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I just wanted to start this week's newsletter with a big Thank You to all of the USCCA Members and newsletter readers! I love to see people signing up, but if you can't for whatever reason, I am very glad you choose to read these newsletters week after week. I've always said that these newsletters are just the tip of the iceberg, and Concealed Carry Magazine is the huge chunk of information lurking underwater, available to all of those who are willing to dive in!
So again, USCCA Members and Newsletter Readers alike: THANK YOU for your interest!
Okay, I admit it, I'm an old softy, but it really does put a big smile on my face to see how many people are signing up for this newsletter every week... Moving on!!
As I know you've all heard, there was another high-profile shooting this week. Though several people were killed, this event WOULD have been a mass killing. As happens two million times per year in the United States, an armed citizen used a firearm to thwart a crime. It was truly a blessing that she was armed too, since the attacker on the Colorado Mission and MegaChurch had plans to kill many, many more people than he did.
Thank God for Sheep Dogs!
Hostage Disarm USCCA Video of the Week
I thought this was an interesting technique. Obviously, you are at a severe disadvantage, and when in this position, I think all experts would agree that the odds are hugely stacked against you. Hopefully none of us will ever find ourselves having to escape this one!!!
== Note about last week's "Video of the Week". ==
Do you remember last week's video of the week? It was that crazy video of that guy shooting his .50 BMG and having the bullet bounce ALMOST straight back at him... You can see the video by going to last week's newsletter, by Clicking Here!
Well, as it turns out, the man in the video was George Hill's good friend! George (the guy who does all of our Magazine's gun reviews) sent me an email afterwards, and had this to say:
Tim, that ricochet was in my back yard practically. The shooter is Willey Anderson, a good friend of mine. If you look
carefully you will recognize the location as it is the location of many
of my article photographs.
Willey was a US Marine, knows the dangers of ricochets and did
everything he could to prevent it, but it still happened. He angled the
plate back and to the side so if it did happen it would have, should
have, gone in a different direction.
The gun is an Armalite AR-50, in .50 BMG. The range was 100 yards. The
target was a 1.5" steel plate, which the .50 should have penetrated like
tissue paper. It didn't. Only dented it. The Caldwell electronic ear
muffs were destroyed. His glasses were dented where the bullet grazed
him hard enough to prevent him from being able to open his jaw for over
a month.
Had the bullet been a fraction of an inch to the left, it would have
killed him. Even after the bounce off the target and the bounce off of
the ground 15 feet in front of him, that 750 grain slug would have
killed him. It would have been like a point blank shot to the head with
a .45 in terms of energy.
The man who said "Oh Willey!" is Frank, Willey's father, who just saw
his son brush death. Frank and Willey both come into my gun store all the time, shopping
together... and they go shooting together all the time too. Willey has
two girls and a boy, all elementary ages. They are learning to shoot as
well, and Tina, his 10 year old girl has a TC Encore in .204 that she
loves to shoot. She got that rifle with her own money that she earned
making Sand Bag Rests:
http://www.madogre.com/Interviews/TinaRest.htm
She's not making the rests anymore, but the photos are still there.
Willey is a good father, and a good man. We are very glad he wasn't
hurt worse than a sore jaw.
George Hill,
Contributing Editor Concealed Carry Magazine
[NOTE FROM TIM: This article contains a healthy amount of media/liberal spin, as you will see, but I still think it's a powerful story worth telling...]
Bleeding and weakened from the bullet wound in her chest, Susan Gonzalez aimed her husband's .22-caliber pistol, the one she hated, and emptied it into one of the robbers who had burst through the front door of her rural Jacksonville home.
Those shots ended the life of one robber, led to a life prison term for another and became an epiphany for Gonzalez, a 41-year-old mother of five who runs a photography studio.
Gonzalez had always feared guns, never wanted a gun and argued with her husband, Mike, to please not keep guns in their home.
"I hated guns, all of them," she said. "I was that scared of them that I didn't want them around."
That all changed that terror-filled night nearly three years ago when Susan Gonzalez fought for her life inside her family's home near Jacksonville International Airport.
She and her husband, 43, no longer argue about guns, and she goes almost nowhere without her holstered Taurus .38 Special. She sits with it while watching television and takes it outside to do yardwork.
She joined advocacy groups such as Women Against Gun Control and the Second Amendment Sisters.
And she became a vocal opponent of gun control, traveling to Washington in May to meet with President Clinton and counter-organizers of the Million Mom March, which organized a huge Mother's Day rally to support gun control legislation. She recently taped a segment scheduled to air on ABC-TV's 20/20 in the fall. And this month, she was filmed by a British TV crew for a documentary on Americans and guns.
Gonzalez's story is naturally compelling because she was anti-gun and because she successfully defended herself against an armed intruder after being shot herself, said Janalee Tobias, founder and president of Women Against Gun Control.
"She actually fired a gun," Tobias said. In most cases where potential victims protect themselves, Tobias said, a person is able to scare off an intruder simply by displaying a weapon.
Gonzalez never imagined herself advocating gun owners' rights. She still weeps at the memory of taking a man's life.
"I live every day knowing I had to shoot that boy," she said.
But she said she thinks it's important that stories like hers get told.
"Two and a half years ago I felt just like all them other women [at the Million Mom March]," she said. "You hear about criminals with guns, and you hear about kids committing suicide with guns, but you never hear about the self-defense aspect."
'I knew I was dead'
The 42 bullet holes police counted in the Gonzalez home the morning of Aug. 2, 1997, are stark evidence of the sheer terror the couple endured on the night that changed their lives.
The night seemed to be winding down as any other. While Mike Gonzalez slept, his wife sat on the couch watching television and waiting for their 18-year-old son to arrive home from a friend's house, where he had been playing video games.
Susan Gonzalez remembers hearing the doorknob jiggle about 12:40 a.m. She thought to herself as she walked toward the door, "Wow, he's early."
Suddenly the door flew open and two masked men burst into the doublewide wearing gloves and camouflage jackets and waving guns. One of them ordered Susan Gonzalez to lie down, but she ran. He chased her back to the master bedroom, where she woke her husband and tried to hold the door shut. She was shot in the chest.
"It burned like a fire going through me," she said.
As her husband, 43, wrestled with the two robbers in the living room, Susan Gonzalez dialed 911, told the operator they were being shot, gave her address and hung up. She then grabbed her husband's Ruger .22 from a drawer in the headboard and, fearing she would hit her husband by mistake, fired several shots over the robbers' heads to scare them off.
It didn't work.
"One came towards me firing, and I ran," she said. "After running to my bedroom, the intruder didn't follow me all the way . . . because he now knew I had a gun also."
She peered out from her bedroom doorway and saw one of the gunmen, Raymond Waters Jr., crouched near her refrigerator. She crept along the wall, sneaked up behind him and emptied the Ruger, hitting him twice with her seven or eight remaining bullets. The other gunman, Robert Walls, then shot Susan Gonzalez, now out of ammunition, as she retreated to the bedroom again.
"I was standing in my closet asking for forgiveness of my sins, because I knew I was dead," she recalled.
Reality sets in
Walls fled from the house but returned when he found the robbers' getaway driver had left. He put a gun to Susan Gonzalez's head and demanded the keys to the couple's truck. As he sped off, the truck ran over Waters, who had staggered outside.
Walls, 24, is serving five life prison terms for second-degree felony murder, armed robbery, armed burglary and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Louie T. Wright, 27, the getaway driver, pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced to five years.
Susan and Mike Gonzalez, each shot twice during the gunbattle, were treated at area hospitals. She required lung surgery. His injuries were less serious, and he went home in three days.
Nancy Hwa, a spokeswoman for the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, was reluctant to criticize Gonzalez.
"Every incident is different," she said. "In this particular case, she certainly was justified using whatever means necessary to defend herself."
But the compelling story obscures the fact that "incidences like Ms. Gonzalez's are very rare," Hwa said, citing statistics that show firearms are far less likely to be used in self-defense than in suicides, accidental shootings or homicides involving members of the same household. And, she said, the center believes having a handgun escalates the potential for violence.
"People have to weigh the risk of losing a TV, jewelry or whatever vs. losing their life," Hwa said.
The statistics don't matter to Susan Gonzalez.
"Reality set in when I was shot," she said, "to the point where I realized why my husband and others had guns for self-defense."
Living in fear
In April, Mike and Susan Gonzalez traveled to New York to be interviewed for a TV talk show pilot with 20/20's John Stossel. It was the first time since the robbery she had been without her gun for any significant length of time, and, as she and her husband dined at a steakhouse, she got scared about walking back to their hotel.
"I told my husband, 'Take one of their steak knives,'" she said.
At home, they live behind burglar bars. The doors and windows are always locked. And there's the ever-present pistol.
"That's sad to have to live that way, but it's the only way I can feel comfortable," Susan Gonzalez said.
Her fears were only heightened when she and her husband were crime victims again in March. Burglars used an ax from their shed to break down the burglar bars on the back door while they weren't home. Among the items stolen -- the Ruger .22 she used to shoot Waters.
Police are still recovering weapons taken in the burglary -- a 9mm turned up in Virginia last week -- but the Ruger remains missing.
As a mother of five, all now grown, Susan Gonzalez said she understands the gun control lobby's concerns about children getting access to guns. She questions some positions taken by the National Rifle Association. Neither she nor her husband are members.
"I think they're a little over-the-top, but I think . . . they're doing it [because] they're afraid once it starts, then it's not going to stop," she said, referring to legislation limiting gun owners' rights. "They're trying to preserve Second Amendment rights."
She said she believes in gun locks or unloading weapons that aren't being used. But she also believes people should have the right to keep an unlocked gun close by to protect themselves -- like she did.
"I feel I have the right to self-defense," she said, "and I feel that other people do, too."
This week, I've got another cool folding knife to show you... It's made by SOG, and it's called the Pentagon Elite I.
Image courtesy of sogknives.com
First, let me give you a link to SOG's site, because they have some VERY nice pictures of this thing (and all their knives). Their pictures are MUCH better than any I could take, so click this link: http://sogknives.com/store/PE14.html and their page will open in another page.
I'll be honest- I didn't know much about SOG before I got this blade, and the other one they sent me (more on that next week!). Turns out, they've got one of the best reputations out there; And after getting this knife, I understand why!
The Pentagon Elite I is not your average pocket knife, but it can be worn and carried as so. It's got a pocket clip, and only about 3/4" of the handle sticks out of your pocket, like most other knives.
Here's what I like about this thing:
Ambidextrous: This blade is totally ambidextrous. Even the pocket clip is reversible!
Heavy Duty: Not that I EVER, EVER want to have to use a knife in self defense, but if I had to, I'd feel a lot more comfortable with this knife than many others. It's handle is thick, and you don't feel like it's going to slide out of your hand. The blade doesn't move inside the handle, and the tip is sharpened on both sides, which would give you more ability to penetrate. The blade is easy to sharpen, and it doesn't "wiggle" at all inside the handle.
Easy to use: The Pentagon Elite I opens easily one handed, and closes easily one handed. The clip isn't too tight that it would be hard to 'draw', but it's plenty tight enough to make sure it's not going to jump out when not welcome!
Overall, I would give The Pentagon Elite I a 5 our of 5. It's not exactly cheap, but I am firm believer in "you get what you pay for", and that good companies should be rewarded for good products. Capitalism! In other words, these knives are well worth it!
For more information on ALL of SOG's knives, click here: www.sogknives.com
This week, I got an email from one of the USCCA's very own members, a guy by the name of Patrick Kilchermann. He sent it to me after the recent Mall Shooting took place, and as soon as I read it, I knew I wanted to share it with all of you. He warned me that he is "never at a shortage of passion on this issue, so this might be a little heated"... so here goes!
The first 911 call came in at 1:42 p.m., and the shooting was already over when police arrived six minutes later, authorities said."
-FOX News
Six minutes- and this is a high profile mall in the middle of town. Do people actually think the police will be FASTER than six minutes to arrive in time to stop something like a home invasion? No way. Not that these things get reported, but the headline would look more like:
"One squad car arrived at the home 17 minutes after the 9-1-1 call was placed, but the assailants had already gained entry and stabbed to death the home owner, his wife, and their three kids."
Six minutes. Had the shooter not given up so quickly and brought more ammo, he would have had PLENTY of time to kill many, many more innocent people.
Six minutes!! If NOTHING else is learned from this, I pray that what IS learned is that Police are NOT here to protect and stop crime. They are here to maintain order, and for post-incident management. Even if they were here to somehow prevent things that happen in less than a minutes time, there are far too few of them to be effective.
A large society is NOT meant to function solely by the protection of a police force. People HAVE to start accepting the responsibility of their own safety. That's the way it has ALWAYS been, and that's the way it SHOULD be. If someone wants to leave their own lives out on the clothes line, in the wind- that's fine. But these people who probably had their families, and kids at that mall.... people who every day take their families out in public hoping, and playing the odds that nothing bad will happen need to wake up. Children CANNOT protect themselves. As a parent, it IS YOUR JOB.
Six minutes. A lot can happen in six minutes. A lot more can happen in 13 minutes, which is New York City's average response time. Still more can happen in the 25 - 40 minutes that it normally takes to respond to rural calls.
Six Minutes... That's why I carry.
-Patrick Kilchermann
-PatRant@gmail.com
This is the part every week where I ask you to send this newsletter to any friends or family members who might find its content handy!!
It's easy to do- Just click on the big envelope!!
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 well over twenty-thousand posts and growing by the hour, this is one heck of a valuable resource!
What to do when a DOG ATTACKS!!!
I am a surveyor. I am standing in the woods on a public trail doing a topographic survey. The trail is next to an embankment dropping 4 feet to a pool of water 2 feet deep. I am standing behind a tripod with a Total Station on it, and am in my rain pants. My rain coat is sitting next to the case for the Total Station with my 24" machete. My .357 is sitting at home, locked away, safe as can be...
And I look up at a yell, and see two 65 lbs pit bulls running to me, as their owner yells at them. Her voice commands are completely ineffective. They continue running towards me and I prepare myself...
So what do I do? I picked up the machete, moved behind the tripod, and plotted a path to the pool in case of an attack. I am planning to use my height and weight advantage in the pool if necessary. I highly doubt I can use a machete against two dogs at once.
The dogs and the lady are friendly, I quietly dropped the 'chete...and I am unchewed, but it changed my thinking...
I carried the next day, then the next day I left the gun at home again. I realized that my revolver was not a real option in the situation. It would not be a good situation to have the lady walk down the trail to find me armed, gun pointed at her dogs, now licking my boots, of course. And, I would not have time to draw after the dogs attacked.
I bought a can of pepper spray, and carry it all the time, now, and hopefully it will work on the bears if I happen to spook one...
Any ideas?
Is drawing quickly in a vehicle necessary?
I've read some posts where folks describe their in-vehicle rig, designed to give them quick access to their gun while seated in their vehicle. Others use cross-draw or ankle holsters, to allow access while seated. I've taken a step back, to ask the question, is this really necessary?
I see 3 possible scenarios:
1. You are in a stopped vehicle and see trouble coming. In this case, the best tactic is to simply drive away. Avoidance is better than fighting. If you must fight, your moving vehicle is a much more powerful weapon than any handgun.
2. You are in a stopped vehicle, see trouble coming, but you cannot drive away (for whatever reason). In this case, your first response should be to get out of the car, then draw your weapon as you sprint to cover. An (unarmored) vehicle will not protect you from gunfire (see www.theboxoftruth.com for the effects of bullets on automotive glass and sheetmetal). If anything, vehicles are "bullet magnets" that draw fire (which is why the infantry likes to have tanks around, but only as long as the tanks aren't 'too' close!)
3. You are in a stopped vehicle, and are taken by surprise (I know - all you Jedis out there will never get taken by surprise...good luck with that!) An assailant shows up at your window with a gun in hand, pointed at your head. In this case, you will not be able to out-draw the bad guy - his gun is already pointed at you. You can't run - you are trapped in your car. The only tactic I see in this very bad situation is to comply with the assailant, get out of the car, give him what he wants, and use that as a distraction so you can run away while drawing your weapon.
In none of these cases is the ability to quicly draw your weapon while seated in your vehicle necessary. Am I missing something here?
Feel free to voice your experiences so we can all learn.
Thanks.
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...
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
-Thomas Jefferson.
Closing Thoughts
Well, I hope you enjoyed this newsletter! Before end this, I wanted to bring to your attention a bill in its early stages that is the closest thing to a "National CCW" law that I've seen yet. I'll admit- I haven't had a ton of time to spend learning about this new piece of legislation, but I've heard a few people who I usually trust speak highly of it. It's called H.R. 861. I'll try to do some reading this weekend and include more information about it next week!
Don't forget about our Christmas Sale!! The packages are going pretty quickly!
The USCCA has a FREE weekly newsletter for YOU! We discuss self-defense, guns, knives, tactics, family, friends and life. These weekly tips are valuable, entertaining and politically incorrect... and they're FREE. Sign up now or "pay the price."
Your name, and e-mail will NEVER be sold or rented to ANYONE. Click here to check out the USCCA Newsletter archives.
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