Written by: Greg Ellifritz I spent all of last week attending Massad Ayoob and Marty Hayes’ Deadly Force Instructor class as a student. We spent some time discussing the use of weapon mounted lights and the safety concerns associated with them. It caused me to realize that I haven’t written about this topic […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz I was working day shift police patrol when a call went out at about 9:00 a.m. I was dispatched to a very large house in a nice neighborhood. The dispatcher said that the resident had called to report suspicious activity. The resident said that she had heard someone banging on her […]
Violent protests, mob action, and rioting scenarios fill up your news feed. Lots of folks are contacting me about mob violence issues. Let’s look at some of the issues involved… To date, the majority of mob violence events have occurred in very large public gatherings and at the sites of large political protests. […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz I was recently re-reading Mark MacYoung’s book “In the Name of Self Defense.” It’s an amazing resource for anyone interested in better protecting himself.. I want to share a quote from the book: “Until you: 1. Develop the ability to take a hit without having an emotional meltdown 2. Have […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz Take a moment to imagine one of the following scenarios: – While stopped in traffic at an inner-city intersection, a man with a gun approaches you. He begins striking your closed window with the weapon, demanding that you give him your car. You fear that if you get out […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz Lots of folks have contacted me asking for my perspective on the recent police shooting of Rayshard Brooks. For those of you unfamiliar with the incident, police received a 911 call about a man unconscious behind the wheel in the drive through lane of a Wendy’s restaurant. A cop arrived, […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz I hear this statement with some regularity from some of my students and the folks who comment on the articles I post. 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 may assume. I […]
Written by Greg Ellifritz I’ve been working lately with a very young crew of cops. I usually work the street with up to four other officers and a sergeant. It isn’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 In a Weekend Knowledge Dump a couple of weeks ago I mentioned the fact that police officers have been increasingly under attack from flammable objects and incendiaries. Police officers on riot duty are regularly getting pelted by Molotov Cocktails and other flaming devices. Looking for a solution to such a problem, […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz With the recent COVID-19 pandemic and lots of civil unrest, I’m getting more and more people asking questions about stockpiling ammunition. Online ammunition outlets have been sold out of popular products lately. Ammo availability at local gun stores is starting to increase, but prices are high and many stores are […]
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 […]
*This is an excerpt from the chapter “Surviving Third World Riots and Political Demonstrations” from my book Choose Adventure. With the riots we’ve seen over the last couple days, and calls for more rioting this weekend, the information will be useful for you. As our country descends into chaos, the advice from a third-world safety […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz I’ve been posting Covid-19 weekly updates for the past three months. The very first update had 7,304 page views. Last week’s update had 2, 217 pageviews. People are getting sick of reading about the pandemic. This will be my last weekly coronavirus update. Since I don’t have TV in my […]
*This article is a guest post from my friend Jonathan Willis. Jonathan is a retired paramedic and fire lieutenant who teaches with Dave Spaulding for Handgun Combatives. Jonathan has extensive firearms training experience, but this was the first shotgun course he took. I took the class as well and echo the author’s comments. The class […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz I am constantly reminded of the saying that “If you want to learn something new, read an old book.” I was recently re-reading the 1935 edition of Pistol and Revolver Shooting by A.L.A. Himmelwright and found some very useful ideas. I often complain that the firearms shooting skill levels […]
“95% of criminals carry their guns on their strong side, mostly stuck in the front of their bodies, inside the waistband without a holster.” – From a US Secret Service Seminar on detecting concealed weapons Why are all the thugs carrying pistols in their waistbands in front of the hip? And why do most […]
*This is a guest post from my friend Bryan McKean. Bryan is the training officer for the police department where I work and has significant combatives and firearms training experience. In this piece, Bryan writes about how switching to carrying just one type of gun led to a performance increase. Personally, while I can see […]
*This is a guest post from my friend and fellow police officer Bryan McKean. Bryan is an acccomplished shooter and an excellent instructor across a broad domain of tactical topics. I think many of you will find his perspective valuable. -Greg Firearms manufacturers are always looking for ways to improve upon their products. The […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz This article is part of a chapter from my new book Choose Adventure- Safe Travel in Dangerous Places. If you like this style of information written in the context of international travel, please consider buying a copy. It’s on sale 30% off until May 5th. The paperback version will be […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz Many of the questions I receive from students involve the use of chemical sprays. It seems that nearly everyone carries or is contemplating the carrying of some type of Mace or chemical irritant. Accurate information about the selection and use of these chemicals exists, but it is often difficult to […]
