U.S. Concealed Carry
“Armed American Report”
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August 29th, 2008
Dear Friend,
The first order of business this week, is that I am VERY pleased to announce that a good friend of mine is going to begin writing gear reviews for the Armed American Report! His name is Cody Alderson, and I honestly can’t think of a better person to do this. He’s been an active member of the USCCA and our forum for quite some time, and he’s simply a GREAT guy. Most relevantly, as a true survivalist, he KNOWS how to put gear to the ultimate test.
I know you’re going to LOVE his work. He actually keeps a website, and you can find out more about this great guy there.
Last week, I asked you all to ask a question at the bottom of the Armed American Report. I am going to begin answering questions like that every week in that same section!
Also, last week I mentioned that I had something exciting for ALL of us coming up in September… I received a LOT of emails about this asking for more information, but I just HAVE to keep my lips sealed for now! All I can say is that I am VERY, VERY excited about it, and that you should be too! That’s all I can say for now… though I can barely contain myself!
Okay, let’s get going! First- a laugh!
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== USCCA Laugh of the Week ==
See all of Chaim’s Cartoons at his website:
http://www.chaimcartoons.com/
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== ““When Being a Good Guy Isn’t Enough” ==
A Tactical Analysis of the Tyler Courthouse Shooting
and the Tacoma Mall Shooting
by Syd from http://www.sightm1911.com/
For the second time this year, a legally armed citizen armed with a pistol faced a crazed gunman armed with a rifle and did not prevail. In February 2005, Mark Wilson engaged David Arroyo on the steps of the courthouse in Tyler, Texas. Arroyo was wearing body armor and was armed with a Mak-90 7.62×39mm rifle. While Wilson was able to land hits from his .45 pistol on Arroyo, Arroyo’s body armor stopped them and Arroyo was able to kill Wilson. On the 20th of November, at a shopping mall in Tacoma, Washington, Dominick Maldonado opened fire on shoppers with a Norinco Mak-90 rifle.
Maldonado, who at the age of 20 already had an extensive arrest record, had been taking methamphetamine for five days. He decided to take out his “rage” against the world by shooting complete strangers. A legally armed citizen, Brendan McKown, chose to intervene. He drew his 9mm pistol but did not fire. Instead, he verbally ordered Maldonado to put down his gun. Maldonado responded by firing four rounds into McKown’s torso. McKown survived his wounds but was grievously injured including a hit to the spine which may leave him unable to walk. Both Mark Wilson and Brendan McKown are the finest kind of people, heroes in truest sense. I would be proud to call either man my friend. Nevertheless, both men were shot and did not succeed in stopping the bad guy in their engagement. The good guys got shot and the bad guys walked away.
These incidents raise troubling questions. This is not the way things are supposed to go. The good guys are supposed to come out on top, or at least they shouldn’t lose their lives or become paralyzed. Were these outcomes simply fate, or could things have been done differently and a different outcome obtained? How do our ethics and religious principles affect our tactical decisions? And most importantly, are there lessons which can be learned from these incidents that could improve the outcome of a similar encounter in the future?
Analysis of these two fights runs the risk of criticizing two brave men who I consider to be heroes, and it’s my hope to avoid “Monday morning quarterbacking” although some of that will be necessary. Everything said here is in the context of deepest respect and appreciation for the sacrifices these men made.
Firepower
It’s an interesting coincidence that in both of these incidents the bad guy was armed with a Mak-90, a semi-automatic AK-47 clone chambered in 7.62×39mm. This is a formidable weapon. At first glance, it would be easy to say, “Well, duh. Rifle trumps pistol. End of story.” Closer examination, however, would suggest that the rifle versus pistol matching made less difference in the outcome of these incidents than the first glance might suggest. Wilson landed body hits on Arroyo before Wilson was shot but the body armor worn by Arroyo stopped the bullets. A rifle capable of punching through body armor would have been of great benefit to Wilson in countering Arroyo. McKown did not fire his weapon so the comparison of guns is irrelevant. Maldonado was willing to shoot and shoot fast whereas McKown was not. At the range that Wilson first engaged, about 40 to 50 feet, the rifle wielded by Arroyo might have been an advantage, but the fatal shots fired by Arroyo were fired at close range when Arroyo came around the truck behind which Wilson had taken cover. The fatal shots were fired at point blank range. McKown engaged Maldonado at approximately 20 feet; so again, the rifle’s advantage at range is irrelevant.
Ethics and Religious Principles
The issue of ethics and religious principles comes into play at two distinct junctures in these incidents. The first is the deeply felt obligation to defend the innocent and the second is the Christian affirmation of the sanctity of life.
Both of these brave men chose to engage voluntarily. They were not personally under an immediate threat. Mark Wilson was in his apartment when he heard gunfire. His apartment had a clear view of the courthouse steps so he could see what was happening before he grabbed his Colt and went into the street to intervene. McKown was in another shop when he heard gunfire and went toward the sound to try to stop the mayhem.
Both men could have opted to stay where they were and would have remained safe, but they chose to do otherwise. A hard-nosed, pragmatic analysis viewed from the perspective of personal survival would say that the wisest course of action would be to take cover and stay safe. Another CCW holder at the Tacoma mall who was there with his family chose to get his family to a safe place behind cover and defend them, but not to engage the crazy shooter. Had I been there with my family, I’m sure that I would have made a similar choice on the basis that my first obligation would be to defend and protect my loved ones.
It is clear in both cases that Wilson and McKown felt a moral obligation to intervene to save the lives of complete strangers, and they did. For guys like McKown and Wilson, simply taking cover and protecting themselves is not an ethically acceptable response. The clearest tactical judgment would tell us to take cover and defend ourselves, but there are times when our ethical convictions supersede our better tactical judgment.
McKown is the progeny of a deeply committed Christian family. His parents are involved in a prison outreach ministry, and he shares their convictions. By his own report, when he looked at the boyish Maldonado, he could not bring himself to take the shot. Instead, he chose to draw his gun and attempt to command Maldonado to drop his gun. (There is some confusion about what happened next. Some reports have McKown re-holstering his pistol and attempting verbal commands. Another report said that when the CZ pistol was found it appeared to have fired one round and then suffered a “double-feed.” McKown’s own report is not clear about this. At one point he says that he couldn’t fire at Maldonado because he looked like a kid and at another point he relates his attempt to crawl after Maldonado after he was shot because “I missed him.”) Maldonado’s response was to spin around and put four rounds into McKown’s torso. McKown’s compassion and respect for human life had prevented him from taking the shot on Maldonado, even though Maldonado was already firing and had shot people. God bless McKown, and I’d love to have him for a next door neighbor. However, the cold tactical analysis would suggest that the most effective course of action would be to take the shot when he had it, and make no attempt to verbally confront or command Maldonado.
Criminal Psychology
For the purposes of this discussion, I will divide those who criminally use firearms into two broad categories: rational criminals and crazy shooters. I am aware that other categories could be suggested such as thrill killers, “crimes of passion” and terrorists, but those aren’t particularly relevant for this analysis. By “rational criminals” I mean the folks whose basic “job” is some kind of crime, such as stick-up guys, burglars and dope dealers. While they may suffer from poor judgment and other character flaws, they are relatively “sane” and rational. They use their firearms as tools of the trade and only employ them to coerce and intimidate others or to defend themselves. These folks tend to react in more or less predictable and rational ways, and their responses can often be anticipated. If they’re cornered and you have the drop on them, they are more likely to surrender and cease their behavior, since, like other rational people, they don’t want to be shot and they know they can go to jail, call their lawyer, and be back out on the street in a few hours. If they aren’t cornered, they will flee – a rational response to the instinct for self-preservation. This is not to say that you should ever let your guard down, but with the rational criminal you have at least a common basis for communication and expectations.
The “crazy shooter” is a different breed of cat. He may be truly psychotic and hallucinating, very high on drugs, or in some other way distressed and no longer operating in a rational framework. His responses cannot be anticipated. He may be insensible to pain because of drugs and/or suicidal. He may be hoping for a “suicide by cop.” The values of the crazy shooter are totally different from those of rational people, and rational people are rarely able to empathize with or understand a crazy shooter without advanced professional training. He is a failed personality who has run out of options. These folks almost never have a realistic exit strategy for the situation because most often they are not really planning to live through the encounter.
Both Maldonado and Arroyo fall into this second category of crazy shooters. Maldonado has a long felony rap sheet and had been taking methamphetamine for five days prior to his shooting spree. Arroyo was perhaps more rational and capable of planning but he was ultimately suicidal. In the midst of a contentious divorce, he went to the courthouse to kill his ex-wife and his own son. He put on body armor which demonstrates planning, but the expectation that he could just get into his pickup and drive away shows that he was not thinking rationally and did not really expect to survive the day. He was stopped by the local police on his way out of town and killed in an exchange of gunfire with them.
When McKown ordered Maldonado to put down his gun, he was relating to Maldonado as if he were a rational criminal, but Maldonado was a crazy shooter, high on methamphetamine, and operating on a set of values which are totally alien to rational people. Our tactics must be appropriate for the adversary we face. It is safe to assume that a person standing in a public place and shooting total strangers is a crazy shooter and will not respond in rational ways. For a rational criminal, just the sight of a gun may dissuade him from further action, although you can’t count on that. With a crazy shooter, an “enemy” to shoot it out with may be just what he’s looking for.
Movement, Cover and Marksmanship
One factor that was present in both cases is that neither Wilson nor McKown were moving at the time they were shot. McKown went into a fixed stance with his gun drawn and issued verbal commands. He was in an open area of the store and there was no hard cover available to him. Wilson went prone behind a pickup. Witness Nelson Clyde III said that Wilson was hit and then went down into the prone position. Arroyo then came around the pickup and delivered the fatal shots. This is a report from a friend of Mark’s, Robert Langham, who viewed the courthouse security camera tape:
“Mark had heard the boom of gunfire from his loft apartment overlooking the Spring Street side of downtown Tyler… A glance out his windows would have shown the scene completely: the gunman advancing, the victims sprawled on concrete. Mark grabbed his Colt, bounded down the staircase to the sidewalk, crossed the corner intersection and sprinted to cover behind the first vehicle on the end of the block… David Arroyo was at that moment stepping forward to finish killing his own son on the courthouse steps… Mark lined up the sights on the gunman’s bulky back. He shot once, perhaps twice. The range is inside 20 yards. Less than 60 seconds had passed since he heard the first shot… Mark Wilson was in street, firing. The courthouse security camera shows Arroyo turning away from his son bleeding on the steps and running back to his truck… On camera, three sheriff deputies in the courthouse door began to fire steadily. Mark shoots again to no effect. The gunman is wearing an army flak jacket over body armor. Pistol shots will not penetrate… Wilson and Arroyo exchange shots across the truck bed popping up and down, perhaps three shots each before Mark falls to the red bricks, face down. Arroyo walks around the end of the truck, steps over him and shoots repeatedly…”
It’s hard to find fault with Mark Wilson’s performance that day from a tactical viewpoint, nor is that my desire. Wilson did almost everything right. It’s tragic that he couldn’t accomplish a head shot, that he didn’t grab a rifle to start with or retreat when Arroyo began to move toward him. If, if, if. If frogs had wings, they wouldn’t bump their butts when they hop. These are the facts and the fact is that Arroyo landed a disabling shot before Wilson did. It should be noted that, against a rifle such as an AK, the bed of a truck is concealment but it is not hard cover. An FMJ 7.62×39mm round will shoot through the bed of a truck.
What Can Be Learned Here?
“The faster you shoot, the less shot you will get.” – Jim Higginbotham
Act decisively. When your internal “go” signal is tripped, don’t hesitate. He who hesitates loses.
Use hard cover when possible. Learn the difference between hard cover and concealment.
“Hard cover” is a barrier that will stop bullets and protect you from incoming fire. “Concealment” is a barrier that hides you from the adversary but does not stop bullets. Weapons like the AK-47 will penetrate most building materials. They will also penetrate car bodies.
Move!
Moving targets are hard to hit. Especially when hard cover is not available, keep moving. Retreat is an honorable strategy. “He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.” Practice shooting on the move, the faster the better.
Do a “gut check”
Are you really able and willing to pull the trigger on another human being? If you aren’t, don’t draw a gun on someone who is. I have talked to a number of people who choose not to carry a firearm for personal defense. Almost without exception, the reasons given are, “I just don’t think I could do it,” (meaning, “I can’t shoot someone.”), or “It would probably just get me in trouble,” (Meaning, “I don’t feel competent to fight with a firearm.”). I respect that position and I respect that level of self awareness. If that is your personal truth, then find other means and strategies for self-defense. On the other hand, no right thinking human being ever wants to shoot another, and being repelled by the idea does not necessarily mean that one would be incapable of armed self defense faced with a real threat. But in all things, “Know thyself.” Many folks seem to subscribe to a notion that I have come to call “The Magic Talisman” theory of pistolcraft. They seem to believe that somehow simply brandishing a handgun will solve the problem and make the bad guy act right. It might and it might not. The reality is that pistols require skill, training, and self control to employ effectively. If you draw it, be prepared to fire.
“A man’s got to know his limitations.” – Dirty Harry
Despite some of our negative stereotypes about police officers, most police officers have years of specialized training that the rest of us don’t have. Police officers will always appear more tentative than we might like in situations such as the Tacoma mall because they are trained to gather as much information as possible before acting. They know that sometimes bad guys set bombs and lay ambushes. They have to determine how many bad guys there are, their locations, if there are hostages and the locations of possible hostages. Many have seen colleagues fall because they didn’t have adequate information or backup. Armed citizens are not police officers, but sometimes it pays to take a cue from the way law enforcement approaches these kinds of situations.
Know what you can do. Know what your gun can do. Know what you can do with your gun. A fight is a terrible venue for new product testing.
Practice hard shots
Practice shooting from weird positions. Practice weak hand shooting. Practice for head shots. Practice on moving targets if possible. Practice malfunction clearances. Practice emergency reloads. Practice everything. Practice a lot. Get some training. Ammo is cheap and Murphy is alive and well.
Be flexible.
If what you are doing isn’t working, do something else.
“When going to a gunfight, take a long gun and a friend with a long gun.”
Pistols are close quarters self-defense weapons. All pistols are a trade-off of performance for convenience. When you go on the offensive, i.e., attack, all of the shortcomings of the pistol come into play with a vengeance – puny ballistics, limited firepower, limited range and difficulty in achieving accuracy quickly. Despite the silly propaganda from the gun grabbers, no pistols are “assault weapons.” If they were we wouldn’t bother with equipping our soldiers with rifles and machine guns.
Epilogue
I still feel a great reluctance to say anything at all about these two incidents. No matter how carefully one proceeds and chooses his words, commenting on the sacrifices made by McKown and Wilson still feels disrespectful. My reluctance to talk about these incidents was only overcome by the idea that lessons should be learned and by doing so we honor the fallen and make their sacrifices more significant by applying their lessons to the next incident that may arise.
I have tried to avoid using the language of “winning” and “losing” in reference to Wilson and McKown because winning and losing is not a simple matter in these incidents. McKown and Wilson did what they felt they had to do. They were true to themselves, and both men saved the lives of others even though they paid a terrible price. You can’t call getting shot “winning” and you can’t call standing up for what you believe and saving the lives of others “losing.”
Analysis such as this traps us at a point of abstraction. We can’t be there and we can’t get into the heads of the people who were. We can guess and speculate about things which might have been done differently but we cannot re-create the situation in order to test our theories. Ultimately, we are left with our revulsion for the bad guys and reverence for the good guys, fear that we may face a similar test and hope that somehow things will turn out better for us.
WOW! What an article!! A HUGE ‘THANK-YOU’ to Syd from http://www.sightm1911.com for letting me share it with you… Everyone- please check out his website… it’s simply fantastic!!!
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== Review of the Drug Detective Kit ==
written by Cody S. Alderson
USCCA GEAR REVIEW
Are you a parent who is concerned that your child may be using drugs? Have you ever wondered if a friend or other relative is a drug user? If that question is on your mind, then only knowing the truth will make the question go away. Getting an answer will give many a peace of mind because they can find out that their fears were unjustified, but for others they may find out one of their worst fears has come true.
Maybe you are a law enforcement officer who needs a way to detect drugs from the tiniest amount of residue left behind. And I mean really tiny! So minuscule in fact that you can swab an article of clothing or even a fingerprint to get the amount of residue needed to complete a test.
For the civilian consumer there are products on the market to test someone for drugs, but they require the suspected user to volunteer a saliva or urine sample. I was able to test out a product that lets one test for drugs without the suspected user even knowing the test was done. This product is incredibly reliable, and incredibly phenomenal in its concept. A laboratory was tasked with the job to try and confuse the test to get false positives from substances similar in chemical construct to the drugs it tests for. They couldn’t do it. They couldn’t fool the Drug Detective.
The Drug Detective Kit is a new technology on the forefront of a major release to the general public. The owner of the exclusive manufacturing and distribution rights in North America and Europe of the kit is Mr. Kris Pauly. He also owns Kriana Corp, the manufacturer of Krill Lighting Products. I have been privileged to be one of the first in North America to get to review this amazing product. Mr. Pauly is also joining us in brotherhood because he is in the process of getting his concealed carry permit.
The concept of the drug kit is simple. The kit detects down to 10 billionths of a gram (nanograms) of a drug. It will detect cocaine, marijuana, opiates, methadone, amphetamines, and methamphetamines in a fingerprint, even if the suspect washes their hands! A regular abuser or distributor of an illegal drug will contaminate about 300 layers of cells in the skin of their hands over time. When washing one’s hands about 10 layers of cells are removed. Oils that are secreted through the skin that make a fingerprint will pick up the drug residue from the lower layers of cells. It will then secrete that substance in the oils that make the print.
A fingerprint that is left behind on a surface is about 50 micrograms, or millionths of a gram. That is much more than the 10 nanograms required to detect the illegal drugs the kit would be testing for. Now one doesn’t have to worry about testing positive if their doctor prescribed something like Vicodin, which is an opiate. It takes regular handling and exposure to drugs to build up the residue in the layers of our skin cells for a test to show as positive. We proved that by having a test subject handle a prescribed Vicodin tablet for the first test we conducted.
My dentist did a difficult extraction and prescribed me a couple of Vicodin tablets for pain. I told him that I can’t take them because they really upset my stomach. He told me to fill the prescription anyway because he expected me to be in a lot of pain. I did as he asked, but I managed. So those couple of Vicodin tablets have been sitting in the cabinet for about three months. I used those pills for our tests before throwing them out.
I had my test subject handle a pill much more so than she would have if she was just going to be taking a prescription dose. I then had her wash her hands normally. After that I had her leave fingerprints behind on a smooth plastic cup, and then we tested the fingerprints for drug residue. The test was negative. This shows that we don’t need to worry about showing positive with this test for taking a legally prescribed dose of a medication.
Each kit is good for one test. However, one could swab a bunch of surfaces before completing the test. This method won’t show which surface was positive, but will only show if at least one of the surfaces had drug residue on it. This is a good way for a parent to test their child’s iPod, computer keyboard, cellphone, or other surface that only the child comes in contact with on a regular basis. A parent can also swab a container such as a suspicious empty plastic bag. They can also test a powder, pill, plant material, and even a liquid.
We used the second test kit we were sent to test a tiny sample of the actual Vicodin pill. It showed an unequivocal positive result. The tests performed exactly as they were designed to do. Now imagine the uses that this product can be put to.
The photo below is of the results shown on our test devices. On the left is the first test, which showed negative. On the right is the positive result from the Vicodin sample. Where there is no colored line, in this case next to “OPI” for opiates, it is the indicator for a positive result.
For the scientifically minded, here is a quote right from the instructions in the kit. “The Drug Detective Kit is basically a lateral flow chromatographic immunoassay for the qualitative detection of common drugs of abuse on any surface or in any liquid.” I see it as an easy-to-use test that tells me in ten minutes if it detected drugs in sample, and that sample can be swabbed from a surface in quantities smaller than the material in a fingerprint.
It is already in use by an Arizona police department. That particular agency actually got a warrant to search a suspect’s house after an empty plastic bag he was carrying tested positive for ecstacy The test is not definitive proof for incarceration or termination from a job, but it is sufficient enough to be probable cause for further investigation.
I like this product. I have worked with people who admitted to using drugs regularly, but they had always evaded detection from the so-called random drug testing the company did. I don’t want to rely on co-workers who are illegal substance users. I like it that a company can use this kit to gain probable cause for further testing.
I made a joke when I first heard about this product saying that we can find out if grandma is on the pot. It was intended to be a double entendre, but in all seriousness I could find out if grandma was smoking dope and she wouldn’t even know I tested her.
This kit is so good that the Army and the Department of Homeland Security are interested in it. The sales to those agencies will be incredible, but I feel that sales to regular consumers like us will be huge. The kit is only forty dollars, and you get the results in ten minutes. You don’t have to have urine, blood, or saliva for testing. And you don’t have to send anything out to a lab. All you need is some residue on a surface, or a sample of the stuff to be tested.
Law enforcement now has an inexpensive test kit available to them that they can easily use on the scene to test a suspects clothes, their hands, an empty plastic bag, or even a fingerprint they leave behind on a surface. I like that they will have another tool in their toolbox to help get warrants, and to get dealers off of the streets.
For civilian use, this product will answer the question of whether or not a loved is using drugs. We may not like the answer it tells us, but at least we will know. Knowledge is power. Knowing that a child is using drugs will help parents help their child. And for forty bucks a parent can get the answer they need.
Visit www.drugdetectivekit.com to get the answer you need.
For any more information, please contact Kris Pauly at kris@drugdetectivekit.com
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== USCCA Members-Only ==
Forum Highlights
Every paying website member has complete access to the USCCA forum, which is constantly being accessed by members sharing information, knowledge, insight, and fun. With well over sixty-thousand posts and growing by the hour, this is one heck of a valuable resource!
If you have never logged in but are a member, visit THIS location to watch help videos, including how to find out your username and/or password!
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Are gun belts really worth the money? by ‘Duncs’
I noticed that all the websites I went to to look for the “perfect” holster, all carried gun belts. As they are pretty spendy and I know nothing about them, I was just wondering whether anyone out there recommends getting one or whether they are just all hype and that your “cheapo” belt bought down Target is good enough!
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Opinions on Carry/House handgun
by ‘ugaboy15′
I am quickly approaching the 21 year mark and have turned my thoughts on the “perfect” CCW handgun. I currently own a Beretta 92 and have used it as a house gun for over two years. I love the gun and shoot very well with it. It just doesn’t conceal very well with my wardrobe. I am a college student so one pistol is really all I can afford at this point. I have tried many different handguns including the Colt 1911, Browning Hi-Power, Glock 17,19,22, and 23, Springfield XD’s, Sig P229 and Kahrs. This pistol is to be used as a carry and house gun.
I actually don’t prefer the 1911 or HP for the simple fact that I have seen, and done myself, failure to toggle the safety off single actions. I prefer a simpler “point and click” interface. Either DA or DAO. I like revolvers but prefer to have 7 or more rounds at my disposal. I also like the .40, .45, and .357 Sig rounds over 9mm. I know that I have to pick, but I would appreciate any advice such as pistols I should try out or preferred rounds you use.
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You’re in a mall buying new shoes and hear automatic gunfire. Now what do you do? by ‘Coastie’
The following scenario doesn’t belong to me and the author will be revealed at the end (in time). Yet, since this is the rash of events that have happened at least with a single gunman in the past (at many shopping malls), it may also possibly come (in the future). So we should all be prepared, which of course is why we carry, and why we’re members of USCCA.
You and a buddy are in a shoe store buying shoes, in a relatively large suburban shopping mall. You both have your .45 caliber pistols with you along with 1 spare mag of 17 rounds each in a fanny pack around your waist. Naturally you’re licensed to carry and this mall doesn’t have the GFZ policy. In fact there is no security guard station in the entire mall save for only one kiosk-type information/security desk for the entire mall.
That security person will go down with the first BG’s blast and he won’t have a chance to dial 911 or anyone else.
All of a sudden you both hear off the in the near distance small arms firing long strings of fire (rat-tat-tat!) You also hear people, mainly women and children, screaming! You hear more than one gun firing next door in the larger JC Penney-type store, and you are aware of other distant sounds of firing as well.
You see two Arab-looking BGs with Ingram SMGs, without barrel extensions, wildly firing in a few stores just down the way from you opposite one another, each firing into the store in front of them. Due to the high rate of fire these guns aren’t hitting much initially besides ceilings and floors, but still the BGs are taking casualties.
As you move into the outer corridor area you see anther Arab with another Ingram with a silencer attached as he exits a jewelry store. You also hear other distant gunfire down in another section of the mall.
“The mall is a cacophony of screams and gunfire now, with people running blindly towards exits instead of first looking where the danger was. A lot of those went down, mostly women. Some children.”
What do you do? (Note the area police won’t be there in time and won’t show up until after the BGs are dead!) So it’s all up to you two…
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== “Thomas Pane on Modern Day America …” ==
USCCA VIDEO OF THE WEEK
You may not agree with everything this guy says… but it’s a GREAT video worth watching!
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== “Tim-spiration” of the Week ==
USCCA PHOTO OF THE WEEK
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USCCA QUOTE OF THE WEEK
- Sometimes a good quote will inspire or motivate you. Sometimes, they’ll just put a smile on your face! Here is the quote for this week…
“Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”
-C. S. Lewis
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Self Defense Story OF THE WEEK
- Every day, thousands of Armed Americans use their firearms to preserve human life. Let this section of my newsletter serve as a record of this fact!
- “Tattoo Parlor Owner Shoots, Kills Intruder”
found at:http://www.claytoncramer.com/gundefenseblog/blogger.html
NOTE FROM TIM:
This week’s story isn’t much… it’s very short, but I felt the need to print it, because as you are about to read, the assailant in this case actually threw a ‘Molotov Cocktail’ into the business before he was shot. I don’t know about you, but that is a whole new definition of violent crime in my book…
Just when you thought you had heard of it all…
The owner of a tattoo parlor shot and killed an intruder at the business on near north side early Tuesday.
Police said the incident began as a disturbance at Perfection Tattoo in the 3500 block of Blanco Road at 2:30 a.m.
The business owner told police the man drove up to the building and broke a window and then threw a Molotov cocktail through the window, police said.
The owner then opened fire on the man outside the business, killing him, police said.
Police don’t plan on filing charges against the owner, police said.
The intruder has not been identified.
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Closing Thoughts
For this week’s closing thoughts, I am going to answer one of the 245 questions sent to me so far using the utility below. And that question is…
“I just received my permit about 3 weeks ago, and I’m really trying to carry every day and everywhere I go. The problem is, I always feel like everyone can see my gun, and I am VERY self-conscious. I just feel like all eyes are on me, and everyone knows that I’m carrying. How do I deal with this?”
Let me just say that that feeling is completely normal when someone begins carrying. Trust me- if you just keep carrying, that feeling WILL go away.
Let me also assure you that NOBODY knows you are carrying a pistol. If they did, they would let you know it, probably by ‘freaking out’. Most people don’t even know you can legally carry a gun, and those aware enough to spot them are usually good enough judges of character to tell whether or not you are a threat.
Several times on our forum someone has said that they spotted someone carrying, who obviously was not a threat, by the ‘print’ of their pistol. In most of these instances, nobody else notices and they just let them be. On at least one occasion, our member engaged in a conversation with the person, and after ‘feeling them out’ to see if it would be prudent or not, the member actually told the guy that he could tell he had a pistol, and recommended a better way of concealment.
(I don’t personally recommend this… but I thought it was interesting enough to note).
Lastly, I’d like to say that MOST people do not expect to see a gun… and the human brain ’sees’ what it wants to see. If someone sees a clean-cut, respectable person who has a bulge on their hip, they are, 99% of the time, NOT going to think ‘Gun!’.
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t be VERY cautious and intentional about the methods which we use to conceal; I only offer you this advice in order to help calm your nerves. Just act natural and you will be FINE!
Have a question or concern of your own? Please use the form below to let me know!
Tim Schmidt
Founder - U.S. Concealed Carry
http://www.usconcealedcarry.com
