Video from Venezuela. Two local cops just finishing their lunch at a local diner at 00:21.

The cop on the right died after being shot twice in the face. The one on the left was shot in the head and died shortly afterward. The killers were located 4 hours later and did not survive the encounter with the local police.

The bad guys regularly kill cops down there to get their guns. You see, if they need guns, they get them one way or the other. So far this year, 59 62 cops have been murdered for their guns.

There is so much to extract from this video, it is difficult to find a starting point.

Just because you have a gun…: You are not immune or will be protected from all danger. The cops had guns, helmets and body armor, yet they were killed anyway by a determined enemy.  Latin cops also have this institutional belief that the badge gives them a force field of superiority that makes them immune to everything. And they are almost right, having a badge down there gives you mini-dictatorial powers which are greatly abused since it is rare that they will get punished. That translates into a feeling of invincibility that, like in this case turned out to be deadly for one cop. If you think yourself as invincible, somebody will come along and prove how mistaken you were.

Self Defense is not just about the gun or how well you shoot it. It is also being aware of where you are, avoid danger and knowing that crap will happen at any second. It is knowing how to react, counter attack and win by whatever means are necessary since it is your life that is being threatened.

At the end of the day, we go back to basics, those basics that Col. Jeff Cooper talked about in his book Principles of Personal Defense.  I am not gonna expound on those because I cannot explain them better than the Colonel. So, if you don’t have the book, go buy it now. If you do, get it, swipe the dust and re-read it again a couple of times.

And then, read it again.