I’ve seen several recent news reports describing criminals using fire as a weapon. This year there have been at least 10 such incidents reported in the United States. While researching this article, I also found numerous incidents in India, England, Ireland, Canada, and Australia. Take a look at the following news stories: Virginia councilman […]
*In the last couple weeks, most of you have likely witnessed video of at least two murders (Charlie Kirk and Iryna Zarutska). I intentionally avoided watching both videos. Do you think it’s good for our psychology that we are able to witness countless murders with the click of a mouse or a swipe of our […]
Last week, a Houston resident foiled a home invasion attempt by a couple criminals trying to impersonate the police. According to the news article: “Police said the men told the homeowner they were serving a warrant. They were wearing bullet-proof vests, had badges around their necks and were wearing ski masks.” The […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz Last week, two deputies in South Carolina were shot in a training exercise. The exercise controller loaded breaching rounds into the training shotgun thinking that they were blanks. Last year a soldier was shot in a training exercise when someone mistook a live round of ammunition for a […]
I’ve always thought that the fastest draw was to already have the weapon in your hand. I once interviewed a criminal who had used The Bag Trick to stab someone. I explored using it and found that it was quite handy. I was issued an unmarked truck in my cop job and kept the […]
*This is a guest posting from a friend and student who wishes to remain anonymous (you’ll see why after you read the article). The author is a “gun guy” with military special operations experience and a lot of formal firearms training under his belt. He is attending a police academy with the hopes of becoming […]
Story time. It was early spring in 2003. I was flying to California to attend a police training conference (ASLET for you old timers). It was only the second flight I had taken after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. For those of you who were flying in those times, you might remember the utter […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz I travel by air quite a bit. Last year I took 49 flights with guns. In the four years since my police retirement, I’ve flown with firearms over 250 times. Even though each airline and airport is slightly different, after a lot of trial and error I’ve figured out how […]
Last week, I posted an article linking to my most popular posts in 2024 In that article, I discussed how my “most popular” articles were not the same as my “best” articles. I liked many of the most popular articles (ranked by page view), but I think other articles that I wrote were […]
Ever since I read the book Benghazi: Know Thy Enemy: A Cold Case Investigation, I have been paying attention to its author, former CIA analyst Sarah Adams. Last week I listened to her being interviewed on the Shawn Ryan podcast. I’d urge you to watch/listen to the whole episode, but the most relevant […]
Seth Godin once made a very powerful statement in a blog post. “My most popular blog posts this year…weren’t my best ones. As usual, the most popular music wasn’t the best recorded this year either. Same for the highest-grossing movies, restaurants and politicians doing fundraising. “Best” is rarely the same as “popular.” Which means […]
This is a guest post from Dr. John Giduck. John is a well known author and trainer who specializes in writing about international symphonic mass terrorist attacks. John originally prepared this article for a lecture on international travel safety. I thought it was so good, I asked him to allow me to […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz My friend and mentor Ed Lovette recently passed away. Ed was a CIA paramilitary officer who worked undercover for many years in Africa and South America carrying nothing but a Smith and Wesson Model 10 snubnose revolver. After his CIA career, he became a firearms trainer and famous gun writer. […]
One of my favorite authors/teachers is David Deida, the author of The Way of the Superior Man. As I am recovering from last week’s knee surgery, I’ve been reading and listening to some of Deida’s material I find inspiring. I listened to one of his audio lectures yesterday. He started out […]
I fell while hiking down a small mountain last week. I was fairly seriously injured, stranded in an area with no cell coverage, and ended up needing an EMS rescue to get me to the hospital. After cogitating about the incident for a week, I have some lessons learned to share so that the rest […]
Written by Greg Ellifritz A lot of folks write to me wanting to know what tactics and strategies will help them prevail should they be present during an active killer attack in a public place. I’ve been writing about the topic for almost two decades. Other folks have been studying the problem for […]
I hear this statement with some regularity from some of my students and the folks who comment on the articles I post in the context of apprehending a criminal suspect. Have you ever actually tried to hold someone on the ground when they don’t want to be held? It’s not as easy as you […]
This is a guest article from Dr. Lauren Pugliese, a DVM and board-certified veterinary surgeon. Readers contacted Lauren after her previous articles and requested a similar article about treating injuries in cats. I cover lots of trauma medical techniques (for people) on the blog. Here is some knowledge about our furry friends. -Greg […]
In my last year as a police officer, I worked with a very young crew of cops. I usually worked the street with four other officers and a sergeant. It wasn’t unusual to have the combined years of service of those five guys adding up to a number significantly less than the 25 years […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz Last week, I became involved in a discussion about the term “law enforcement officer.” That’s what many cops are calling themselves these days. The words sound almost professional. The problem isn’t really with the term itself; it’s when officers embrace the idea that their sole occupational mission is to find […]
