Who's At The Door?!

Awareness is especially important at night, and particularly when you have "visitors" coming to the door at odd hours.  Those hours that you relax from a hard day before you turn in for the night is not the time to let your guard down.  We live in an ever-changing and dangerous world, and the criminals are not taking a break or finding ways to let their victims off the hook.

As shown in the video below, a lone female coming to the door can be as innocent as someone needing your help, to a setup for an ambush and home invasion by armed thugs.  Take a look...

Some things that you can do to prevent this type of situation:

• Beef up your entryway hardware.  Have good deadbolts, hinge guards, and bolt guards.
• Always be thinking ahead.  Be that "Wargaming Sheepdog" who thinks about all the possibilities and then has already thought of how to deal with those possible scenarios.
• Never open the door to unexpected strangers, especially late at night.  Look through the peep-hole and ask who they are and what they want.
• Consider a door-bell style or porch mounted security camera that allows you to see them and ask who they are.  Turn the camera's record feature to "on."
• Consider having pepper spray or even a firearm close by or preferably in hand.  At the very least, have a powerful tactical flashlight in hand.
• If you have an alarm system, consider mounting a panic button near the entryways.  Most alarm entry keypads have a panic button built in.
• There is no law stating that you have to answer the door.  Just don't answer.

Armor Concepts

Be aware, be cautious and think before opening your door at night, and have a plan for how to deal with a potential home invasion.

Support the NRA and Protect Our 2nd Amendment Rights!

NRA Membership is Affordable! 

A one-year regular membership is just $30.00 per year, with savings for multiple years or life memberships.

A full membership also includes your choice of magazine subscriptions to the most informative firearms publications available today.

Additional insurance and other great benefits. 

Support the NRA through your membership.  JOIN THE NRA TODAY. 

You can save on a regular annual membership by joining for multiple years.  A one-year membership just $30.00.  JOIN TODAY.

Paintball Guns as a Training and Self Defense Tactic

Let me just say up front:  Colorado law gives me criminal and civil immunity from prosecution should I decide to use deadly force in the event of a home invasion.  In a home invasion scenario, I will take full advantage of the legal protections afforded to me by law.  The main objective of any self-defense method is to stop the attack, and my philosophy is to stop the attack and protect my family by the most effective means available to me at the time.  For me, that method of self-defense includes having ready firearms, being trained to use them, and then employ them where needed. 

But not all people are comfortable having firearms in their homes, and not everyone is comfortable shooting firearms.  That is fine.  The methods that are right for me are not necessarily the methods that are right for others, and I respect that.  I wrote an article a while back on "Principles versus Tactics" to explain that you have to decide what you are willing to do in a particular situation, then for you to decide how you will accomplish that.

It is also important that I maintain my training and proficiency in my primary self-defense tool as well as a variety of other self-defense methods that I may need to employ to stop an attack.  It is not always time or cost effective to schedule trips to the range to expend live ammunition.  There are a variety of training methods out there that I use, including dry firing with the LASR App System, and using non-lethal projectile shooting tools such as paintball to help build the muscle memory involved in firearms operation, and that allows you to actually practice tactics with moving targets in a safe environment.

There are many other self-defense and training tools out there, but in my testing, I have found one in particular that I am writing about today offers both a good training tool and a good home defense tool, especially for folks who just aren't comfortable with having firearms in their homes.

Paintball as a Training Tool:

When it comes to training for tactics, having the ability to shoot at moving targets, and in return being shot at by moving targets offers more realism into actual scenarios that you may encounter.  This is a type of training often referred to as "force on force" training and is more effective at helping you to learn tactics and gun handling skills under pressure than simply shooting at static targets.  The type of training tools to achieve the desired proficiency outcomes is an important aspect to consider, however.  Whereas airsoft tends to use guns that emulate actual weapons functionality, such as forcing you to perform magazine changes, they offer little, in comparison to paintball, in the "pain" incentive to force you to be more tactfully minded to prevent from being shot.  While I have found airsoft to be a great training tool for indoor close quarters training, paintball offers a more fast-paced alternative to outdoor and longer range scenarios.  Since the incentive "not to get shot" is higher with paintball, the "stress inoculation" component obtained provides a more realistic force on force training as well.

Paintball as a Group Bonding Tool:

Putting on my prepper hat for a moment: Being able to train with your family, members of a team that you are prepping with, or even just the people you work with has its benefits also.  Paintball fields seem to be popping up all over the place.  Here in Colorado, "woodsball" is a very popular activity, as we have our beautiful mountains and forests in which to play games, and those areas offer a wide variety of terrains and scenarios.  Grab your bio-degradable paintball ammo and head for the hills!  Paintball has become very popular for families and groups to include as part of a camping trip, as well as for groups of co-workers to plan team-building events. 

Paintball as a Home Defense Tool:

In my recent testing, I have been quite impressed with the types of non-lethal self-defense paintball ammunition on the market today.  In addition to regular paintballs, you can also purchase pepper balls that contain pepper spray, hard rubber balls, PVC nylon balls, and even glass balls containing iron dust for use in paintball guns as a self-defense tool.  In my testing with various materials used as targets, I have seen the PVC Riot Balls, for example, cause enough damage on multiple thicknesses of heavy cardboard and drywall to be very plausible as a self-defense method.  I am awaiting a shipment from Bulls Breaker Balls in South Africa so that I can test their latest product, but my research so far indicates that that product has promise as a self-defense ammunition as well.

Paintball Gun Recommendations:

Hands down, the Tippmann A5 is my personal recommendation.  The Tippmann A5 is sort of the "Ruger 10/22" of the paintball gun world in that accessories, modifications, air supply variations, upgrades, and spare parts are so plentiful and widely marketed, that this gun can be personalized very easily.  This gun is extremely easy to work on and maintain, and there are a plethora of YouTube videos out there to give you advice and instruction.  I also prefer the Tippmann A5 simply because of the "Cyclone" feed system that has shown to be extremely reliable, and saves the expense of having to buy an add-on electric hopper, or some other feeding system, ta make the gun run consistently and reliably.  The Tippmann A5 also uses the larger 20+ oz CO2 and 3,000psi High-Pressure Air (HPA) supplies, which allows for larger capacities and more shots.  Reusable CO2 canisters are relatively inexpensive to purchase and fill, and fairly easy to find refill stations.  HPA refill equipment is becoming more readily available and inexpensive, and HPA is said to actually be better on paintball gun internals and more consistently shooting in a variety of environmental conditions (temperatures) than CO2.

My home-defense Tippmann A5 is modified with a buttstock, red dot sight, Vortex magazine conversion kit, and Flatline Barrel.  The magazine conversion is inexpensive and was very simple to install.  Instead of a hopper that is now in the way, I have the ability to load 20-round magazines with a variety of ammunition types.  I have the red dot sight set up for very close engagements, zeroed for 21 feet, a typical distance of encounter within my home.  I have the velocity set at around 300fps, which is enough velocity to be effective, but yet low enough to help prolong the life of the gun internal valves and o-rings.  The CO2 supply is a 24oz external cylinder that is screwed in, but not fully, so as to prevent leakages, but still be on the gun so that it can be quickly screwed in the remaining turn or two to fully charge the gun when needed.  The ready condition of this gun also includes a fully loaded magazine in the gun and four spare fully loaded magazines nearby. 

For those of you who prefer more of a "handgun" type of platform, there are two front-runners out there.  The Tippmann TiPX, and the Tiberius T8.1.  In fact, the Tippmann TiPX is used as the manufacturing model for the SALT Supply Pepper Gun, as those models are actually manufactured by Tippmann, and then sold as a self-defense weapon.  Both the Tippmann and Tiberius are .68 caliber paintball guns, an important factor when choosing a caliber for your paintball ammunition.  68 caliber is the most readily available when choosing actual self-defense rounds, and it has more capability as a self-defense caliber (in my humble opinion) than the smaller paintball calibers.  Both also use the smaller 12-gram CO2 cartridge for the air supply.  These cartridges are very inexpensive to buy in large quantities but have very limited capacity when shooting.  I recommend the handgun platform as a backup, but not as a primary defense tool.

My personal preference (for the handgun platform) is the Tiberius T8.1.  The main reason I chose the Tiberius model is because the CO2 cartridge and the paintball rounds are both contained within the magazine.  That means that will very magazine reload, you are getting a fresh CO2 canister as well as more ammunition.  These paintball pistols only fire 10 or so rounds per paintballs CO2 cartridge, so being able to quickly reload both ammunition and CO2 quickly is extremely important in a self-defense scenario.  I also chose the Tiberius model because it comes ready to go out of the box with the ability to load and shoot the new "First Strike" shaped paintball rounds, which come in both paint and solid self-defense rounds.

A Word on Airguns/Airsoft for Self Defense:

Airsoft guns are NOT self-defense tools.  Period.  They may offer a half-second distraction so that you can flee and go find another weapon, but they will not stop an attack.  There is a chance that brandishing that airsoft gun will give the bad guys pause, but they will soon see that orange tip and know that you do not have the ability to do them any harm at that particular moment. Other air guns, such as pellet guns, may have the ability to cause minor injury or a momentary distraction, but again (in my humble opinion), pellet guns just are not made to be self-defense tools.  There are varying opinions about that out there, certainly, the video below explains some ideas on the subject.

Wrapping It All UP!

I believe in firearms as the most effective defensive measure in the event of a home invasion. Period!  Violent criminals only understand one thing: Force.  Speed, surprise, violence of action, and a determination to win will help you prevail against evil.  I always have a firearm at the ready at various places in my home and am ready to employ the firearms as a defensive measure all the time, but I also have non-lethal tools such as pepper spray and paintball guns that I see as viable options in home defense scenarios.  

Not everyone is comfortable with having firearms in their homes and would like a non-lethal measure to stop or at least slow down an attack.  Paintball guns offer a viable self-defense alternative, in my opinion.  There are a variety of inexpensive and reliable paintball guns out there, including the Tippmann A5 and Tiberius T8.1 guns, that can easily be adapted and customized for home defense use.  But whatever tool or tactic you choose, you must be familiar with the operation and maintenance of that tool, be familiar with its capabilities, and above all practice using them in order to be effective.

Acceptable Accuracy - Next Level Training

Bullseye discipline shooting and defensive shooting are very different with regards to the dynamics involved (obviously), but also in what is referred to as acceptable accuracy.  As Mike mentions in the video, putting holes in a small group on paper targets for a score is a lot different than putting effective rounds into a bad guy to stop a threat.   This video provides a pretty good discussion of the difference between bullseye accuracy and defensive (combat) accuracy.  The idea is to stop the threat.  More hits to an acceptable level of accuracy within an acceptable are (i.e. "center mass") creates more likelihood of incapacitating a threat.

I have worked with defensive shooting instructors who espouse the "other" theory of defensive shooting, that of putting all defensive shots into nearly the same place.  The idea of that philosophy is to create a larger wound cavity in a single place, and a single vital organ.  And then there are others who believe that shooting at a faster cadence, placing more rounds on the target with the highest delivery speed that will allow for accuracy, will be more effective in stopping a threat.  In other words: Putting all shots into as close to a single hole as possible, versus spreading more shots out over a critical area.

Armor Concepts

But I personally adhere to and teach the philosophy of combat accuracy with a greater shooting cadence versus the idea of trying to put defensive shots all in the same hole. Getting a lot of shots off faster, but still having the marksmanship to put them all in the acceptable accuracy zones (in my humble opinion) will increase the likelihood of putting rounds into vital areas and stop the threat.

Whichever you decide to use, remember to practice, practice practice.  Practice both and see which one works for you.  Remember: In a crisis situation, you will never rise to super-star performance.  You will always fall back to your level of training.

"Evil" Rifle Features - Hand Grips

Why am I showing a video of rifles being modified to comply with California gun laws? Because with all the new talk about gun control, California is being looked at as the model for gun laws for the rest of the country. The sheer nonsense and poorly thought-out reasoning of all this is likely coming to a state/city near you, so I wanted to use their example to give you a preview of things to come. California is the home of some of the most Draconian and worthless gun laws in the nation, but it's not surprising that other states, in their haste to "do something," would quickly adapt their model.
There are various accounts in gun control lore about California Senator Diane Feinstein deciding what types of guns to try to ban simply by picking up a gun magazine and circling all the pictures of guns that had "scary" or "evil' features. Adjustable/foldable stocks, pistol grips, flash hiders, forward grips, detachable magazines, and even the infamous "barrel shroud" are all "features" of what she calls an "assault weapon" and all seem to make the gun more "shootier" to her. So she wants to ban these features. Actually, she wants to ban ALL guns. But that pesky U.S. Constitution keeps getting in the way.
“If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States, for an outright ban, picking up every one of them (every gun) Mr. and Mrs. America, turn ‘em all in. I would have done it.” - Diane Feinstein 
First off, these laws concerning firearms configuration are "engineered" by people who know nothing about firearms or firearms safety and are simply reacting to the fact that firearms are "scary" looking.  This is simply more of the "we gotta do SOMETHING" mentality, even if that something is meaningless or even dangerous.
The fact of the matter is that some of these modifications are just downright dangerous to the operator and those around him/her.  Things like certain handgrip modifications that make it easier to drop a rifle or fixed magazine modifications that make it more dangerous to clear certain types of firearms malfunctions all lend themselves to situations where people can get seriously hurt.  I'm not sure who the "experts" are that these people obtained when dreaming up these things, but I assure you that they just didn't think them through.  But I will discuss some of these modifications in more depth in separate posts.
So in this particular video, which mainly discusses "featureless rifles" and in particular different hand grips.  The issue with the handgrip, according to people like Diane Feinstein, is that it allows you to shoot the rifle "from the hip."  Really, Diane?  Is that your concern here? And I always thought that properly holding the rifle in a secure and safe manner would be a primary concern.  I want you to notice in this video how some of these grips just don't allow the operator to securely hold the rifle.  Dropping rifles is not what I call a safe practice.
If you don't have time to watch the whole video right now, at the very least, go to 12:55 in this video to listen to what Chris has to say about some of these ridiculous laws, and how they only penalize the law abiding.  Criminals and those with evil in their heart who want to shoot up Christmas parties, concerts, churches, or schools will not be following these laws.
Stay tuned for more information and more in-depth articles.  And stay involved!  Here in Colorado, we have a new legislative session coming up, not to mention the 2018 elections.  Now is not the time to go back to sleep.

Armor Concepts

Israeli Gun Handling Techniques

A few videos definitely worth watching.  The Israelis offer some different gun handling and tactical styles than what many of us in the U.S. are used to.  But I have a hard time discounting it when it's coming from an Israeli Special Forces instructor who has spent some time protecting his small country fighting the evilest people on the planet.

I'm going to practice these techniques and see how they work at my next pistol match.  A lot of what this guy shows seems to shave some valuable time off of the whole mechanical process for dealing with malfunctions, reloads, etc.

Another one worth watching.  In fact, I've watched this one a few times just to get some of the intricacies of the stances that he teaches.  These guys seem to have a very fast and efficient shooting style.

Israeli combat shooting with Masada Tactical - the audio is a little crappy at times due to the wind noise, but the techniques are interesting and worth a look.

VIDEO: Front Sight Focus...

Self defense is one thing that you will hear me preaching over and over.  And the use of firearms in your self defense repertoire is, in my opinion, the  most effective for what I am pretty sure we are about to face.  Being able to shoot effectively and accurately will save lives, as well as saving precious ammo.  Making every shot count will be a life saver!

Try these drills.  This method works! In all my years teaching firearms techniques, I have found that my students have the most difficulty with aiming because they really don't know where to put their focus.  Front sight focus is absolutely the key to having the ability to shoot consistently and accurately.

Your eyes have muscles and nerves that enable them to move and focus. Doing these drills builds muscle memory.  So don't be afraid to begin slowly.  By being slow and deliberate, you will do things the same way every time.   Doing these movements slowly and deliberately will cause your eye muscles to learn and "burn in" the desired motion and function.  This will allow you to begin speeding up these movements, and work up to acquiring your target more quickly.  You will find that by repetition,  you will be able to acquire targets more quickly, make defensive decisions more quickly, and shoot more accurately.

Shoot safely, be accurate!

Refuse to Be a Victim: Beware of Solicitors!

It’s late afternoon.  You are finally at home after a long day, and are relaxing on the couch. Someone comes to your front door.  You answer the door and this normal looking young man is there, and says that he represents a window company.  They are looking for homes in your neighborhood to install new energy saving windows, and then showcase your home as part of their advertising.  In return for allowing your home to be a showcase, you will get a significant cost savings on the project.  Nice looking guy.  Official looking clip-board, ID badge hanging from his neck, clean cut.  And this is such a good deal!  How can you pass this up?

This may be a legitimate sales call.  Or this may be a scam.

 

You are a little hesitant because perhaps you don’t want to start this type of major project right now, or maybe money is a little tight.  The sales pitch is now being laid on thicker and thicker to convince you that you really need to consider this. 

So the solicitor says:  “Can you give me a landline number?  My company will get in touch with you and explain the deal further.”

Did you catch the scam?  Before I tell you what it is, let me give you a hint and tell you that these scams are kind of like “sleight of hand” gimmicks in that one thing is used to distract you from the real purpose of the “mission” that this person is on.  And yes – I used the word “mission” on purpose to give you a hint.  Any thoughts yet?

The Scam:

OK – here it is.  This is possibly a reconnaissance mission.  Reconnaissance to look for targets for home invasion and/or burglary.  The thick sales pitch was a distraction from the other subtle things being asked, such as for you to give them a landline phone number.  And if you’re thinking about your house windows and energy savings, you aren’t thinking about looking for what other pieces of information this person is collecting during this visit.

First, by going door to door, our “salesman” gets to write down street addresses and house descriptions.  That official looking clipboard is for taking notes, after all.  A salesman writing down notes looks perfectly normal. 

They get to see if anyone is home at that time, they get to see who answers the door (man, woman, child), they can now tell which houses have dogs (as alerted by the doorbell), and they can also see which houses have alarm signs in their front yards (and/or stickers on the door).  If a person answers the door, besides seeing if an adult, man or woman, they can see what “type” of person it is: Stern, timid, mad, happy, geeky, forceful, easy to convince, skeptic, gullible, etc. 

All of these characteristics can help the thieves decide if that person will present a threat to them even if they are home during a potential home invasion.  They now also know what other threats to their success exist at that house.

Secondly, they asked specifically for a landline phone number.  Why do you suppose that is?  Well, if they have a street address, and can then associate a landline (hard wired) phone number to that address, they then have some pretty concrete exploitable information about your physical residence. 

Then the next part of the reconnaissance begins.  Several calls can be made to that landline to see if anyone is home at various times of day, find out who is home at those times (did an adult or children answer the phone?), and start putting together a pattern of the most opportune times for an invasion or burglary.  If someone answers, it is easy to fabricate a story for why they are calling.  It is also extremely easy to spoof the phone number for the caller ID, or simply make it appears as "Unknown." 

Associating a landline with a home with an alarm system also gives the thieves an opportunity to figure out which methods they need to use to defeat or circumvent the alarm.

Here's What You Can Do:

For starters, you are not obligated to answer your door.  But to help you decide whether or not to answer, consider installing a wide angle peep hole in your door so that you can see a wider area of your front entry area.

Only allow the adults in your house to answer the door.  Tell children that under no circumstances are they to open the door to anyone.

If you are going to answer the door, take a moment to compose yourself, put on your game face, and prepare yourself to question everything about this person standing at your doorstep.  You don’t need to verbalize every question, but don’t get so caught up in the sales pitch that you forget to keep asking yourself why they are here, what red flags should be going up, and what general suspicions you have about them.

Put a “No Soliciting” sign on your front door.  Where I live, it is against the law to make unannounced house sales calls like this if there is a “No Soliciting” sign posted.  Maybe this will keep them away and help avoid the whole situation entirely.  If it is a legitimate sales person, they know about the laws, and will probably honor it.  Criminals don’t know or care about laws.  If they won’t honor that “no Soliciting” sign, that should be a red flag.

Do NOT give them your home (landline) phone number under ANY circumstances.  I personally would be hesitant to even give them a cell phone number.  Ask for the company's phone number and tell them that YOU will initiate any call for service. 

Ask for more official identification (such as a driver’s license) to compare to that neat looking little ID badge they have hanging from their neck.  Write down who they are, what company they claim to be from, and even ask for a business card.  If they have no business cards, that should also be a red flag for you.

Answer their questions with conviction.  Don’t waffle or look like you are unsure of yourself.  But keep your answers short and direct.  Don’t give out information about you or your household.

If you are not interested in the sales pitch, state as such directly.  Again – tell them YOU will initiate contact with their company if services are desired, and after you have verified the legitimacy of their company.

After you close the door, write down everything you can remember about them.  Time, date, height, weight, race, hair color, clothing, what they were carrying, name from identification.  Were they on foot, or did they drive up in a vehicle?  If a vehicle, write down a description and license plate number, if able.  Did they seem nervous?  What was their general demeanor?

If you have an alarm system, explore whether or not cellular technology is available for the monitoring portion of the alarm, or consider switching to an alarm company that does offer cellular technology.  I have looked into the “SimpliSafe” alarm system, for example, and will be switching to that from ADT. (I will write a separate review once installed).

It may be a legitimate sales call, or they may be sizing you up for burglary or home invasion.  Absent your crystal ball or superpowers for predicting the future, you have no way of telling.  If it is for criminal purposes, you have to remember that they are sizing you up and doing risk analysis on you and your home.  They don’t want to get hurt “on the job” and they don’t want to go to jail.  It is your job to size them up also, try to see the red flags, and do your own risk analysis and threat management.

Ultimately, you need to do whatever is possible to make your home an undesirable target for them.  If you can get them to move on and eliminate you as a target quickly, then that is a very good thing.

Refuse to be a victim!

The Aurora Massacre: The Case For Armed Citizens

(And Why Gun Free Zones Don't Work)

This past week has certainly been one of tragedy.  My heartfelt prayers and thoughts certainly go out to the victims, the families and the people of my home town of Aurora, CO.  I was in high school when the Aurora Mall, where the theater is, was brand new. And the apartment of the alleged gunman is just down the street from where I went to junior high school.  The apartment evacuees were relocated to my old high school.  But what really is disappointing to me (not surprising, but disappointing), is that the gun control wonks are coming out of the woodwork to use the blood of these innocent victims as a means for forwarding their agenda.  So, since everyone else is “Monday morning quarterbacking” this massacre, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon as well. 

That theater was a “gun free zone.”  More massacres have been successfully carried out in gun free zones than at places where good people were allowed to carry their gun.  Virginia Tech, the 2008 Chicago Mall shooting, and Fort Hood, just to name a few, are stark examples of this point.  On the flip-side, just take a look at the New Life Church incident in Colorado Springs a few years ago.  The gunman was armed similarly to the Aurora shooter.  But an armed woman was present and took him down before he could cause more than only a few casualties.  I carry all the time for that very reason.

Without an armed person present, those people had ZERO chance.  With an armed person present, their chances sure as heck would have been greater than zero!

On a Facebook discussion thread there was a comment made that one armed person in that theater could not have stopped the gunman. That's a perfectly valid point.  While it may be true (that one armed person may not have stopped the gunman), one armed person would have distracted the gunman long enough to allow more people to escape, or for others to take action.   It doesn't take much to distract a gunman who is as narrowly focused as this guy was. He was focused on killing as many people as he could. What I am talking about here is the concept that I wrote about in a previous article of getting off of your "X" and putting the bad guy on his "X." The other concept alluded to here is what we in armed self-defense circles call “gaining the half-second advantage.”  If you can distract the bad guy for even half a second, you can at least do something to take swift action and change the outcome - hopefully to a good outcome.

Yes, he had body armor. But, as the media likes to spin things, they called it a "bullet proof vest."  There is no such thing.  Different levels of body armor can protect against certain levels of ballistic performance, but no body armor is completely bullet proof. And depending on what he had, it is quite possible that he only had a low level of ballistic protection.  This guy didn't seem to know a whole lot about guns, to be honest.  So it isn't a far leap to say that he probably knew even less about ballistic protection.  An armed person would have tried to at least penetrate the body armor, and if that didn’t work try for a more vulnerable area.  At that distance (within that theater - a movie theater is way less than 25 yards), a head shot with a handgun is not out of the question. A proficient person with a handgun could have stayed concealed just long enough to un-holster and get a well-aimed shot off, then move to become a huge distraction to the shooter and attempt to take him down.  Either way, if the gunman had someone shooting back at him, he wouldn’t have been trying to shoot the people who were trying to escape.  

This why I am an armed citizen

The bottom line here is that the gun control crowd has got to finally realize that gun-free zones DON’T work, and allowing citizens to practice their right of self-protection DOES work.  This has been proven time and again.  Most sheepdogs I know are well trained to keep moving, and find shots that have a low perceived penalty for a miss. The shooter's main threat at that point would be the moving sheepdog with the gun that is shooting at him, so he wouldn't dare turn his attention to anyone else. Many more people would then be able to escape.Top of Form

Bottom of Form

So what can you do to be more prepared?  Take some form of “Active Shooter Response” training.  Even if you don’t carry a gun, this type of training will give you a good foundation of things to think about to increase your chances of survival.  I took some of my training through the FEMA Independent Study Institute, and I refresh the training annually.  For those of you who do carry a concealed handgun, I also encourage you to keep up on your live-fire training and keep those skills sharp.  See my previous article about the need for continuous training to learn more ways to stay polished.

This was a horrible event.  But let’s not continue to enable future similar events with more criminal enabling “gun free zones” and this insane insistence on taking away people’s rights to self-defense.  If guns were banned, he would have found another way to cause harm.  As Charlton Heston once said:  

"Here's my credo. There are no good guns, There are no bad guns.  A gun in the hands of a bad man is a bad thing.  Any gun in the hands of a good man is no threat to anyone, except bad people."

 

Perceived Penalty For a Miss

A phrase that we often use in firearms training is the concept known as the “perceived penalty for a miss” (as in missed shot).  This idea of the perceived penalty for a missed shot can apply to any scenario in which you use a firearm, be it home defense, self-defense while out and about, or even while shooting targets at the range.  But for the context of this article, I will concentrate mainly on firearm use in home defense.

I am regularly on the lookout for news articles where firearms are used to save lives and protect property.  I recently came across an article about a man who shot a home invader, but then ended up accidentally shooting his wife as well.  This unfortunate incident clearly illustrates that in the course of defending our homes, not only are we responsible for the safety and protection of our families, but that we are also responsible for what happens as a result of our using deadly force as part of our home defense strategy.

Let me be perfectly clear about my own personal philosophy in this matter: Firearm ownership is an individual right that calls for individual responsibility.  I do not endorse in any way, shape, or form the legislating of every single aspect of firearm ownership.  Training, firearms storage, and safety are our individual responsibility as gun owners.  We already have thousands of laws governing firearms ownership – we don’t need any more.  They can’t even enforce the ones we have. 

We are individually responsible for taking it upon ourselves to maintain marksmanship proficiency with our firearms, and being able to simultaneously and quickly think past the front sight of that firearm when we choose to engage a threat.  In other words, we need to be able to quickly engage and stop a threat, as well as make sound decisions about that engagement based on risks and possible outcomes.  Once that bullet leaves the muzzle, it can’t be called back.  There will be consequences resulting from the defensive use of our firearm, and the final resting place of that bullet.

Click here to learn more: USCCA Membership

Something that we emphasize in firearms training over and over, and that I also see very heavily emphasized in the advanced tactical training I have taken to keep up my own proficiency, is the idea that this concept of a penalty for a missed shot is very closely related to a fundamental firearms safety rule.  The rule basically instructs you to know your target, know what is between you and the target, and know what is beyond your target.  If you understand and apply that basic rule, you will better understand and apply good decisions based on the amount of perceived penalty in case you miss your target.

Firearms and self-defense expert Rob Pincus of I.C.E. Training mentions that the perceived penalty for a miss translates to how worried you are that you will miss, or what happens if you miss.  What happens if you miss can be a factor of where you are in relation to the threat, in relation to everything else.  Are there other people, either seen or unseen, that can be in jeopardy?  What is behind that threat?  Can you move so that if you shoot at the threat, you shoot towards a more solid backstop where there is less of a chance of over-penetrating into a soft wall and hurting unknown people behind that wall?  This is an example of how training is an important factor in helping with decision making and will be discussed in part 2 of this series.  But I wanted to give an example of the types of things that come into play when thinking of the perceived penalty for a miss.
 

As I mentioned above, there will be consequences (outcomes), positive and negative, resulting from the use of deadly force in protecting your home.  For all of the scenarios below, a violent criminal enters your home with the intent of doing you and your family harm.  You are armed and intend to exercise your natural and legal right to defend your home.  So let’s take a look at just a few of the possible outcomes.

Scenario 1:  You engage the threat, your bullets hit their intended mark, and the threat is stopped.  No other people are hurt or property damaged.  The police come to investigate.  You are found to be a victim of a home invasion who successfully and lawfully protected yourself and your loved ones.

Scenario 2:  You engage the threat; your bullets hit their intended mark, but over penetrated and went through a wall.  Or some of your bullets missed the bad guy altogether and went through an interior wall of your house.  Another family member or pet may or may not have been on the other side of that wall – you didn’t know that when you fired the shot.  You later find out that you also wounded a family member.  The police come to investigate.  You may or may not be charged with negligence, but you will forever be emotionally scarred knowing that you hurt someone you love.

Scenario 3:  You engage the threat; you panic and shoot wildly hoping to hit the bad guy.  Your shots miss and go through some interior walls and some outer walls of your house, go into a neighbor’s house, and wound a neighbor.  The police come to investigate.  You are found to have negligently discharged your firearm and are arrested to face possible charges.

There are many other possible scenarios, and I won’t presume to know or report them all here.  But the above illustrate just a few of the very real and possible outcomes.  Again, minimizing risk while protecting your family member’s lives is what it’s all about.  The ultimate goal is for your family to be safe, and NO lives put in jeopardy.  Of course, when the criminal invader chose to enter your home and commit a violent crime, he or she made the decision that they were willing to take the risks of injury or death in doing so.  That’s a risk mitigation that is out of your control.  But what IS in your control is the ability to decide whether or not to engage the threat with deadly force, and if so to hit your intended target by building marksmanship and proficiency, and making sure that you know your target, what is between you and the target, and knowing what is beyond your target.

Now that you have an overview of the concept behind the “perceived penalty for a miss” and the background behind the thought processes for reducing this risk, we will now discuss getting back to basics and remembering the fundamentals of firearms safety.  In particular, the rule of knowing your target plays a big part in minimizing the risk of causing harm to others in a defensive incident.  

SHAMELESS DISCLAIMER: The strategies and scenarios depicted in this article are not all encompassing.  There are many possible scenarios and strategies – I do not presume to know them all.  Your own situation and environment will certainly vary, so you have to use common sense and be able to think through your strategy for yourself.  In other words – everything you read here is based on opinion derived from my most diligent research possible, and my own ability to think critically. I am not responsible for other people’s inability to use common sense or sound decision making skills. I and NCFST are not responsible for the actions taken by the readers of this article series.

 So having said all that, here are some suggestions for reducing the risk that a missed shot may cause unintended harm.  You need to think these through for yourself, and apply them in a way that makes sense for your own unique situations.

 

Know and APPLY The Fundamentals of Firearm Safety:  Think about and constantly remember those basic rules you learned when you were first introduced to firearms.  Then, actually APPLY those rules every time you handle firearms.  Whether you are going to the range, carrying concealed while out and about, or just having a ready firearm to defend your home, you are responsible for applying these common sense rules.  In case you need a refresher, here they are again:

• Always assume that every gun is loaded
• Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction
• Always keep your finger OFF of the trigger until ready to shoot
• Always know your target, what is between you and the target, and what is beyond the target.

Know Your Home and What is Around Your Home:  Think about all the possible places where a home invader will enter and travel throughout the home, as well as what they might be looking for.  Think about where your family members will likely be in proximity to these places, and where you will be in the course of defending your home and stopping the attack.  Walk through your house and think about each of the walls – what is behind those walls?  Don’t forget floors and ceilings – what’s on the other side of those?  A basement, a bedroom, a bathroom, or other frequently inhabited area?  Think about those exterior walls.  What’s on the other side?  Are the houses in your neighborhood close together?  Do you live in a townhouse or apartment with a neighbor just on the other side of that wall?  What are the walls made of?

Know Your Plan of Action: What will you and your family do if you hear or suspect a break-in or the intrusion alarm goes off?  Can you all get to a safe room, or will family members be in areas scattered all throughout your home?  Can you all stay barricaded in one place until the police arrive, or will you be forced to go on a “room clearing mission” so that you can secure other family members?  “War Game” possible scenarios and think about how to get all of your family members to a safe room in case of an emergency.  If that’s just not possible, then think of where you would position yourself in any of your rooms in case you have to shoot.  Think of how you can reposition yourself in relation to the invader’s position in order to take a better and safer shot.  You need to be aware of your entire home and environment in order to minimize the risk of a bullet missing and going into an area where people may be.

Know Your Defensive Ammunition: Is the defensive ammunition that you use in your home defense strategy going to stop the threat, but also over-penetrate and go where you don’t want it to go?  Now is the time to think about other types of ammunition that are possibly better choices for home defense, such as frangible or “safety slug” ammunition.  Glaser Safety Slugs, for example, provide optimum penetration, yet fragment very quickly to prevent over penetration.  These rounds are a popular home defense round, and are available in many common handgun and rifle calibers.  Using a home defense shotgun with a shell containing non-lethal rubber balls as the first round, followed by rounds of bird shot or #4 buckshot is another popular choice.  You have to decide what types of ammunition and home defense firearms you are comfortable with.

Know and Constantly Improve Your Own Skills:  Being proficient is a huge responsibility, and perhaps the most important of all of these strategies.  Becoming highly proficient in firearms deployment for defensive uses may take a lot of your time, but the effort expended is beyond measure in its worth.  Do you regularly practice your marksmanship?  Do you regularly practice defensive skills such as drawing from a holster or shooting on the move?  When was the last time you took advanced formal training beyond just the basics?  Continuous training is extremely important.  Maybe participate in IDPA or defensive pistol matches on a regular basis.

Wrapping it All Up:

The penalty for a missed shot can be huge if you don’t prepare and you will never completely eliminate all risks.  The best you can do is to mitigate the risks to the extent possible, use due diligence in your preparation, and use some common sense in your actions.  Armed defense is an individual right, but with rights such as this come great individual responsibility.  Prepare, practice, and be sure to get back to those fundamentals from time to time.  Know and apply the basic safety rules of gun handling, know your environment, know your plan, and know your equipment.  Always strive to improve them.

Be sure to visit the NCFST blog where I have also posted this article series in its entirety.  You can also learn more about the use of firearms in home defense by visiting the new sister-site to the US Concealed Carry Association, the Home Defense Association of America. 

Be informed, be protected, and be safe!

Click Here To Join The NRA Today!

Refuse To Be A Victim - Smartphone Security - An Overview:

WARNING:  This article contains absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with firearms, but has everything to do with not being victimized by the bad guys who use the very technology we use on a daily basis to attack us.  Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the 2012 Rocky Mountain Information Security Conference (RMISC), which was hosted by the Denver chapter of ISACA and the Information Systems Security Association.  One of the breakout sessions I attended was Georgia Weidman’s talk on the glaring need for smart phone security.  Besides leaving with the thought “…what ever happened to the day when these things were JUST phones?!”  I was reminded of the fact that with the added technology and functionality, our “phones” need to be protected just as do our computers. 

Specific Dangers: Your smart phone does not just contain your contact list.  Many people are using their smart phones to receive email, store documents, input calendar items, keep notes, store passwords, and various other useful things.  So these devices now hold all kinds of potentially sensitive personal data that must be protected.  If a piece of malicious software (malware) gets installed on your phone, it can steal this data and send it off to the bad guys without you even knowing about it.  The SMS (text message) functionality, along with the Internet connectivity features, on these devices are often leveraged vehicles for “exfiltrating” your sensitive data.

Not only is your personal data at risk, but also other information, such as your phone’s identity (the information that uniquely identifies your phone on the network), your geographical location, and information about the hardware and storage on your device can be disclosed.    According to Ms. Weidman, the International Mobile Equipment Identification (IMEI) number that uniquely identifies your phone is as valuable to the bad guys as a credit card number, as this number is used by various apps to identify the smart phone as being yours when it logs on to the service.  GPS information is also used to identify where you are located when using the services that you are accessing with your phone.  Your phones can also connect to mobile WiFi hotspots, which means that they are as vulnerable to attack by malicious hotspots near your local coffee shop (disguising as legitimate hotspots) as is your laptop.  Be careful about the networks you are connecting to.
 

So what can you do?  Two things that really stuck out from this presentation, in terms of minimizing risks and ensuring better personal security, were the need for: 1) Having a security suite installed on your smart phone, and 2) Be careful what you download, and what permissions are being asked for.

Smart-Phone Security Software:  In case you weren’t aware of this already, there are various apps out there that will help provide added security for your smart phone device. The problem is, however, that the tradeoff for additional security is often reduced performance.  Do some research and find out which security suites have better reviews.  I use the Norton Mobile Security Suite for my Android, and so far I haven’t noticed any huge or unbearable performance hits.  Even the “lite” version will give you basic malware protection, but you can get additional features in the paid version for remotely wiping or locking your phone if it is lost or stolen.  This is kind of a cool feature – I set up my spouse’s phone as a “buddy” so that if my phone is stolen or lost, I can send commands to my phone remotely.  For example, if her specific phone number sends a “wipe” command to my phone, along with a password, I can wipe my phone remotely and erase all of my sensitive data.

There are various other security suites out there such as Avast, Kaspersky, and Lookout.  Take a look at the links, do some research and find out which ones have the features you need and the performance you want.  Each link gives reviews to help you see what others are saying about each product.

Application Security: If ever there was a need to read the fine print, reading those permissions that your new apps are asking for is it.  When you download a new app for a smart phone, the app will often tell you what permissions it needs in order to operate.  Every time you download a new app, go ahead and read that list of permissions and take note of what that app needs to access in order to function properly.  Here is a good article that further explains permissions and how you can get more information about each permission that is being asked for when you install an app.

Sample Android App Permissions

 

Smart phone security is every bit as important to keeping you from being an online victim as is protecting your computer.  In the coming weeks, I will take a look at some additional ways to stay safe by addressing specific smart phone issues.  It's up to you to Refuse to be a Victim!

Additional Resources:

• Article: How App-Based Malware Infects Android Devices
• Article: What Can a Zero-Permissions Android App DO?
• Bulb Security (Georgia Wiedman)
  
  ...Now – back to our regularly scheduled firearms programming.

How Long Until The Police Arrive?!

We often hear the saying that “when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.”  I had a chance recently to test that notion, albeit that the test of this often repeated saying happened quite by accident.  Still, it was an eye opening, although accidental test.  At about 5:30am, my alarm clock went off; I got out of bed, and in a bleary-eyed state of being went down stairs to let the dogs out.  Still half asleep, I walked right past the alarm panel, and forgot to turn the alarm system off before opening the back door.  You guessed it:  The alarm immediately went off.  I ran back to the alarm panel and frantically fumbled to put in my code to turn it off.  Finally got the alarm turned off, and I figured that ADT would probably call me to ask about the alarm.  But since I had reset the alarm right away, perhaps they would not call.  They would see the hour of the morning and figure that the owner forgot to turn it off before opening a door.

A few minutes passed, and I let the dogs back in when they scratched at the door.  I went to the stove to put on some water for morning tea, and sat back down on the sofa.  Finally, the phone rang – but it only rang once and stopped.  Possibly ADT calling?  Sometimes that happens – the alarm system takes control of the phone line and people who call can’t get through.  As it turned out, they next called my cell phone, which was on the end table, turned off and charging.  They called my wife’s cell phone – also turned off and charging.  Having seen an alarm, and not being able to contact the homeowners, they called the Fort Collins Police.  

So before I go on, let me say that I have nothing but total respect and admiration for the Fort Collins Police and the Larimer County Sheriff’s offices.  The men and women who make up our law enforcement agencies in our community do a thankless job on a tight budget.  I mean after all, the City of Fort Collins has found it important to pay artists thousands of dollars to put fancy paint jobs on all of the electrical boxes in town, but seem to be kind of stingy when it comes to funding our police and fire services.  In fact, I remember awhile back receiving a letter from ADT stating that the City of Fort Collins was piloting a program where, due to budget constraints, was ordering the police department to provide quick response to calls from the alarm company ONLY if a second verification could be obtained that an actual break-in was occurring.  Otherwise, they were to respond on an “as available” basis.  

So back to the story… Meanwhile, I went up to my office to check email and wait for the water to boil.  The water finished boiling; I went down to the kitchen and started my tea brewing.  Went back up to read the news, work on my web site, and do a few more things in the office.  Then a few minutes later, the dogs start barking wildly and shortly after the doorbell rings.  Yep – it was the Fort Collins Police.  I explained what happened, the extremely professional and friendly officers understood completely, and then left.  Let me just say that I am thankful that there were two of them responding to a potential home invasion, and not just a lone police officer.

So again – this story isn’t meant as any kind of criticism against our law enforcement community.  The men and women of law enforcement really are professionals and most deserving of our respect and gratitude.  Rather, this story is a testimony about the somewhat dubious thought processes of our legislators.  This is clearly another example (and there are many) of why it is that law abiding citizens should NOT be legislated against when it comes to the right to defending themselves or their homes.  From the time the alarm went off to the time the police finally arrived, I had time to let the dogs out, let them back in, boil a kettle of water, make some tea, check email, read a news story or two, and start doing some work on my web site.  

If someone had actually broken into a typical Fort Collins home at that time of morning, with the family there (and possibly still asleep), how much damage and injury could an intruder have done in that time?  In our family’s case – not much – we’re also armed and have a plan.  But still, several minutes elapsed before law enforcement arrived.  Give it some thought, folks.  Are you willing to hope for the best until help arrives?  Or are you resolute in developing a plan to keep your family safe?  Take a look at our past articles on defense in depth for the home, and stay tuned for more tips on staying safe and refusing to be a victim.

It also helps to know a little more about how home alarms operate in the United States to help understand what you can do to increase the priority level of your alarm event in the case of an actual break-in.  After writing the original version of this article for the news letter, security expert Wayne Crook, creator of "The Pistol Pad" sent me the following:

"Every alarm company in the USA and, to the best of my knowledge, every State by law or rule recognizes the following three (3) alarm response categories.

Priority 1 - Fire. Takes precedence over any other signals being processed by the central station. Emergency responders notified immediately.  No Verification Call to the location. This represents a catastrophic threat to human life and property.  Priority 1 – Fire devices can not be bypassed or disarmed; only silenced and/or reset.

Priority 2 - Panic. Takes precedence over any other signals (except Fire) being processed by the central station. Emergency Responders notified immediately. No Verification Call to the location. This represents a serious threat to human life.  Priority 2 - Panic devices can not be bypassed or disarmed; only silenced and/or reset. 

Priority 3 - Intrusion. Lowest level taking precedence over administrative communications only. May require one or more verification calls prior to notification of Emergency Responders.  Delays of 15 seconds or more may be required before any communication attempt to the central station is initiated following activation of an intrusion alarm.  This represents a threat to property only.  Priority 3 - Intrusion devices can be bypassed or disarmed.

For any monitored alarm system owner that has a panic button immediately available; even if the system is in full alarm with the sirens blasting, Push The Panic Button! This changes the status of your alarm signal from a Priority 3 - Intrusion to a Priority 2 – Panic and should significantly increase speed of notification to and response priority of Emergency Responders."

Source:  Wayne Crook, The Pistol Pad

  

So what can you do?  For starters, here are some important things to remember:

• Your alarm system is (or at least should be) only one part of a multi-layer system of defense for your home and your family.  If able, also call 911 and get the response rolling as soon as possible.
   
• Get a wireless "Panic Button" from your alarm company, but it in your safe room, and know where it is.  Use it to elevate the alarm priority so that the police will know that you are in fact being invaded and to respond at a higher priority.
   
• Get another "Priority 2 Panic" device such as the The Pistol Pad which can also serve to help increase the alarm priority.
   
• Have a plan – if your alarm does go off, or you hear the obvious signs of a break-in, be able to get yourself and your family to a “safe-room” that can provide protection and give you time to call 911, and again - upgrade that alarm priority level by pushing the panic button.
   
• Get trained in self-defense and defensive firearm use.  Your safe room will only keep you safe for so long from someone absolutely determined to get to you and do you harm.  Your firearm is your last resort for defense, but you need to know how to deploy it in an absolute crisis situation.