Humbling

I consider myself to be a fair shot with a pistol. More often than not, my targets look like actual intentional groupings as opposed to random patterns. Having said that, I've done very little in the way of structured training or practice (shame on me). So, when my best friend and I escaped to the range on Sunday to sight in a recently completed AR, we took along the pistols as well.

My friend suggested we give the Dot Torture drill a whirl. I said sure. Why not? I'm familiar with the drill from seeing others post about their experiences, but I'd never taken a stab at it personally. I thought, "How hard could it be?"

Ha.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Sure, I can hit a 2 inch target at 3 yards. No problem. You can too I bet. Until you try and get this:

That's my first try at Dot Torture with a Ruger SR1911 5 inch at 3.5 yards. Color me shocked. 

We then had the bright idea to pull out the .22 pistols and give it another try.

Better but still not great. Ruger 22/45 Target model with a fiber optic front sight. 

Well, neither of us was happy with our performance. So, we decided one more try was in order.

Almost clean. 1 dropped shot.

This is going to become a regular part of my range outings from now on. You should give it a try too. 

Church Security

Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on church security. I just wanted to share with you an experience I had a few months ago.

I had to travel to Salt Lake City a couple of months ago for work, and during our down time, my co-workers and I went to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir practice. Besides the soul-soothing music, I got to see first-hand how they handled security.

I was fortunate enough to attend one of Grossman's Sheepdog Seminars in June of 2016 and I don't know if the church security has attended any of the seminars, but I did get to see some of his suggestions in action. I witnessed no less than four "rings" of security around the building.

One of the things that he said during the Seminar was that church security teams need to be out in the public - they don't need to be threatening, but they need to be interacting with the guests. The first thing I noticed when I stepped onto the grounds was that there were multiple people greeting all of the guests. Not a single guest went without someone making eye contact and greeting them warmly. (Outermost ring)

The second thing I noticed was that if anyone was carrying a backpack or bag (other than a small purse), they were approached with a smile and asked to check it. The bag check was on the outer perimeter of the building and everyone who was asked to check their bag was escorted to the bag check. (Second ring)

At the door, anyone who had a purse, had their purse searched. But it was done with a smile and a kind word. (Third ring)

Inside the concert hall, they had people stationed throughout the rows, back to the performers, watching everyone in the audience. All with a smile on their faces, but their eyes missed nothing. Each section of seats had at least one person watching over them. (Fourth, and closest, ring)

What I found exceptional was that none of these security people looked like security people - the were people of all ages, both male and female - and they were all exceedingly polite. It was very much reminiscent of Roadhouse - "be nice until it's time to not be nice". In fact, if I had not spent time studying security and if I had not attended the Sheepdog Seminar, I might not have recognized this multi-layer approach to security.

The church did an excellent job of providing security disguised as outstanding customer service.

My hope is that more churches embrace the style of security that Lt. Dave Grossman advocates. Too many times, church security folks are dressed in their tacticool clothes, all clumped together inside the building drinking coffee. Spread out a bit, walk the parking lots, engage the parishioners and their guests in conversation. Be nice, but be aware. If you can identify the threat in the parking lot, you've gone a long way in hardening your church as a target.
 

I'm Sorry (An Open Letter)

To the woman at the gun shop today,
I'm sorry.

I'm sorry I didn't interrupt when the (older, male) idiot behind the counter insisted that women needed revolvers instead of a semi-auto, because apparently we women are to stupid to learn to identify and clear malfunctions.

I'm sorry I didn't offer to help when I saw you in the lane next to me with a snub-nosed thirty-eight, and your (young, male) "gun expert" encouraging you to continue shooting a gun you were obviously not comfortable with.

I spent the entire time watching you and wanting to pull you aside, wanting to tell you to take a proper class, wanting to tell you the men who were advising you today were idiots who have no idea what they were talking about.

You see, a snub-nosed revolver is an expert's weapon, not a beginner's one, but the "experts" you had to deal with today aren't expert enough to know that.

I'm not an expert, but I dedicate a lot of time to shooting and studying shooting. I knew they were steering you wrong.

I should have broken my rule of not offering unsolicited advice, and for that I'm sorry. I've been angry at myself ever since.

Please accept my apologies,
GunDiva

Introducing the Newest GunDude

GunDiva: I want to introduce you to our newest GunDude, Robbie. We go way back to when we were co-workers at a gun shop. Robbie is a young 'un, but has decades of gun experience and has the best stories. I've been after him to write about his bear hunting adventures (which is not what today's post is about, but I'll get a bear story out of him eventually).
 
As I sit here looking at my son, I start to think about taking him to the shooting range; and how my dad got me started. The first time I remember dad taking me to the range, he sat down with me and told me all about how the gun worked and the damage it could cause if it was misused. He went over the safety rules again and again until I could say every rule back to him word for word.  After the talking part was done he showed me the gun we were going to shoot. It was a nylon 66 .22 LR. As I sat down at the bench behind the gun, I remember feeling scared that I would somehow screw something up, but my dad just sat on the other side of the bench and told me he didn't expect me to punch a one hole group. He only expected me to hit the ground, but that was ok, only as long as I followed all the rules and techniques of squeezing the trigger and the breath control.

Finally the time came to load the gun and see what I could do. Wouldn't you know, I was a natural... I hit the ground every time! The metal popper was safe for the time being. I looked over at my dad expecting to see disappointment on his face, but to my surprise I saw a look of satisfaction. He said that I was doing everything right.

Then the other boot dropped and told me I was looking through the sights wrong. He told me that I needed to line up the sights a certain way and to focus on the front sight. We loaded up the gun again, and tried one more time. I sat behind the rifle and concentrated on the front sight and squeezed the trigger, and the gun fired and I heard a TWANG! The popper spun around with the force of a well placed shot. I looked over at my dad and saw something on his face that I rarely saw... He was smiling. He then told me "Good job" and to keep going. Of course I missed a few more shots but I hit a few more too. We stayed there a few more hours with him giving me targets to hit and me trying to hit them. Then he said that it was time to go.

He saw the look of disappointment on my face and told me he would take me out again next week. Hearing that made me think I was floating on cloud 9.

After a few more days at the range, my dad said I was ready for something new for the next time we went to the range. The next trip to the range my dad brought a different gun case. When I asked what it was he told me I would find out soon enough.  It was a long trip that day, with all the anticipation of a new gun to shoot. Finally we got to the range. I was so ready to see the new gun I was going to shoot! Dad had a different idea though. We went and shot the .22 for a while. I was getting done with a good string of shots when my dad put something down next to me. I looked over and saw something I had never seen before. Seeing the confused look on my face he explained what it was.

It was a Colt AR 15. He explained everything about it, from how to load it to how to take it apart. We disassembled it and reassembled it many times. He said if I was going to shoot a bigger gun I was going to learn how to clean it and know how it worked. I think I was the only five year old that could take an AR 15 apart. Thinking back on it I think I was the only five year old that had actually seen one. Of course, not too many kids that I knew had ever gone shooting.

After all the talking was done he showed me one more time how to load the magazine and then handed it to me. I loaded only ten rounds in the mag then seated in into the receiver, pulled the loading charge handle back then let it fly home loading the gun and making it "hot". Looking at my dad somewhat nervous about this bigger gun he told me not to worry about the recoil, that it only kicked a little more than a .22. I relaxed a little at his words. Then feeling a little more confident with those words I flipped the safety off got a good sight picture and squeezed the trigger.

BANG!

I was a little startled by the much louder report, it was a so much louder than the little .22. Of course I missed the steel popper I had been aiming at. He chuckled and said that it was ok and to concentrate on the sight picture. Realizing that the "bark was worse than the bite" I settled back behind the rifle again and slowly squeezed the trigger again.

BANG!

The shot missed again, but this time was a little bit closer than the last. I finally hit the target 50 yards away on the ninth shot! My dad clapped me on the back and told me that I was starting to figure it out. Of course I missed the tenth round; but after hitting it on the previous shot I was excited to load up another mag and try it again. I found out quickly that it took a lot more time to load the mag than to shoot it. I loaded the mag so many times that my fingers started to get tired and hurt; my dad had to start loading them for me. This was so cool! Finally after about three hours and 500 rounds my dad said it was time to pack up and head home. I hadn't realized how much I had shot until I had to pick up all that brass. As I was picking up all the brass dad told me that I was hitting the target 7 out of 10 shots, and that was pretty impressive for a five year old.

Now that my son is almost four, I can't wait to start talking to him about how my dad took me out and started me out shooting. It makes me a little giddy to think that I will follow in my dad's footsteps and do the same thing he did with me with my son.

--Robbie

Gun Industry, Gun Culture, Gun Politics: A Call for Reformation

For over three decades I have studied a wide variety of topics about guns.  I did this simply because I like guns.  I like everything about them.  Over the years I have seen many changes.  Some of them good, some not so good. 

What I have noticed, especially in the past 10-15 years, is the industry as a whole is stagnating.  The industry produces the same products with little improvement or change and many new products are just crap and do not serve the customer well.  The culture is not changing fast enough to keep up with the changing demographics.  Nor is it adapting to the needs of todays shooters.  Especially those new to guns and gun culture.  Finally the politics are old and stale and highly ineffective. 

It is time for a reformation of the gun community to take us forward into the 21^st century.  I fear if we do not adapt and change for the better there will not be a gun culture within 2 generations (approx. 50 years). 

Below I will outline some of the problems I am seeing and what may be done to improve the gun community.

Gun Industry:

First I want to start with the gun industry.  I will use more of list form instead of writing a Tolstoy novel on each line item.  Nor will this be a complete list.  Just some of more obvious issues.

1.    First item is an overall drop in quality.  I’ve noticed this drop across all manufacturers.

a.    I would rather see a price increase than a drop in quality.

b.    The fit and finish is not a nice as it was 10-20 years ago. 

                                               i.     Compare a new Smith revolver to an old one.  Especially a pre-lock revolver.  Night and day difference.  Yet, they cost the same.   

2.    Manufacturers building the same designs they have been for many decades without change or improvement. 

a.    An example would be rifle stocks.  Unless you go to the aftermarket, most rifles stocks are the same design from 100 years ago.  A time when iron sights ruled the day. Not very useful with optics which sit higher up.  Time for manufacturers to improve their designs. 

b.    Another example is Revolver stocks.  These haven’t changed in decades.  Why not design something that actually fits the human hand?  Revolvers are great but the ergonomics suck.  

c.     One final example is holsters.  Most holsters out there are crap.  I wish the manufacturers would update or go out of business, but they continue due to the ignorance of the consuming public.  A good example is Lethal Lace.  This is a shit product and should go away.

d.    A couple of good examples are the Ruger Precision rifle and the Magpul Hunter stock.  Both are adjustable for length of pull and for comb height to fit the individual user.  Not perfect, but for the price point very well done.

e.    Manufacturers need to update their designs to be better and more useful to the public.

3.    Educate the public on the use of your products.  Help consumers decide what they actual need.  Don’t just sell crap because you can.  Possible trim down the number of product options. 

a.    An example would be scopes.  Most of the public probably does not really understand what they actually need in a rifle scope.  What magnification is needed?  What reticule is best suited for the task? What features are appropriate and necessary?

b.    Educate the consumer on what is actually useful and what is just unnecessary fluff. 

4.    Better educated sales staff at guns stores.

a.    The businesses selling guns need to be better educated so they can give good advice to customers. 

                                               i.     I should never hear from a salesman that a rifle has the wrong magazines.  No, not the wrong magazine, proprietary magazines.  There is a difference.  Actual event I encountered.  I know better because I have the experience.  What about a new comer to the gun community?  What will they think when a salesman tells them a rifle has the wrong magazine?

                                             ii.     I understand profit margins with guns is slim, but it may be better to hire a few knowledgeable employees than to hire nothing but shop monkeys.  Also, I should not know more than a factory sales rep. Yep, ran into a Ruger sales rep. that could do nothing more than parrot the generic information that is found on the Ruger webpage.  Dear lord, hire, or train, competent sales staff.    

These are just a few examples of things I see wrong with the gun industry. There are more but I’m not trying to write a Tolstoy novel.

The industry needs to update for the 21^st century.  Adapt to the changing demographics and help supply customers what they actually need.  Help educate the consumer on what is good and why.  Then also produce good products and update them as necessary.  The knowledge base of firearms has increased significantly over the past few decades, so use that knowledge and make better products. 

Gun Culture:

Now I want to move onto gun culture. 

1.    One thing that must change is the image of the “typical” gun owner.  Currently it stands as a middle aged white man.  This is an old stereotype who’s time has come to die. 

a.    Gun culture is for everyone (except Felons and the criminally insane)

b.    We must be open to the changing demographics and welcome newcomers.  

2.    Retailers and gun ranges need to be more open and help newcomers be more comfortable and welcomed.       

a.    Help newbies learn the ins and outs of guns and gun culture. 

b.    Stop talking down to women. They are capable.  Teach them correctly.

c.     Have a more open and friendly environment.  Your shop should feel comfortable to come inside.  This is especially important for those potential customers who may not feel comfortable around guns but want to learn.    

3.    Gun culture needs to change and be seen as a martial art.  Guns are not some magic talisman.  They don’t grant you power or authority or protect you from evil.  They are inanimate objects.  True they are deadly weapons and that puts them in the realm of martial arts.  We need to treat them as such and train as such.

4.    We need to change how we train.  We need to develop GunFu into a regular training regiment.   

a.    Most people take a basic class or are taught by their cousins, sisters, brother and they think they know how to use a gun.  Or worse, they just kinda’ “figure it out” on their own.  (even worse)

b.    Nope.  Just like any other martial art, use of a gun is a perishable skill and takes dedicated time and practice to get good and to stay proficient. 

c.     Taking one weekend class and going to the range twice a year is not good enough.  In most other martial arts, students are going weekly.  One to five times a week and it takes years to truly be proficient.  We need to develop the same mentality and training regiment with guns. 

d.    Does this mean dry fire, airsoft, more shooting ranges, shooting simulators, videos, books, all of the above?  I don’t know the answer, but we need to update for the 21^st century.  Make it easier to find good information, especially for newbies.  Lets use the power of the internet to spread more and better training. 

                                               i.     Yes, I know there are lots of internet resources.  Blog pages, YouTube videos, books, etc.  How easy is it for newbies to find good information versus bad opinion?  This is what I’m talking about.  Make the information more organized and easier to find. 

1.    This goes along with gun shops being a little more friendly and accommodating. 

5.    We need to stand together as a community and stop the petty squabbles between gun groups.  The collectors need to support the hunters who need to support the target shooters who need to support the tactical shooters and on and on.  We must stand united together as a community. 

Here are a few items I think can be improved in gun culture. 

Gun Politics:

Finally, the hot potato.  The politics of guns! 

1.    First off, we need to stand together as a gun community.  We must stop the circular firing squads we sometimes form.  We must stop eating our own. 

2.    We must have a unified platform to present to the world. 

a.    Notice no matter which anti-gun group you talk to or which media outlet is presenting the news, they always have identical talking points and identical language?  They all use “background checks”, “gun show loophole”, “gun safety”, etc. 

b.    We need the same unified platform for the pro-gun side.  Unified talking points, unified data, etc.  We must stand together.  The data and root philosophy is on our side.  We must convey the message better. 

3.    We need an emotional component to the pro-gun argument.

a.    The anti-gun groups use mostly emotional components, sprinkled with distorted facts, to great effect.  Simple logic and facts will not accomplish the task.  It is time to add to the debate.  Guns are used daily in self-defense and managed hunting.  Time to give those positives a face and a voice. 

4.    It is time to go on the offensive in the debate.  We have been defensive for far too long.  Valuable time and resources are wasted being defensive.  The anti-gunners make an accusation, and we defend.  The pro-gun story appears weak.  Time to take the fight to the anti-gunners.

a.    For example:  The anti’s claim children are killed daily due to guns.  A very emotional argument used to great effect.

                                               i.     We hit back by accusing the anti’s of being anti-child.  That they hate children.  Otherwise, why would anti-gunners block the Eddie Eagle program from being taught in every school.  A real safety program for children. 

                                             ii.     Yes, it is time to get mean.  Otherwise the anti-gunners will continue to lay down blocks in our path.  Lay down enough blocks and you have a wall.  A wall that is not easily knocked down.

1.    What are these blocks you ask?  New York Safe Act.  Magazine capacity restrictions.  Universal background checks.  Ammunition taxes (Seattle, WA.)  Little by little they lay down blocks.  In a few years they have a wall. 

5.    We need a new universal platform to be the face and spokesman for gun owners.  Unfortunately, the NRA has been marginalized by the anti-gunners.  I don’t think the NRA is truly effective anymore.  They have been demonized so much their name is tainted. 

a.    What this new platform is, I don’t know.  Is it a new version of the NRA?  Is it a federation of existing pro-gun groups?  I don’t know.  But it must be better and more effective and better represents all gun owners.  Including the new, changing demographics.

b.    Should we include the NRA?  Yes, they have many valuable resources that will be needed.  And they are still part of the gun community. No need to form a circular firing squad. 

This outlines some changes that need to be improved in the political arena.  

Conclusion:

Here are some of my ideas for improving the gun industry, culture and politics. 

I don’t have all the answers.  But I do know that we must change.  We must improve.  We must stand together, united to make it better.  To be better!  To take gun ownership into the 21^st century.  Otherwise, guns and gun ownership may be a distant memory relegated to history. 

-Mez

July 2017

Flying Solo

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a few other instructors and was surprised to find that they had never been to the range alone.

What
The
Hell?

I'm all about empowering women to learn to shoot, but shouldn't we as female instructors be setting examples outside of the classroom too? How can we in good conscious lecture women to take control of their own protection if we're too chicken to go to the range by ourselves? How is it that female instructors can be big and tough in front of a classroom, but not be comfortable taking their own happy asses to the range without an escort?

I've been going to the range by myself for years. The first match I attended was one where I knew nobody. I packed my range bag and marched myself to the range, I listened to the orientation, I asked questions, and I shot the match. I was terrible, but I did it. And I made friends along the way who have become my tribe.

It just never occurred to me that other women didn't do it. I was truly flabbergasted that it seemed to be the norm to go to the range with someone else; that *I* was the odd one out for having flown solo. If this introvert can do it, anyone can.

Ladies, we have to do more than just preach empowerment and taking control - we have to model it.

I challenge you (even if you're not an instructor) to go to the range by yourself.

You do not need an escort, male or female.

Just go.

It will be worth it, I promise.

Changing it up

I've been focusing on the Dot Torture. I see it in my sleep sometimes, I swear!

I've now cleared it right-handed at 3 yards with three of my pistols: GSG 1911-22; Glock 42 (.380); and my Para-Ordnance 1911 (.45).

I even cleared it last week left-handed at 3 yards with my GSG 1911-22. Still need to shoot it clean with my G42 and Para.

I do love the Dot Torture and it has improved my shooting by leaps and bounds, but I feel like I was eating, sleeping, and breathing Dot Torture, so when a new drill showed up on my Facebook feed I decided to give it a try. I've seen it before, but had forgotten to write it down or save it. This time I remembered. It's the Tactical Professor's "Baseline Evaluation" that I stole from Active Response Training (that he re-blogged from Tactical Professor).

This was a fun, quick drill, five sequences of ten shots. Though untimed, it does require one to focus on the fundamentals. One of my failures is that if I start from a low-ready, I tend to overshoot my target on the first round (for example, my first round ends up as a head shot instead of a body shot). This is a great drill for remembering to slow down and find that front sight. There is also one mag change per sequence, and I found that I'm fairly accurate with my first round after a mag change (thanks to dots 9 and 10 on the Dot Torture).

The instructions say to mark your target after each sequence with a pen or with masking tape. I forgot about those instructions when I shot the first couple of tehm. When I got out to 7 yards and threw my first couple of rounds out of the 10-ring, I thought I could remember which rounds were which, but by the time I got to 10 yards, I had to start marking.

I'm waiting on my IDPA targets to arrive, so I used the silhouette targets that the range had. I scored my target in two ways for each distance: the first score was total rounds in the 10-ring; my second score was total rounds in the 8-ring. I'm sure that once I get the IDPA targets my scores will change somewhat (worse, I think, because I found the 8-ring really generous).

Even with the generous 8-ring, I threw the last two rounds of my last string at 15 yds.

My scores with the Para, shooting right-handed were:

• 3 yd 10/10 in 10-ring
• 5 yd 10/10 in 10-ring
• 7 yd 6/10 in 10-ring;10/10 in 8-ring
• 10 yd 8/10 in 10-ring; 10/10 in 8-ring
• 15 yd 3/10 in 10-ring; 8/10 in 8-ring
• Total 37/50 in 10-ring; 48/50 in 8-ring.

I switched to left-handed with my GSG and remembered to mark the targets after each sequence with masking tape. It makes for an ugly target, but one that is much easier to score.

One day, I'll stop pushing to the right with this gun.

My scores with the GSG, shooting left-handed were:

• 3 yd 10/10 in 10-ring
• 5 yd 10/10 in 10-ring
• 7 yd 6/10 in 10-ring;10/10 in 8-ring
• 10 yd 3/10 in 10-ring; 10/10 in 8-ring
• 15 yd 0/10 in 10-ring; 8/10 in 8-ring
• Total 29/50 in 10-ring; 50/50 in 8-ring.

I still had time and 20 rounds left, so I brought the target in to 3 yards and shot 10 rounds left-handed, and 10 rounds right-handed. My left-handed group was much tighter, but just to the right of center, than my right-handed rounds.

I did have an experience at the range for the first time that I'm not thrilled with - there was a new(er) shooter in the lane next to me who had a hot piece of brass go down her shirt. I get it, it's hot. However, you don't get to jump around in your lane waving your gun around. She got an ugly, pissed-off instructor look from me, and a terse "watch your muzzle!". She was quite apologetic and I hope she learned a lesson about muzzle discipline. I never want to discourage a new shooter, but I also don't want anyone getting hurt.

Please, if you are teaching someone to shoot, or even just taking someone shooting, tell them in advance what to do if they get brass down their shirt. If you shoot often enough, it's going to happen and it shouldn't have tragic consequences. If the new shooter knows what to do in advance, then they will have a plan in place.