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U.S. Concealed Carry
Weekly Newsletter
June 1st, 2007
Dear Friend,
I hope you all had a great memorial day. I trust that, as freedom loving Americans who believe in the right to bear arms, none of you could ever forget what Memorial Day is about- honoring those heroic men and women who have given the ultimate so that we can continue to be free. We recognize that we as Americans are forever in their debt, and the USCCA salutes each and every one of them!
Exclusive Live Audio Interview!
by Mark Walters (The Ordinary Guy)
This week, we have a very special treat. I'm sure you have heard about Mr. Michael DeBose, the Ohio State Representative, right? In case you haven't, he is a democrat, who has twice voted against concealed carry laws for the state of Ohio- but all that changed on the evening of May 1st, when he was attacked by armed thugs. Thankfully, he was not harmed during the encounter, but as we all have learned- one bad experience while unarmed is too many when dealing with consequences as dire as life and death. In this audio clip, we have Mark Walters (The Ordinary Guy) in an interview with this politician, as he discusses the incident and how it has changed him as a person.
USCCA Exclusive LIVE Audio
Mark Walters Inverviews Ohio State Rep. Micheal DeBose
To play the audio clip, just click the "play" button below (the first button on the left). If you have fast internet, you can just listen away, but if you have dial-up, you might want to click "Play", then "Pause" to let it load for a minute before you start playing again. You will see that it's loading by the gray bar moving across the bottom of the player.
Isn't this interview fantastic?
Share This Interview - CLICK BELOW!
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share it with your friends and family!
I really hope you decide to share this weekly newsletter with someone who has not heard of USCCA. The audio interview above communicates a powerful message that is hard to argue with!
-Tim
Combat Mindset & Criminal Behavior
by Tom Perroni
This week, we have another GREAT article by Tom Perroni for you. Last week, Tom talked about the 'Combat Mindset', and we got a lot of great feedback. This week, Tom is talking again about the Combat Mindset and how staying alert not only gives you more precious time to react to threats, but how simply looking alert (a natural consequence of being alert) can actually PREVENT encounters with criminals!
In my article about combat mindset I talked about Jeff Coopers "Color Code". It has been called the Color Code of: Self Defense, of Awareness, of Combat, I simply call it the Color Code. But in order to understand why this is such an important part of Combat Mindset you must understand the Wolf's Behavior.
I have always taught my students to be in condition yellow. But for a better understanding of why you must be in condition yellow and not condition white or to put it another way to be a Sheepdog (in condition yellow and not be sheep (in condition white). I did not write the following but have been teaching this for years and I am not sure where this information came from.
Criminals must go through certain specific stages of activity before they can assault/rob/abduct/rape/etc. These stages will differ slightly in different types of crimes, but will generally fall into these categories.
1. SELECTION-
The criminal views you as a prospective victim. He looks at your "victim potential", on two separate bases. First, do you have the type of car he wants, are you wearing expensive watches and jewelry, have you flashed a roll of cash, do you fit his rape victim profile? We think of this as, "Do you have what I want?" If the answer is, "Yes.", he moves to the next question.
Then he evaluates you as a threat to him. First and foremost, are you paying attention to your surroundings? Are you aware of his presence? Do you look like you might be a physical problem? Do you look like you might be armed? I assure you he goes through these questions. We think of this as, "Can I get what I want from you, safely?"
If the answer to either question, "Do you have what I want, and can I get it from you, safely?" is "NO", then off he goes, in search of easier prey. Thugs are not looking for a fight. What they're looking for is the easy mark. Someone they can get to, get what they want from, and get away from, without being hurt and without being caught.
Several years ago, a fascinating study was conducted by some psychology students. They took photos of ordinary people as they came and went from a downtown business area. They then planned to show these to criminals and ask them to identify the people they would choose as victims, and identify the people they would choose to bypass. In the preliminary write-up, they said that they expected to see a 10-15% correlation among the "victim" and "non-victim" groups.
They then went
to a state prison and got a very large number of career violent offenders (rapists, muggers, etc.) to enter a room one at a time and view these photos. Time after time, the thugs said "I want that one", and pointed to others and said, "But I don't want that one!" When it was over, the psychologists were shocked. There was a 95% correlation rate! Ninety-five times out of a hundred, individual thugs, with no communication among them, picked the same people to be victims, or to bypass. How did they do that? Body language. The only thing available from these photos was body language, but that was enough for the thugs to instantly identify the true victims as well as the people they would not risk a confrontation with.
Whom did they choose as victims? Gender, size, and age were surprisingly not the keys. Instead, they looked for people who shuffled along, head down, avoiding eye contact, unaware of their surroundings (Condition White). In contrast, they avoided choosing people, even small females, if they were alert, confident, head up, and looked like they knew what was going on around them (Condition Yellow). Remember what he really wants. He wants to get to you, get what he wants from you, and get away from you, without being hurt or caught.
There are signs that you are being evaluated by a potential attacker. They include:
1. Anyone who appears to be watching you should be viewed with mild alarm. If every time you look up, the same guy is looking at you, ask yourself, "Why?"
2. Anyone who is inactive until you approach, then tries to look busy;
3. Anyone whose activity is geared to yours. You speed up, he speeds up, etc.
2. POSITIONING-
Once a criminal selects a victim, he must move into a position from which an attack is possible. Always remember that to assault, rob, or rape you, he must be close enough to talk to you. He will attempt to maneuver into this position by stealth (which is defeated by being alert), or by ruse. He may ask you for the time, for change, for directions, anything to distract you and preferably cause you to look away from him. When you look away, here comes the blow! The best course of action is to politely refuse any request, no matter what it is. Keep your eye on him and say, "No". Anything you agree to is the springboard for the next request, which then escalates to demands. Just say "No".
Positioning prior to the assault is vital to him, as he relies almost totally on surprise for success. If you avoid his attempts to properly position himself, you forestall the attack. Be alert and watchful for these cues:
1. Anyone who falls in behind you after you walk by;
2. Two or more people who are together, but split up as you approach;
3. Anyone staying in one place, observing, but begins to move toward you;
4. Two or more people lined up along a wall or fence; or
5. Anyone who moves to block an exit after you enter a confined space.
If you see one of these cues, cross the street, change directions, turn a corner. If he alters his course to match yours, he has tipped his hand. Go to Orange and start planning an escape or response.
3. THE ATTACK-
The attack phase can only come after the evaluation phase and the positioning phase. It is simply not possible to attack you until these first two stages have been completed. The very best defense, therefore, is to circumvent the attack by not allowing the Evaluation Phase and the Positioning Phase to be fruitfully completed. Every single attack you avoid is a battle won! In every attack you fail to prevent, you are at enormous risk! A one-eyed, three fingered jackass can miss you by ten feet with a handgun, and ricochet a round off the pavement and into your femoral artery. Although you are "accidentally" dead, you're still dead. Be alert and use your head and you won't have to use your pistol nearly as often.
BEHAVIORAL CUES TO IMPENDING AGGRESSION-
With the exception of the true sociopath (more on him later), there will normally be cues, principally body language, which will assist you in forecasting aggressive activity by an individual you are observing. Being aware of these cues is vital to your accurate threat assessment.
Of course, verbalization by the offender is a critical cue. Someone cursing, shouting epithets, and generally being aggressive verbally is a likely candidate for physical aggression. Bear in mind, however, that 80% of human communication is non-verbal, and you must be aware of and watchful for these sometimes subtle indicators.
One of the most reliable indicators of an impending assault occurs when you are in a position of authority and the offender fails to comply with or contemptuously ignores your commands. If, for instance, you encounter an intruder in your home, and he does not immediately comply with your commands, you are in for a fight!
Other definitive indicators can include these, alone or in combination:
1. hands on hips;
2. cocked head
3. arms folded across the chest
4. fists clenched, or clenched and flexed alternately
5. jaw clenched
6. spitting
7. deliberate avoidance of eye contact
8. continuously looking around
9. sustained verbal rationalizations
10. continuous yawning and stretching
11. target glancing.
"Target glancing" refers to brief, repeated shifting of the offender's eyes to your chin, your nose, or your weapon. Repeated target glances to your chin or nose means he is gauging the distance for a punch. Target glances at your weapon indicate a gun snatch may be imminent.
Always, when the pre-attack indicators are present, shift to the highest level of mental readiness (Condition Red) and be geared up. If at all possible, extend the distance between the two of you. Unless you are a Marine, you don't have to die for the piece of ground you're standing on!
Sociopaths: These ANIMALS are born without or fail to develop (because of abuse) any sort of empathy for their fellow man. They not only feel nothing when inflicting pain, but IF it brings them sexual pleasure they may do so anytime or anywhere. There will be no "cues." The serial killer may be a sociopath, but likely his other symptoms are not such as would inhibit him from interacting with "normal" folks socially... like in a daily work situation. Some are so disconnected from reality they can't hold a job at any level. Society quickly detects these. But folks like the infamous and now deceased serial killer Ted Bundy are winsome and charming and you may like hanging out with a guy like this, at first. But most folks will eventually get a clue that there is something... just WRONG. It may be too late at that point, especially if you belong to the target group. But there will be no attack indicators with a sociopath. What this means of course is that for folks you don't know very well be polite; be professional but have a plan to kill everybody you meet. Be prepared to implement such plan instantly. If you run into a sociopath (highly unlikely unless you're a part of a target population) and he goes for you, you'll be behind the power curve from the start. But react as if you'd been caught in a near ambush with an immediate action drill. EXTREME violence in instant response may well put this sort of wolf off balance and allow you to either escape or finish him.
Gun and Gear Review
Here we go! My favorite part of every "Tip of the Week". This is where we get to look at some neat and interesting guns and gear.
Have you ever received a book as a gift, and even though you thank the person wholeheartedly and tell them how excited you are to read it, you immediately forget about it- Only to later pick the book up out of boredom, and actually have it be a really good read? Well that's exactly what happened to me this past Christmas.
I was given this pistol shooting book by a friend who really doesn't know a thing about (or have much interest in) pistols. So, I just figured he saw it in a check-out lane and grabbed it, thinking that any shooting book is a good shooting book.
Almost embarrassed about owning what I assumed was a cheesy beginners-guide-to-shooting, I sandwiched it between a couple larger books on my bookshelf, and that was that.... until one rainy day a week or so ago, when I saw it sitting there, and decided to see just how lame this book was. Well, as it turns out, it was a pretty darn good book after all!
Tactical Pistol Shooting, by Erik Lawrence.
The author, Erik Lawrence, is a SKILLED guy- I can't believe I've never heard of him. As a ten-year veteran of the U.S. Army special forces, he has trained, consulted, and operated in over 30 countries. Quite a background! Early on in his book, he brings up a very good point- that "not all good shooters can teach you to shoot".
This book is IDEAL for beginners. He's got a glossary, and explains a lot of terms that took me a lot of exposure to understand. He has diagrams illustrating the components of single and double action pistols, as well as the GLOCK Safe-action system. In addition to that, he covers all the basics on shooting fundamentals, safety, the combat mindset, positions, and so on. He's brutally honest, and quick to admit that even the best training techniques and instructors are useless unless you put the skills in to practice, and practice often! Like I said- a perfect book for a beginner.
The parts that I enjoyed the most were the chapters on clearing malfunctions, and reloading while wounded. One of the coolest parts, I thought, was where he shows different groups on paper targets and breaks down what could be causing you to group that way- for example, a pattern to the right of the bull could indicate that you are applying too much thumb pressure, or pulling the trigger at an angle. The book itself can be read in just a few sittings (about 200 pages long) and it's full of great illustrations (black and white).
As a fairly seasoned shooter, I can honestly say that I have heard most of the material in this book at least once, BUT- I can say that I've never seen all of the material in this book compiled in one easy to read and understand book the way it is here in "Tactical Pistol Shooting".
USCCA Forum Highlights
Every Deluxe Member has complete access to the USCCA forum, which is constantly being accessed by members sharing information, knowledge, insight, and fun. With currently over 15,000 posts and growing by the hour, this is one heck of a valuable resource!
Grabbing the gun
Scenario: You are attacked by a BG and he is able to wrestle your gun away from you...
Wife just got a new Glock 19!
My formerly Canadian wife (was recently Naturalized) is the proud owner of a brand new Glock 19!...
Colorado's new law prohibiting non-resident CCW
I've heard that recently a bill was signed into law by the Governor of Colorado, whereas Colorado will no longer recognize or honor other states non-resident permits...
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...
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."
~Thomas Jefferson
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Closing Thoughts
Member Feedback: Some of the best ideas, tips and thoughts come from other USCCA members just like you! So if you have something you'd like to share with the rest of us, please don't hesitate to send me a message.
Click here to go to our contact form.
Well I hope you've enjoyed this week's newsletter! Until next time-
Stay Safe,
Tim Schmidt
Founder - U.S. Concealed Carry
http://www.usconcealedcarry.com
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