The Revolver Liberation Alliance

How did you spend your weekend?

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-06-17T09:39:44-07:00

This was consistent over a period of six years; I'd have expected the opposite, and to this day have no rational explanation for the phenomenon. ...One student came into class with essentially no handgun shooting experience, a brand-new gun, and an admission of being intimidated by the prospect of attending this class. By mid-morning on the second day was running the gun like she'd owned it for years and was making difficult shots at surprising speed. ...Don’t labor under the misconception that it was all me, though, because I couldn't have done it without the help of my colleagues Joe Lentz and Vincent Perrizo, both certified Combat Focus instructors and great guys. ...One of the guns, a brand-new Springfield XD-S in 9mm, experienced repeated jams using Federal American Eagle 147gn Truncated Cone (I think they call it "Flat Point") ammo. I'll post pics later, but the case mouths were getting pushed back in one spot, resulting in a slight accordion effect; when those rounds entered the chamber, they would jam solidly - enough that the shooter couldn't clear them, and even I couldn't clear them without going back to bench to have a solid surface against which to press the slide back and eject the round. ...At first we thought that it had to be defective ammo, but after the first occurrence the shooter was thoroughly checking every round that went into the magazines. ...This may have been exacerbated by the shooter wearing gloves, a situation which was necessitated by the rough edges of the aggressive grip texturing causing both blisters and bleeding. It wasn't just the gun's owner, either - after handling it myself I looked at my hand to see my own blood dripping on the ground. ...The reliability problems, the grip safety failures, and the handling issues all conspire to cause me to label the XD-S as "not recommended" at this point. As we collectively get more experience with the gun I might change my opinion, but right now I think I'll pass on this model. ...Multiple problems with the latest polymer pistol, while the 1911 in class -- a well-worn full-sized gun used by a fellow who thoroughly understands the platform -- ran flawlessly.

FRIDAY SURPRISE: What secret does 5 Beekman Street hold?

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-06-14T06:55:10-07:00

There have been enough people in one area long enough that there's a lot of abandoned and forgotten stuff hanging around, just waiting to be discovered. Don't get me wrong, we have abandoned and forgotten stuff out here in the Pacific Northwest, but ours isn't normally as grand, intriguing, or old. Besides, if you've seen the inside of one abandoned mine, you've seen 'em all. Well, except the one that was filled with water, of course. Back to 5 Beekman Street, in the heart of Manhattan. Seems that this old building is often called "The Palace of Beekman Street", owing to its castle-like architecture and towers. The building is complete empty, and large parts of it have been sealed off for more than 70 years. Few people know about its beautiful, stunning secret - but a location scout in NY who writes a blog called (what else?) ... got a great writeup on the blog, complete with extensive pictures, about the Palace. You won't believe what's sitting there, empty, while people on the street remain oblivious. It's slated to be turned into a hotel, and if I ever actually wanted to stay in Manhattan (and could afford it), I'd stay in that building. Head over to Scouting New York and check it out, along with some of the other finds chronicled therein.

Do you know this person? You should!

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-06-12T07:11:58-07:00

The folks at the Truth About Guns have a nice profile piece up on a friend of mine, and it's one you should read. I've known Gila for about 20 years, and I can truthfully say that she's one of the best instructors - of either gender - I've ever run across. She's patient, thorough, clear and confident. She's one of those people who command respect because of her competence, not the volume of her voice or the coarseness of her language. We could use more like her. While she may not be well known to the general shooting public, she’s incredibly well known to the movers and shakers in the business. It's fun to walk around SHOT Show with her because she constantly runs into famous people who stop her to talk, as opposed to the other way around. She's one of my "go to" people when I need specific kinds of information, and I've been pleased to shoot photographs for two of her books. (Her second book, "Personal Defense For Women", is on my short list of the best personal defense books available. Anytime you run across a woman who expresses interest in her own self defense, Gila's book is the first one you should recommend. I'd say that even if I didn't know her - it's just that good.) Please go read the article so you, too, can know one of the true professionals in the shooting industry.

"A hit with a .22 is better than a miss from a .45" - how true is that?

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-06-10T08:10:22-07:00

An interesting confluence occurred last week: I got an email from a fellow asking about the .380ACP as a defensive cartridge, and this rather myopic article on the .22 Magnum rimfire came out in American Rifleman. ...The article referenced is typical of those in the gun world: the .22WMR isn't as powerful as something bigger (we already know that) and it won't be as effective as a larger caliber (we already know that too). ...A .22WMR, in the hands of a resolute defender who has proven to him/herself that they can wield it effectively, is far preferable to the .45ACP or .357 Magnum that they're afraid of and can't handle well (and won't practice with because it's too painful.) ...Yes, I know (and I preach) that if someone can conceal a .380 then he or she can, with only minor adjustments in their wardrobe, conceal a slightly larger 9mm. ... I'd venture to say that just about everyone reading this blog is willing to make, and has made, changes in their lifestyle in order to be able to carry an efficient firearm. ...There are a lot of people out there who simply want to make it possible to survive a deadly attack, recognize the rather rare nature of such incidents, and have concluded that a very small gun which they'll actually carry is better than a larger gun - even though it's not a whole lot larger - that will be left at home. ...The usual rejoinder is that there are now 9mm guns the size of .380ACP pistols, and they would "obviously" be the better choice and still fit into their wardrobe and activities. ... At least one of them I tested is simply uncontrollable in anything resembling a realistic string of defensive fire, and that's with a shooter (me) who's used to heavy recoiling handguns. ..."Friends don't let friends shoot mouseguns" is a phrase I've heard bandied about for many years, and while it makes for a macho sound bite it simply doesn't fit everyone's reality. ... Will I teach them about their choice, and why they might want to put in the time and effort to be able to choose something more effective? ...I'd rather focus on what I can do to make them more efficient in the context of defending their lives than bitch and moan because they picked a caliber which I disdain. Along the way I hope that I can convince them to at least consider more effective and efficient options, but I certainly wouldn't deprive them of the vital information and skill building they can use right now.

Want to take a class with me? Now's your chance!

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-06-06T20:13:39-07:00

Sorry I've been scarce the last couple of days, but it wasn't my fault. I decided to upgrade this site's software, and while it was no problem from a user standpoint - you saw what you should have seen - it wouldn't let me update the blog! That's fixed now, and we're back on track. I think. Now, what's all this about training? With ammunition starting to show up in the stores (I'm told Cabelas has 9mm ball at almost pre-panic pricing) it's time to get your defensive shooting training program back on track! As it happens, I'll be teaching a Combat Focus Shooting class at Firearms Academy of Seattle next weekend - the 15th and 16th. This is THE class for developing intuitive self-defense shooting skills (whether revolver or autoloader) and there are still some openings available. Click here to register, and I hope to see you on the range next weekend! -=[ Grant ]=-

Stop defending stupid gun owners.

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-06-03T07:26:57-07:00

While I was in Connecticut the last few days, I read two stories of stupid people using guns: one in my own state of Oregon, where a fellow had his gun confiscated because he fired a warning shot at a suspected burglar; and another in my neighboring state of Washington where someone shot and killed a thief who was taking his car. ...Neither incident met the classic definition of when it is legally permissible to use lethal force: when you are faced with imminent and otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily injury due to the actions of another. ... In Washington, the shooter left his car idling in his driveway with the keys in the ignition when the thief jumped in to steal it - then shot at the fleeing vehicle, killing the thief. ...In the Oregon incident much was made about the fact that the shooter was a military vet and that it was somehow wrong to confiscate a veteran's rifle over a 'mere' warning shot. The sad fact is that he broke the law; he recklessly endangered the people around him, and he used a weapon illegally by discharging it when it wasn't necessary to do so. ...Again, a little education would have gone a long way: shooting at a fleeing felon, except in a few very rare and very specific instances, is not lawful behavior. ...For years I've recommended that everyone who has a gun for self protection take Massad Ayoob's two-day class in the judicious use of lethal force (MAG-20/Classroom.) Ayoob's class is the closest thing we have a to a gold standard in the shooting world, recommended by a wide variety of shooting authorities who may never agree on anything else. ... Had these two uneducated gun owners taken that class, I doubt that either would be facing the serious repercussions of their thoughtless actions. ...Aside from their financial and legal support in the aftermath of a self-defense shooting, membership comes with a seven-hour DVD course on the legalities of self defense. ...It's painful to see one of our own suffer for his poor judgement, but as responsible gun owners we can neither support nor defend their reckless actions. They can and should be used as object lessons for the rest of us: with rights come responsibilities, and being ignorant of the law will get you into trouble.

Even I learn something now and again!

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-05-29T07:39:45-07:00

Ian over at Forgotten Weapons has done it again: come up with a gun I didn't know existed. In this case, it's a revolver I'd never heard of. He recently posted a picture of the three commonly known automatic revolvers - that is, revolvers that rotate the cylinder and cock the hammer after every shot, as opposed to having the shooter's trigger finger do that work. Most people have heard of the Mateba Unica, or the Webley-Fosberry, but far fewer know about the uber-rare Union automatic revolver (the picture is the first time I've actually seen a Union.) Turns out the Spanish firm of Zulaica y Cia made one as well, and of course he managed to track down a picture. (Surprise - it’s even a decent-looking piece!) But that’s not the end of the autorevolver story, Ian says; it seems there might be a Belgian self-cocker, and he's investigating. If you don't read Forgotten Weapons regularly, you're missing out on the best historical information in the world of firearms. -=[ Grant ]=-

An incident that could happen anywhere.

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-05-27T07:53:05-07:00

If you think that it couldn’t possibly happen in your part of the world, think again; there are many places where budgetary restraints are in place, and where law enforcement services have been reduced as a result. ...The Sheriff’s Office (“SO”) in most Oregon counties is funded by a combination of a law enforcement levy and some monies from the county’s general fund. In addition, in those counties with extensive private timberlands it’s not unusual for a part-time forest patrol deputy to be funded largely by the timber companies concerned. ...Of all the duties the Sheriff performs, the only one which overlaps with other agencies (local and state police) is responding to calls and arresting people. When Sheriff budgets tighten, patrol will usually be cut first because it’s the service that has some coverage from other agencies. In other words, the Sheriff will suffer cuts to patrol functions first because he/she can’t stop running the jail - there’s no other agency which can assume that function. ...However, those harvests have virtually disappeared; a combination of expanded wilderness designations plus nearly constant lawsuits from environmental organizations (some of them on the FBI’s domestic terrorist watch list) have reduced those revenues to near zero. ... The larger the percentage of federally owned land in a county, the more dependent it is on the subsidy money I mentioned; with the feds owning nearly 70% of Josephine county’s land mass, they are very dependent. ...What they recently got was a defeat of the county law enforcement levy, largely because the folks in the city didn’t want to fund services that they never saw. ...The people who live there are strapped too, and no doubt a lot of them voted against the levy as a signal to the Sheriff that he needed to tighten his budgetary belt. ...Between federal and state mandates for certain county services, plus the requirement that local governments pay exorbitant sums into the state public retirement system (along with the inevitable bureaucratic waste, fraud and abuse) there just isn’t a lot of general fund money left to go around. ...So, they have a Sheriff who has no money to run his Office, which means that there is very little law enforcement outside of the one town in the county.

I've made a decision.

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-05-24T06:53:35-07:00

I'm taking the day off. See you on Monday! -=[ Grant ]=-

How's your situational awareness right now?

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-05-22T07:32:16-07:00

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-=[ Grant ]=-

Not a Square deal!

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-05-17T06:49:07-07:00

As you may have heard, credit card processor Square recently announced that it would no longer do business with people who were in the firearms business. ...At the same time, we as their customers have a right to educate the marketplace about that company’s competitors, those businesses who might have more respect for the Second Amendment and the people who exercise the rights it protects. ...Square, the iPhone-friendly charge card acceptance service, stunned the firearms industry recently when they decided they would no longer accept accounts from companies that sold weapons - or, presumably, had anything to do with weaponry. ...The result is a system that’s easy to set up, because the merchant doesn’t need to qualify for an account of his/her own or go through the rigorous underwriting process of traditional processors. ...Not only will it be cheaper, you’ll be insulated from the whims of a service provider who may purge your account for any reason, including their own changing political positions. ...While set-up is a little more involved than what Square required, it’s not that difficult and the benefit is an account that can’t be canceled (outside of things like using it to commit fraud, of course.) ...When they decide that guns and anything to do with guns are unacceptable, there’s no recourse other than to cancel your account before they do it for you. ...While MSL can supply those kinds of simple readers, they can also supply more robust systems that will take the kind of abuse someone who processes a lot of transactions can dish out. ...The small readers, like those used by Square and their competitors, have a higher ‘no read’ percentage than the better card readers that are available. ...Ian tells me they can supply similar devices too; they’re not cheap, but if you run a lot of transactions and need an all-in-one solution that’s very rugged, they can fix you right up. ...One of the real benefits of having an actual merchant account, especially the way MSL handles it, is that the same account you use to take orders on your website can be used to take orders on your smartphone! ...Reporting services are more robust, you can get more timely information, and when you need to integrate your new storefront your representative at the card processor can help you get that done in a timely fashion.

There are talented designers all over the world.

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-05-15T07:21:14-07:00

In my book "The Shooter's Guide To Handguns" is a short chapter on famous (and some not-so-famous) handguns and their designers. Once you get beyond Colt and Browning, most people’s knowledge ends, and that’s a shame; there’s more to life than just those two! As Americans we tend to believe that all of the great gun inventors were American, but that's simply not true. From the earliest firearms history to today, there are great - and important - designers who were born and did their business well away from the United States. Some of them even worked for "the other side". While my knowledge base is a little larger than most, I still don't claim to be an authority on gun designers. I may know a few more of them than the average person, but there are many even I've never heard of. ... He was the chief designer at Russia's Tula arsenal for decades, and apparently produced a very wide range of firearm designs. My interest in him is because of a rather intriguing polymer pistol called the GSh-18. If there's one guy I can point you to who knows about obscure designers, it would be Ian at Forgotten Weapons. He knows all about Shipunov, of course, and has a good article on this unusual pistol. It's one I'd like to see in person!

If it's not relevant, why are you doing it?

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-05-13T08:01:23-07:00

I've written before of the need to match the training you get and the equipment you use to the life you actually lead, not the life you fantasize about leading. ...It means that if you're training with a full-sized tricked-out autoloader on the weekends, but the majority of your waking hours are spent with a 5-shot revolver in a pocket holster, your training isn't going to be congruent with your expected use. Training done under such false pretenses is of significantly lesser value than if you’re honest with yourself up front. It’s a better use of your limited time, money and energy to train with the tools that you are most likely to be using, rather than picking training gear because it looks cool or because it's what your instructor/guru uses or because it gives you an edge in the all-too-common class shoot-off. Similarly, if your training event focuses on things like running through a shoot house taking out 'tangos' in various 'hostage rescue' scenarios, you're not training realistically either. You wasted training resources that could better have been used to simulate the kinds of attacks that are likely to happen to you at work, at the gas station, or in your home. Even if you've covered all those plausible scenarios, it’s still not a good use of your resources to train in ways that aren’t similar to your life. If you take a class in advanced hostage rescue team tactics, that class will use up resources that could have been used doing things like taking a course in how to deal with massive trauma (a skill far more likely to be needed even than drawing your gun) or in de-escalation techniques or even in defensive driving. Those are skills which are far more likely to be needed for events which are far more likely to happen to you (by at least an order of magnitude) than being faced with a jihadi-infested three-story building. ...Poorly planned or selected trigger time keeps you from focusing on more plausible, and thus more important, skills. Sherman House, a dental surgeon with whom I have a passing acquaintance, has made a similar pilgrimage from tactical silliness to reality. ... Training Journal where he discusses his evolution and what his training looks like today versus what it used to look like.

The home made gun isn’t a new thing, despite what you hear on the news.

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-05-08T07:22:32-07:00

There’s been a lot of angst amongst the gun prohibitionists this week, and the latest comes from the revelation that the first firearm made entirely with a 3D printer was successfully test fired just a few days ago. ...Of course we all understand how meaningless such a law would be, but they have to do something, by golly! You may not be aware of this, but making guns easily in a garage has been the goal of many gun designers over the years. ...It is not an anomaly; building a gun using primitive machine tools is often the norm in places where armed resistance is a necessity, arms are scarce, and there is no factory to supply the need. The Šokac can be made in a garage using not much more than a medium-sized lathe and milling machine; any reasonably skilled gunsmith could construct one with the normal tools of the trade, as could many automobile mechanics or one of the tens of thousands of metalworking hobbyists who have a machine shop in their home. ...The only real difference between the Šokac and the Defense Distributed “Liberator” pistol is the skill level needed to build one. When you compare the cost of the minimal hardware necessary to make a steel gun and a plastic one, the numbers are very similar - it’s the skills necessary to do so which differentiate the two. The Liberator can be made by anyone with a decent computer and the funds to acquire a 3d printer. ...People have been surreptitiously building firearms since the dawn of the gun, and that hasn’t changed. It’s just gotten to the point where one doesn’t get grime under their fingernails doing so. It also underscores the futility of trying to outlaw firearms altogether, which is the overt goal of many anti-Second Amendment zealots. People will find a way to make them, right under the noses of the people who say they can’t.

Rob Pincus enrages America. And England. Is France next?

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-05-06T07:44:48-07:00

In case you missed it, the biggest news event to come out of the NRA Annual Meeting and convention this last weekend came from an unlikely source: a seminar on home defense concepts by Rob Pincus. (Those who know Rob may say it isn’t all that surprising he'd make headlines, but with the election of a new and indiscriminately vocal NRA president intent on reliving the 1990s it was surprising the press would focus on Pincus instead. ...It all started when the Think Progress blog, which has a decidedly anti-Second Amendment position, snuck a stowaway into Rob's seminar and videoed a couple of minutes which they put on YouTube. The video is part of his discussion on keeping a spare gun - should you have one - in a quick-access safe in your kid's room. The idea is that, in the case of a home invasion, it's very likely that you'll head to protect your kids first - and wouldn't it be a good idea to have a defensive tool there in case you hadn't yet made it to your safe room and retrieved its armament? ...version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0">

The toolbox metaphor, continued.

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-05-01T07:40:46-07:00

Occasionally I'll run into an instructor who is teaching appropriate, plausible skills but who insists on using the "another tool for your toolbox" metaphor. ...This happens when the instructor has no overall philosophy for the course as a whole, and has simply gathered what seems 'cool' from disparate sources and stuffed them all into a toolbox of a course. Very often the toolbox metaphor is used to mask the fact that the instructor is not capable of explaining the technique in terms that the students can grasp and apply. This inability to articulate why a skill is valuable or useful can be simply due to a lack of teaching skill, but often it's a cover for an incomplete understanding of what’s being taught. If the instructor doesn't understand the material at its core, both in terms of how to perform the skill but also the reason for learning/practicing/evaluating that skill, it's easy to fall back on telling the students that it's another tool for their toolbox. ...While this is often due to a lack of deep understanding, it can also be a defense against those rare students who are wedded to a particular point of view and will not accept logic and reason when the material contradicts what they've trained previously. I speak from experience: it can be tempting to fall back on the toolbox metaphor when faced with such a vocally intransigent student, but I believe professionalism demands that I resist the urge. ...It’s admittedly difficult to explain to any student that a technique or concept has a very narrow range of application, but that it still falls within that plausible range of expectation. When I teach a full (two day) Combat Focus Shooting course, for instance, at the end of the second day there is a drill that teaches a specific technique to address a specific kind of threat that isn’t adequately handled by any other method. I certainly could tell the students “it’s another tool for the toolbox”, but that wouldn’t give them the understanding they need to put the technique into context. Instead, I take the time and expend the effort to explain the very narrow but plausible circumstances under which the technique is justified, the logical reasons why it’s the most intuitive response to that type of a threat, and why they shouldn’t waste an inordinate amount of their limited training resources practicing the technique extensively. ...If you're taking a class from someone who uses it in place of rational and complete explanation, it's a sign that you need to be asking questions and getting clarification before accepting the material as being valid.

Tools for the toolbox.

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-04-29T08:35:46-07:00

When it's uttered in class I take the time out to explain why I hate it, why it's nonsensical, but most importantly why it's dangerous from the standpoint of learning defensive shooting skills. The toolbox metaphor seems useful; you buy tools (learn skills), and then when you need the tool to do a job you can go to your toolbox, pull out the tool, and use it for the task at hand. In reality it's more like you have an overflowing toolbox full of low-quality implements, none of which you've actually used because you've not run across the need for them yet - and then you suddenly have a woodworking problem only to realize hat all of your tools are for a machinist! ...If a technique has a plausible use there is no need to justify it; the use itself will be sufficient justification. It's only when the technique doesn't have a plausible use that it becomes necessary to explain why it's being taught by using the self-referential toolbox analogy: "we're learning this technique to put in our toolbox because we have a toolbox to fill." In any given class there are things which I could teach which don't really have much (if any) application to defensive shooting, particularly defensive shooting as applied to the sudden criminal attack (ambush.) They're neat, they look cool and will impress your friends, but they have no application to defending yourself against the attack you didn't know was coming. ...Why, you might ask, would I be teaching such a thing if it really doesn't have any application to the life my students lead? That's when the toolbox comes out: you don't need to worry that it doesn't seem useful, it's just another tool for your toolbox in case you need it! The students are mollified and I can continue filling the time with things other than what the students really need to know. The toolbox metaphor, however coyly phrased or authoritatively uttered, is a red flag that what you're learning really doesn't have a plausible (let alone probable) use, which means you're probably spending time learning stuff other than what is likely to keep you safe. The toolbox is a waste of your limited training resources, resources that might be better spent learning things that will actually save your life.

FRIDAY SURPRISE: Quick - how many B-29 bombers still fly?

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-04-26T07:35:06-07:00

Several years back I told the story of my Father and his history with the famous B-29 Superfortress bomber. He loved that airplane, and never missed a chance to read or watch anything and anything about Boeing's first modern strategic bomber. As it happens he and I went aboard the only flyable B-29 in existence, the Commemorative Air Force's 'Fifi', when it visited Oregon many years ago. Of the nearly 4,000 built, only Fifi can still take to the sky. There are 21 others in various museums around the globe, but she's the only one who can still stretch her wings. If a group of B-29 enthusiasts have their way, however, she won't be alone for long. 'Doc', made in 1945 in Wichita, KS, is back at its birthplace being restored to flying status. Restoration started around 2000, but was suspended in 2007 when Boeing sold off the old plant where the work was being done. When that happened the plane was mothballed and the group which spearheaded the effort went dormant. Hope is not lost, however, because in February a new non-profit group took ownership of the craft and the restoration has now resumed. Apparently most of the difficult work has already been done, but that doesn't mean getting the thing into flying condition is going to be cheap or easy! The group is looking for donations and volunteers, and they have a website where you can do both - or simply learn more about the plane and their dream of flying her once again.

Determining how and what we train.

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-04-24T08:40:35-07:00

A question from a student in the class I taught last weekend brought up an interesting dichotomy in the defensive shooting world: what we prepare for often doesn't match what we actually face. ...If the defensive shooting data that Tom Givens has collected is any indication, the overwhelming majority of lethal force incidents are in response to criminal violence and not social violence. ...(It could be argued that Tom's data set, gathered from his students who were engaged in shooting incidents, is heavily biased toward those who have either learned to avoid social violence or are socioeconomically predisposed to conduct which does not place them in the kinds of situations where social violence is common. ...In defensive shooting training, focusing on social violence as a precursor to the use of lethal force leads to training which doesn't reflect the reality of how attacks happen. The escalating nature of social violence lends itself to formulaic responses: verbal challenges, maneuvering for position, getting into the perfect (and preferred and usually non-intuitive) stance, getting a solid focus on the front sight, and shooting rapidly by "catching the link" to reset the trigger perfectly between shots and reduce split times. ...If you don't know the attack is coming beforehand (because you've not spent the last minute or two sparring with someone who is trying to save face) you won't get the opportunity to use your well-practiced verbal de-escalation techniques; there won't be time to look around and get in just the right location to take advantage of cover; the sudden attack will activate your body alarm reaction and you'll automatically square yourself to the threat, which negates any sort of special stance; the loss of accommodation in the eyes and the resulting lock of focus at infinity makes it unlikely that you'll be able to focus on your front sight; and the reduction in blood flow to your hands, resulting in lowered tactile sensation, dexterity and strength means you're probably not going to be able to feel the little 'click' which tells you the trigger has reset. So, the known and documented physiological reactions (which can't be trained away) to the kind of attack which most commonly results in the use of lethal force doesn't match the stuff that's learned in preparation for the least common kinds of incidents. ... It's better to train in techniques which acknowledge the nature of the attack and our hardwired responses to them; they are more likely to result in an efficient response. As it happens, the things that you learn to respond to criminal violence will work just as well if you need to shoot as a result of social violence, but the reverse is not true. This is because a learned response will always work when the body's alarm reaction hasn't been activated, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to learn it in the first place. They may not work under the body's natural alarm reactions, however, unless they match the way in which the body responds - because those natural reactions can't be trained away. ...It's when we add in the tool (a gun) and body functions that aren't normally encountered (because we've been surprised by a criminal attack) that we need to thoughtfully modify how and what we train.

I spent my weekend teaching, and what I learned from doing so.

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-04-22T09:39:58-07:00

Though the current ammo shortages reduced the size of the class - two people dropped out only because they couldn't scrape up even 1/4 of the ammo they needed - we had a good group of very enthusiastic students. One of the interesting things that came out of this class was a confirmation of the need to consider the student when we teach sighted fire, and by that I mean how we use our sights when we need to use them. ... For quite some time I've said that using a traditional front sight focus is neither practical nor even possible for someone who needs supplementary close-up vision correction. ...Both of the students had problems using their sights when they needed to simply because they couldn't focus closely enough to get the front sight sharp. ... We even had time to try a few shots at small targets from barely plausible distances, and both of them were easily able to land their rounds on target. In our debrief one of them mentioned that his deteriorating eyesight had actually caused him to consider selling all of his handguns and using a shotgun for home defense. He decided to take this class because he'd heard of my target-focus emphasis and wanted to get some experience and coaching in this approach. ... He told me that he was astonished at how quickly his shooting turned around and was delighted that he not only wouldn't need to sell his pistols, but that he now felt much more comfortable carrying one for self defense. The other bifocal wearer had been to other schools - very well known schools, in fact - that had taught an inflexible front sight focus technique for all defensive shooting. Using a target focus was new to him, but he rapidly grew to appreciate the fact that it allowed him to deliver whatever level of precision he needed, as fast as he could, at whatever plausible distance he found himself - which he'd not been able to do for some time. ...I've found that these reactions are pretty typical for people who have formerly trained with instructors who don't understand how the human visual systems work nor understand the need to modify techniques if the student's particular issues require it. ... It was a pleasure to be able to give these two people the information they needed and help them learn the defensive shooting techniques that might someday keep them alive.

FRIDAY SURPRISE: Eyewitness News - Twitter takes the stage.

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-04-19T07:40:06-07:00

I'll leave it to you to look up the details; what I want to talk about this morning is how breaking news information was being shared in this age of New Media. ...I typed in the hashtag #Watertown (the burg where it was happening) and was greeted with an incredible stream of on-the-ground observations; some were from residents of the areas, others were from people listening to the police radio traffic, and others were curious folk who simply went out and started gathering information. ...People reported what they saw, heard, and even smelled; one user wrote about the bullets that had lodged in his living room from the shootout on his street. Another user quickly put together a curated list of people who were on scene and reporting, so that you could follow everything they posted even if they hadn't used the #Watertown tag. ...That was out for perhaps a minute, total, before a bunch of other users jumped in and pointed out that we didn't really know that for sure, since hospital codes were not standardized, and that everyone should calm down until they got confirmation. Wild speculations were countered by more measured responses, and in the few instances where users tried to interject a political message (usually something about the failure of gun control), other users shouted them down. ...On the networks a thing like the hospital code, for instance, would likely be reported erroneously for quite some time before someone finally figured out that they didn't really know what that meant (if they ever did.) ... They admonished each other to report only facts and to check those facts as best they could before tweeting, which is more than CNN did on Tuesday. Even more surprisingly, as the various traditional news outlets started their catch-up reporting their errors and speculations were quickly corrected by the Twitter users on the scene! ...Like Craigslist, where the readers are in charge of what they read and can flag off those ads they don't deem appropriate in their community, Twitter reporting eliminates the biases of gatekeepers; the users are their own gatekeepers, and their biases can be immediately countered by others. ...Critics will point to another self-curated information source, Wikipedia, as an example of why crowdsourcing information can't be trusted (while conveniently ignoring the errors which have always plagued printed and "vetted" encyclopedias.) ...Perhaps this will cause the networks to reevaluate how they handle the news, and maybe they'll put new emphasis on being deeper and more factual than they've been of late.

Regarding the Boston Marathon attack.

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-04-17T08:01:30-07:00

There's so much to say, and so much that could happen as a result of this horrendous act, that I can't possibly do it all justice. ...I've already seen calls to do something about the "growing threat of IEDs", and it's a sure thing that our "leaders" will jump on that with gusto. ...The general public will demand action, and as one idiot in a news interview said: "They can give me a cavity search right now and I'd be perfectly happy". ...- You will hear calls for national programs to install British-style camera networks in major (and probably minor) cities, as well as justification and funding for more drones to "keep us safe". ...His thoughts about multiple devices are historically accurate; during the Lebanese "civil" war, the involved forces came up with the idea of launching a mortar shell into a populated area, then wait a minute or so for the first responders to show up. ... Greg's advice is sound: if you happen to be in an area when a bomb goes off, leave as fast as you can. ...Rob travels more than anyone I know - in the range of 300 days a year - and so he's had to think about this on a regular basis. I'd add that his advice is generally pretty good for natural disasters as well; the effects of an earthquake will snarl things up even more than a terrorist attack, and it's something we on the left coast think about on a regular basis. - Rob's only omission is how to get information and handle communications during these events; as we saw in Boston, the cell systems were so thoroughly clogged that it was assumed the police had ordered them shut down. That wasn't true (despite the fact that it was reported by at least one news reader), but it illustrates the problems inherent with getting information to or from an affected area. Assume that your cel phone will probably be useless; a smartphone with a VOIP app (such as Skype) will often work if you can find an open wifi connection, such as at a library. ... A small radio to receive the local stations can be a godsend in such situations, and a radio scanner to listen to both first responders and the local amateur radio traffic has proven to be very useful during natural disasters.

How to de-Cosmoline a gun.

www.grantcunningham.com — 2013-04-15T06:49:57-07:00

I'd actually had something else planned for today's blog, but it was pretty lame compared to this! Over at Forgotten Weapons, Ian posted this video about how to remove Cosmoline: that sticky, nasty, smelly but highly effective rust prevention grease so commonly used on military arms. Some people really get addicted to the stuff; me, I hate it. I admit that it does its job remarkably well, however, and even though I generally admire things which work well I still can't work up much enthusiasm for this! Everyone has their own little tricks and techniques for dealing with Cosmoline, but the hot water bath method is the easiest and quickest way I know to get rid of the petroleum goo. If you've never had the pleasure, here's your introduction! -=[ Grant ]=-