I noticed the Grader Training Video from the NHC in Michigan has been uploaded to YouTube. Well worth a look if you are an exam grader or if you are chasing a higher rank the next time you take the BJCP exam.
30 Tuesday Sep 2014
I noticed the Grader Training Video from the NHC in Michigan has been uploaded to YouTube. Well worth a look if you are an exam grader or if you are chasing a higher rank the next time you take the BJCP exam.
29 Monday Sep 2014
Trying to avoid PayPal or Square is next to impossible as a small business if you want to accept credit card payments. I’ve scoured the web and not found much other than Payment Alliance International and their site gives too little information regarding fees IMO. I sent them a note to inquire and expect to hear back soon, but if someone out there has a solution, please let me know.
28 Sunday Sep 2014
Posted Pistol
inLast week a convenience store clerk in Canton, Ohio was shot in the leg and hip by three armed assailants. The clerk was known for carrying in a firearm and he returned fire ultimately shooting two of the three armed robbers and those two men died from their injuries. The third suspect is still at large.
I guess now we know what stops a bad guy with a gun, a law-abiding citizen with a gun! Lance, get well soon!
27 Saturday Sep 2014
Posted Beer
in…where Foothills made and IPA of the Month. You can’t can you? Well this month is “Katie Kickoff” and she’s a force to be reckoned with. 6% ABV and 72 IBU from Ella, Galaxy, and Vic Secret hops which are bitter and juicy all at the same time. I had this on draft and found it to be quite tasty, from the bottle it was a little less fresh and more bitter. From a 50,000 ft view I liked the draft better for the bitterness and malt balance, but the more bitter bottle might pair better with certain foods. I doubt they made separate batches for the bottles and draft, but the two certainly had a different characteristic to me. If you spy it grab it, October’s will be out soon and once these are gone, they are gone.
26 Friday Sep 2014
Posted Ammo, Concealed, Instructor, Pistol
inOn September 4 a trooper in Columbia, SC engaged a citizen as they exited their vehicle and asked for ID. Realizing the ID was inside the vehicle they turned back into the vehicle to grab the identification. As he turned to comply with the officer’s commands the officer fired his pistol hitting the man in the hip.
Several things went wrong here IMO. The first question I have is why is a trooper wasting time going after a seat belt violation in a parking lot? The trooper was parked and getting ready to exit the lot when presumably the SUV came in from another direction and caught his eye. That other direction would have been private property so it would seem a waste of time to reprimand a driver for a seat belt violation when cruising around a parking lot. In truth I think seat belts in cars are awesome. I love them. My first car had no seat belts and my father and I installed them. Now I think laws which require me to wear a seat belt are asinine. If someone wants to win a Darwin award by not wearing a seat belt more power to them. I see no need for society to mandate an individuals safety and to penalize them for being stupid when the only person they truly endanger is their self and then only if they have an accident. So the first thing that went wrong was someone wasting time for a simple seat belt violation if one occurred at all.
The next thing that went wrong happened unconsciously. If you watch the video the man exiting the vehicle is given the command to show ID and he taps his pocket and realizes the ID is in the vehicle. Rather than slowly turning to get it he thinks he better get it quick since that is what the officer wants and rapidly turns to get the ID. In this case it was human nature taking over instead of what I preach in my classes to move slowly and deliberately when dealing with the police since all they want to do is get home alive and all you want to do is end the encounter without being shot. So the second thing that went wrong was moving rapidly once engaged by the officer.
The next thing that went wrong is the only reason we have this blog post today. The officer did not take time to analyze the situation and determine if there was a credible threat. He immediately pulled his firearm and as soon as the man turned he began to shoot. He fired four rounds and one struck the man in the hip. I’m sure the officer will have plenty of time to think about this last part since he has been fired from the police force and arrested for his actions. He could have done several things differently and the outcome would have been different. Instead of remaining beside the cruiser when he saw the man going back into the SUV he drew his firearm and moved around his own car to a vantage point which did not provide cover and also did not provide a clear view of the man. Let’s assume the man had a firearm and intended to do harm to the officer, if I were the officer I would want to have cover and a good line of sight on the armed man. I would not want to be close to him without cover. Now I am not an officer and I have not been trained in combat situations, I am a pistol instructor and a citizen and I know the more objects I have between me and an assailant with a firearm the less chance I have of being shot.
The last thing that went wrong is actually the best thing. The officer’s aim wasn’t worth a plugged nickel. He fired four shots and missed with three only hitting the man in the hip. Had he been aiming center of mass he would have probably caused a more grievous injury to the man. I wonder where the other bullets went because he shot at him toward the driver’s door and into the gas station pump area and then shots perpendicular to the pump area. Things happened fast, but shot should not be fired without knowing what is behind the target. In this case that same place beside the cruiser I mentioned earlier would have given a backdrop of the man’s SUV and the gas station building with little chance of inuring a bystander if things had gone south.
I really feel for the man and I feel for the officer. My hope is this instance being broadcast nationwide will make some officer somewhere think before deciding deadly force is their only recourse. Had the officer taken two more seconds he would have known the guy was harmless and could have written that warning ticket or reprimand. Even better, skip the whole seat belt BS and this would have never happened!
25 Thursday Sep 2014
Unless I missed the memo it appears the BDoY competition is dead. I had heard rumblings they might resurrect it during the GABF, but with that event less than a week away it seems like they have stuck a fork in it. Word on the street is Wynkoop did not feel they were getting a return on investment and so the competition was scrapped. At least I did get to compete and have a bevy of T-shirts from being in the top 10 as a semifinalist and one from when I was a finalist. I was kicked to the curb in 2012 and 2013 and was hoping for a strong comeback in 2014, but alas it was not in the cards.
24 Wednesday Sep 2014
Posted Beer
inI had an Anchor IPA last night and I must say I was anything but impressed. I remember when Anchor Liberty Ale was considered an IPA and it was a darn good one. Then over time the beer seemed to slip down into the realm of a pale ale. This new variant just didn’t work for me it was muted and the hops did not seem to work in the beer. Now the bottle I got was badly oxidized as well. It was a cardboard nightmare and that may be why I disliked it so much. I need to give it another whirl from a different bottle shop, but if a second bottle from a different shop is the same as this I won’t be buying it again. Even better would be if I could find it on tap somewhere and let it wet the whistle that way. For now this one earns a thumbs down.
23 Tuesday Sep 2014
So I’m watching the news and they are talking about this survivalist who murdered a trooper in Pennsylvania. They mentioned an AK-47 had been found along with two (wait for it) clips. I cringe every time the media reports on any firearm because I know they won’t take five minutes to Google the correct terminology. I decided to look through some of the news reports online and it didn’t take long to see the same mistake reported several times. For those who need a lesson, you will be correct 99 times out of 100 if you call it a magazine. There are very few firearms which utilize a clip, so call it a magazine and you’ll almost always be correct.
You can amuse yourself with the following media outlets publications who got it wrong. Magazine clips, AK-47 clips, AK-47 clips, magazine clips, ammo clips, clips, and the best one yet, automatic weapon magazine (the AK-47 style rifle is not automatic).
If you are a media outlet and need a consultant to ensure you reporting is factual, hire one already. I’m guessing the AP put out the note and everyone jumped on board without a fact check in their rush to scoop a story where everyone had the same information at the same time. Take a breath, use the smartphone in your pocket and get it right. Maybe then we could all trust what you report.
22 Monday Sep 2014
I have a wide variety of friends and happened to see a cartoon one posted from the Facebook page of the Coalition To Stop Gun Violence. It was a post from June 10 with their caption, “Time to take our country back.” To me this type of editorial cartoon just demonstrates ignorance. Now it did come from out of Canada so we have to take that into consideration when we start to evaluate the editorial. Perhaps the world has the perception the NRA is holding the nation captive with regard to guns, but if they do it is because of the media, not because of the truth. I find myself disliking the media more and more each and every day. A story is always blown out of proportion or fabricated to sell papers and gain viewers. The person who screams the loudest and the most often wins, right? Only with those viewers and readers who want to believe what they are being told, the truth should be what wins.
The NRA has absolutely no desire to see additional gun violence occur, to even think that is absurd. What the NRA wants is to ensure our Second Amendment rights are guaranteed now and in the future. Do I always agree with the message and how it is presented by the NRA, heck no. We are getting an ad currently on our local stations and it’s pretty pathetic. It shows average jills and joes with guns, but far too many tatoos and unattractive people for my taste. I’m no director, but I think I could make a better video with my cell phone and using some of the students I have had in my classes. I just saw an editorial out of NJ where the author is advocating mandatory gun buybacks. When I see mandatory and buyback I’m smart enough to know that means confiscation. I assume that is what Michael De Adder of the Toronto Sun really means with his editorial. Luckily we have the Second Amendment which will not allow that to happen and Mr. De Adder can stay in Canada and think what the evening news allows him to if he so desires, but if he were to ever become a US citizen then he would have the same protection as other law-abiding citizens.
Now I got to scratching my head over this Coalition To Stop Gun Violence and so I took at look at their most recent 990 filing with the IRS. At first it looked pretty up and up with no one taking any money from the kitty. Now that’s a cause, everyone working for free. But I noticed on the 990 they gave $133K and change in 2012 to something called the EFSGV Consulting. After searching more 990s I found out they are the Educational Fund To Stop Gun Violence and of course they had to file those 2012 990s. Turns out they are robbing from Peter to pay Paul. The Executive Director of both is Joshua Horowitz and he takes $125K out of their funds each year. What’s funny about the 2012 filing by EFSGV is they asked for an extension to file, also the salaries were $266K, but no real indication was given as to why or to whom. I noticed Josh is a John Hopkins visiting scholar at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Yep, you guessed it Michael Bloomberg had donated over 1.1 Billion to the school. My gut is telling me Josh is on the Bloomberg payroll because Michael wants to have it that way. I’m surprised both the CTSGV and EFSGV operate on so little income, but figure it’s a way to have a Bloomberg employee at the ready when needed under the guise of being a John Hopkins visiting scholar. Oh what a tangled web we weave. Perhaps Bloomberg is the one trying to hold us hostage…
21 Sunday Sep 2014
Posted Beer
inLast night I consumed Stone Enjoy By 09.20.14 in the nick of time. I certainly didn’t want to go a day too long and allow that puppy to become stale. On a serious note this one was fantastic. I’ve tried to grab beers in the series when I can find them and this one was juicy awesomeness. My suggestion is if you know where a bottle might be lurking on a store shelf somewhere you rush out and grab it without hesitation. If I had another bottle I would enjoy it today even though it would be out of date and awful. 😉