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Pointing Guns at People

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 […]

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
Defenders USA, police, police training View Post

Are You Replaceable?

I was just re-reading Tools Of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers and came across the following quote:   “Are you doing what you’re uniquely capable of, what you feel placed on Earth to do? Can you be replaced? Life is short. Put another way: a long life is […]

Posted on February 20, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
police, psychology, Tim Ferriss View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- February 16, 2024

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   The Dangerous Ambiguity Of Qualification Drills I hope all my police readers realize that every single cop who has ever been killed in a gunfight was considered “qualified” by his agency.     Reactionary […]

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
American Cop, Breach Bang Clear, Bryan McKean, Building Shooters, ccw, Dr. David Yamane, exercise, firearms training, flashlights, Gun Mag Warehouse, Justin Dyal, Karl Rehn, Melody Lauer, Mike Boyle, Mountain Guerilla, physical fitness, police training, pregnancy, Primer Peak, psychology, Recoil Magazine, Reflex Handgun, relationships, Richard Mann, Shelley Hill, shooting drills, Swift Silent Deadly, The Armory Life, The Revolver Guy, women's carry View Post

Free Books- Part 290

Amazon has a tremendous number of FREE ebooks on their website.  You can find thousands of free kindle books on Amazon’s site every day.  These books can be downloaded to a Kindle reader or a free App on your phone or personal computer.  Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a free […]

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Uncategorized
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Acquiring Guns in a Foreign Country- A Cautionary Tale

I love to travel and tend to visit some crazy third world countries.  For the past two decades I’ve spent at least four to eight weeks a year traveling in places where it isn’t safe to drink the tap water.     As a retired cop, I can carry a gun almost everywhere in the […]

Posted on February 13, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
Dominican Republic, travel View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- February 9, 2024

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Guest Shot: Trendy or Noteworthy? Part II “Too many instructors go off to a school and return to teach what they learned for no other reason than the course was fun and they learned […]

Posted on February 9, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
.380 acp, active killer, Active Self Protection, active shooter, Ballistic Magazine, Caleb Giddings, Dave Spaulding, Doom and Bloom, Dr. David Yamane, firearms training, gelatin testing, Grant Cunningham, Gun Mag Warehouse, history, Integrated Skills Group, Karl Rehn, Louis Awerbuck, medical skills, Michael Bane, Mike Seeklander, Mountain Man Medical, Pat McNamara, police, police training, revolvers, Scott Reitz, shooting drills, Shooting Wire, SWAT magazine, Swift Silent Deadly, Tamara Keel, terrorism, The Truth About Guns View Post

Odd Position Shooting

  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 […]

Posted on February 6, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
ccw, holsters, police gunfights View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- February 2, 2024

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Guest Shot: Trendy or Noteworthy? (Part I) “Remember, fighting is final. If you engage in combat, you run the risk of being hurt or killed. It’s not a video game. There is no way […]

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
ACLDN, active killer, Active Self Protection, active shooter, Apache Solutions, appendix carry, Buckeye Firearms, ccw, Dave Spaulding, Ed Monk, firearms training, Gun Mag Warehouse, Gunsite, holsters, Integrated Skills Group, Kevin Davis, Legal, Massad Ayoob, Michael Bane, police, Primer Peak, Rangemaster, Recoil Offgrid, revolvers, robbery, school shootings, shooting drills, SWAT magazine, Swift Silent Deadly, The Armory Life View Post

Free Books- Part 289

Amazon has a tremendous number of FREE ebooks on their website.  You can find thousands of free kindle books on Amazon’s site every day.  These books can be downloaded to a Kindle reader or a free App on your phone or personal computer.  Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a free […]

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Uncategorized
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SHOT SHOW 2024

Written by: Greg Ellifritz If you have been vacationing off the planet, you may not realize that the world’s largest trade show for shooting enthusiasts was held in Las Vegas last week.  The Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trades (SHOT) show is one of the largest trade shows in Las Vegas every year.    In pre-pandemic […]

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in What's New
Gun Mag Warehouse, Kahr, lever action rifles, Lucky Gunner, Michael Bane, Open Source Defense, Spotter Up, The Firearms Blog View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- January 26, 2024

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Bomb Threats In the past, I’ve written about how evacuation for a non-specific bomb threat endangers more people than it protects.  Here is an article from an official government entity that endorses my advice.  […]

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, American Cop, American Handgunner, bomb threats, Bombs, Caleb Giddings, Calibre Press, castle doctrine, ccw, Chris Fry, Dr. David Yamane, Erick Gelhaus, explosives, firearms training, flashlights, flshlights, Gun Mag Warehouse, history, holsters, Karl Rehn, knives, Kyle Lamb, Legal, revolvers, robbery, scams, shooting drills, Spotter Up, Swift Silent and Deadly, terroism, The Revolver Guy, Tier Three Tactical, travel, travel scams, Uncle Zo, weapon retention View Post

2023 Training Review

Back in the earlier days of my blog, I used to write incredibly  detailed posts about all the training and travel I completed each year.  I talked about how many students and classes I had taught, rounds I fired, and books I read.  You can read my older annual updates HERE     I enjoy […]

Posted on January 22, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in What's New
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Weekend Knowledge Dump- January 19, 2024

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Why I Have A Red Dot On My Pistol – Part 2 Scott Jedlinski’s thoughts on red dot optics.     Fanny Pack Mother Lode The most common places I go when I leave […]

Posted on January 19, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
870, active killers, AR-15, ccw, Chris Cypert, Claude Werner, fanny packs, firearms training, Growing Up Guns, Gun Mag Warehouse, GunsAmerica, history, Hock Hochheim, holsters, Integrated Skills Group, Karl Rehn, Legal, Marty Hayes, Massad Ayoob, pepper spray, Pew Pew Tactical, police shootings, Recoil Magazine, Recoil Offgrid, Reflex Handgun, revolvers, school shootings, Scott Jedlinski, shooting drills, Swift Silent and Deadly, The Armory Life, The Revolver Guy, The Suited Shootist, Uncle Zo View Post

Options for Non-Combatants

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 […]

Posted on January 17, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
self defense, training View Post

Short Stroking the Handgun Trigger

  Read this article about a police gunfight that occurred following a traffic stop.  Some of the lessons learned have utility for the CCW carrier as well.   “I’ve been shot point blank!” “Then, the corporal thought his gun jammed. Actually, he discovered later, he had short stroked it. That is, after pulling the trigger […]

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
ccw, firearms training, police, weapon malfunctions View Post

When the Intruder is a Cop

I’ve been seeing a rash of shootings lately where homeowners have mistakenly shot friends or family members.  No one wants to do that.  Let me tell you about this call I once responded to at work.   Have you considered that the person in your house or on your property might be a cop with a […]

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
ccw, home defense, police View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- January 12, 2024

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Rob Leatham: How to Zero Your Pistol “The Great One” talks about zeroing your CCW and competition handguns.     Slaying of the Sacred Cows… or things I think about late at night My favorite […]

Posted on January 12, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, American Cop, AR-15, art of manliness, Bill Blowers, body armor, Breach Bang Clear, Buckeye Firearms, Caleb Giddings, carjacking, ccw, Dark Angel, Demonstrated Concepts, gelatin testing, gun digest, Gun Mag Warehouse, holsters, Integrated Skills Group, Jeff Gonzales, Kevin Creighton, Massad Ayoob, medical skills, Nassim Taleb, pocket carry, police, Primary and Secondary, recall, revolvers, Rob Leatham, shooting drills, snubnose, statistics, Swift Silent Deadly, Tamara Keel, The Armory Life, The Revolver Guy View Post

Free Books- Part 288

Amazon has a tremendous number of FREE ebooks on their website.  You can find thousands of free kindle books on Amazon’s site every day.  These books can be downloaded to a Kindle reader or a free App on your phone or personal computer.  Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a free […]

Posted on January 11, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in Uncategorized
View Post

“That Weems Guy” Podcast Appearance

Last week I joined Lee Weems and a distinguished panel of training experts to sort out the topic of how to teach new police officers how to shoot.  We attempt to define some best practices for firearms training in a police academy setting and how to sustain that training after the recruits graduate.   While […]

Posted on January 10, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in What's New
firearms training, Lee Weems, LouAnn Hamblin, police, police training, That Weems Guy View Post

My Best Writing- 2023

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   Last week, I posted an article linking to my most popular posts in 2023  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 […]

Posted on January 8, 2024 by Greg Ellifritz in What's New
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