Well, in another shinning example of government excellence, it seems that the Census Bureau has hired an unkown number of felons to come into your houses and take census. Nothing like government-sponosored canvasing of potential targets to make me feel all warm fuzzy.

I don’t know you, but come Census day, I will invite my Census taker to sit outside my house over a nice glass of lemonade and I will then decide the amount of info about my household I am willing to share.  There is no way in hell i am letting anybody from the Census Bureau inside my home.

Shooting is a perishable skill.

Don’t ask me where I heard this, but it is one of the greatest truths out there. We can be dumb enough to spend a bunch of money in a class and then turn around and figure we don’t need to do anything else. Hell, we have a cute diploma proudly displayed in our wall which indicates we are certified in whatever shooting skill we chose to pay and we don’t need anything else. I am A Bad Hombre now.  Rubbish!

If you are one of those, I ask you to go to the range, set up a target at 7 yards, set up your rig as a normally do for every day carry and draw and shoot the one perfect shot. The one perfect shot is defined as the one that will stop a Bad Guy for good. It is the shot that will save your husband/wife/kid from imminent death, it will save YOU. And you don’t have all the time in the world to do it! Now, if you make that shot, cold bore without a fuss, great you can either be frank and admit it was the luckiest shot in the world and know that you did not account for the crapload of adrenalin that should be running through your veins during a Lethal Force confrontation plus other goodies that will affect you. You will also admit that you have been lax in your practice and shame yourself in retaking those basic drills and even look for some extra instruction. Or you can delude yourself and go back to the couch to watch your favorite TV show or playing the latest version of HALO in your video magic box… which contrary to wishful thinking, it is not gun practice.

So practicing on your own is boring as hell. True but it usually means we do not have a well defined system to practice acquired skills. There are many guides out there in the net on practice drills, but I am particular fond of CCW Handgun Drills because it gives you a wide variety of shooting exercises to select. Some are very quick and simple others more involved and with a higher round count. I would recommend to download, save and print a copy to keep in your range bag so you don’t have to figure out with a thumb doing a self-proctological examination what will you do next time you go to your local shooting house.  Pass it along to your shooting friends, I am sure they will appreciate it.

Practice is not good if we do not improve the areas of our shooting that need improving. You can be good at accuracy, but you are having troubles drawing your weapon from your regular concealment location. Or maybe it is your reloading process that needs work. Give yourself an honest examination, determine your weaknesses and then work on improving them. Some will be just simply repetition of drills you already know and might not even include firing a gun but others will escape you lever of knowledge and may require the use of an instructor. You can look for a local Certified NRA Instructor on line or ask other shooters about instructors they know. Call, fax, email the instructor and tell him about your problem. I am sure he will be able to come up with a suite of training plus exercises to fix that problem you are having.

And yes! Dare to learn more. Many great instructors and schools are out there for you to take b asic and advance defensive shooting classes. Valhala, Thunder Ranch, Gunsite, Blackawter, U.S Shooting Academy…. the list goes on and on and their instruction is first class. They are not cheap, but then again you are not taking classes on advanced funnel cake cooking but life saving skills. A trip to one of these places will be worth your money plus it would be a great vacation project.

And if attending an advanced school seems a bit far right now, try your hand at shooting sports like IDPA, IPSC, etc. Yes, I keep beating this drum, but it is more fun than just standing there and it is a great way to improve on your basic skills plus learn a few more for an immodest amount of money.

Civilian Self-Defense Code of Conduct (3)

It is my responsibility to train & learn any techniques that will allow me a chance to survive.

And nobody better than the late Colonel Jeff Cooper to illustrate this point.

“Owning a handgun doesn’t make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician.”

It would seem quite obvious but it is quite amazing to see people owning a firearm that do not have a basic understanding of its use. Also, they do not go farther than the TV’s remote control to acquire training or learn basic defensive strategies and that is dangerous ’cause most 100% of the gun play we see on TV is tactically, morally and legally wrong. It is like the old Stephen Wright joke: “Put on your seat belt. I want to try something. I saw it once in a cartoon, but I think I can do it.”

What we need to do is to learn Defensive Shooting.

Defensive shooting is not regular marksmanship shooting.  You can go to the range, get you gun out of the box, shoot two hundred rounds through a one-inch hole and impress the heck out of everybody in the nearby booths and still get killed by a one legged drunkard with a knife in the parking lot. Defensive shooting is a combination of Marksmanship, Gun Handling and Mindset which is also known as the Combat Triad. I can expand into a long explanation on each of the parts of the Combat Triad, but it will be an exercise in futility since I am not the best writer out there. Instead I will recommend you search for a nearby school or instructor and please make sure you are realistic about your level of proficiency. In doubt, start with the basics and that would be NRA’s Basic Pistol Class. After that you can start searching for a local instructor in Defensive Shooting or again try the NRA’s Personal Protection Inside the Home and Outside the Home. A good source for information might be an Internet firearms forum where you can ask other shooters where to find somebody and what kind of instructor he/she is.Also and a great help would be to take up some competitive form of action shooting like IDPA, IPSC, USPSA, ICORE, etc. Any of these sports will teach you to shoot on the move and from different positions plus will add a slight shot of adrenalin to your range time. It beats being bored to death at a static range limited to one shot per second.

You can start giving yourself an idea on Mindset by reading and perhaps the best book would be Jeff Cooper’s Principles of Personal Defense. It is a short book but filled with so much no-nonsense information that it will scare you. You may want to follow it with Massad Ayoob’s In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection to give you an idea of what you may face in a lethal force confrontation.

You have a gun to defend yourself and it is your responsibility to know how, when and the consequences that come with using it.

So I am on this new place after I and about a hundred plus other got sacked. The new place is very close to my house so I’ll be saving oodles in gas plus wear and tear on the vehicle (10 miles daily versus 50 at the old place) and I can use the saved traveling time for personal use. I am working 11 pm to 7 am in a HUGE empty place with less than stellar fellow Security Officers that fit the Hollywood profile of the Security Guard from a cheap movie. To be fair, almost everybody in all shifts look the part and it is kinda scary.

Bad news, this place has a great cash flow which is about to increase soon, it is located at the border of one of the worst Miami neighborhoods and it is a Gun Free Zone. So what else is new? During the interview I made a point in letting them know I was a firearms instructor and a competitive shooter so it wouldn’t be a surprise later. The interviewer was quick to point out that no guns were allowed on property for everybody’s safety to which I made the appropriate agreement noises and assured him I would follow the rules which I do. It was funny to see his face get tight at the announcement and then trying to be cool about it. You can always tell a Non-Gun person trying to appease you and sound professional when they are about to crap their pants at the thought of possibly having an armed redneck in front of them. The fact that I am a spic, I look like one and sound like one seems to disappear and I suddenly become whiter than Clorox and develop a heavy Southern twang after I mention guns.

Oh well. I am following Florida’s law to a tee. That is a consolation.

Arizona is debuting today a law that will allow patrons to carry a gun in a bar with the caveat that they are not allowed to drink. Of course the whiners are screaming to the top of their lung about the sure mass killings that will happen because of this ‘stupid’ law.  The fact that 41 states have some sort of law allowing legally armed patrons to attend places that serve alcohol and we haven’t seen any incidents does not seem to compute with the nay-sayers. Not too long ago Tennessee approved a similar law and we haven’t heard of any mass killings. Florida allows people to carry concealed in restaurants that serve alcohol without any restriction about drinking and in all these years, no shootouts have occurred. Even so, many owners in Arizona, following the steps of other states’ bars and eateries were quick to post a No Guns Allowed signs (A.K.A. Gun Free Zone sign, A.K.A. Victim Ready Local)

The funny thing is that after the initial hysterical period after the law is enacted, Arizona Bar owners will probably follow their counterparts in the other states by removing the Gun Free Zone signs. Why? Because they realize they were uninformed about the level of responsibility with which the average concealed weapon carrier behaves and most important, they will see a lack of money in their cash registers. We Law Abiding Citizens who carry are very ornery about places that order us to disarm and become victims: we just do not patronize them.  The smart owners will keep their places open to all and some like Joe’s BBQ in Wikieup, Az will actually give customers carrying a gun a 10% discount (hat tip to Oleg Volk.) Now that is smart marketing and keeping you place of business safe from critters looking for an easy score….like a Gun Free Zone.

Civilian Self-Defense Code of Conduct (2).

– It is my responsibility not be controlled by extreme emotions.

In our modern world, and specially in Urban areas, we are subjected to the possibility of verbal and non-verbal aggressive communication. There is always somebody with a chip on their shoulders or just having a bad day and they take it out on the first person that crosses their path which may very well will happen to be you. Somebody thinks you are driving to slow or that you cut them off and the infamous flipping bird will shoot out of their windows or a loud “Fuck You Asshole!” will be heard from the alleged aggrieved party.  Unfortunately in our modern society, we have been conditioned that we should respond in kind or risk to be branded as weakling of some sorts.  Lt. Col. Dave Grossman in his book On Killing, tells us that in the animal Kingdom (and yes, we are part of it) there are four responses when confronted by aggression: Fight, Flight, Posture and Submit. When  “attacked” we may choose respond in kind (Fight), to take off as fast as possible (Flight), to puff up our chest and make a big show we are not being intimidated (Posture), or simply cower down and surrender (Submit).

You may have noticed that I highlighted the word choose and that is for a reason. Even though we are attached to the Animal Kingdom and those four responses are automatic in most of us, we do have the ability to control them and activate them (or not) at will.  I volunteer that 99.999999999% of the aggressive interactions we have with others in an Urban Environment are nothing more than Posturing that goes no further than some foul words and gorilla-like chest beating. The issue is that we may transform a Posture into an Attack by responding in kind and then we may be forced to use Lethal Force to control the situation. Once this happens we are in a world of trouble because our Self Defense legal position has disappeared since we also incited the confrontation. A ‘Fuck You’ or a Middle Finger do not constitute an attack in which we may reasonable fear for our lives, period. We then must learn a new set of responses to these attacks.

Your best option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.

I have seen this little tidbit of whole truth all over the Internet attributed to many different sources so I won’t even try to find the author. But do take this words and make them your personal mantra. Avoid any situation that can lead to a Deadly Force encounter. If you have to go to the store for milk in the wee hours of the night and you find a couple of toughies that look like trouble, put your ego away and go to another place. Yes, you have a right to go to the store but why get in trouble for a quart of milk? If your bladder demand immediate relief and the closest option is a well known biker bar, choose soiled underwear and pants if no other options are possible. A bit of embarrassment and load of laundry is much cheaper and safer than explaining to a Jury why you went inside that bar when any reasonable person would not. Choose no to attend any battles and you will win them all.

Deterrence is defined by Webster as the inhibition of criminal behavior by fear especially of punishment. I would add that it is any attitude (body language), tactics or devices we can use to make a potential attacker decide we are not easy victims. Whatever we can do to show that any potential reward that can be obtained by attacking you may come with a higher than intended price to pay, will help to keep attacks to your person to a minimum.   If we are in a mall just staring at the store fronts and oblivious to our surroundings, you can bet that a bad guy will notice you and mark you as a potential target. If you are sitting in a park bench, body slouched and half asleep, you are broadcasting to God and Country your mind is in bed and you pose no threat to anybody who wants to relieve you of your belongings. Be alert and make sure you face & body shows it. Constantly scan your surroundings and walk with as if you have defined purpose even if you are just strolling. If you are being watched by somebody, watch back, scan the person and and look into his eyes (No need to engage in a staring competition) to let him know you know. Except for the insane, the very stupid or the drug-affected individual, criminals will back off if they know the element of surprise is gone.

De-escalating is just the necessary maneuvers and behaviors we can use to reduce an ongoing and possible dangerous situation without the use of Deadly Force.  If you accidentally bump into a jackass and he explodes in a verbal description that includes your Mom copulating with assorted animal farms, apologize and try to leave safely. This is where most of the Posturing stance will occur with the fraction of them that might actually turn nasty. And this is where we must make the biggest effort to control our outrage and avoid getting baited into a clash of Egos.  Do not return the Posturing with some of your own and raise your “shields” in case an attack is incoming. This kind of display quickly runs dry if there is only one person doing the screaming and grows exponentially if the other party responds and augments the attack.  I have personally found that remaining impassive but alert after I extended the apology goes a long way in defusing the other guy’s actions. The ‘Posturer’ finds me not responding to his words and actions while I am not displaying fear (even though I might be a mess inside) and his ego will be satisfied or maybe realizes that there is something else going on that he is not aware of and that might not be the best thing for him to remain in his course of action. Either way the spew of cusses will eventually die down and the situation disappears. Avoid getting yourself in trouble. Leave the Ego safely tucked at home.

In explaining what other may do, I wanted to emphasize what we should not do. We are not immune to emotions but we can control them to a point where we can use them in our benefit. The late Col. Jeff Copper in his booklet Principles of Personal Defense stated that when confronted by an aggressive response we should change our fear into indignation. Indignation is much easier to control because it requires an intellectual process, the “How Dare He?” and at that level we can tailor our response to the situation at hand. The emotions can also be controlled if we develop pre-planned responses to possible offensive scenarios. We prepare ourselves by asking “What If” and coming with multiple solutions and practicing them over and over just like we do our shooting. This is possibly the most important part of the whole issue because when confronted by an aggressive behavior, you will not have the time to sit an come up with a reasonable strategy that will get you out of trouble.

To summarize, don’t let the opponent’s emotion dictate your behavior and do not let your emotions get you in bigger trouble. Self Defense is also a thinking process but we must do the thinking way ahead of time because when the bell rings, you only have seconds to survive.

Civilian Self Defense Code of Conduct

It is my responsibility to respect Innocent Life. And the first Life to be respected is my own.

No matter how much the Old  Media portray us and how bad other people may think of us, we are no trigger happy crazies, spraying bullets at the slightest chance. If anything almost twenty years of Concealed Carry Permits have shown that Law Abiding Citizens are perhaps the most peaceful and less dangerous group of people anybody can ever meet. We respect Innocent Life for the simple reason we appreciate the toils and labors the average citizen must endure. We understand that they have dreams and aspirations, they have responsibilities of their own that they must fulfill, they have loved ones that he cares for and he is cared from.  We respect that because that is us too. We consider that life precious in the same level we consider our life precious and doing or not doing something that might put that life at risk is morally and ethically wrong.

A Rabbi I met during an NRA Instructor’s class put it very succinctly: The taking of a life in Self Defense is neither morally nor religiously wrong. It is understood and accepted by most religions. However Suicide is considered wrong, one of the foulest of sins that an individual can commit. The same applies at not doing anything to save a life. While it may be legally and morally correct to not intervene in certain occasions (level of death or grave bodily harm to oneself or an innocent life might be too much) doing nothing to defend yourself when able but not doing under the pretense of a false Moral Superiority (“I cannot just bring myself to kill anyone. That is so wrong!”) is the same as Suicide.

I suspect that a lot of those who wave this banner of alleged Moral Superiority are doing so because they are part of an unholy marriage of Cowardice & Convenience. Being prepared to defend oneself is a difficult task which will knowingly forces us to confront the ultimate societal fear of taking a life and the consequences of that might come after it. It is easier to spend your free time enjoying the fruits of your life than worrying about what it may happen if somebody wanted to take it away. It shakes the consciousness and peels away the veils that protect our false sense of security. It is more comfortable to lay the responsibility on somebody else (Police, security) that take it oneself. But at the end, it will be the individual who had the ability but chose not to exercise it the one responsible for the loss of an innocent life.