From the Old Santa and Instructor

December 23, 2009

Bill dropped me a line and touched on a couple of points that weren’t necessarily in the form of a question but are relevant to our discussion of overall plans.

His lovely wife has not the driving desire for concealed carry, although she realizes the value of the license and at times its necessity, and she has been a huntress and has members of family in law enforcement, she still doesn’t feel the need to carry a firearm all the time. Absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. Everyone has to decide for themselves their needs for and planning of their own personal defense. The elements are basic, they have to pick their own weapon and decide if their environment or parts of it dictate when they should be armed. I told Bill and I have( after many years of doing this) found that women and men who don’t feel an urgency to be armed all the time, upon being trained and getting their CHL, will carry their weapon almost all the time after a period of adjustment. It is not a natural thing to carry a firearm. It takes some getting used to. A weapon should “comfort” because it is certainly not “comfortable”. It can be carried in relative comfort but we have a very particular set of environmental concerns in Texas. Extreme humidity, extremes of heat and short periods of cold, a rainy season close to tropical, and a drive to be fashionable. You have to figure out what works for you.

Tactics in everyday situations that I use are pretty basic, and are second nature after all this time.
In a convenience store I never let the door be out of my periphery and always look for the EXIT sign. When I get ready to pay I stand off to the side or “blade “my body so the door is directly ahead, even if in line. This allows me to be able to back up and knock something over with my hands if things get dicey, causing a distraction that might give me an edge. I never enter late night without full view of the clerk and a complete scan of the store before I ever approach the counter. Circle the store when you enter. If you get a soda, don’t stand directly in front of the case. Open the door from an angle and look for reflections. Get your soda and walk around the perimeter aisles to the counter as this will put you head on to the door.

In a restaurant: What is your sweetheart comfortable with as far as seating arrangements are concerned? Look. You’re going out to dinner. Not to dinner and a gunfight for two, please. You’re ahead of the game with your awareness. Keep it pleasant and simple. Let your sweetheart tell you where the FIRE EXITS are. In a booth? Does it restrict your access and mobility? Does the table move so that you can improvise cover? Can you see exits, bathrooms, kitchen doors and the entry? If at a table; what do the chairs or seats do to limit your movement? It’s not always possible or sociable to sit facing the door, back to a wall. Personally I am always uncomfortable with my back against a wall or blocked in any fashion. Be a people watcher. People watchers notice who the other people watchers are around them. Bad guys are always people watchers but not all people watchers are bad guys.

Have a good time, eat dinner, expect the unexpected a nice evening and nothing more. Above all don’t forget to include throwing your chair, your date and yourself through the nearest window to escape a deadly force situation. Most victims are trapped by fear they “freeze”.

A scream in the middle of the night: This is a nightmare for cops never mind citizens. Screams are hard to if not impossible to decipher. Make damn sure before you act. Could be loud hanky panky or brother sister fighting or a very good home theater system. A knight waits till the very last second to drop the point of his lance.


Breaking glass in the middle of the night or a home invasion. Your entire catalog of plans for home defense should revolve around you ambushing them. Do not search unless absolutely necessary. No exceptions. Don’t blast Fido and Whiskers accidentally. Wake yourself before you do anything. Your eyes will get used to the dark but it’ll take a couple of minutes. Listen, sit up, listen, stand up, listen, squat, smell and listen. Look at door cracks and windows for lighting variations and shadows. Listen. If you don’t close and lock your bedroom doors when you retire for the night……START. Hang some kind of noise maker on the doorknobs of all entry points to your home and bedroom. If you have time and are certain you have been burglarized, do not use your house phone first. Use your cell and give your address. The bad guys will certainly assign themselves the task of disabling your land line and listening on an extension while you tell the Cops (and them) exactly where you are in the house. Remember, a home invasion is rarely a crime of impulse. Most are preplanned and set up in detail.

1.    Training aids: There are sites and schools beyond me and my website. Some are bulls**t some are very credible and worthy of all our consideration. Here are the ones accepted in the legitimate firearms training community and law enforcement training:
2.    Gunsite
3.    Thunder Ranch
4.    The Chapman Academy
5.    Smith & Wesson Training Academy
6.    Sig Sauer Academy
7.    Shoot Rite Training Facility
8.    Heckler & Koch Academy
9.    Video from Thunder Ranch “Defensive Handgun, Defensive Firearms, Concealed Carry Options, Defensive Tactics” $49.95 each from FMG publications.  EXCELLENT
10.    Video from  Sig Sauer: Basic Handgun, Concealed Carry available from Sig Sauer online store approx. $23.95 to $30.00  EXCELLENT
11.    TV & RADIO: Personal Defense TV Outdoor Channel Wednesday night   OK to VERY GOOD
12.    GUNS & GEAR  VS channel Tuesday 2:00pm Thurs. 7:30am  OK to VERY GOOD
13.    GUN TALK RADIO 950AM Sunday 12:00 midnight to 3:00am (on line Sunday 1:00 pm) IT’S ALL THERE IS ON RADIO. BETTER THAN NOTHING. SOMETIMES VERY GOOD. INFORMATIVE BUT OPINIONATED.

There are other videos from people like Lenny Magill and the Glock Store, and Wilson Combat the gun makers that are a little hokey, and out of style, and training sites that offer rope slides and upside down machine gun shooting, and exploding targets, rappelling from helicopters with a patch over your eye and a knife in your teeth, and sales pitches ad nausea with big breasted gun babes like Frontsite and Survival, Valhalla you get my drift. The ones I noted above are real deal and you can contact them on line or get their literature from American Handgunner Magazine and the like.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everybody.

EDDIE