FROM YOUR INSTRUCTOR
QUESTION: You I and some friends were discussing at a recent event. I have been a hunter since my sixteenth birthday as I told you and I am now 46 yrs. Old. I have to take issue with what you said about deer hunting being “AMBUSH” and your views on the skill level of deer hunters as shooters. What benefit is there to learning to shoot handguns accurately as you professed? Why is it any different? Why call it “AMBUSH” when it is the general rule in Texas, and it seems everywhere else on the T.V. hunting shows? I agree that it has risen in cost here but that’s the fault of the TPWD isn’t it? Also if handguns are so good why don’t I see many of them in the hunting fields?
Thank You!
ANSWERS: Once again, GREAT QUESTION(S)!!!
This is another question that came from a lady shooter folks. Man they come up with some very good questions and in sight. So let me start by saying……
I call it ambush because that’s what it is. I realize that I am not comparing to situations I know of from personal experience from military contact but the principles are the same. You set up in a stand or blind usually on a known travel/infiltration route usually to a feeding spot, water source or breeding area in the rut. You wait til the deer/animal steps out into the “kill zone” it presents you with a perfect shooting solution you take your scoped rifle and you harvest the animal with a shot from it. That as I said in my humble opinion is an “AMBUSH” in the most classic of forms.
In Colorado where I hunted and lived for years myself and a couple of buddies had a deal with a cattle rancher outside of Winter Park. If we rode his fence line a few times in the summer and did minor repairs and eliminated any predators, then we could hunt on the upper range for meat. I don’t shoot anything I’m not willing to destroy or eat (RULE #4). I also told you (and your sweetheart/co-hunter) about how we were not allowed to set up stands or feeding devices and we had to make sure we ran strays back down off the top range. I would drive my old Ford Country Squire station wagon about three miles to a point where I had to go on foot up about a thirty minute trail to the area. I also had to stop and try to cut sign, dope the wind, and search for the deer and elk I would take. I would set up a camp and usually just scout the first day, glassing the area and slopes and canyons to see where the animals were. We also had a deal to NOT, take any big horn sheep but let the rancher know if we spotted them and where. Call me crazy but that to me, is hunting. I had to take care with my campfire placement so as to not alert the animals to my presence if possible. I’m a firm believer that a whole lot of deer and elk see hunters more than the other way around. I never had a hunt in those years where I didn’t have to actually stalk the animal and shoot from distances of at least two hundred yards. I harvested four Mulies and three elk and lived on them for quite some period of time.
I realize that the accepted norm here in Texas is setting up tree stands, blinds up 18 feet or more, cameras, automatic feeders and growing food plots and shooting at established lanes and firing areas. You climb up in those early or late in the day and wait for Bambi to stroll on out and bang his butt. That’s just how it’s done here. Still it’s “AMBUSH”. In the discussion I heard talk about the mount and the back strap but not much more about the rest of the animal. I hope the leftover meat was distributed to the needy. I have always done that with what I couldn’t store after processing.
Don’t get me started about “TV hunting”… those are highly rigged hunts and like most media hunts they are all sponsored, and you don’t see many no shoots. To me that’s just hype.
The cost of hunting has skyrocketed with the advent of contests like “Muy Grande Big Buck Contest” etc. I know. I hunted down in Freer in the 80’s until the property owner had to go from $225.00 per gun to $945.00 per gun, and Tx. Parks and Wildlife had nothing to do with that. It is what he was offered to let hunters use his land for the contest, and then as with much of the prime spots; a corporate group offered him “tens of thousands” of dollars for exclusive use. We couldn’t blame the guy. Now most deer hunting in the valley and elsewhere is that way.
When I would ride the fence line in Colorado I always had my .44 magnum revolver with me. I found it made me a better shooter because I had to concentrate on marksmanship fundamentals to make shots on coyotes, cats, and feral predators. I also took a doe with it at sixty yards. That deer was good eatin folks. You may not see any handguns in the field but there are plenty of them out there in use. Thompson Contenders, S&W, and Ruger revolvers, Remington scoped bolt action handguns (XP 100 & 700) all are taking game yearly and you can even see them on those TV shows you talked about. Try it sometime.
Other than black powder or “traditional” single shot rifles, I haven’t seen any hunter of deer or any other animal in Texas either having or using iron/open sights on their deer rifles in the field or at the range. To a man/woman, the rifles all have high power scopes or optics. I look for the iron sights folks. Most deer rifles aren’t sold with them. They are manufactured with them but not on all the various models. Deer hunters do not impress me with their skill levels of marksmanship because I see them mostly when it’s time for the annual sighting in and shooting ten or twenty rounds to reconfirm the scope zero. Hand loaders are an entirely different deal.
When I see someone remove their scope and shoot the 50-100 yard targets with the open sights I’ll let ya know. Haven’t seen it yet and like I said……..I LOOK!
Your Instructor, Eddie
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Pistol, Rifle or Both?
QUESTION:
You have mentioned that you would use a handgun to fight your way to a rifle, and you have also stated that a rifle inside a house might be excessive and the bullets will pass through the walls and furniture. I am confused. What is the best firearm for home defense if these factors are as you say?
ANSWER:
Fantastic question. I say if I know I’m going to be in a “gunfight”, I will bring a rifle with me, and if I have the opportunity and am in a very bad gunfight (and none are good ones, just some are worse) and all I have in my hands is a pistol; I will use the pistol to “fight my way to my rifle”. The best firearm for home defense is the one that you are totally confident in using for that purpose. The most effective weapon you have for your self defense is right between your ears.
I have emphasized having a plan both outside of and in your home. If you have a plan, any weapon will at the very least suffice. A plan will enable us to customize the personal defense of our home and property such as what weapon you would use for that purpose and how you’d use it. Your family members will of course know what to do because you did plan. Shot gun down the hallway with birdshot, extremely effective. AR 15, AK 47, Marlin 22, Remington deer rifle, handguns of all types are all fine if you ambush the bad guys; which should be a major part of your plans. Use the gun you have. Use it wisely because a round out of a rifle that isn’t of a handgun caliber is going to punch through everything at close range and it will keep on going. Lever action rifles are available in .38 spl./.357 magnum, .44 spl./.44magnum, and .45 long colt to name a few and these are fantastic in home self defense options especially in carbine form. (Don’t forget the Ruger Deerfield carbine semi-auto carbine in .44 magnum, it ain’t cheap)
Lots of folks have bought or are buying AR’s and AK’s, and SKS’s and all sorts of battle rifles and are thinking that these are in house guns cause they see them every day on the news or on the History/Discovery channels in the hands of soldiers and swat teams and cops clearing houses with them. Several things to consider here; among which are they are entering the house to specifically clear it. They are not already in there under assault from kick burglars in the middle of the night in Houston suburbia. They constantly use and train for that specific purpose. They leave when finished. They use the houses for cover to engage from when assaulted by enemy troops and if you notice they are engaging targets at distance from that cover not searching for it. “IT” found them!
A point I missed in using battle rifles: My early experience with the M-16 and later AR-15 rifles and other common battle rifles is extensive. At first the optics for these guns was rudimentary at best and downright crude and fragile, so we pretty much all used the iron sights on them. Nowadays they have dot scopes, holographic sights, lasers that are designed for these battle rifles. One thing I forgot to tell y’all about is what is known as “offset” on these rifles.
Offset is the height difference between where the barrel is and where the sights are on the rifle. On an AR or AK type rifle that can be between three and four inches below where the rifles sights are actually looking. Even if you have a “flat top” receiver on your handy dandy AR “platform” and you put a scope or red dot in a set of rings on top of the rail on the rifle you have to account for the added height above the barrel/bore. Here’s a quick and easy way to check your offset on your rifle. Take your rifle and lay it on its side on the floor in front of you. If it’s an AR,AK,SKS, or whatever and you have any kind of “Star Wars” type sight on it, get a tape measure. Measure the distance from the middle of your sight device straight down to where the middle of the barrel might be. That is how much your barrel is offset below your sight. If you don’t have a fancy optic on it just do the same measurement from the top of the front sight to the top of the barrel. Deer rifle scopes are bore sighted for this. You may or may not have enough adjustment in your scope/optical sight to compensate for it but don’t count on it. Make a mental note to compensate simply by holding your sights at the 12 o’clock position on target as opposed to the 6 o’clock position. In the most technical sense we hold at the 6 o’clock position to allow for the bullet rise of normal trajectory profiles. Simply stated, a bullet travels in an arc as opposed to a straight line and we sight to accommodate the arc.
This past week in Houston a home owner shot and killed a burglar as he was leaving with the home owner’s television set in the middle of the night. The home owner fired from an upstairs window I believe and was totally within his rights and the laws of Texas in so doing. Police responded and found the turd dead as a sack of hammers and were amazed when the recently dispatched predator’s girlfriend arrived on scene and became immediately and hysterically distraught and went into the accompanying hysterics……. She was summarily arrested on the scene by the officers because she told them…SHE WAS THERE TO PICK HIM UP AFTER THE BURGLARY!!
These things are planned and as Forrest said “stupid is as stupid does”. Your instructor
You have mentioned that you would use a handgun to fight your way to a rifle, and you have also stated that a rifle inside a house might be excessive and the bullets will pass through the walls and furniture. I am confused. What is the best firearm for home defense if these factors are as you say?
ANSWER:
Fantastic question. I say if I know I’m going to be in a “gunfight”, I will bring a rifle with me, and if I have the opportunity and am in a very bad gunfight (and none are good ones, just some are worse) and all I have in my hands is a pistol; I will use the pistol to “fight my way to my rifle”. The best firearm for home defense is the one that you are totally confident in using for that purpose. The most effective weapon you have for your self defense is right between your ears.
I have emphasized having a plan both outside of and in your home. If you have a plan, any weapon will at the very least suffice. A plan will enable us to customize the personal defense of our home and property such as what weapon you would use for that purpose and how you’d use it. Your family members will of course know what to do because you did plan. Shot gun down the hallway with birdshot, extremely effective. AR 15, AK 47, Marlin 22, Remington deer rifle, handguns of all types are all fine if you ambush the bad guys; which should be a major part of your plans. Use the gun you have. Use it wisely because a round out of a rifle that isn’t of a handgun caliber is going to punch through everything at close range and it will keep on going. Lever action rifles are available in .38 spl./.357 magnum, .44 spl./.44magnum, and .45 long colt to name a few and these are fantastic in home self defense options especially in carbine form. (Don’t forget the Ruger Deerfield carbine semi-auto carbine in .44 magnum, it ain’t cheap)
Lots of folks have bought or are buying AR’s and AK’s, and SKS’s and all sorts of battle rifles and are thinking that these are in house guns cause they see them every day on the news or on the History/Discovery channels in the hands of soldiers and swat teams and cops clearing houses with them. Several things to consider here; among which are they are entering the house to specifically clear it. They are not already in there under assault from kick burglars in the middle of the night in Houston suburbia. They constantly use and train for that specific purpose. They leave when finished. They use the houses for cover to engage from when assaulted by enemy troops and if you notice they are engaging targets at distance from that cover not searching for it. “IT” found them!
A point I missed in using battle rifles: My early experience with the M-16 and later AR-15 rifles and other common battle rifles is extensive. At first the optics for these guns was rudimentary at best and downright crude and fragile, so we pretty much all used the iron sights on them. Nowadays they have dot scopes, holographic sights, lasers that are designed for these battle rifles. One thing I forgot to tell y’all about is what is known as “offset” on these rifles.
Offset is the height difference between where the barrel is and where the sights are on the rifle. On an AR or AK type rifle that can be between three and four inches below where the rifles sights are actually looking. Even if you have a “flat top” receiver on your handy dandy AR “platform” and you put a scope or red dot in a set of rings on top of the rail on the rifle you have to account for the added height above the barrel/bore. Here’s a quick and easy way to check your offset on your rifle. Take your rifle and lay it on its side on the floor in front of you. If it’s an AR,AK,SKS, or whatever and you have any kind of “Star Wars” type sight on it, get a tape measure. Measure the distance from the middle of your sight device straight down to where the middle of the barrel might be. That is how much your barrel is offset below your sight. If you don’t have a fancy optic on it just do the same measurement from the top of the front sight to the top of the barrel. Deer rifle scopes are bore sighted for this. You may or may not have enough adjustment in your scope/optical sight to compensate for it but don’t count on it. Make a mental note to compensate simply by holding your sights at the 12 o’clock position on target as opposed to the 6 o’clock position. In the most technical sense we hold at the 6 o’clock position to allow for the bullet rise of normal trajectory profiles. Simply stated, a bullet travels in an arc as opposed to a straight line and we sight to accommodate the arc.
These things are planned and as Forrest said “stupid is as stupid does”. Your instructor
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Know Your Gun!
As I write this, I am prepared for a range session with a young man who wants some training with a handgun prior to attending my upcoming CHL class. His father, who has already taken the class is going with us, so this adds a little pressure to the young man’s ego I’m sure. The son is going to learn and even though he is an Air Force veteran, he realizes he has very little skill and experience with handguns beyond basic training some years ago. He is being smart.
In his approach to his licensing. His father and I have been to the range together on several occasions, and each time the father has brought every handgun he possesses. He has as yet to bring only the weapon (s) he carries concealed, and practice drawing from concealment. To help him in the most elementary way I usually get him to take his semi auto Ruger and “try this drill” at or toward the middle of the range session. It helps him and also helps me feel a little less guilty about the fact that I haven’t been as good an instructor as I could have. I didn’t instill in him the desire to either “practice smart or to know his weapon”. O.K. I get that I can’t force someone to do something, but I do invite people to the range at every session and really, that’s as far as I need to go, but I really strive to be a very good Instructor and to always get better at it and it bugs me that I can’t get certain things across no matter how often I deliver the message. If you are magnificent and excellent in your practice sessions you will probably be mediocre in an actual fight, so think how good your chances will be if you never practice defensive drills with your carry weapon and you’re attacked.
I will illustrate the “know your gun aspect” with a few examples:
1. Most recently at my last recertification at DPS in Austin, a female instructor had no idea that the S&W 686, .357 magnum revolver she had to qualify with, would release the hammer to fall with a push of the hand. It has “push off” and I discussed this previously. She as an instructor is obligated to know her weapons before giving instruction.
2. The above mentioned “father “, some time ago; handed me a .22 rifle and asked what was wrong with it? I asked for a screw driver and took the rifle and took the UPSIDE DOWN STOCK! Off of it and replaced it in the proper position.
3. At a recent range session, another friend/CHL student of mine, was proudly shooting his new Taurus .40 caliber pistol and asked me to fire it. I had recommended the purchase recently and he bought one. After I fired a couple of magazines through it I showed him the safety procedures which he said he knew but what he didn’t know and found out to his surprise was that unlike the very similar Beretta, his safety worked a third function which was to safely drop the hammer on a loaded chamber and that it could be carried cocked and locked in the first position (Berettas have a two position safety). He hadn’t read or didn’t understand the manual and the operation of this weapon.
I can illustrate more, such as semi autos malfunctioning because of “limp wristing “, or putting bullets in a magazine backwards, or thinking a gun is empty when you take the magazine out and on and on and on.
“KNOW YOUR FIREARM”. If you are gonna own a gun you better know your gun before you get hurt, killed or get someone you love killed, and IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!!!!! If you’re not safe; no one around you is.
You don’t have to be a weapons expert folks but you have to be expert at how your weapon works because your life depends on it. Know how to disassemble and clean your gun. All firearms come with manuals and if you don’t have one, you can get one for free from all the major manufacturers for your particular firearm. Cleaning is essential to safe and proper function of all firearms. Know how to clean your semi auto magazines. 90% of all semi auto malfunctions are magazine related.
Just because we buy or own guns, doesn’t mean we know how they work or how to use them.
I have the first section of my State of Texas TCLEOSE Police Firearms Instructor certification coming up at the beginning of February so my practice sessions until then will be limited towards that end, but I invite all to meet me at…
Marksman Indoor Range
507 Nebraska Street
South Houston, TX 77587-3347
(713) 944-3520
South Houston, TX 77587-3347
(713) 944-3520
Sunday Feb. 20, 2010 at 1:00 p.m.
I hope to see you there. Your Instructor……… Eddie
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
More Questions...
QUESTION 1: Could you please elaborate on your comment "practice smart"?
I'll be glad to, thanks for asking. Doug walked up while I was firing at the range and remarked to me that he didn't know I was a left handed shooter. I'M NOT! everybody should practice shooting both strong and weak hand as it's called. I do at least fifteen rounds if not more but two magazines full weak hand is fine. It will feel strange at first but not for long. You may not always be in a position to fire strong hand without exposing yourself to danger in a deadly force confrontation at home or elsewhere, or you may get injured or have to restrain or shield a family member. It's smart practice. Practice shooting with BOTH EYES OPEN. It's smart practice. Practice magazine reloads, this is something I rarely see civilians or police do on ranges. Usually they load a mag. insert and fire. then take out the empty mag, pick up the full one insert and fire. You should learn to fire til dry, drop the mag and retrieve your spare from, pocket, purse or pouch, wherever you will carry it, rack your slide and get back in the fight. That's smart practice. Those are just a couple of examples, but try them on for size and let me know how it went for ya. Don't forget to shoot at real life situation targets also.
You can order targets from a company named SPEEDWELL (Google/Bing them) and order all different types if you'd like. They have package deals that include a variety of scenario targets. That's smart practice too.
QUESTION 2: OK Mr. Instructor, just where is a safe place to live since you think Ft. Bend and Sugar Land are so dangerous?
Being one of the worlds biggest smart asses, I love sarcasm so in that vein I shall say first........."a safe place to live"? THE MOON? HEAVEN?
I'm not so sure about heaven, cause most serial killers, and child molesters and death row inmates find religion and forgiveness at the point of a lethal injection, and all of them who receive last rites get forgiveness as part of the package.....heh heh heh heh. makes ya wonder don't it?
Seriously though, Ft. Bend and Sugar Land are no safer or more dangerous than any other community anywhere in the world. Don't fool yourself. As I write this I note that there was another incident of attempted robbery and shooting at First Colony Mall a couple of nights ago? Where exactly is that Mall located? The criminals go where they think or know they will have the best chance of success, have a target rich environment, and have the most likely chance of getting away with the crime. They are predators. The safest place to live is within yourself and your ability to create a safe and peaceful state within yourself. Having the skill and willingness to defend yourself and your loved ones by adding measured doses of lead at high speed to the environment of a dirt bags body don't hurt either.
Great questions folks. I have a few more I'll get to next week, and don't forget the Gun Show at Reliant the 23rd and 24th of this month.
Your Instructor Eddie.....................OUT
I'll be glad to, thanks for asking. Doug walked up while I was firing at the range and remarked to me that he didn't know I was a left handed shooter. I'M NOT! everybody should practice shooting both strong and weak hand as it's called. I do at least fifteen rounds if not more but two magazines full weak hand is fine. It will feel strange at first but not for long. You may not always be in a position to fire strong hand without exposing yourself to danger in a deadly force confrontation at home or elsewhere, or you may get injured or have to restrain or shield a family member. It's smart practice. Practice shooting with BOTH EYES OPEN. It's smart practice. Practice magazine reloads, this is something I rarely see civilians or police do on ranges. Usually they load a mag. insert and fire. then take out the empty mag, pick up the full one insert and fire. You should learn to fire til dry, drop the mag and retrieve your spare from, pocket, purse or pouch, wherever you will carry it, rack your slide and get back in the fight. That's smart practice. Those are just a couple of examples, but try them on for size and let me know how it went for ya. Don't forget to shoot at real life situation targets also.
You can order targets from a company named SPEEDWELL (Google/Bing them) and order all different types if you'd like. They have package deals that include a variety of scenario targets. That's smart practice too.
QUESTION 2: OK Mr. Instructor, just where is a safe place to live since you think Ft. Bend and Sugar Land are so dangerous?
Being one of the worlds biggest smart asses, I love sarcasm so in that vein I shall say first........."a safe place to live"? THE MOON? HEAVEN?
I'm not so sure about heaven, cause most serial killers, and child molesters and death row inmates find religion and forgiveness at the point of a lethal injection, and all of them who receive last rites get forgiveness as part of the package.....heh heh heh heh. makes ya wonder don't it?
Seriously though, Ft. Bend and Sugar Land are no safer or more dangerous than any other community anywhere in the world. Don't fool yourself. As I write this I note that there was another incident of attempted robbery and shooting at First Colony Mall a couple of nights ago? Where exactly is that Mall located? The criminals go where they think or know they will have the best chance of success, have a target rich environment, and have the most likely chance of getting away with the crime. They are predators. The safest place to live is within yourself and your ability to create a safe and peaceful state within yourself. Having the skill and willingness to defend yourself and your loved ones by adding measured doses of lead at high speed to the environment of a dirt bags body don't hurt either.
Great questions folks. I have a few more I'll get to next week, and don't forget the Gun Show at Reliant the 23rd and 24th of this month.
Your Instructor Eddie.....................OUT
Monday, January 4, 2010
Crime Alert! | Shooting Skills | Gun Show
Happy New Year Everybody. I hope the holidays were blessed for all as they were for me. There are many strange things happening in the world and our area and I’m not sure where to start so I’ll just start at the beginning.
For my friends who live in Fort Bend County. Your crime rate has had an interesting last few weeks, never mind the year. Shootings at the Mall in Sugar Land and a gang fight at Fuddruckers and an attempted kidnapping and drive by shootings. Wow. Fort Bend County S.O. and Sugar Land have tracked and documented 800 new gang members operating in Fort Bend County and that’s not all of them since they have no funding to continue the federally mandated tracking and registration as of yet. Figure 800 + their friends + their friends etc. You get my drift.
Fancy upscale neighborhood malls and sweet names like Sugar Land don’t hold any different sway over criminals than the old city wards do. Predatory felons like upscale neighborhoods and they are target rich environments with all the open garage doors and large separated homes and drives. Response times are longer and people still think “it can’t happen here….” Yeah right.
In the real world the bad guys are always looking for easy victims and environments to victimize. Sugar Land and Fort Bend County have small forces with larger and larger areas and populations to patrol, and now Anise Parker of Houston will try to get the limited forces of those communities to respond to 911 calls on the outskirts of H-Town. How do ya like them apples? If your not afraid you should be. Regardless of Ms. Parker, the turds are always looking for victims there is never a time they aren’t. You have to be prepared. Remember, Law Enforcement has NO DUTY to protect you. It is your responsibility and you should never take that responsibility lightly. If you made a New Year’s resolution it should have contained your willingness to change the things in your daily lifestyle and home environment that make you a potential victim.
Right now in the world in general, the USA is looked at as weak because of our current leadership in Washington. Guess what? WE ARE! Guess what else? The criminals at home are the first to take advantage of signs of political weakness. Our Nations self respect goes down, our crime rate goes up. Fort Bend County has always been considered as a safer area because of high population of white suburbanites in the mid and upper level income brackets and what is perceived as a somewhat exclusive neighborhood with law enforcement dedicated to each neighborhoods blah, blah, blah. Ask River Oaks or the Woodlands about that and the reality of now. Friendswood, Clear Lake, Missouri City, Stafford, take your pick. Crime doesn’t care where you live or what you think and crime does pay in “exclusive” neighborhoods. You’re not in the country> you’re on the edge of the city> Houston is expanding in all directions and proportionately so is crime. Katy is now just the West side and Sugar Land and Stafford are I the Southeast corridor> The Wooodlands is now Northside, Clear Lake, League City? Southside. The Federal government wants to strip Police departments of manpower for technology and such enlightened politicians as Ms. Parker and others put community safety and police as third and fourth priorities. Man I sure am feeling safer knowing the mayor of my city thinks so highly of my safety and HPD are as she stated in her Inaugural address as 3rd. and 4th. On her list of her priorities. Hey bad guys are you listening? I hope you know where Ms. Parker’s house is. Please visit it soon so she might shift that view on public safety a bit.
I hate to say this but, ARM YOURSELVES NOW! TAKE YOUR OWN SELF DEFENSE MORE SERIOUSLY THAN YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS DO. NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE. THE BAD GUYS DON’T CARE, THEY JUST KNOW IT’S A GOOD TIME TO BE A CROOK… WHAT GOD CAN’T PROTECT AND THE GOVERNMENT WON’T PROTECT… SMITH AND WESSON AND I WILL.
For my friends who live in Fort Bend County. Your crime rate has had an interesting last few weeks, never mind the year. Shootings at the Mall in Sugar Land and a gang fight at Fuddruckers and an attempted kidnapping and drive by shootings. Wow. Fort Bend County S.O. and Sugar Land have tracked and documented 800 new gang members operating in Fort Bend County and that’s not all of them since they have no funding to continue the federally mandated tracking and registration as of yet. Figure 800 + their friends + their friends etc. You get my drift.
Fancy upscale neighborhood malls and sweet names like Sugar Land don’t hold any different sway over criminals than the old city wards do. Predatory felons like upscale neighborhoods and they are target rich environments with all the open garage doors and large separated homes and drives. Response times are longer and people still think “it can’t happen here….” Yeah right.
In the real world the bad guys are always looking for easy victims and environments to victimize. Sugar Land and Fort Bend County have small forces with larger and larger areas and populations to patrol, and now Anise Parker of Houston will try to get the limited forces of those communities to respond to 911 calls on the outskirts of H-Town. How do ya like them apples? If your not afraid you should be. Regardless of Ms. Parker, the turds are always looking for victims there is never a time they aren’t. You have to be prepared. Remember, Law Enforcement has NO DUTY to protect you. It is your responsibility and you should never take that responsibility lightly. If you made a New Year’s resolution it should have contained your willingness to change the things in your daily lifestyle and home environment that make you a potential victim.
Right now in the world in general, the USA is looked at as weak because of our current leadership in Washington. Guess what? WE ARE! Guess what else? The criminals at home are the first to take advantage of signs of political weakness. Our Nations self respect goes down, our crime rate goes up. Fort Bend County has always been considered as a safer area because of high population of white suburbanites in the mid and upper level income brackets and what is perceived as a somewhat exclusive neighborhood with law enforcement dedicated to each neighborhoods blah, blah, blah. Ask River Oaks or the Woodlands about that and the reality of now. Friendswood, Clear Lake, Missouri City, Stafford, take your pick. Crime doesn’t care where you live or what you think and crime does pay in “exclusive” neighborhoods. You’re not in the country> you’re on the edge of the city> Houston is expanding in all directions and proportionately so is crime. Katy is now just the West side and Sugar Land and Stafford are I the Southeast corridor> The Wooodlands is now Northside, Clear Lake, League City? Southside. The Federal government wants to strip Police departments of manpower for technology and such enlightened politicians as Ms. Parker and others put community safety and police as third and fourth priorities. Man I sure am feeling safer knowing the mayor of my city thinks so highly of my safety and HPD are as she stated in her Inaugural address as 3rd. and 4th. On her list of her priorities. Hey bad guys are you listening? I hope you know where Ms. Parker’s house is. Please visit it soon so she might shift that view on public safety a bit.
I hate to say this but, ARM YOURSELVES NOW! TAKE YOUR OWN SELF DEFENSE MORE SERIOUSLY THAN YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS DO. NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE. THE BAD GUYS DON’T CARE, THEY JUST KNOW IT’S A GOOD TIME TO BE A CROOK… WHAT GOD CAN’T PROTECT AND THE GOVERNMENT WON’T PROTECT… SMITH AND WESSON AND I WILL.
BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID!
I went to the range last week with my friends and trainees Tom, Doug and his lovely wife Deborah. I noticed two things which I didn’t mention to my friends. There were lines of folks waiting to shoot. They were mostly new shooters with presents or new purchases. Almost all had multiple firearms. I venture to guess from overheard conversation and from observing the line and the targets downrange, that 95% have had no formal training and there were shooters who were obviously “homey’s and home boys or G’s”. Beside me, 100% of the others had no purposeful practice routine. Even my friends were there to shoot all of their guns not to train. There is a difference between training and shooting. That is not a criticism, but it points out a fact. I always want to train my friends when we shoot in at least one new skill if not more, but after a while of wanting to shoot so many guns at once the practical aspect becomes negligible and you aren’t training at all you’re just shooting. I was able to train my two friends in a new and basic skill so my mission was accomplished. I’m not about to shove my methodology down y’alls throats so I want you to have fun. Remember though, shooting a lot does not make you a lot better shooter. Start getting real practice in on realistic targets. A small piece of shrapnel hit me in the forehead and it kicked in an automatic response of fear and angry concentration forcing me to shoot better and more accurately. It’s a whole different ball game when the lead comes back at you. Practice smart every once in a while. Practice with the gun you carry and what you carry it in. Quit shooting at bull’s-eye targets with your carry gun unless you are shooting it for groups. Shoot at human situation targets. If you get shot at, it won’t be by a bull’s-eye target and if it’s a person; I’m pretty sure they won’t be wearing a bull’s-eye on them anywhere. As I said, practice smart once in a while. The rest of the times have all the fun you want to have. After all, even I know it’s a sport. Oh by the way, I took the two guns I was carrying that day to practice with and no others. When we left, I was carrying them concealed, a revolver and a semi auto.
Deb has had shoulder surgery/ rotator cuff type gather. She had difficulty getting her semi auto 9mm to function in a reliable fashion as a result. It’s new, but that wasn’t the cause of its dangerous inability to function flawlessly. Since her surgery she has lost some strength and is having difficulty maintaining a firm enough grip for the firearm to recoil against. So it jammed. I watched and observed and assured her that the firearm was not at fault but I could tell she had her doubts until I took it and put two magazines of the same ammo through it with no malfunctions and so did her husband. I could sense a little discouragement and then noticed she switched to her .22. This is understandable. I was bugged by it all weekend and talked with a dear friend of mine ( an Instructor also) and he has had the same surgery as have several of the officers and detectives he has to re-qualify for his department. He and I came up with a brainstorming solution and his insight was incredibly helpful to me. We advise her to rehab her shooting skills, by not overdoing it or overstressing her physiology. Practice with the weapon she will carry and defend herself with. Until her strength is back, over grip her weapon almost too white knuckle stage so that the firearm can recoil solidly. I pointed out to her at the range that she had changed her grip and she needed to go back to what I taught her. Look folks don’t make a cup with your left hand for your right hand to sit in. It don’t work!! You grip the weapon fully seated in your strong hand to the web of the strong hand and you put the left hand in front of it resting your left hand fingers in the spaces between the knuckles of the right hand. Push hard with the right and pull slightly with the left, this is a wedge. For more stability I place my left hand index finger wrapped around the front of the trigger guard. Most semi autos have checkering there for that purpose. Like rehab, Deb should shoot more, and more productively with less rounds.
I recommend that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, SHOULD SHE CARRY HER SEMI-AUTO UNTIL SHE REHABS HER SHOOTING SKILLS, TO DEFEND HER LIFE WITH. I recommend she carry a revolver until then and of course I will practice with her and set up a course of fire for fewer rounds using the semi-auto only until rehab is successful.
One of the firearms at our session was the Taurus PT101 .40 S&W that was bought on my recommendation at Academy. Man what a fine firearm and a sweet shooter. All for $300.00. If you missed out on that go to the Katy Freeway store and mention the ad and see if you can’t get them to sell you one for the price or close to it. I understand that store (I-10 West at Fry rd.? or Mason?) has a few. Check it out.
The best gun show of them all is at Reliant Center on January 23 & 24, The Houston Gun Collector's Association show. I never miss it and it is always a good place for a good deal. I’ll be there on the 24th if anyone wants to go. I’ll be meeting friends there so come on along.
The best gun show of them all is at Reliant Center on January 23 & 24, The Houston Gun Collector's Association show. I never miss it and it is always a good place for a good deal. I’ll be there on the 24th if anyone wants to go. I’ll be meeting friends there so come on along.
Your Instructor... Eddie
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