Stating the obvious, it would be a bad idea to buy an off the books, orange furnitured, Remington shotgun in Houston right now.
GM
Some Brave Soul Stole a Bunch of HPD-Issued Shotguns From an Officer’s Truck Tuesday Night | Houston Press
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Category Archives: Gary
Local media goes back to telling you to act like a wounded minnow
The ABC owned, local news station commonly known as Channel 13 is often called one of the most trusted news sources in town. And believe it or not, where local news in concerned, that’s often true. But with a recent post, they collaborated with a “security expert” and admitted that they, “specifically did not mention firearms…”
To their credit, they mention ways of letting folks know you’re home and that’s fine given the fact many home invasions start out as a common burglary. Bad guy knocks on door. No one answers. Because he now thinks no one his home, he or his buddies go around to the back door to kick it in. This is a very common tactic. Of course, answering the door to an unsolicited visitor isn’t necessarily a good idea either. Having your car keys handy and hitting the panic button on your key fob, if your vehicle is so equipped, isn’t a bad idea though. it can draw unwanted attention to the home but, honestly, when was the last time anyone actually paid attention to a car alarm?
Where the wheels really fall off the bus and the author, Illona Carson, endorses victimization, is telling you that should you, “…come face to face with an intruder and you’re not prepared, lie down and do not look at them. Pretend to have a heart attack or breathing problem.” I am not sure what planet Carson and “expert,” Miguel Yanez are living on but, this is just plain stupid.
Folks, if you act like a wounded minnow, you’ll be treated like one and likely put out of your misery…Bet on it. There are countless cases of people, especially women, who simply gave into their attackers. They laid down to offer no resistance, and they are no longer here to discuss the issue. For sure, this tactic minimized injuries and violence because the victims were simply executed without hesitation. Do you really want to take that chance? I am not foolish enough to tell you that a gun is THE answer to this problem but, laying down, crapping your pants, or faking a heart attack like Fred Sanford (for those old enough to remember that show), aren’t likely to help solve the problem either.
But how about hardening your home against burglary or home invasion in the first place? Do you have a home alarm? Is it monitored? Does it have glass-break sensors? Do you have it on while you’re home? If not, get one. Also, wooden doors with nice glass centers are pretty but, not terribly secure. Get a steel door and/or reinforce the entire door way with an armored strike plate and hinges while you’re at it. Many/most modern homes have large walk in closets…These can often be easily made into a not so obvious safe room. Your plan may simply be, telling your kids to go to their safe room and wait for you to come get them.
And finally, a gun can be part of your plan. It’s a force multiplier that allows you to potentially deal with multiple threats at a distance. But if it’s just a lucky charm you’ve never trained to use and it’s locked away where you can’t get to it, it’s of little use. Carry your gun on your person, get quality instruction, and train to at least the same level of proficiency with which you operate your car…As in, you don’t have to think about how to drive, you just do it.
-GM
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When calling 911 goes wrong
According the kgw.com, a man who called 911 about a shooting suspect ended up getting shot by responding officers in Vancouver, Washington last week. The incident started when John Kendall, 59, shot his neighbor, Abigail Mounce, in the face on October 31. Officers spotted the man who’d called 911, not knowing he was still in the area.
A SWAT team arriving at the scene spotted a man who matched Kendall’s description. They were unaware that the citizen who called 911 was still there.
“Law enforcement personnel watched as the citizen (believed to be Kendall) exited his vehicle and circled behind his trunk,” police explained. “Fearing that he armed himself, law enforcement fired multiple shots at the individual in order to stop the perceived threat before the citizen could enter the woods.”
via Police mistakenly shoot 911 caller during manhunt.
Now I could be wrong but, I suspect there are a lot of cops who will find this acceptable/justifiable given the circumstances. You’ve traced the suspect’s phone to the area. The person in view allegedly looks like your suspect. And he looks like he’s potentially arming himself.
The man was shot in the leg. He took cover behind a gravel pile and fired a shot back, then he called 911 again, this time to report that he had been shot.
There’s so much fail here but, I’m glad the citizen survived. He’s lucky. Very lucky. Chances are high, the leg wound is a result of an excited officer shooting at an unknown distance, resulting in the shot going low. I say that because shooting him in the leg intentionally is surely a violation of policy and demonstrably, did nothing to eliminate the threat of him shooting at anyone. This is why we do not shoot to wound.
Fortunately, things didn’t go any further than the initial exchange of gunfire. The officers involved have been relieved of duty pending an investigation. By the time officers caught up with Kendall, the real suspect, he’d already turned himself off with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. I might argue this error is big enough that they might not get to be cops any more but, I don’t believe this was criminal behavior on their part.
All that said, there’s something to be learned here. Starting with, DON’T BE THERE. If you have just called 911 to say you saw a guy involved in a shooting, don’t be in the area when the police show up if you can help it! I’ve said before that if I am ever involved in a shooting, even if I am just a witness, my preferred action is to move to a safe location other than the shooting, and then call 911. Police responding to a shooting in progress can be a little excited. That’s normal and that’s OK but, it presents some hazards if you happen to resemble the suspect. It presents hazards even if you don’t resemble the suspect. So again, just don’t be there.
-GM
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Follow up to double-feed/failure to extract
So, yesterday I posted a video of an alternative method to clear an extended pistol stoppage commonly called a double-feed. More often than not, this is actually a result of a failure to extract the previously fired round but, it can also be induced by a shooter who short strokes a slide with a round already in the chamber producing an double-feed. The latter being more common with new/inexperienced shooters trying to load/reload their pistol.
The most common method for resolving this sort of stoppage is fairly straight forward. Experienced shooters will often pick up on this malfunction without even looking at the gun because the auditory and tactile feedback immediately tells them the slide has failed to go into battery. To clear the stoppage, the shooter first locks the slide to the rear. Next, the shooter rips the magazine out of the gun with his support hand and stows that magazine under his strong-side arm or tucks it into is support-side waistband area. The shooter then racks the slide vigorously at least three times. Having racked the slide, the shooter now retrieves the magazine he just pulled out of the gun or a fully charged magazine from his mag carrier and inserts it the gun smartly to seat the magazine. Finally, the shooter racks the slide to load the gun and decides if he needs to continue servicing his threat/target with additional rounds. You can see an example here…http://youtu.be/BxTcQV-4R9w.
Now, I said when I posted this “new method,” that I couldn’t vouch for it and would have to try it. A friend of the show, Mate, pointed out that Todd Louis Green of Pistol-Training.com had developed the method some years ago. Still, I said I’d try it and try it I have, with all of my medium to full-size Glocks (17, 19, 23, 34, & 35). With those guns, it works consistently and reliably. But we don’t all carry Glocks and I knew I needed to try it on other guns I have on hand. So this evening, I tried it with the 9mm M&P Shield.
Well, I can tell you that it works with my gun…Some times. Whether it works is highly dependent on how much ammunition is left in the magazine and how tightly the top round in the magazine is wedged between the round in the chamber and the feed ramp. Specifically, the method failed outright with anything less than three rounds in the magazine. And it was only marginally usable with anything less than a full magazine. And while I’m tempted to try it on my 1911s, Sigs, HKs, and other guns, the fact that it doesn’t work on a gun I carry regularly means it simply isn’t worth changing a process I already know works just fine without the added issue of discarding what might be my only/last magazine.
-GM
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New double feed reduction process
I can’t vouch for this but, you can bet I’m going test it. It’s a purported new method to clear a double feed…http://youtu.be/Q1NkO45HeWc. Check out out. Let us know what you think.
-GM