A robbery gone well

Story with video from three cameras of two armed scumbags taking fire from a victim.  The two scumbags were tripping over one another trying to get away.  Don't mess with the elderly!

Funny, I've been told that the .380 ACP cartridge was too weak for defensive work -- more info from someone in the know.

How boaring

I found a video on an ARFCOM thread of a man shooting a pissed off charging boar with a .45 caliber 1911.  This a strong reminder of why handguns are poor at stopping dangerous flesh-and-blood things.  ***Warning: Graphic.  Lots of blood.*** -- turn it off after the first 20 seconds if you don't want to see blood spewing everywhere, but want to see the pig shrug off half a dozen rounds from close range.

A buddy and I once walked up on a huge boar in a field one day next to a jobsite; I had my 1911 in my hand and was aiming at it's head while it walked up to us within about six feet, curiously. After it got a gander at what we were, it wandered off back into the woods from where it came from, unimpressed, and I swear I heard it snort "Pffft! Sissies don't want nonna this!"

You've probably heard that .45 ACP knocks grown men clean off their feet with one shot up hill in the snow both ways, but that's clearly not the case even if you don't believe in physics. Keep shooting the beasty until it drops!! And when it comes to large, dangerous animals prone to charging, I would stick with rifles or arms that fire projectiles measured in ounces!

And sorry about the lite posting.  I spend about six hours in traffic today, and there may be much more of that in my future.

It's not safe for either side

Whether you are an average Joe just trying to have a civilized argument with your girlfriend or you're a homeless dude with a bitter streak, it's a dangerous world out there for the both of you.

Later in the evening, Jett said, the two men returned. The one who had asked for the dollar went to the driver’s side window and tried to stab the man with a knife. The driver got a gun from his console and shot the knife-wielding man in the chest.

Up until about eight to ten years ago, there were no homeless people in my area to speak of.  I don't live in Stafford, but I spend a lot of time there, and the amount of panhandlers and homeless camps here and in surrounding counties like Spotsylvania (Really?  There's a place called Spotsylvania?  Creeeeeepy!) has spiked dramatically.  The cops have been arresting them right and left, and my guess is because they've been getting more aggressive, but I can't confirm that.  It's just my opinion. 

I think that as more and more people fill the homeless camps and more people are panhandling on the side of the highways outside shopping centers, things get very competitive and the natural tendency is for aggression to go UP.  The more desperate people get, the more likely it is that they will resort to violence.  On the flipside of this powder keg is Joe and Jan Schmucketelli who just want to shop for discounted bulk diapers at Costco without getting knifed in the ribs over forty three dollars (Why do I suddenly hear Hank Jr?).  In this day and age, a quality reliable pistol with highly advanced ammunition can be had for less than a good DVD player, and they can be readily carried or stowed in the console of your Tahoe.  In the end you don't know who to trust these days, and any friendly window-side encounter over a few bucks can transform into something else entirely, so be cautious.

Stafford county, Virginia is not a "dangerous" or violent place, but bitter people are everywhere.  This thread is not for bashing the homeless -- indeed, it wasn't very long ago when a homeless man close to here did a very honorable thing, and that should be commended.  I'm more or less pointing out that there is danger in both camps.  The tightwad guy with no patience or tact who's loading azaleas into the back of his Honda -- he may be armed, so don't come back waving a kitchen knife in his face because he didn't hook you up with a five-spot.

Open Carry continues to be a non-issue

One individual's account of trying out Open Carry (OC).  There are of course the tactical ninja folks that pooh-pooh not concealing your weapon for one reason or another, but I've always been a big fan. 

The greatest advantage (for me) is comfort; IWB holsters are not nearly as comfy as a leather belt holster, and it's a pain in the ass to wear a jacket all the time.  And it's not only faster to draw from OC than from concealment, there's also less to go wrong with the draw.  Raise your hand if you've ever done concealed draws on a range and had your weapon snag on your clothing or bind up in your hand?  I have, plenty of times; and if you haven't, then you may not have spent much time on the range.  Or maybe I'm just a klutz.  That's a possibility too.  Another bonus is that lots of shooting academies teach from an open holster, not from concealment.  It blows my mind to read after action reviews of some academy where the shooter spend five days and 5,000 rounds shooting from a thigh holster made for Afghanistan operations, and not a carry holster made for WAWA operations. If you're going to war, then by all means, train for war.  If you're going to the mall, then train for going to the mall.

Also, draws and shooting should be practiced from non-traditional and non-static positions, which is easier if you don't have to sweep a jacket out of the way or rip up a shirt to get to your heater.  I'm going to call myself out as a hypocrite on this for the time being because I don't practice what I preach due to time constraints and other stuff, but I plan on getting into a realistic training tempo shortly.  It's important though to know that attacks on people don't generally look like what they do on the CCW shows on TV.  What few fights I've been into never started or ended with me facing an opponent at 7 to 15 yards, giving me time to think; actually, I can't recall a single time where I wasn't on the ground and already the recipient of several blows before I even knew I was in a fight.  This is exactly the argument against OC though, in that a scumbag(s) will take your gun before you know they're there, but I tend to disagree on the likelihood of that happening.  I was far less paranoid back then and had no sense of my surroundings, which is paramount to maintaining a good defense.  I think carrying a weapon necessarily makes me conscious of what's going on around me, and much more so when I'm OCing.

One day in near future I hope to have some realistic training under my belt that includes both CCW and OC.  I'm thinking of something more hands on than what's offered at a traditional range, something resembling this:


I don't plan on ever fighting a drug dealer in the car, specifically because I don't allow drug dealers in my car and am not a LEO, but it is realistic to train for fighting in close quarters.  Training to draw on an approaching scumbag at a mock-up ATM is good too, but there are other areas to improve on.  I also think that those who have never OCed before owe it to themselves to try it out at least temporarily so that they may learn something.  Again, OC makes you think all the more about what is going on around you, and that's more valuable to your defense than any shooting you might do, and you may be surprised that no one around you even notices you're armed.

Repelling boarders

Finally we see what a few guys with AR rifles can do when pirates try to board their vessel. It's a frickin' turkey shoot.




They even gave the pirates the courtesy of warning shots and they still tried to take the ship. Just after the 2 minute mark you can hear incoming rounds from other pirates.

Spacial profiling

Old NFO has a post regarding a LEO's instincts and perception while looking for scumbags, and something from that conversation with said LEO brought back a memory of mine from a few years back. The quote from Old NFO's post that provoked the memory:

"Another point he made is he picks out a lot of CCW people by their attention to their surroundings and having one hand free at all times. He said paying attention will, many times 'cue' him to that person, and he goes down his mental checklist, then goes back to scanning for the perps. He said the perps tend to be much more furtive, and once he sees one, he starts looking for others (as most gangbangers tend to run in groups of at least three or more)... "

I am hyper aware of my surroundings when I'm out and about, and I didn't get that way because I get a kick out of it. I learned to instinctively, and this is a total recall of a non-incident that I feel would have gone differently had I not been paying attention to my personal space that led me to be this way:

It was approximately five or six years ago, because I recall only being out with my wife -- no kids. I was armed to the teeth, as per the usual, and my wife and I had stopped at a McDonald's for some grease induced sickness before heading out to who knows where. This particular McDonald's is the oldest one in town; really, Adam and Eve used to get McFish sandwiches and apple pies from this place, it's that old, and the local vagrants that live in the nearby woods come out to panhandle in this area now as it's in the center of town.

I'm paranoid of McDonald's anyways because when I was in High School I worked at a little McDonalds for about two months, and my old manager was shot in the back by two scumbags who held up another McDonalds across town the same week I quit. She was in the process of emptying the cash drawers when they shot her, and fortunately she survived.

Anyhow, we're waiting for the food to cook as we have already paid, and there's only about half a dozen people in the restaurant at the moment, when this thuggish looking teenager comes in the door on the East side of the building. He doesn't look at the menu or even enter the store at all; he walks just inside the door and steps one step to the side and with a poker face watches the two or three people ordering at the register for a couple of minutes. I noticed him immediately and didn't like the look of him, and I thought I had seen him with two other teens walking around outside when we first got there. Well, as soon as I thought it one of the other teens walks in from the West door, a female, and she quickly makes her way to the restrooms. A minute or two later the third teen -- also thuggish looking -- comes in the West door and steps off to the side like the first kid and is watching the people in line.

The alarm bells are so loud in my head I wondered if anyone else could hear them. Both teens stood there like statues at the doorway for about three minutes, the whole time closely watching the people at the registers, and I was trying my hardest to burn holes through their skulls with lazer beams from my eyes. I had been sitting down when they first came in but then stood up, and they both noticed that I was gazing right at them the whole time, back and forth like a dog watching a tennis match. I didn't stop looking at them until they remembered that playstation tourney at their friend's house that they were late to, and they turned right around and went out the doors they had came in from, almost at the exact same moment. About thirty seconds later the chickeedee finished whatever she was doing in the bathroom (loading her frickin' Uzi, I'm convinced), and joined her buddies and left. My firm belief is that they were going to rob the place, and noticed that I wasn't one of the grass eaters like in all the other places they had robbed.

I can't say whether I would have been able to save the day or not, but the very second one of those kids pulled a weapon it would have been the Matrix lobby scene all over again. Since then I make it a point to watch what's going on whenever I'm outside of my house. LEOs like in Old NFO's post are perceptive because they have to be, but there's no reason at all why anyone else can't pay attention. That isn't an excuse to be a vigilante, but it does mean that you should know what's happening in the public space where you're at.

Carrying with kids

This video is the first I've ever seen on the subject of carrying a firearm while out and about with kids, which is something I deal with almost every day. I'm not about to make a video, but I'll take a minute or two to pour out my thoughts.

When most folks consider being armed in public and mentally rehearse how they would act if a squad of jihadi-joes in full shemagh attacked the Piggly Wiggly they're shopping in, they no doubt think their reaction is going to be all VTAC and highspeed. That's all fine and great, and practicing the tactical reload stuff with that drop leg rig while maintaining cover and full magazine retention is awesome, but the reality is that a great deal of folks are not in the realm of any of that. I'm a full on walking arsenal when I go out for the day with my family, and train fairly often, and I can say with absolute certainty that I have zero use for the Jack Bauer stuff. But I live in a different world.

First thing to point out about being out with kids, especially little children or toddlers, is that your sidearm may not (probably won't be) accessible at all times. You can have the finest and fastest kydex that money can buy concealed with an awesome Arc'teryx jacket, and you won't be able to get to it when the arm you typically draw with is holding a 20 lb bag of drool. You can carry your kid on the opposite hip from your weapon, but sooner or later you're going to switch arms for some reason, probably when you're fishing for your keys three steps from your car (when you're potentially the most vulnerable to predatory scumbags), and there you are basically unarmed. Practicing drawing with your support hand is good to go, and I would encourage learning to do that, but having a separate small auto or revolver available for your support hand would be even better. It's almost as if J-frames and Kel-Tecs were designed to ride comfortably in a pocket for this specific reason; I don't know and I can't say for sure.

To complicate things: you're holding your kid with your support arm so that your shooting arm is free to access your heater in case the Hostiles decide to make your day, but didn't you walk into that store to buy something? Which hand were you planning on carrying that case of Keystone Light in? Where are your car keys? Are you alone, or do you have a spouse or family member with you? Do you only have one kid?

That last point is crucial for folks like me; I have three toddlers and a baby, and when I'm alone with them it can be really tough. When I go to the store, I have one shopping cart completely dedicated to kid transport, and I still have one on the ground holding my hand. If I need to pick up lots of stuff, I'll have two carts. Two or three kids is basically just as hard because you have to look after them first and foremost. And to further muddy the water, all that "grabbing cover" and "limiting your exposure" that you learned about during that weekend gunfighting academy -- are you really going to break from your stroller to find cover, leaving your heathen spawn crying in the middle of the parking lot or medicine aisle? Oh yeah, we can't do that, huh? Now think about this hard: if you are unfortunate enough to end up in a gunfight with some banger while you're near your kids, are you going to cover them with your body or move away to try and draw fire away from them (assuming that in the moment you have mental ability to calculate the choice)? I've thought about it, and in the end I find the answer to be in what bodyguards do in a protective detail. They put their body in between who they're protecting and whatever the biggest threat is. I was watching a show on the Secret Service on NatGeo or something the other day, and one agent explained how they were trained to "get big" when taking fire in order to catch more incoming rounds with their body; and sure enough, while showing the video playback from when Hinkley tried to shoot Reagan, one agent did just that at the first crack of the assassin's gun, making himself a larger target. Amazing. That agent absorbed a round that could very well have ended Reagan's life. I note too that "getting big" is the opposite of military and other doctrine on surviving a gunfight, which teaches you to "get small." So there's that to think about.

Next up to talk about is awareness. This is even more important when you have distractions, like the screaming thing in the stroller you're pushing. I always always always have a plan when I leave a store, and the car keys are already out and in my hand before crossing the parking lot or wherever. Standing there in the dark next to your car is not the time to be fumbling with anything, so be ready before you walk out. The kids are the very first priority; get them in the car first, and then load your stuff. If there's some sort of danger, you can drive off without your stuff. It's just stuff and can be replaced. Pay attention to your surroundings. One good thing about having kids is that no yayhoos approach me anymore to ask for smokes or money; I guess they assume I have none because I just spent all mine on the visible boxes of diapers.

When I go out with the kids without my wife to say a mall or large store, I park right next to a shopping cart return with at least one cart, and I typically park way out in the middle of the parking lot where there's no other cars around. Scumbags use cover and concealment, and I'd rather see them coming from far off. Being next to a cart return means I don't have to wander away from the car to return it when I'm done. If I'm carrying a kid in one arm and stuff in the other, the kid goes on the support arm side because I'll drop whatever is in my strong side hand if I need to. When getting gas, or at any time when the kids are in the vehicle and I'm not, all the doors are unlocked, that way I can get in from any part of the vehicle if I need to. I will not get into an argument or pissing match with anyone when out with my family (or by myself; it's good policy). I don't need to prove that I'm a man, so I'm not going to risk getting into a fistfight where I can potentially be knocked out, allowing the dude who hit me to ride off in my car with my kids. This is doubly true if you have a kid in one of the slings the lady in the linked video has. I know there are some who have their heart set on knife fighting their way through the Tangos because they ran their FDE pistol dry stacking bodies, but try that with your son in an ERGO and you'll be sorry. The fist fight scenario is a heavy argument to throw at naysayers who tell you you don't need a gun because a real man only needs his hands. A real man would see clearly that fighting while holding a child is a no-go. On top of that, I know highly trained, physically fit, bona fide badass and very large men that have been maimed by one lucky punch that got through and connected, and that ain't gonna be me.

Violent flash mobs: I haven't heard about any of these in awhile, but they present a challenge if you have kids. With one kid, you can probably pick them up and run off -- hopefully. If you're alone with two or more kids, that's not going to be an option, so I'm of the opinion that my kids are going to get stuffed in a closet or car or off the beaten path somewhere while I try to fend off any savages. If it comes down to it, I hope one shot would be all it takes to disperse the crowd, but I think being prepared for the worst is important. That definitely wouldn't be the time I'd want to be standing there with a J-frame and five extra rounds on a stripper clip. A good fighting auto is a must, with at least one spare reload; two if I'm going out for the day and I have adequate time to prepare.

Lastly, unless I'm in the store, you won't finding me dickering around with my cellphone. I'm paying attention to everything, and I don't tarry in parking lots to browse facebook on my phone or call my mom about the burn on my finger. I can do that at home. I think when my kids are a little older, we'll discuss how to work as a team when out and about, with a "code word" or other indicator that there's danger or to leave the area. By then at least some of my kids will be a bit more useful. Right now, my oldest is the only one who can get the seatbelt clicked on her own, while everyone else needs help for everything.

(H/T The Firearm Blog)

An unfortunate series of events

I found this story of a trial in the wake of a bizarre shooting in Atlanta off the ARFCOM GD. Whoa, dude!

Long story short is that a man who was just ambushed in a gunfight ended up shooting a responding cop who thought he was a bad guy. The comments in the article are against the man who is being charged, though I note that they are all cops. The main argument is that the guy charged - the one who shot the cop, named Thomas - is a scumbag because the cop was in uniform and he should have known that he was a cop, not a badguy.

While I don't support people who shoot cops, based on the information in the article I have give the benefit of the doubt to Thomas because it does sound to me like this was a case of "fog of war" mixed with unusual circumstances. Think of these key items:

- Thomas has no criminal history, and was in the process of conducting a lawful business transaction while legally carrying his sidearm for defense.
- He considered that he was in danger of a coordinated attack, and very shortly afterwords was ambushed by several men, one of whom had a firearm and engaged him in a gunfight.
- He was fleeing from armed scumbags when, moments later and while he was in the process of summoning law enforcement for help, a man appearing in a police uniform jumps out of a personal vehicle -- not a police cruiser(s) with flashing lights -- and points a gun at him.
- The man in a police uniform had visible tattoos covering his arms.

The tattoos aren't indicting on their own, sure, but ask yourself this: Would a reasonable man -- who was actively fleeing from a coordinated armed attack where he exchanged gunfire, and that he believed was still in process -- think that a man suddenly appearing, in a police uniform, before the police are even called, be in fact police? The cop was a really real law enforcement officer who happened to still be in uniform after his shift was over, and he was almost right on top of where the shooting was and heard the gunfire, but instead of being in a police cruiser with a partner and/or backup he was in a shiny Tahoe with tinted windows. What would you think? Have you not heard of scumbags impersonating police officers in order to rob and kill their rivals and victims? I have; and that's why, if I were a juror on this trial, I would see reasonable doubt.

What do you think?

Self defense story of the day

In Philadelphia.

A 65-year-old man riding his bicycle along a Berks County trail became the target of three teenage boys Wednesday morning.

Soon the teens became the target of the cyclist, according to Cumru Township
Police.

Fortunately, the victim survived. Unfortunately, one of the teens was killed, but such is the way of being a scumbag; it's an occupational hazard.

Open Carry in Detroit

Several residents note that carrying openly has been a deterrent against scumbags. There's also the fudd police chief noting that he doesn't have a "quarrel" with people carrying lawfully, and then goes on to paint these lawful residents as being part of the problem of shootouts in the streets. Perhaps if Detroit's police chief did a better job of preventing the shootouts, residents wouldn't feel they need to carry guns for protection.

I love this part:

Over a 24-hour span beginning Aug. 12, seven people were shot to death and nine others wounded. That prompted Mayor Dave Bing to issue a "call to action" to city residents to take a stand against crime.

By "taking a stand", I presume the mayor and his police chief mean to be quick on the cellphone when they're victimized, or to take good notes and be a better witness. What a joke.

"Be vigilant!!"

"Take a stand!!!"

"We need the citizens help!!!"

My question is: how? How does a man or woman do any of those things without the means to? It seems to me that the people the article is talking about have figured it out on their own, and the mayor and the chief are whimpering about it. Good.

Humans use tools to solve problems

Sometimes all it takes is the right tool to find the solution to a problem, such as locating a defensive shotgunning course in NOVA.

A real-life self defense with a gun story

I found this story at Light seeking a subject about the author's use of his firearm to stop an attack just before it started. It gave me chills:

"As the kids reached the front doors of my car, they turned to face it from both sides. I turned to look at the one on my left, made eye contact, raised my gun ever so slightly. His eyes widened, and he turned to run. I then looked to my right, and saw what was in the hand of the kid on the other side of the car. An ASP ."

I point out that it was his observance of his surroundings that was key to preventing the initiation of the attack; the pistol he had drawn played its part, but may not have been as effective, if at all, had the scumbag busted the window before he had noticed that he was a target.

Also, be sure to read his list of key factors. I take #2 to be extremely common -- "It was in what is considered to be a safe area. A 'good part' of town." That right there is not only important for those who carry a sidearm, but it has major weight when you're talking to someone who is on the fence about carrying. I have found in conversation that people are blissfully unaware how scumbags look for "nice" neighborhoods and "safe" towns to commit their scumbaggery. This also goes against the argument that "I only carry when I'm going to a bad area." I got news for you, there's no such thing as a safe place in this world.

I live in a "safe" area, in a state known for the crime level to be below the national average, and that doesn't keep the crazies from stabbetry or lunatics from robbery. Be prepared. Always.

One shot, one kill

My brother emailed this video to me of a convenience store owner in Turkey who shoots a knife wielding attacker. This video is somewhat graphic, as the attacker slashes a man's throat and repeatedly slashes at two other men. ***Warning: NSFW -- Graphic***



The store owner takes his sweet time getting his pistol into play, but when he does he makes a fatal (I think) single shot on a moving target after being stabbed and hacked. Pretty impressive. I think that keeping your sidearm in condition one on your person at all times is the way to go.

Assault Thingy shootout

Jacksonville police said Monday that it was an AK-47 assault rifle in the hands of a man who was shot Sunday morning by an off-duty officer as he tried to rob a Family Dollar store.

The off-duty cop shot the scumbag with an AR15, thus ending the debate about which rifle is more awesomer. Good shoot!

Random thoughts about stick fighting

I see advertised time and time again in self defense schools about using a cane as a weapon, but I rarely see anyone using a cane these days. It doesn't make sense to me to learn tactics for a weapon that hardly anyone carries, but it did get me thinking. I see senior folks walking in subdivisions every morning, and most of them are carrying a good sized sturdy stick. This isn't something I see every once in awhile, either; literally I see some stick carrying old dude with an angry look on his face at least once a week, and I have to say that if I were a scumbag, it would be a deterrent. I'm a physically capable individual with no doubts that I could overcome someone twice my age if they were unarmed, but I would be hesitant enough to attack a potential Korean war veteran with a nasty case of untreated PTSD and a treated hickory stick.

So, what about stick tactics?

Lion, tiger, and bear medicine

On the left hand side of this article is a list of official reports from the Deputies that shot and killed all those animals in Ohio during the Exotic Animal Apocalypse. It's an extremely fascinating read. There were detectives shooting tigers with buckshot, and SRT guys shooting everything with M4s.

If I ever get to go on a safari to hunt the big five, I'll do my best to convince the government to let me take my AR instead of something larger than .375 caliber!

Hat Tip to Hell in a Handbasket.

Arming up for the Exotic Animal Apocalypse

I hadn't paid any attention to the exotic animals running loose around Ohio until yesterday afternoon when I walked in the door. My wife, whom I love more than life itself, was watching the news and they were showing the 18 Bengal tigers and at least one African lion that were killed by various police units in the area, which got me thinking about whether or not this incident will spark new dialog in proper weaponry to deal with the next Exotic Animal Apocalypse.

Think about it. Gunnies the world over constantly prepare for the fictional zombie threat -- which really is just a humorous way of preparing for the end of the world -- and bicker and argue about what firearms would be the best tool to have to efficiently dispatch them; in the wake of this exotic animal roundup I can picture such arguments taking place at my local Ganderous Mountainous. Cops may just start keeping a 45-70 Marlin in the trunk next to their AR that they're probably never going to use, and I bet savy armchair warriors are going to start doing the same.

People generally pay a shit-ton for the chance to fly to another continent and hunt these animals. I wonder if the cops that shot them will have the option to keep what they killed; it would be a shame to incinerate them. I'm sure that the techniques and shot placement(s) were not up to Craig Boddington's standards, but there's little to be said about it considering that the police were properly armed for lighter and thinner skinned animals when they were asked to respond without preparation.

And while we're on the subject, good on them for their bravery. Think about being a cop accustomed to responding day after day to domestic violence calls, shoplifters, and a drunk who parked his car at speed into the first floor of a retirement home, and then getting the call to take down dozens of 400 lb lions and tigers armed with a pistol or 5.56mm rifle. Sounds terrifying to me. One cop even killed a black bear with one shot from his issued weapon. Good shooting!

Reality check

So you and your wife are walking back from charity work at the local homeless shelter one night and a thuggish looking scumbag with "FELON" tattooed on his forehead in Arial Bold font jumps out from an alley way 15 yards away, full stop, holding a knife in one hand and a box of condoms in the other. He yells "This is a stickup and a rape and a murder! Give me your wife, your money, and your car keys or I'll kill you both dead with this here bowie knife!!". . . .allowing you ample time to think and draw your sidearm and get into that Isosceles stance you learned about on the range. Scumbag takes a single step offering you the chance to blow him away with your fang-face patriot-ninja-warrior ammo and save the day.

Sadly, lethal force encounters don't usually look like that as far as I can tell. Here is a real example of a lethal force encounter that fortunately resulted in not only no fatalities, but justice served as the scumbag in question went back to prison for the rest of his life ***Warning: Graphic pictures near the end of the thread*** -- My CCW Shooting AAR.

The victim was maimed forever from the encounter, and the scumbag was dumb enough to leave a prominent blood trail from the crime scene to his bed, complete with bloody weapon containing empty shell casings. All in all, though, it could have been a lot worse. The victim was never charged with any crime, got his weapon and personal belongings back (after two years! Yikes!), and mostly recovered. Some of the things that stand out from this story to me are that this is a specific example of a grip safety causing a defensive weapon not to fire at the precise moment it needs to, and also that appendix carry would have not only allowed a more covert draw by the victim, but also may have prevented the scumbag from discovering the empty holster, thus arousing suspicion. Also, even though it wasn't needed in this fight, a spare loaded magazine is definitely something that you should carry.

I post this story because there are armed folks out there -- good people, mind you -- that it seems can't wait to get into a situation where they take out the bad guy and save the day, going home victorious knowing they did the world a service. There are those also who are cluelessly armed and under prepared. This story is a stark reminder of why I try my best to live a life of avoidance, de-escalation, and deterrence in order to not end up in a situation like this one, but if trouble does find me, that I'm prepared and focused.

Fictitious guns save lives

I am in contact with the LGBT unit of the police department to file a report. But I’ve thought a lot about the turning point of the situation — the fact that one of them thought that I might have a gun. None of them said, “There’s a law against antigay hate crimes!” That wasn’t the deterrent. It was the possibility that I might have had a gun that saved my life Friday night.

I admit that I chuckled a bit at that line. Good for him that he didn't get his head kicked in; he was fortunate. Scumbags know that laws can be broken without too much of a problem; but that part about getting a hole punched through their head by their victim -- that is a deterent, now isn't it!

H/T to The Agitator

For the 10mm lovers

Wilson Combat has 10mm ammo that's not the watered down stuff that you see in Gander Mountain. Three different weights available: 140 grain, 155 grain, and 180 grain ammo.

I don't have a 10mm any more -- something I intend to remedy in the future -- but if I did I would be trying this ammo for self defense.