16 March 2014 Podcast is up!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS
16 March 2014 Podcast
Reply
Category Archives: General
▶ INSANE Russian Counter Terror Confidence Drill – YouTube
Link
By American standards, this really is insane. Now having taken a class from a well known former Spetsnaz operator who now trains people in the US and other parts of the world, I can tell you he and others who lived in this part of the world would not consider this insane. They would see this as testing an operator’s ability to do what he has to do in a real world environment. And believe it or not, I get the logic but, this is not the class for a pedestrian gun owner or even the average cop walking the streets in the US. ▶ INSANE Russian Counter Terror Confidence Drill – YouTube.
Share this:
Officers fear body cameras raise privacy concerns
“…some rank-and-file officers are worried the technology might ultimately be used to derail their careers if, for example, an errant comment about a superior is captured on tape.”
via Officers fear body cameras raise privacy concerns.
I find this funny as cops and cop administrators are usually the ones who would put a camera in your bedroom given the chance. And they are most often quoted saying, “if you’re not doing anything wrong, you’ve got nothing to hide.” And yet these officers cannot see the hypocrisy of their position let alone understand that they have no legal leg on which to stand.
While you are on duty, you have NO REASONABLE EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY. You are a public servant and everything you do while doing that job is and should be subject to review. If your agency wants to put a GPS tracker and camera in your agency owned vehicle or even on your person while you’re on duty, that’s the cost being a cop. Years ago, the same fears were raised and discussions had with the advent of dash cams. The only guys who had anything to fear were the idiots violating department policy and the law. Again, if you’re not screwing up, you’ve got nothing to hide. Don’t like it? Turn in your badge and return to civilian life.
-GM
Share this:
Surge in luxury shooting ranges caters to new gun culture – Yahoo News
Take note Elmer Fudd — this is definitely not your granddaddy’s good ol’ boy retreat.
via Surge in luxury shooting ranges caters to new gun culture – Yahoo News.
Houston is seeing its own attempts at the luxury shooting range with varying degrees of success. In predictable fashion, the Violence Policy Center demonizes these ventures, likening them to strip clubs and saying it’s nothing like turning such things into “gentlemen’s clubs.” Now if ever there was a reference to polishing a turd, that would have to be it. The VPC also claims gun ownership is declining…Guess they missed the last 18 months of sales or the plethora of new gun ranges that seem to be popping up around the country.
The spread of these new generation ranges that make shooting into an experience that appeals to a broader group than the hard core gunner, particularly women, will likely grow the industry considerably going forward. It’s clear when you look at these new ranges, it’s clear they are aware women are not fond of going to dark, dingy places on back alleys. Women aren’t necessarily just pretty eye-candy at the checkout counter…They are increasingly part of the knowledgeable sales staff too. This is a good thing and it seems the future for our industry may be getting brighter in spite of those who would rather it didn’t exist.
-GM
Share this:
Pa. trooper’s pregnant wife dies in accidental shooting
The officer pulled the trigger while taking apart his .45-caliber handgun for cleaning but did not realize the gun was loaded, police said.
via Pa. trooper’s pregnant wife dies in accidental shooting.
Our thoughts and prayers are with this trooper, and his family. A husband has lost his wife and child. Two children have lost their mother and an unborn sibling. That said, this didn’t have to happen. This is not an accident. It’s negligence on the trooper’s part and he’ll have to live with that for the rest of his life. No one who owns a gun wants to be in this position and it is preventable.
Even if he did everything else wrong, had he simply kept the gun pointed in a safe direction, we wouldn’t be reading about it. A safe direction can be defined as a direction in which a bullet launched from a firearm will cause no unintended personal or property damage. Again, no UNINTENDED personal or property damage. A guy breaking into your home at night need some personal damage so pointing a gun at him may in fact be the safest thing you can do at that moment. But this allegedly happened while the officer was “cleaning his gun.”
Assuming that’s what actually happened, here’s the process for those who don’t know. First, while keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction, REMOVE THE SOURCE OF AMMUNITION. That means, remove the magazine for semi-autos or open the cylinder and give the extractor a full stroke for your wheelgun folks. Single-action guys will need to turn the cylinder and press the extractor rod all the way through for each chamber. If you skip this step, will likely here a loud boom toward the end of this process. The very next step for semi-autos is to lock the slide open and check the chamber, breechface, and magazine well to be sure there’s no ammunition left in the gun. Again, with the gun pointed in a safe direction and only after completing the steps above, you can close the action, align the sights with something that will safely contain a bullet (i.e. file cabinet, old CRT monitor/TV, ceramic toilet) and press the trigger to the rear to relax all the springs. Then disassemble as directed per your owners’ manual.
Here’s something else guys, we’re all human. If you are tired/fatigued, get some rest. Maintenance is certainly important but, incidents like this highlight the fact we often get our processes confused when we’re tired and not thinking clearly. Weapon maintenance can wait if you’ve just worked a double!
And be aware of distractions. Chances are with two kids in the house and a pregnant wife all demanding Dad’s attention, the trooper may well have been distracted from the process of unloading/clearing the gun. As a cop, there’s a six in ten chance his service weapon is a Glock. So it is also possible that when he came back to the gun, without thinking, he picked it up and pulled the trigger to disassemble it. Folks, anytime a gun has been out of your your sight or you’ve been distracted from the process of handling that gun for even a brief moment, start the the unloading/clearing process again. Make sure you’ve removed the source of ammunition, opened and inspected the action, and never, ever, allow the muzzle to cover/cross anything you are not willing to kill or destroy.
-GM