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  How to get politicians to listen to you

    There is a lot of activity, at the federal, state and local levels, on various bills of interest to those of us concerned with personal liberties. Because of the unsettled political climate, we’re seeing more and more calls to “write your elected representatives”, but no one ever explains just how to do so effectively (if they even know themselves).  The problem with writing to a politician is that, if you don’t do it right, your message might be completely ignored. Worse, it mi...

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  You are not a security camera, and that’s a problem

    Take a look at the picture illustrating this post. It comes from a security camera in the recent El Paso Walmart incident, and has been shared widely in social media as well as more than one blog. It’s also being used to sell an idea, a notion really, that I think is unrealistic and maybe even dangerous. Misinformation for fun and profit I’ve seen this very picture used to reinforce two different yet related points of view. The first is, essentially, victim blaming: “When the people...

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  Make up your mind, before you need to

    In my job I follow a lot of news stories about horrific events. Once I’ve dissected the event for any lessons, however, I usually don’t think about it much. After all, there will be another attacker, or another disaster, to study tomorrow. Whether I’m just jaded or truly lack empathy I’m not sure, but I don’t think much about such things — except in the proper context. I could do it in my sleep Last weekend’s attack at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California, however,...

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  New class scheduled: Threat-Centered Revolver in Phoenix, AZ!

    Teaching in Phoenix during the fall has become something of a tradition with me, and I’ll be back again this November to teach my flagship revolver course! On November 9 & 10 I’ll be at the wonderful Ben Avery Shooting Center teaching Threat-Centered Revolver. Also as usual, I’m being hosted by Phoenix Firearms Training. This is the course to take to learn how to operate the revolver efficiently in a defensive encounter.  In this course I’ll teach you what I consider to be th...

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  The myth of the “concealed carry lifestyle”

    People very often refer to concealed carry as a “lifestyle”. I’m not sure I can agree with that. A lifestyle is a behavioral pattern which expresses how someone sees him or herself, and how they want others to see them. Their activities, opinions, and even how they spend their money are all reflected in their lifestyle. In other words, their lifestyle is the dominant feature of their existence; it defines them.  A lifestyle is all-encompassing. By admitting to a lifestyle, one is s...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for July 17, 2019

    Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety:   This week in Defense and Training: Misinformation in the training world I’ve been fortunate enough to have been intimately involved in three completely different business sectors in my life (the jewelry/watch industry, the camera/photography business, and the firearms/defensive training world.) Of those, the most...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for July 10, 2019

    Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety:   This week in Defense and Training: “Stop practicing shooting!” It’s a provocative title, to be sure, but in this article Ralph Mroz makes the point that drawing and firing a handgun is one very small part of a defensive encounter. Yet, it’s the one almost everyone focuses on, to an almost ridiculous degree....

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  Following up on the Three Easy Steps: Readiness as a habit

    Last week I introduced Grant’s Patented Plan To Becoming More Self-Reliant In Three Easy Steps ™: Buy a pocket knife. Buy a small high-intensity flashlight. Carry them with you every day. My approach to preparedness, whether the subject is self defense or disaster readiness, is to start with becoming better prepared to handle common, daily sorts of inconveniences. I find it hard to believe that someone who isn’t equipped with tools or skills to open a blister package when need...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for July 3, 2019

    Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety:   This week in Defense and Training: “He’s just a kid” can be a fatal assumption There is a very strong tendency in the firearms training world to assume that a threat always comes from an adult male. (Frankly, I’ve seen too many instances where threats were assumed to be a specific ethnicity — but that’s...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for June 26, 2019

    Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety:   This week in Defense and Training: Don’t believe everything you see on YouTube My friend Cecil Burch, martial arts legend and expert in entangled fighting, has some things to say about fake martial artists plying their wares on the internet. It’s easy to get tripped up by these sorts of people. They’re usually...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for June 19, 2019

    Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety:   This week in Defense and Training: Birdshot, self defense, and you Last week I received a request for information on the use of birdshot for self defense. Rather than writing a whole missive, I elected to share this article with the person. Then I thought I should share it with you, too! Greg does a good job of expl...

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  What if you can’t get the ‘best’ ammunition?

  The other day I got a message from a fellow who’s been asking me questions about a new carry gun purchase. He finally decided on the model he wanted and had bought it, and now wanted to know about ammunition. Not what ammunition I recommended — he already knew that — but what he should buy. The question was “I know you recommend the Federal and Speer but if I can’t find any at the gun store what would be your second choice?” * (I assume he meant HST and Gold Dot ammunition, respectiv...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for June 12, 2019

  Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety:   This week in Defense and Training: Defending against a dog attack (Note: I hesitated sharing this article because of the rather violent techniques shown, and because it seems cruel to use them against an animal. However, vicious dogs do kill people, and knowing something of how to handle an attack in the absence of a weapo...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for June 5, 2019

    Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety: This week in Defense and Training: Stop parroting home defense fallacies The defensive shooting world has worked overtime for the last few decades to teach people how to draw  faster, shoot faster, and hit smaller targets at greater distances. Very rarely, however, has it addressed when to shoot — to include the topic o...

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  This guy got lucky. You might not.

  One of my big peeves in this business is the number of bad lessons that are presented in the context of “he had it coming!” In these stories there’s usually a petty criminal (these are almost always minor property crimes) who is caught “red handed” by a virtuous (and obviously very manly) gun owner. The gun owner either heroically holds the suspect for police, chases him off at gun point, or fires a warning shot to scare the thief into submission. I know why these stories are popular:...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for May 29, 2019

    Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety: This week in Defense and Training: Where is your line in the sand? This article from Greg Ellifritz is one of the most important I’ve read. Most people never think about where their boundaries are — the point beyond which they won’t comply. It’s something you should do frequently. If you have no pre-set boundar...

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  Yes, it’s been a while.

    I confess that I’ve been scarce around here lately. I haven’t posted much of substance for a couple of months, which means I haven’t recorded any podcasts either. It’s not like I’ve been sitting around doing nothing, though. I’ve been busy traveling, teaching, writing (yes, there are more books coming) and working on our little homestead. But that’s just my normal life. It’s not why I’ve been absent.  Introspection is vital to growth The reality is that I needed a hiatu...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for May 22, 2019

    Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety: This week in Defense and Training: Timing is everything In the defensive training world, everything is always about “faster”. We train to draw faster, shoot faster, move faster. Our drills are always about shooting, rarely about thinking.  The result is that students very often go to the gun before they need to, or ev...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for May 15, 2019

  Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety: This week in Defense and Training: Just because it looks cool doesn’t mean it will work When we speak of defensive shooting with a handgun, there are two likely ranges: within arm’s reach (yours plus your attacker’s), and everything else.  Most handgun training focuses on the “everything else” category, or that which i...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for May 1, 2019

    Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety: This week in Defense and Training: Hiding in the bushes This is another thought-provoking post from Greg Ellifritz. A 62-year-old woman is out walking her dog at 9:pm when she’s kidnapped, robbed, and held by two men. They eventually let her go, which is something of a miracle; usually these kinds of cases don’t end we...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for April 24, 2019

    Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety: This week in Defensive Equipment: A bullpup rifle review It’s been a long while since I’ve featured any gear reviews here on the List. I intentionally don’t do much talking about gear, because I believe skills, knowledge and concepts are generally more important. Sometimes, though, a piece of gear can be a concept un...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for April 17, 2019

  Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety: This week in Defense and Training: Not everything is a shooting problem A while back I said that the lawfully carried firearm is a defensive tool with an extremely narrow range of application. I mean that in both the practical and legal sense; if the circumstances don’t warrant the use of lethal force, the gun isn’t the tool...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for April 10, 2019

    Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety: This week in Defense and Training: Not everyone needs to be shot There is a persistent and vocal group of people who truly believe that just because someone is in their house, they have a right to shoot that person. As Greg Ellifritz points out in this article, however, being “justified” doesn’t make you right. It al...

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  Going to Indianapolis for the NRA Show?

  I’m excited to announce that I’ll be attending the NRA Show in Indianapolis on April 26 & 27! My PRAYING SAFE co-author, Joshua Gideon, and I will be signing books and answering your questions at three separate scheduled times: Friday, April 26 at 2:pm we’ll be at Evolve Range Solutions (Booth 2707). Saturday, April 27 we’ll be appearing at iMarksman (Booth 3605) at 10:am, and at Evolve Range Solutions (Booth 2707) at 2:pm. Please stop by and say hello! Of course, if you see me at...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for March 6, 2019

  Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety: This week in Defense and Training: Is ‘round count’ a good way to judge a shooting course? Back in the ‘olden days’ of defensive shooting training (which I’ll arbitrarily define as the 1990s), it was common for students to talk breathlessly about how many rounds they shot in their two-day classes. 500 rounds barely elic...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for February 19, 2019

  Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles for you to read this week. This week in Defense and Training: Concealed carry and outdoor activities I get a lot of questions regarding concealed carry for hikers, joggers, and other outdoor enthusiasts. There are a number of options, and this article at RECOIL goes over some of them. There are two important points about this topic, one which the article acknowledges and one which it misses. The...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for February 6, 2019

    Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles to read this week. This week in Defense and Training: Self defense isn’t always about bad guys Sometimes it’s about bad animals! This news story out of Georgia shows us that dangers don’t always look like our preconceived notions, and sometimes your defensive firearm gets used for something that you didn’t anticipate (or perhaps trained for.) We all go to the range, or to shooting...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for January 9, 2019

  It’s Wednesday, and time once again for my hand-picked selection of this week’s best articles to increase your safety, security, and survivability!    The Kimber K6s Deep Cover reviewed One of the things I’m most proud of is my involvement in the design of the Kimber K6s revolver. Getting the opportunity to make the vision of an ideal defensive revolver into an actual product that people can buy was a highlight of my career! It’s been three years since it was introduced at SHOT Sho...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for January 2, 2019

    It’s the first Wednesday of 2019, and thus the first Hump Day Reading List of the new year! Sit back and treat yourself to my hand-picked selection of this week’s best articles to increase your safety, security, and survivability!    An interesting range experiment I’m sharing this article not because I necessarily agree with the base assumptions (or the terminology), but because the exercise described is very useful to get people out of the mindset that sights need to be perf...

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  Announcing my new book — PRAYING SAFE: The professional approach to protecting faith communities!

  Today I’m proud to announce the publication of a new book: PRAYING SAFE — The professional approach to protecting faith communities! This book is all about helping churches, synagogues, temples — religious institutions of all types — protect themselves from a wide range of threats. This book came about because my co-author, Joshua Gideon, and I have grown annoyed with the superficial and often misguided responses to attacks on houses of worship. We’ve watched as people have been hurt a...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for November 14, 2018

  I unearthed some really good articles for you this week. Read them and increase your safety, security, and survivability!    Remember what they say about that river in Egypt… Whether it’s a criminal attack or a natural disaster, many people — perhaps, even, most people — simply don’t believe it will happen to them. This is an insightful article about why people don’t take threats seriously and what happens when they don’t. (The only criticism I’ll make is that some of his �...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for November 7, 2018

  It’s the first Wednesday of November, and I’m starting the month off right with some great articles for you!    Have you ever heard the term “violent criminal actor”? This article explains what that means, and why it’s important to understand. It’s possible for a violent criminal to appear normal and “safe” until they’re put into the environment where it’s necessary to use violence to achieve the desired result. This is contrary to a lot of people’s thinking, but...

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  Revolver Knowledge: Resetting the double-action trigger

  A revolver shooting issue that comes up frequently is resetting the double-action trigger (or, more correctly, allowing the trigger to reset.) This problem seems to be more common among those who are accustomed to shooting autoloading pistols, as they tend to develop habits that shooters of lesser experience do not. (I’m not saying the problem is exclusive to that group, mind you, but they exhibit it to a much greater degree than their less-experienced counterparts.) I also see it in supposedl...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for October 31, 2018

  It’s Halloween, and I’ve got some great stories to help you tackle frightening topics!    Some people don’t want to learn In the self defense world, many people seem to have comfortable ideas of how things happen in defensive incidents. That was fine back in the days when we didn’t have objective evidence, but today we do — and yet many misconceptions still exist. Cecil Burch looks at one of them, and wonders where the hypocrisy comes from.   Predators are a little different...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for October 17, 2018

  More great defensive preparedness articles for you this week!    Making your home into a fortress (?) I’ll acknowledge that the author of this article goes a little over the top at times, and that I think his mania for protecting his identity is a little silly in this day and age, but his article has some excellent  information and looks at the topic in a logical, organized manner. It’s well worth reading.   You’re ready — but what about Fido? You need to prepare for your pet...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for October 10, 2018

  I’ve got another great selection of articles for you this week!    This happens too often, and I’m tired of it This one happened last July; yesterday I read of a 3-year-old who died when he got hold of an unsecured firearm. Too many kids are dying from accidental gunshots, and we as responsible gun owners need to be at the forefront of reducing them. It’s simply not responsible to leave a firearm anywhere it can be accessed by children. Kids will always find guns, no matter how c...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for October 3, 2018

  It’s the first Wednesday of October, and I’ve got some great defensive preparedness articles for all areas of your life. (Oh, and one article about an idiot with a gun that we should all avoid emulating!)   Need some help prioritizing your preparedness? If you’re having trouble deciding what to do first, one approach is prioritizing based on scope of impact. It has the advantage of helping you “group” your activities and purchases to ensure you’re focusing on what’s really mos...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for September 26, 2018

  Some great articles for the last Wednesday in September!    Keeping the family safe in public spaces Jeff Gonzales has some good advice for what to do with your family when you’re in a public space and a violent incident unfolds.    Let’s see… …you’ve got a stock of food, medical supplies, defensive tools, survival kits, generators, and everything else a well-prepared home needs. But what about spare parts for all your stuff?    Alertness may have saved lives An inter...

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  Here’s your sign.

  This story made the rounds of social media last week. For those who haven’t seen it (or the graphic video shot by the girlfriend of the man who was eventually killed in the confrontation), the story boils down to neighbors having an ongoing disagreement over trash between their domiciles.  The argument had apparently escalated over time, to the point that one party showed up to the alley with a baseball bat, and his two antagonists showed up with a pistol and a shotgun. Like the game of rock...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for September 19, 2018

  I’ve got an interesting mix of articles for you this week, all of which I believe to be worth your time to read. Yes, even the infuriating one at the end!   Concealed carry and traffic stops How should you handle a traffic stop when you’re carrying a defensive firearm? Greg Ellifritz is a police officer in Ohio, and he has some thoughts on the matter. (I’ve noticed that the details vary a bit from region to region, and sometimes from agency to agency. It’s always a good idea to doub...

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  The “long game” of self defense

  It’s easy to think of self defense as a thing you do in response to a bad guy. After all, that’s what most self defense courses focus on: bad guy appears and you perform the indicated response. So neat. So tidy. So precise. And so misleading. Self defense doesn’t start when the bad guy appears, or when he starts his attack, or when you make the decision to respond in some preplanned way. It actually starts long before he even knows you exist. Self defense is a “long game”. Learning fro...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for September 12, 2018

    Sorry for not having a Hump Day List last week, but I was down with a nasty cold. What’s worse than a cold in summer? I don’t know and I don’t want to find out!    Handguns and arthritis I get lots of questions from people who are just starting to suffer from arthritis, scared that their shooting days are coming to an end. It doesn’t need to happen that way, and this article from a physical therapist and shooter has some good tips on how to adapt to your changing physique. &...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for August 22, 2018

  In addition to this week’s great articles, I have an announcement!     I’ve scheduled another revolver class! I’ll be in Phoenix, AZ on December 1 & 2 teaching my Threat-Centered Revolver course at the beautiful Ben Avery Shooting Center. The weather in Phoenix that time of year is gorgeous, and I can’t think of a nicer place to be. Please plan to join me for two great days of revolver training!   Body lock? What’s a body lock? I don’t know, but martial arts and self d...

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  Interchangeable chokes for defensive shotguns? Why not!

  Instructor Georges Rahbani showing a kneeling position with the defensive shotgun If any firearm could be said to be overlooked, it’s the defensive shotgun. While not a tool for the inexperienced, it must be acknowledged that the shotgun loaded with a defensively-appropriate shell (preferably in the buckshot category) is a force to be reckoned with. As a tool for self defense, the shotgun remains an effective choice. Not a fan of hanging things on the shotgun Back in the ‘90s the defensive s...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for August 15, 2018

  We may be in the dog days of summer, but I don’t think you’ll find any dogs in this week’s selection of defensive preparedness articles!    Uber scams? Say it’s not so! This year I finally became an Uber user and I’ve enjoyed it immensely. Turns out, though, that there are scams Uber drivers can (and do) pull on people. Here are the most common and how to avoid them. You can bet I paid attention to this article!   Another speedloader option for Kimber K6s owners When the Kim...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for August 2, 2018

    I found more interesting articles for this week’s List, some of them guaranteed to make you think twice!    Whatever happened to positively identifying your target? I’m not sure where to start with this article, but I’ll boil it down to this: Just because an alarm goes off doesn’t mean there’s a threat, and blindly firing through a closed door without first ascertaining an actual threat is irresponsible in the extreme.    Speaking of stupid self defense tricks… I�...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for July 25, 2018

  I haven’t let this heat wave stop me from gathering more great self defense and preparedness articles for you! (Now, where did that iced tea go…)   The gun shouldn’t be the first thing you grab “I don’t need to identify my target, because I can tell my girlfriend’s steps from an intruder in the dark”.  Someone actually told me that, in explanation for not having a flashlight with his home defense gun. I offer this article as counterpoint, and as a caution about handling “th...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for July 18, 2018

    Wow, is it ever hot here in Oregon! If it’s scorching where you are, cool off with a nice beverage and these great articles!   This is a scary story, and you need to read it This is an article about how a photographer gets access to make pictures at the top of high-rise buildings. But it’s not a photography article! The reason it’s interesting and frightening at the same time is how easy it is for him to get into ostensibly secure areas through simple social engineering. It’s...

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  We interrupt Your Hump Day Reading List to bring you this important message

  Our country was founded on what was, at the time, a unique idea: that people have rights, and that their government should respect and defend those rights. One of the things our founding fathers left unsaid — perhaps because they thought it so obvious that it didn’t need to be said — is that with rights always come responsibilities. We spend a lot of time talking about the former, but rarely acknowledge the latter. This Independence Day, by all means celebrate our country’s birth. But do...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for June 20, 2018

  It’s another Hump Day, and I’m here to share some more great personal defense and preparedness articles with you. (Which is actually redundant, because personal defense is but one form of preparedness, though  not everyone realizes that — yet!)   “People don’t plan to fail…they fail to plan” A self defense plan (which is really just a part of an overall preparedness plan) is, I believe, essential. Whether you have a gun for self defense or not, knowing what your defensive ass...

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  The fishing hook fantasy

  Why do so many survival kit suggestions have fishing gear in them? Over the years I’ve noticed that survival/escape/bugout/get-home kit contents always seem to include fishing gear. I don’t mean poles, reels, and aluminum boats with fish-finding radar, but hooks, line, and perhaps some weights. The idea is that if you’re stranded somewhere you can pull out the hooks, attach them to some line, and drop them in the nearest body of water and — like magic — life-sustaining fish will leap t...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for June 14, 2018

  Wednesday the 13th is extra lucky, and I’ll prove it by sharing some really great articles to help keep you and your family safer and more secure!   I wish I’d written this. It’s that good. This article from the Preparedness Advice blog is pure gold. The author looks at five pieces of common preparedness advice and takes each one apart, and I agree with just about everything he says. It’s worth reading for everyone, whether you consider yourself a prepper or not.   All in the f...

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  When friends are strangers

  Let’s assume, for the moment, that you have a perfect teenager. He or she is always polite, gets schoolwork in on time, excels in extracurricular activities, has above-average SAT scores, and has never been in trouble at school — or anywhere else, for that matter. This is a kid you can trust, and who has never betrayed that trust. You can rely on him or her to always do not just what you ask, but what is right. Congratulations! But…what about their friends? Their friends might not be frien...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for June 6, 2018

  It’s the first Wednesday of June? Why, let’s celebrate with some great self defense, personal safety, and family preparedness articles!   How will you protect your children? When you have children, defense planning gets substantially more complicated. The younger they are, the more impact they have. This article looks at the five biggest myths people have about keeping their kids safe, and it’s worth reading.   Can you really prepare in an apartment? Any amount of preparednes...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for May 30, 2018

  This week I bring you more great articles to help you and your loved ones live safer lives. Why not grab a beverage and do some reading?   Gun thefts happen — too often An introduction to some of the ways to keep your guns from being stolen. (Frankly, I wish the author had simply said “never keep guns in your car, period.” I realize that sometimes circumstances dictate that you do exactly that, but it should never be a habit and should NEVER be done overnight. If you find yourself kee...

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  Can buying less actually give you more safety?

  The concept of minimalism intrigues me, because of its emphasis on personal growth rather than the acquisition of things. It forces one to ask “what’s important to me?” and “what do I really need?” rather than “oh, look, free shipping if I spend more money than I originally intended to!” Sadly, in this case the self defense and firearms media is always working against you. Thinking of less This came immediately to mind the other day when I saw an article that purported to show the...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for May 23, 2018

  I have no witty introduction this week, just a hand-curated assortment of articles that are worth your time to read. And a plug for my PDN show at the end (don’t miss it!)   A look at how to hold a revolver I cover proper grasp in depth in my Threat-Centered Revolver course, because I believe it to be the single most important step to shooting a revolver well. The ideal revolver grasp is also different than the ideal autopistol grasp, because the guns are shaped differently. This article...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for May 16, 2018

  Is it Wednesday again already? How time flies when I’m collecting articles to share with you!   Credit card thieves are amazingly enterprising Krebs on Security posted this article about credit card skimmers — but this time there’s a new wrinkle: they were placed on card scanners at the checkout lines of grocery stores, right under the noses of the clerks. He even ahs video of one being placed — watch how quickly it happens! Skimmers are everywhere, and it pays to be extra cautious...

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  The importance of rifle balance

  A recent talk with a colleague reminded me that in our zeal to embrace the new, we sometimes lose sight of the virtues of the past. Before you get all worked up and start calling me a “Fudd”, understand that I love the things modern technology has given us. Whether in firearms, electronics, or anything else, I’d never want to give up the progress we’ve made. I’m writing this on a modern computer, sending it into the modern internet, where (according to my site statistics) you’re prob...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for May 9, 2018

  Wednesdays are always better with great self defense and preparedness information!   Dealing with the verbally aggressive person Not every potentially dangerous situation is a surprise. Sometimes they develop from your interaction with another person. Anyone who has ever worked in a service job understands how unhinged people can become over seemingly innocuous things, and sometimes their anger builds to the point of violence. There are some ways to de-escalate the person who is becoming an...

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  Yet another tactical hobbyist fantasy bites the dust

  Last week I received an interesting email from a reader of my latest book, Protecting Your Homestead: Using a rifle to defend life on your property. The sender was wondering about the utility of a lever-action rifle as a defensive tool, and said that he’d been told his lever action was only suitable for “short duration gunfights”. He was worried that his rifle wouldn’t be enough for self defense and asked if he should sell it off for something with higher capacity. His fear is borne...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for April 25, 2018

  Spring has finally sprung in Oregon, and I’m celebrating with a great collection of articles for all aspects of your defense, safety, and preparedness!   This article is dumb. Read it anyway. Why do I say it’s dumb? Because these are five types of people you should ALWAYS avoid, whether you’re carrying or not! (Remember John Farnam’s famous advice: Don’t go to stupid places, do stupid things, or hang around with stupid people. Follow that advice and you’ll eliminate a huge porti...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for April 11, 2018

  Is it Wednesday already? Wow, how time flies when you’re busy collecting great self defense and preparedness articles to share!   Training or practice? Why not both? Something that the gun world often gets wrong is the difference between training and practice — and it’s not just a semantic argument, either. Training is where you learn new things, new skills; practice is where you rehearse and replay those lessons to build your competence. As this article points out you need both (thou...

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  Announcing my new book: “Protecting Your Homestead”

  Today I’m proud to announce my latest book, one which I’ve wanted to write for some time — Protecting Your Homestead: Using a Rifle to Defend Life on Your Property! This book is an outgrowth of my Perimeter Defense Rifle course, which looks at using a rifle in defense of life beyond what is normally considered handgun range. Most defensive rifle courses focus on “close quarters battle” (CQB), or using the rifle as a defensive tool inside the home, in what we would normally consider han...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for March 28, 2018

  Another Wednesday, another collection of great articles to inform and educate about self defense, family protection, and preparedness!   Jump on in, the GPS water is fine! There was a time when I was a die-hard GPS hater, but as the technology improved (and I learned how to use it most effectively) I changed my mind. There are times when compass triangulation doesn’t work, and times when GPS doesn’t work, so knowing how to do both (and how to integrate the results) makes land navigation...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for March 21, 2018

  Another hump day, and another great collection of articles to improve your safety and self-sufficiency!   How’s your food storage? Having a stash of food to see you through an emergency has long been recommended (even FEMA and the American Red Cross say you should have food stored). Six months of food is a good goal, and a year’s worth is even better, but many people don’t go about building their food stock the right way. Stored food shouldn’t mean MREs or freeze-dried camping food,...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for March 14, 2018

  It’s almost the Ides Of March, but I’m not going to stab you in the back — instead, my new camel caravan has brought information to keep you from being stabbed by the sharp knives of misfortune of all kinds!   Have you given this any thought? Preparedness is more than just guns; I advocate an approach that recognizes the wide range of hazards you face, and making plans to mitigate them. One hazard all of us share is that of financial and personal data security. Have you made protectio...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for February 28, 2018

  It’s the last day of February and I’m finishing out the month with more great resources for your health and safety!   Being a fan doesn’t mean you have to be irrational It’s probably fitting that, in some circles, I’m known as “The Revolver Guy”. I’ve written what have been called the “standard works” on the topic, teach one of the few national revolver-centric courses available, and have designed a revolver that’s being sold today. I’ve also written quite a few pie...

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  Porn takes many forms

  Ever heard of “defensive gun use porn”? It’s a term to describe a genre of stories where good guys use their guns to beat the bad guys. Such stories are a staple of many firearms-centric blogs and news sites, and they serve not so much an educational role as they do a cheerleading one. You’ll notice you don’t see a lot of that here. On the odd occasion I’ll share a success story where there is a lesson to be learned, but it’s not about the success itself — it’s about what we c...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for February 21, 2018

  If it’s Wednesday, this must be the awesome collection of personal safety and preparedness articles known as the Hump Day Reading List. What do you know — correct on both counts!   Duplicate function, not form Those who’ve read Prepping For Life know that I make incessant fun of the “two is one and one is none” philosophy; it’s usually nothing more than a justification for needless consumerism. Instead of duplicating items, I’m a fan of having an alternate way to do things —...

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  Grant’s Monday Miscellany

  A few quick notes of interest: — On last Thursday’s Training Talk, martial arts and combatives expert Cecil Burch and I talked about defensive use of the knife. Cecil may be known as “the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Guy”, but he also has multi-decade experience in several edged weapon disciplines. He’s taken that knowledge and applied it to plausible self defense for the rest of us, and what he has to say is very interesting. I learned quite a lot from our talk, and I’m sure you will too! L...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for February 14, 2018

  Happy Valentine’s Day! Here are some Hump Day articles to help keep you and your Valentine safe, secure, and happy!   The best pistol you’ve never fired It’s not exactly a secret that my concealed carry autoloading pistol-of-choice is a Steyr S9-A1. I started carrying its predecessor, the S9, more than a decade and a half ago; it’s reasonable to say that between the two guns, I’ve got a lot of trigger time on Steyrs. Here’s a nice review of the S9’s bigger brother, the M9-A1....

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for February 7, 2018

  What’s great about Wednesday, you ask? Why, the great articles on self defense and preparedness that I have for you, of course!   Mr. Wilson and the car prowler Man sees teenager rifling through his car and goes out with his gun to confront said teenager. He decides to hold the teenager at gunpoint while they wait for the cops to arrive, and when the teenager decides to flee the man shoots the teenager in the back. Now the man is charged with first degree assault (he’s lucky; if the kid...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for January 31, 2018

  It’s Wednesday again, and here are more great self defense, travel safety, and preparedness articles for you to peruse while you wait for Friday to arrive!   Is there such a thing as “too many flashlights”? Probably not, as John Farnam explains. I’ll deviate from his recommendations just a bit, though, and suggest that having fewer but higher quality lights is really the way to go. I’ve done the cheapie Coast flashlight thing, and there’s nothing worse than having one fail when...

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  Things people say: “Don’t carry a nice gun.”

  If you have a concealed carry firearm, and you use that firearm against another person, the chances of the police seizing that gun for evidence are very high. If your attacker is injured or dies, it’s a certainty that your gun will end up in the evidence locker. Once in evidence, your gun will not be returned to you until after all legal proceedings are settled. Even then, it may be months or even years after the case has been closed before you get your firearm back. Many people have had to fi...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for January 24, 2018

  While everyone else is at SHOT Show this week, I’m hard at work bringing you great self defense and preparedness information!   When shooting schools don’t produce results This is a pretty good article that looks at some of the reasons defensive shooting instruction often doesn’t deliver what it promises (or is expected) to deliver. I’m in particular agreement with #3.   Your gun does not make you the police. This is what happens when you forget that little detail. From the Bil...

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  UPDATE: First class of 2018 — Threat-Centered Revolver in Phoenix, AZ!

  If you saw this announcement earlier, we’ve changed the date to take advantage of the low airfares before Spring Break. When we checked airline tickets, we discovered that in the week before our original dates the prices dropped by more than half (in many cases)! If you were holding off because of travel costs, delay no longer and get ready to join my in Phoenix for this great class! — My first class of 2018 (at least, the first I currently have scheduled) will happen in Phoenix, Arizon...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for January 10, 2018

  Like a bad penny, I just keep turning up — but unlike a bad penny, what I bring you every Wednesday is actually worth something! Here’s another great group of articles to help you keep yourself and your loved ones safe from all sorts of bad things.   Pay attention to this before taking another shooting class Claude Werner is fond of saying that gun owners could do a lot for their personal safety by taking a Dale Carnegie course. I agree with him, and it’s not just gun owners who would...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for December 20, 2017

  This is the last Hump Day Reading List of 2017. Not to worry, though, because I’ve found some really good articles to end the year on a high note!   Some people reject self-reliance. Why? While this article is specific to preparedness, it’s also applicable to the narrower subject of self defense training. I’ve heard a lot of excuses from people who won’t prepare for anything — from a car breakdown to a criminal attack — and they often have one of these to offer up as an excuse....

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for December 13, 2017

  It’s getting closer to Christmas, and though we don’t have any snow on the ground at my house that doesn’t mean I don’t have any presents for you — here are a bunch of great articles to stuff your electronic stocking! Don’t be there when it happens Some interesting observations about riots, from someone who’s been there. We’re accustomed to thinking of riots as being somewhat organized, but in reality they’re usually not. The author explains three often misunderstood characteri...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for November 29, 2017

  November is winding down, but the great information in the Hump Day Reading List never ends! Want to host a training course? Here’s how. On Monday I said I was looking to teach in more parts of the country during 2018, and invited you to host one of my classes. I’m sure more than a few people wondered just what that entails and how to go about it. Well, you’re in luck — Rob Pincus, who knows a thing or two about being hosted, wrote this great article that prepares you for the experience...

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  As 2017 comes to a close, I’m looking forward to 2018!

  My last classes for the year were held a couple of weeks ago. While 2017 was a good year for teaching, it’s interesting to look back over previous years to see what’s changed — and, perhaps, where the market is going. The most popular Over the last few years my Threat-Centered Revolver course has become the most popular class I teach. When I put this course together I thought there couldn’t be enough demand to teach it more than once every couple of years. Boy, was I wrong! This cou...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for November 22, 2017

  Just in time for Thanksgiving, a buffet of great articles — and not a turkey among them!   Low light shooting isn’t really about shooting Lots of folks are sticking lights on their carry guns these days without a real understanding of their purpose or their use. The light isn’t supposed to facilitate your shooting; it’s to enable you to search and find a threat. That’s not something that’s efficiently (or safely) done with a WML mounted on your pistol. Jeff Gonzales has some tho...

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  Real talk about effective church security

  With the recent attack on a church in Texas, in which 26 people were killed and dozens injured, many people are looking for ways to prevent or respond to such attacks. And there are others ready to prey on that need with bad or incomplete information. Everyone, it seems, is suddenly a “Church Security Consultant”. As a result you can find lots of misguided articles and talk about how to start a “church security team”, focusing — of course — on shooting skills. While responding to a...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for November 15, 2017

  I’m just jumping on an airplane to return home after four full days of teaching in Phoenix, but I wanted to share these articles with you before I left the warm sunshine! The best ankle medical kit? I’m sure some people are getting tired of hearing me say this, but I believe it’s more important to carry a medical kit than almost anything else. Knowing how to save someone’s life when they’ve suffered a severely traumatic injury is an important skill, and having the proper tools on hand...

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  This week on Training Talk: Church and synagogue security

  After the attack on First Baptist Church in Sunderland Springs last week, many houses of worship — and their congregants — are taking a hard look at their security procedures and plans. This week on PDN Training Talk, I’ll be having an in-depth discussion about security for our religious institutions. My guests, both of whom have experience in consulting and training for worship security, will be Joshua Gideon and Aaron Israel. Whether you’re a leader in your congregation or just concer...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for November 8, 2017

  Only the best of the information I find goes into the Hump Day Reading List — why would you trust your family’s safety and security to anything less?   Beyond “stranger danger” I’ve always winced at the notion of teaching children to be fearful of strangers. When I was doing wilderness search-and-rescue I learned that lost children who’d been indoctrinated with the “stranger danger” mindset would often refuse to answer searchers who were calling out their name. Naturally, th...

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  More is not necessarily better, especially when you can’t take care of it

  Any preparations you’ve made for your safety and protection — whether physical skills, gear and equipment, or storage commodities — need to be maintained to be useful. There is a cost to maintenance, and it’s one we often ignore in our zeal to always acquire more. That cost may affect your ability to respond efficiently and sufficiently to a challenge. What maintenance? In my latest book, Prepping For Life, I spend some time on the idea of maintenance, which is keeping your skills an...

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  No, I don’t sell t-shirts. Here’s why.

  Someone sent me a an email recently, and I’m sure the answer he got wasn’t the one he was expecting: “Why don’t you make up t-shirts for sale?”, he asked. “You could put quotes from your books on them, some of the cover art, etc. I’ll bet they’d do well.” Why not, indeed? I’ll admit it’s an enticing prospect. There are lots of folks in the self defense and preparedness communities who have clothing lines and, if what they tell me is true, those products account fo...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for October 25, 2017

    I didn’t intend for this to be Revolver Week, but I did find several good revolver-related items — plus information on surviving wildfires, con men, shooting out of fear, why some people put off training, and more! Are you prepared for wildfire? This is the first of two articles I’m sharing about lessons learned from the recent wildfires in California. These fires, pushed along by a sudden shift in wind patterns and fueled by a dry environment from a very hot summer, have killed peo...

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  After Las Vegas: Don’t be paranoid.

  Following my recent post about the Las Vegas attack, someone sent me an email that said, in effect, the best way to survive such an attack was to not be there in the first place. If one only stayed away from all crowds, such as concerts and sporting events, one would never be the victim of a mass killer. “Bet those people wish they’d stayed home that night” was the conclusion the writer reached. On the face this would seem to be a sensible point of view. No less a luminary than John Farnam...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for October 11, 2017

  It’s Wednesday, which means a new collection of great information to make your life safer and more secure! An easy way to carry medical gear On Monday I suggested that everyone — regardless of whether they carry a gun or not — should always have the ability to treat trauma that causes massive blood loss. There are a number of ways you can carry lifesaving medical gear on a daily basis, and one of the more popular ways is to carry a kit around your ankle. Short Barrel Shepherd tried out s...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for August 30, 2017

  What’s in the Hump Day Reading List this week? A variety of articles on self defense, preparedness, safety, and responsibility — all aimed at helping you live a more resilient and happy life!   The unseen danger of blunt force injuries There is a perception, particularly among those who have little exposure to actual violence, that empty hands aren’t really dangerous — at least, “not like a knife or a gun.” In reality blunt force, from a punch or a fall, is often deadly. In this...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for August 23, 2017

  It’s the world-famous Hump Day Reading list! More great information this week, perfect for sharing with others.   Revolvers, prepping, and more! I recently had the chance to sit down and talk with Lloyd Bailey, host of The Armed Lutheran podcast. We talked, of course, about revolvers (and I get in one of my famous digs on the 1911 and its creator), as well as prepping, teaching, and a few other tidbits — including The Tactical Hippie! My segment starts about halfway through the hour sho...

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  There’s a difference between “infuriated” and “threatened”

  I’ve noticed a trend in the last year. More and more news stories are covering incidents where gun owners (usually with concealed carry licenses) use their firearms inappropriately or even recklessly. Along with this trend I’m also seeing more gun owners cheering them on, usually from a “get tough on criminals” point of view. As it happens, more of these people being convicted for their actions. Take, for instance, this case from Minnesota (which I think I shared in a Hump Day Reading Li...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for July 12, 2017

  Gosh, it’s been a couple of weeks since I put together a Hump Day Reading List. I apologize for the break, but life sometimes intrudes. Let’s get back to it with a pile of interesting and informative articles!   This is the very illustration of “negative outcome” If you follow me on social media, you may remember my comments when this story broke last November. Briefly, this fellow saw someone stealing his Jeep, ran and got his Glock, and started cranking off rounds at the Jeep as...

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  Things people ask: “How do you write a book?”

  I was finishing up the manuscript for my 10th book this week when I received an email asking, in essence, how to go about writing a book. I don’t know that I’m very good at it yet, nor that anyone should follow my example, but I certainly have some experience under my belt! Every author works a little differently, and I think every author grows and evolves their approach over time. The steps necessary to get a book from the author’s head to your hands are pretty much the same for everyone,...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for June 7, 2017

  More great articles for you! This week, some tips for the new concealed carrier; what happens when preppers (or anyone else) goes overboard; how to coordinate defensive actions with others; yet another shooting that a flashlight could have prevented; a comprehensive look at women’s carry options; snubbies are making a comeback, and it’s noticed in an unusual place; pepper spray gets oversold — again; and finally, how to properly clean and prep a wound.   New to carrying a defensive fi...

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  What I carry: the Steyr S9-A1

  The other day I shared this video on Facebook. The video is by a friend of mine, Richard Johnson, who runs a website called Guns, Holsters and Gear. He reviewed the Steyr S9-A1, which is my concealed carry semi-auto of choice. In the Facebook comments, a fellow named Andy wanted to know about my gun. He asked if I’d ever blogged about my choice of the Steyr pistol; I checked my archives, and though I’ve mentioned it from time to time I never explained why I picked a decidedly non-mainstream...

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  Your Hump Day Reading List for May 24, 2017

  Another week and more quality articles for you to peruse! In this edition: a defensive encounter where the good guy did a lot of bad things; how to make your training more realistic; smart TV warning; what apartment burglars do; testing you and your gear over a weekend; dealing with disruptive airline passengers; a Sikh yoga instructor uses a revolver and wins; and why we harp about safety in force-on-force training.   Not something to emulate Lots of people shared this story on social medi...