Earlier this week, a student shot four people at Wilmer-Hutchins high school in Dallas. I found this article that provides an excellent summary of the incident. The link shows video of how the shooter got past the school metal detectors as well as of the shooting itself. https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/dallas-wilmer-hutchins-high-school-shooting-suspect-tracy-haynes-jr-arrest-affidavit-video/ Two quick thoughts (as […]
It’s spring time. We are starting to see our annual rash of “mass shootings.” Take a look at these mass shooting events that have popped off in the last couple weeks. 3 killed and 15 hurt in a shooting at a park in New Mexico’s Las Cruces 2 dead, 4 injured after mass shooting […]
“Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is, and you must bend to its power or live a lie.” ~ Miyamoto Musashi Let me tell you all about a call I once took when I was a police officer. A woman reported that she had been […]
Yesterday’s Shawn Ryan Intelligence brief discussed the threat of terrorists and criminals wearing uniforms to better facilitate their attacks. I’ve written about this issue for more than a decade. It’s probably time to update my thoughts on the topic. Most recently, we saw terrorists wearing uniforms during the October 2023 Hamas terrorist attack in […]
You might have seen news coverage from yesterday’s vehicle run-down attack in Germany If you missed the story, the link below will get you up to speed. Nine-year-old among five killed in attack on German Christmas market Vehicle attacks peaked in the United States in the 2017-2018 time period. Back then, the crimes […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz You can prevail against an active killer even if you are unarmed. One of the most famous cases where unarmed men stopped an active killer was on a train traveling between Amsterdam and Paris a few years ago. Four unarmed Americans and one unarmed Brit teamed up to take […]
Written by: Greg Ellifritz I occasionally get questions from readers about changing their defensive ammo to better defeat heavier winter clothing in the colder months. People who consider an ammo change generally do it for one of two possible reasons. The most common is that the person misunderstands wound ballistics. He wants […]
It was a sunny autumn afternoon. A woman called police to report a “suspicious person” in a city park. Cops arrive and the woman points out this “suspicious” man. He was simply sitting on a park bench enjoying the sunny day. The woman told police that this conduct was suspicious because he was a […]
*This is a guest post by my friend Steve Moses extolling the importance of leaning how to shoot from a retention position and fight in close quarters with your carry pistol. Steve will be hosting my upcoming Extreme Close Quarters Gunfighting class where we cover those topics in great detail. If this article inspires you […]
In order for a criminal to get close enough to commit his crime, he has to appear non-threatening. If he appears dangerous, his “prey” are likely to spot him earlier and either run away or call for help. Hence, the criminal will close the distance, often using the pretense of asking a question […]
I’ve seen a recent bout of “never talk to the police” advice on my Facebook news feed. I’ve written about my advice regarding speaking to the police after a defensive firearm use before. In this article, I want to describe a real-life incident to which I responded as a police officer. A young CCW carrier […]
If your social media feed looks anything like mine, you’ve been deluged with photos, videos, memes, and speculation regarding the failed assassination attempt against former president Trump. Among my friend group (a lot of cops and firearms instructors) the primary shared discussion has been about the poor weapon handling displayed by a certain female agent […]
Last week I published an article on the difference between “mass shootings” and active killer events. Yesterday, I was scanning my news feed and came across the article linked below. Missouri groom shot in robbery during his backyard wedding In last week’s article, I mentioned how most of the reported recent “mass […]
With the recent introduction of the Smith and Wesson/Lipseys collaborative snub nose revolvers, I’m seeing more and more folks arguing online about what is “enough” gun for concealed carry. Some folks think that a snub revolver without a reload is perfectly adequate. Other folks, like the author of this article, think that carrying anything less […]
Have you ever been in a public location where someone notices your “concealed” handgun and stares at it for an uncomfortably long period of time? Have you thought about how you might handle such a situation if you encountered it? I was walking around a big outdoor street festival in a neighboring city […]
A couple days ago, a woman in Nashville negligently shot and killed her own daughter with a gun carried in a purse. “According to the release, Dearria’s mother told detectives that she was trying to find her keys inside her purse when her unholstered .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol discharged and shot her daughter once.” […]
My friend Ron Borsch is one of the world’s leading authorities on active killer attacks. He contacted me last week with a request to publish his newsletter. Ron has been publishing a monthly email newsletter for more than two decades. Think of it as a “Weekend Knowledge Dump” on steroids. The links mostly […]
In my 25-year police career, I pointed guns at lots of people. Admittedly, in hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have pointed guns at all of those folks. In my defense, training doctrines, levels of violent crime, and public scrutiny were very different back in the mid-1990s as compared to our modern age. We were […]
It’s been more than a decade since two officers were shot in a dramatic gunfight in a trailer park in Enon, Ohio. The gunfight was even more remarkable considering that there was a photographer on scene taking photos as the shots rang out. I still regularly think about that photograph (above) of the […]
Written by Greg Ellifritz I recently was contacted by a regular reader of this site. She had an interesting request for a specialized article for the non-combatant. To paraphrase the request: “I read all the great advice on your site and try to implement as much of it as I can. But […]
