Concealed carry considerations

From an article by Massad Ayoob in the 2009 Concealed Carry Handguns annual:

There is a great irony that attaches to the defensive firearm. When you analyze a great many defensive gun usages (DGUs) you discover that the great majority of the time, the protection weapon does its job with no blood being shed. Usually, the offender who is confronted with the prospect of being shot in self-defense either breaks off and runs or surrenders at gunpoint.

Its most important asset turns out to be its power to deter. The irony comes from the fact that its power to deter is drawn directly from its power to kill.

Understand that criminals do not fear guns. They are, after all, an armed subculture themselves. What they fear is the resolutely armed man or woman who points that gun at them. Criminals are predators, and their stock in trade is their ability to read people and recognize victims. They are very, very good at reading “body language” and determining another’s intent to fight, or lack thereof. In short, you’re not likely to bluff them.

If you carry a gun, you must be absolutely certain that you can use deadly force. The person who is hesitant or unwilling to do so will, in the moment of truth, communicate that vacillation to the hardened criminal they are attempting to hold at gunpoint. In such a case, it is quite likely that the offender will jump them, disarm them, and use the hesitant defenders’ own weapons against them.

If, however, that same criminal realizes that he is facing a resolute person who will, in fact, shoot him if he takes one more transgressive step, he is most unlikely to take that step.

The irony: The person who is prepared to kill if he or she must, is the person who is least likely to have to do so.

Article here. Mr. Ayoob discusses several important considerations for those contemplating carrying a gun. I disagree with the author's anti-open carry tone, although his points about possible downsides to such carry are worth noting. Overall, some good info for those new to firearms carry.

Handgun "knockdown" power

From PoliceOne.com:

The FBI report also emphasizes that unless the bullet destroys or damages the central nervous system (i.e., brain or upper spinal cord), incapacitation of the subject can take a long time, seemingly longer if one is engaged in a firefight.

Failing a hit to the central nervous system, massive bleeding from holes in the heart or major blood vessels of the torso, causing circulatory collapse is the only other way to force incapacitation upon an adversary, and this takes time. For example, there is sufficient oxygen within the brain to support full, voluntary action for 10-15 seconds after the heart has been destroyed. (3)

More often than not, an officer firing at a suspect will not immediately know if he or she has even struck the target. The physics are such that the body will rarely involuntarily move or jerk, and usually there is no noticeable spewing of blood or surface tearing of tissue. Often there is no blood whatsoever. (4) That is why military surgeons and emergency room physicians take great time and pains to carefully examine gunshot victims for any additional small holes. Often that is the only indication the person has been shot.
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In the mid-1980s I was involved in my first shooting as a police officer. But to give the story context, I must go back to 1982 when I graduated from the Long Beach Police Academy. The first thing I was told by experienced training officers I trusted and looked up to, was to “get rid of that pea-shooter 38 they issued you and buy a real gun with some knockdown power!” Although we were issued .38 caliber revolvers, we were authorized to carry a number of different caliber weapons on duty, the largest of which was the 45 Long Colt.

Imagine my surprise when I was confronted by a suspect armed with a shotgun in a dark alley and my Long Colt didn’t live up to its billing. I fired five rounds at the suspect. It wasn’t until I fired my last shot — intentionally aimed at his head — that he went down. I can’t begin to relate to you the surprise and horror I felt when there was absolutely no outward indication I was hitting my target. It was the kind of situation cops have nightmares about.

What actually happened? I fired five rounds at a distance of about twelve feet. The first one missed completely. The second struck his upper leg and broke his femur. The third struck him in the shoulder/chest. The fourth round hit him dead center—in the heart. And of course, the fifth was a headshot. Three of the five rounds created fatal wounds, though only one had immediate results.

Needless to say, I was pretty shaken by the whole thing. Not by the morality of what I’d done; the suspect had already fired at a bystander and taken a hostage earlier. He was also high on PCP. That wasn’t my inner struggle. What shook me was how unprepared I felt; how totally off guard I was taken by what occurred. No one ever told me it would be like that. The reality was contrary to everything I thought I knew about deadly force.

Article here.

Close quarters considerations

From LawOfficer.com, but applicable to anyone who carries a gun:

According to Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted 2007, 55 officers were killed by gunfire last year. 27 of the officers killed were within zero to five feet from their offender and another ten officers were between six and ten feet from their offender. Two of the officers were killed with their own firearm.

So why are agencies still devoting so much of their allotted training time to shooting from the 25-yard line and beyond? Why are agencies still treating firearms and defensive tactics as separate disciplines?

I'm not suggesting that we stop practicing shooting from distances greater than ten feet, but I firmly believe that we need much more comprehensive training in close quarter shooting. When faced with a deadly threat within five feet, we have to be proficient at fighting with our gun.

We may have to use our non-gun hand to strike or to thwart incoming strikes, creating an opportunity to draw our firearm. Additionally, we must be prepared to protect our firearm from this range to avoid being disarmed.

Article here. I am not a fan of the two handed close quarters position mentioned in the article. At contact distances, the less dominant (non-gun) hand is typically better employed blocking and counter-striking the attacker, than providing a two handed hold on the gun.

Avoiding the bucket

Article on the need to avoid inculcating bad habits during training:

US law enforcement was rocked in the 1950’s by a string of what was then termed “Mad Dog Killers”. They were people who couldn’t take their dull and dreary lives any more, so they geared up with a gun and went on a murder spree until killed by the cops. What was really alarming is how many police officers these losers were taking with them.

Investigations after the fact turned up some surprising trends. When faced with a madman who didn’t care if he lived or died, officers would shoot their revolvers empty and then never get around to reloading. Most of them were found, shot dead by the perp, with six empty cases in one hand and their gun in the other with the cylinder open. Most of the officers never even tried to reload from the extra rounds riding on their belt.

But wait, it gets weirder. Witnesses would report that a few officers would even break cover and wander around in the open, staring at their feet. They, too, would have a handful of spent brass and an open gun.

It was a mystery until a smart FBI agent thought to visit a few police pistol ranges that were operated by departments that lost men in shootouts. He found that most of them were modern facilities that were well maintained. But it was that same care lavished on the property that was reducing the chances of coming out the other end of a gun fight in one piece.

Article here. If I recall correctly, some of the CHP officers killed in the infamous Newhall, CA shootout were found to have had empty brass in their pockets. As I recall, the rangemaster at their unit reportedly required officers to not drop their empty brass on the ground during qualification so as not to litter his neat, tidy range. The officers apparently took that trained response with them to their fatal gunfight. As the old adage goes, "train the way you want to fight, because you will fight the way you have trained." Bad habits and all.

No "safe" places

Article discusses the need to carry wherever you go, where legal to do so:

Recently, there were two Christian musicians who were leaving a recording studio and were murdered for two dollars and their car. Initially, I paid little attention to the news reports nor did I listen to the names of the two victims. Three days later, I received an e-mail from a woman friend who had received her CHL by taking my course along with her son and daughter. The e-mail read, “Hi Don, my son, Steve, was murdered Thursday. His funeral is at….”

I sat there stunned. Steve had been licensed through my instruction. I had been to a couple of activities that he and his mother attended – in both cases they were armed. I knew Steve’s mother believed as I do that you never go anywhere unarmed if it is legal to carry in those places. I did not know Steve as well as I did his mother, but I found him to be very likable and smart. In fact, I later discovered that he was probably a genius. Of course after getting that terrible news, I couldn’t help wonder if he was armed that night.

Article here. Outside of law enforcement and the military, the decision whether to carry a firearm, is, in fact, a personal one. A firearm is only a tool, not a magic talisman that will ward off all evil. Having one doesn't make you immune to attack, serious injury or death, any more than wearing your seatbelt immunizes you from dying in a car crash. It only helps increase the statistical odds of survival.

Wrong ammo selection leads to casualties

A military demonstration in France that went awry has led to 17 casualties, including four in critical condition:

Four people including a child were in a critical condition today after live bullets were used instead of blanks during a French special forces open day, army and regional officials said.

Seventeen people were injured in total.

Fifteen civilians and two soldiers were injured in the incident, of which the details remained unclear, involving a demonstration by members of a marines parachute regiment of hostage liberation exercises, a regional authority, Bernard Lemaire, said.

Read the rest here. Assuming this was indeed an error in ammo selection, what a tragic outcome.