Here are a few links to articles and videos I found interesting this week. Some are intellectual. Some are informative. Some are just fun. If you have some free time, check them out this weekend.
State Variation in Hospital Use and Cost of Firearm Assault Injury, 2010
It’s relatively rare to find decent academic research covering the issue of firearms assaults and injuries. This study looked at injuries caused from firearms assaults (as opposed to accidental shootings) across six different states. Who is getting shot? It is disproportionately young, black males. One other interesting piece of information is the overall firearm assault fatality rate. Any guesses?
If you are shot in a firearms assault you have a 6.5% chance of death once you reach the hospital. And that covers ALL gunshot assaults, including those with rifles and shotguns. Most people don’t realize just how INEFFECTIVE guns are as killing tools. If you are shot, keep fighting! There’s only a small chance that your wound will be fatal.
Occluded Eye Aiming – Using Your Scope Like a Red Dot
Occluded Eye Aiming is the technique of keeping the front lens cover closed on your scope or red dot. It requires an illuminated reticle or red dot of some type to work. The reticle is seen with the dominant eye against the closed lens cover. The target is seen with the non-dominant eye. Because of our binocular vision, our brains superimpose the two images. It takes a little practice to “get it” but it really does work.
I used this technique to win a low light shooting contest in one of the sniper schools I attended. We had to take various known distance shots before running up to the target and taking an unsupported hostage shot at a target just six FEET away. No one had their scope dope for ranges that close and they wouldn’t allow a handgun transition. I closed the scope cover and ran my 4.5x-14x Leupold like a red dot and made the shot.
Give it a try!
Baby Totin’ Busy Hand Drills
For you parents out there, have you ever considered that you may have to draw your firearm while you are carrying your child? Here is an excellent primer on how to do just that. The “old school” Bullseye target shooting stance that many instructors deride looks like an important skill to practice in this context.
Mark’s articles about safety at the grocery store and in commercial parking lots are very informative as well.
Danny’s first day: An argument against ankle holsters
An entertaining story about a new cop being stuck in a bad spot and unable to access his ankle holster. All carry locations have weaknesses. You should know when you can draw and when you can’t with your chosen holster location BEFORE you leave your house.
5 Life Lessons From 5 Years of Traveling the World
Mark Manson shares his insights after having traveled to more than 55 different countries.
22LR vs. Windshield!
While I don’t think the .22 Long Rifle is the best defensive cartridge for most people, I do believe it works much better than many instructors give it credit for. But what about one of those “worst case scenarios” like firing through a windshield? Windshield glass frustrates a lot of good defensive ammunition. It’s nice to see that even standard velocity .22 ammo makes it through the windshield and still yields 7-8″ of gelatin penetration.
Keep in mind, however, that this test was shot at a 90 degree angle. The bullet would not perform this well if it had been shot at a more oblique angle.
On the danger of being a gear and training Luddite
Don’t neglect basic safety gear in your training class because you “won’t have it in the fight.” Most training schools know what their students need to best complete the course. Use the school-provided equipment list to avoid a trip to the hospital and to make your life easier in general.
Federal 9mm 115 Grain Hi-Shok JHP Tests – Standard Pressure and +P+ Performance Comparison
Ballistic testing of the old-school Federal 9BPLE round. This one was the round of choice in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. It ranked at the top of Evan Marshal’s stopping power study and was used by the Border Patrol. This test shows how far bullet construction technology has improved in the last 20 years. Current HST, Gold Dot, and Ranger bullets will all outperform this venerable work horse.
15 to the third
A great shooting drill from my buddy Dave Spaulding.
Study: People Faster to Shoot White Suspects than Black Suspects
This new research is contrary to previous research showing that both white and black defenders shot black attackers more quickly than white attackers. It’s interesting stuff, but you shouldn’t be allowing race to affect your decision to defend yourself. The attacker is either a lethal force threat or not. Race has nothing to do with it. Allowing the attacker’s race to even enter your thought process in a defensive encounter will only slow your reaction time.
Slow Motion Recoil Comparison: .38 Special vs .357 Magnum
Take a look at the recoil differences between a .38 Spl. and a .357 magnum. Note that the author is shooting a heavy, full-sized revolver. The differences will be even more pronounced when shooting lightweight alloy snubs. In my opinion, the marginal increase in stopping power offered by the .357 magnum out of a 2″ barrel isn’t a worthy trade for the considerably longer shot-to-shot split.
CANINE ALS/TCCC
An extremely informative article about how to apply Tactical Combat Casualty Care medical treatment protocols in the event that your dog is injured. If you have a pet that might experience a traumatic injury, you should check it out.
11 Signs You’re Not As Healthy As You Think You Are
Take a look at this quick health diagnostic checklist. If you answer “yes” to any of the symptoms, get to work on fixing yourself.
“Try” versus “Do”
The language we use when we talk to ourselves is extremely important. Read Mike Seeklander’s advice and put it into practice.
Sleepwalking Toward Armageddon
Some deep thinking here on the problem of ISIS. Before the haters start denouncing me for posting this, please remember that unlike most Americans (even the talking heads who make your laws), I’ve spent significant amounts of time in predominantly Islamic countries. I’ve been awakened to the call of prayer on countless occasions. I haven’t been killed. In fact, I found my Muslim hosts to be extraordinarily kind and hospitable.
That’s what the author sees as part of the problem. The good and moral folks of “the religion of peace” aren’t doing anything about the killers in their midst. That’s a big problem.
“Understanding and criticizing the doctrine of Islam—and finding some way to inspire Muslims to reform it—is one of the most important challenges the civilized world now faces. But the task isn’t as simple as discrediting the false doctrines of Muslim “extremists,” because most of their views are not false by the light of scripture. A hatred of infidels is arguably the central message of the Koran. The reality of martyrdom and the sanctity of armed jihad are about as controversial under Islam as the resurrection of Jesus is under Christianity. It is not an accident that millions of Muslims recite the shahadah or make pilgrimage to Mecca. Neither is it an accident that horrific footage of infidels and apostates being decapitated has become a popular form of pornography throughout the Muslim world. Each of these practices, including this ghastly method of murder, find explicit support in scripture.
But there is now a large industry of obfuscation designed to protect Muslims from having to grapple with these truths. Our humanities and social science departments are filled with scholars and pseudo-scholars deemed to be experts in terrorism, religion, Islamic jurisprudence, anthropology, political science, and other diverse fields, who claim that where Muslim intolerance and violence are concerned, nothing is ever what it seems. Above all, these experts claim that one can’t take Islamists and jihadists at their word: Their incessant declarations about God, paradise, martyrdom, and the evils of apostasy are nothing more than a mask concealing their real motivations.”
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