springs "like an oil-change." As always, he was right! Dennis Tueller confirmed that touchstone to me yesterday! More later! /John 24 Apr 09 More from ILEETA: New Products: Diamondback Tactical is producing a IIIA vest that is thinner and lighter than many IIA vests. I was amazed! Many officers now think IIA is inherently inadequate. Safe Direction, in the latest variation of the theme, is now producing the "High-Security Pistol Case." It combines a lockable, kevlar pistol case an integral eye-ring that permits one to lock his pistol(s) in the case, then lock the case itself to something in his car, making it difficult for someone to steal. When he returns to his car, he can use the case itself as a safe-direction in which to point his pistol for the purpose of loading and/or performing a chamber-check. The High-Security Case can be locked in place via a cable lock or a set of handcuffs. Another innovative idea from Safe Direction! Among various video simulators, is a company called TI Training. Their video simulator projects in 3D! The shooter wears special glasses, and the effect is startling indeed! In one scenario, a person was shot, and his blood spattered everywhere, including on me! I took the glasses off expecting to find blood spatter on my shirt! Talk about "suspension of disbelief!" FAAC demonstrated how their pursuit-driving simulator can be combined with a video simulator to make a complete adventure. First, the student climbs into to driving simulator and becomes involved in a high-speed chase. When the offending vehicle finally stops, the officer climbs out of the driving simulator and walks over to the video simulator to confront the angry, drunken driver as he falls out of his vehicle and stumbles about, verbalizing threats and ultimately threatening the officer with a gun. None of it requires a range nor any special facility. Excellent training for patrol officers! More to come! John (I am not in favor of promiscuously emptying and recharging the chamber on autoloading firearms due to concerns about bullets being driven deeper into the cartridge case [setback] and loosening of the crimp. Thus I would view the safe-direction component of the pistol case described as a separate function unless one needs to clear the chamber in order to safely use the locking eye ring. In the latter case, I would question the need to lock the pistol into the case if the case itself locks and one is also securing the case with handcuffs or a cable lock.) 24 Apr 09 More from ILEETA: Rick Miller presented us with a fascinating lecture on the subject of officer deaths, all the more relevant in light of recent events! He pointed out that there are close to four-hundred potentially injurious assaults on police in America every day, and that Saturday night is the most dangerous time for patrol officers. Officers most at risk have ten years on the job, just long enough to be well experienced but sometimes overconfident, prone to short-cuts, and increasingly complacent. We need to be careful not to become victims of our own good luck! The "Deadly Mix" then, is (1) the confident, but naive and unfocused, officer, (2) the pernicious offender with well-camouflaged, deadly intent, and (3) circumstances which being the two together, where the offender has much more to lose than does the officer. To address this deadly mix, Rick suggests (1) Awareness, (2) Image, and (3) Mind-set. There is no substitute for alertness. You are either alert, or you're not! The best way to win a war is by reputation! A sharp, imposing personal image stops many attacks before they ever start. Officers need to constantly distinguish the significant from the insignificant! During our Panel Discussion, Vicki pointed out that, during our range-training exercises, she has never heard an officer say that he was concerned with being maimed or murdered on the job. But we're heard many express fearful concern about getting fired, disciplined, or passed-over for the next promotion! Again, these are examples of priority misplacement. Your next promotion will be of scant consolation when it is awarded posthumously! /John (If Saturday nights are particularly deadly for police officers, are they not equally risky for the private citizen? Be careful not to let down your guard or to ignore that little voice just because you have been waiting all week or all year to participate in some special recreational event, possibly with your family.) 24 Apr 09 We recently completed another Urban Rifle Course, this time in WA. Comments on equipment and attitude from students and instructors: *22LR/conversion training is highly beneficial and worth the investment in gear. Prior to the Class, I was withholding judgment. Financial considerations may force us all to look into it! *Forward/vertical grips are inferior to standard forends. Too bulky, and too prone to interfere with reloading. *Anything screwed or glued to rifles and shotguns will come loose and fall off! Additions need to be staked, welded, anchored within a cross-cut dovetail slot, or eliminated! For example, shotgun sights need to be robust and installed by a competent gunsmith. Otherwise, they'll fly off, or fly apart, with monotonous regularity! *The Stoner System is not the hopeless, failure-prone device many claim. Maintain them. Replace worn parts as necessary, and keep them lubricated. Keep the dust-cover closed and keep a magazine always inserted in the magazine well, in order to keep airborne grit out of the receiver. Ignore the hype. They are maintenance-sensitive, but they run! *By the same token, Kalashnikovs are not the heaven-sent panacea many imagine them to be! Not as maintenance-sensitive as ARs, Kalashnikovs will still go down at some point due to insufficient maintenance. However, they are robust, terrific rifles! *DSA/FALs rock! But I pray that I never need to shoot any 308 rifle in a protracted engagement, without sufficient Advil! *XCRs rock! But, 7.62X39 magazines are in short supply. * "Bird-cage" flash-hiders should be not be called "flash-hiders." The Vortex proved, once again, to be a superior in every way. *The Aimpoint T1 (Micro) is small, handy, and out of the way. They just run and run, without drama. LaRue mounts are best, by far! *The extended, "hunting" forend on Remington 870 shotguns is a abomination! When retracted, it half-covers the loading port! They should be banned from the face of the Earth! *Shotgun ammunition carriers that mount to the stock are less than ideal! Ammunition is difficult to access, and shooting from the support-side shoulder is nearly impossible. Receiver-mounted side-saddles are better, but they add bulk, complicating speed-loading and handling. *Coaxial flashlights on longarms are best attached at the 6:00 position on the rail. The 3:00 and 9:00 rail position force you to move way outside cover in order to clear the light. Otherwise, the light is still behind cover, and, when activated, you illuminate nothing but yourself! *No one needs a brass-catcher on a serious rifle, even in training. They get in the way and do nothing but add complexity to an already stressful situation. Brass catchers are for game-guns and hobby-shooters. They interrupt training! *I saw the Redi-Mag device inadvertently drop magazines once too often. I do not want one on any serious rifle! *There are currently three AUG-makers: MSAR AXT Steyr The first two are American. MSAR made theirs originally for their proprietary mags alone; they wised up and later made them to accept Steyr magazines also. They and AXT are also making versions that accept AR magazines. *Self defeating thoughts can kill you! When you miss, or when something else does not go as planned, your ability to accept, adapt, and drive on is the key to victory. Stay in motion, use cover, and press carefully. Hits, fast and sure, stop fights quicker than anything else! /John (Disclosure statement: I enjoy a special relationship with TangoDown; Jeff Cahill graciously provided the illustrations for my book and has furnished me with several samples of TangoDown products. From what Jeff has told me over the years, the TangoDown vertical foregrips built their reputation in the special-operations community because, unlike some of their competition, they withstand serious impact, such as when the muzzle of the firearm is rammed into a close-quarters assailant. I did not fully understand the role and the optimal position of the vertical foregrip until I read Kyle Lamb's book Green Eyes & Black Rifles, which I recommend to anyone evaluating the use, training and accessorization of the autoloading carbine for combat. I was amazed at how quickly I could not only reload from a Side Saddle but how quickly I developed the technique under stress when the use of relatively low-power birdshot loads for a portion of a course converted my Remington Police 11-87 shotgun into a single-shot - a round can be thumbed out of the Side Saddle into the palm of the left hand, then rolled down to the fingers and slapped into the open ejection port. This is why I load my Side Saddle with the shell bases facing down. I heartily concur with the six o'clock mounting of lights on long guns. I never had the chance to experience the problem John describes with the Redi-Mag device, which clips two magazines together, ostensibly for faster reloading, because the added weight of the second 30-round magazine on the gun made it too unwieldy for me.) --- From Force Science Research Center: I. What is 1 more piece of life-saving equipment you should be carrying? Not that you need more stuff to hang on your duty belt, but here's an addition you might consider: a pouch you can reach with either hand that contains a one-handed tourniquet. If you or another officer are wounded and bleeding badly, it could make the difference between life and death. Although a number of hemostatic agents are being advertised to the law enforcement market to stanch bleeding while waiting for EMS, the tourniquet is gaining renewed respect for first-aid intervention. "Before you buy hemostatic agents, be sure you understand proper wound management and packing," advises an emergency room physician and instructor with Defense Training International, Inc., who uses the pseudonym "Doc Gunn" in law enforcement circles. "Direct pressure is the first line treatment. The American College of Surgeons and the Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support Guidelines no longer recommend elevation and pressure points for severe bleeding. There is no evidence that these techniques work and you may be wasting precious time. It is possible to bleed out from a femoral artery injury in as fast as 3 minutes. "If direct pressure does not work, for extremity trauma go directly to a tourniquet. For bleeding that is not amenable by a tourniquet, such as a high femoral artery injury, go to hemostatic agents. Apply the agent and pack the wound with gauze and apply constant pressure for 2-3 minutes. Wrap with compression bandage to keep pressure on the wound. The most important step is to pack the wound and fill the void." (You can click here and click on Videos to view a proper wound-packing demonstration.) Gunn's recommendation was conveyed this month [4/09] via a popular listserv conducted by Chief Jeff Chudwin of Olympia Fields (IL) PD. In an interview with Force Science News, Dr. Matthew Sztajnkrycer, a technical advisor to FSRC and chairman of the Division of Emergency Medicine Research at the Mayo Clinic, agreed that Gunn's assessment is "very appropriate and accurate." Sztajnkrycer himself reinforced the value of tourniquet use. He serves as a SWAT team medic and equips every officer on his team with a SOFTT (SOFTM Tactical Tourniquet) and wound dressing. Chudwin issues a SOFTT and 2 wound bandages to each of his patrol officers. "If you pick one additional thing for your belt that has been shown to save lives, it would be a tourniquet," Sztajnkrycer says. "And we should not think of them as just for tac teams. Patrol officers are the ones who tend to be under fire and subject to being wounded before SWAT even gets there. "Hemostatic agents, while they can save lives in rare circumstances, have very limited facility. You have to think of them as last-ditch efforts when all else has failed. Tourniquets are clearly cheaper and they've been effective for hundreds of years. When you see a commercially made medical kit advertised with a hemostatic agent but no tourniquet, think twice before buying it." Gunn recommends either SOFTT or the C-A-TŪ (Combat Application Tourniquet), noting: "Both are approved for use by the military and both can be placed one-handed--and just plain work. The C-A-T is the current issue to U.S. Special Operations soldiers." Sztajnkrycer adds that the selected tourniquet should be equally easy to apply to both upper and lower extremities, and he wants to dispel the myth that all tourniquet application carries a risk of causing limb loss. "We have a lot of data now, from Israel, Afghanistan, and Iraq, indicating that a tourniquet can be left on for 4 to 6 hours with no significant risk. There would be few situations in law enforcement where it takes longer than that to reach professional medical treatment." Finally, he poses some questions with important training connotations: "If you are shot, can you reach your tourniquet? Can you apply the tourniquet with your non-dominant hand? Can you transition from your weapon to the tourniquet and back to your weapon? "Just having a tourniquet available doesn't mean anything by itself. If you don't train with it, you won't think about it when you need it." He cites the case of Albert Johnston, a leading Confederate general during the Civil War. At the Battle of Shiloh in 1892, he was shot in the knee and bled to death. He died with his issued tourniquet forgotten in his pocket. ================ (c) 2009: Force Science Research Center, www.forcescience.org. Reprints allowed by request. For reprint clearance, please e-mail: info@forcesciencenews.com. FORCE SCIENCE is a registered trademark of The Force Science Research Center, a non-profit organization based at Minnesota State University, Mankato. ================ -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .