Active Response Training
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • RSS
  • Home
  • Available Classes
  • Instructors
  • 2023 Classes
  • Recommended Reading
  • Contact
  • Class Reviews
  • Media

The Body Language of Deceit

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   During my police career, my  department sent me to several schools covering criminal interview and interrogation tactics.  Most of the classes I took involved what is known as “Reid Interviewing.”  The Reid Method teaches a very specific interview method that won’t be useful for most of you.  However, some of […]

Posted on December 22, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
body language, criminology, psychology View Post

Ammunition Choices for 9mm Revolvers

Written by- Greg Ellifritz   When I was teaching at the Gunsite Pat Rogers Memorial Revolver Roundup last month (sign up for next year), I had a couple students using revolvers chambered in 9mm caliber.  One of the students asked me about best choices for a defensive loads for a 9mm revolver.     Looking […]

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Reader Questions
9mm, ballistics, George Harris, handgun stopping power, revolvers, Ruger View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- December 16, 2022

Knowledge to make your life better.  If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Can Perception Determine Reality? Predators use physical cues to help them choose the easiest victim.  In this article Shelley describes gait variations and the information they are giving to a criminal.     The […]

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, burglary, ccw, Cecil Burch, Chris Fry, Craig Douglas, crime statistics, de-escalation, firearms training, Gun Mag Warehouse, Guy Schnitzler, Hock Hochheim, home invasion, home protection, impact weapons, John Hearne, knife fighting, Kyle Lamb, Lee Weems, magazines, Massad Ayoob, medical skills, Michael Janich, Paul Martin, police, Reflex Handgun, research, retention shooting, revolvers, saps, Shelley Hill, shooting drills, shotguns, situational awareness, snubnose, Soldier of Fortune, Steve Moses, survival, terrorism, That Weems Guy, The Art of Manliness, The Mag Life, The Suited Shootist, Wayne Dobbs View Post

Free Books- Part 264

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 December 15, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Uncategorized
View Post

Bomb Threats

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   Within the last couple weeks, dozens of schools have been targeted by hoax bomb and active killer threats.  Check out some of the news articles below for details.   Multiple fake threats made involving Montana schools Friday Multiple schools threatened with ‘hoax’ shooter phone calls Police respond to false calls […]

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
Bombs View Post

Don’t Use Bird Shot for Self Defense

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   Take a look at this article.   Tacoma man shoots would-be burglar in the face   The link above shows what happens in  a typical birdshot defensive shooting. The birdshot created the desired response (stopping the attack), but it certainly didn’t incapacitate the burglar. If the burglar had been armed, […]

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
ballistics, birdshot, home defense, shotgun, stopping power, Tim Chandler View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- December 9, 2022

Knowledge to make your life better.  If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   AAR- Pat Rogers Memorial Revolver Roundup 2022 An incredibly detailed AAR of the Pat Rogers Memorial Gunsite Revolver Roundup  that I helped teach last month.  If you like wheelguns, this is the training class to […]

Posted on December 9, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, building search tactics, Calibre Press, ccw, Chris Cypert, crime rates, Dave Spaulding, firearms training, GAT Daily, gelatin testing, Gunsite, Hipster Tactical, history, holsters, Jeff Gonzales, John Boyd, Legal, Lucky Gunner, malfunctions, Massad Ayoob, Personal Defense World, pocket pistols, police, police training, psychology, Reflex Handgun, revolvers, shooting drills, shotguns, speedloaders, statistics, Tamara Keel, Tatiana Whitlock, The Firearms Blog, The Mag Life View Post

Useful Training References- Shooting Drills

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   I was at the range shooting yesterday and I realized I was using two really useful products to improve my practice sessions.  I thought you all might benefit from knowing about them.   I’ve written before about the books I use to create the best handgun practice routine.  I use […]

Posted on December 6, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Shooting Drills
Claude Werner, firearms training, Jeff Gonzales, shooting drills View Post

Public Expectations of Police Officers

In the last decade, the relationship between the police and the society they serve has been quite contentious.  Have you ever thought about how exactly you want your police to act?  What mission priorities would you charge them with handling?  It’s an interesting thought exercise.     If you care about this issue at all, […]

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
Bryan Eastridge, Darryl Bolke, Off Duty/On Duty Podcast, police View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- December 2, 2022

Knowledge to make your life better.  If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Concealing for Two Tatiana Whitlock explores the issue of concealing a handgun when pregnant.  You’ll also want to read The Second Trimester as well.     Using DCC Clips on the PHLster Enigma Attaching […]

Posted on December 2, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, American Handgunner, Ammoland, Andrew Branca, Ballistic Radio, ccw, Chris Kresser, exercise, firearms training, fitness, GreyBeard Actual, Gun Mag Warehouse, holsters, Jeff Gonzales, Legal, LPVO, Massad Ayoob, Matt Little, medical skills, medicinal plants, Paul Martin, PHLster, Rangemaster, red dot sights, revolvers, Rory Miller, shooting drills, shotguns, slings, Steve Moses, T-Nation, Tatiana Whitlock, The Armory Life, The Mag Life, The Revolver Guy, Tom Givens View Post

Free Books- Part 263

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 December 1, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Uncategorized
View Post

Police Training Deaths

There have been a rash of police training injuries and deaths this year.  If you haven’t been keeping track of such things, here are a few recent news articles to get you up to speed.   CBP instructor dies after accidental shooting at west Miami-Dade gun range Retired DC Police Lieutenant charged with involuntary manslaughter […]

Posted on November 29, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
American Cop, Erick Gelhaus, firearms training, Ken Murray, police, police training, scenario training View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- November 25, 2022

Knowledge to make your life better.  If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   What To Look For In A Good Knife Steve Tarani’s thoughts on good knives.     What is Really Demoralizing Your Police Officers Eve is telling the truth.  In 25 years as a police […]

Posted on November 25, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, American Handgunner, ccw, firearms training, GAT Daily, gun digest, Gun Mag Warehouse, Gunsite, holsters, knife defense, Lucky Gunner, Massad Ayoob, PHLster, police, revolvers, Sheriff Jim, shooting drills, Steve Tarani, The Armory Life, weapon retention View Post

Revolver Reliability- Part 2

    This is a guest post from my friend Darryl Bolke.  It is a followup to the Thoughts on Revolver Reliability post he contributed last week.  The original is published on Darryl’s Facebook page DB’s Shooting Adventures.  Darryl is the co-owner of Hardwired Tactical and a very well-established firearms instructor.  All of you revolver […]

Posted on November 24, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
ccw, Darryl Bolke, guest author, revolvers View Post

Thoughts on Revolver Reliability

This is a guest post from my friend Darryl Bolke.  Darryl is the co-owner of Hardwired Tactical and a very well established firearms instructor.  I saw this posting on Darryl’s Facebook page DB’s Shooting Adventures.  In the piece, Darryl discusses his view of revolvers as defensive sidearms.  All of you revolver shooters and instructors should […]

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
Darryl Bolke, guest author, revolvers View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- November 18, 2022

Knowledge to make your life better.  If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   ‘Aggressive drills’ in response to US school shootings can harm students, expert says Stupidly conducted active killer drills can harm student welfare. But not having such drills gets lots more kids killed in the […]

Posted on November 18, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
.25 ACP, American Cop, AR-15, ccw, chokes, Condition Red Response, Dan John, Erick Gelhaus, exercise, flashlights, Force Science Institute, FPF Training, GAT Daily, Gun Mag Warehouse, Hock Hochheim, John Murphy, Karl Rehn, Ken Hackathorn, Massad Ayoob, night vision, Pew Pew Tactical, police, Recoil Offgrid, revolvers, Richard Nance, Rory Miller, school shootings, school violence, shooting drills, snubnose, The Armory Life, The Revolver Guy, vehicle attacks, weapon mounted lights View Post

When the Killer’s Gun Jams- Can you Recognize an Opportunity for Action?

  I’ve written quite a bit about malfunctioning guns over the years.   I published Criminals and the Guns They Carry.  That article was a study of all the unloaded broken and malfunctioning guns police take from criminals.   I later wrote Weapon Malfunctions in the Active Shooter Environment about how commonly killers’ guns jam […]

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
ccw, force decisions, MDTS, shootings, video View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- November 11, 2022

Knowledge to make your life better.  If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   AN AMERICAN CLASSIC My 2.5″ Model 19 is my favorite revolver.  If I could only have one pistol for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t feel undergunned with this one.     Safely […]

Posted on November 11, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, carjacking, ccw, Cecil Burch, Concealed Nation, Dark Angel, Dave Spaulding, Dustin Salomon, firearms training, flashlights, GAT Daily, gelatin testing, Gun Mag Warehouse, Jelly Bryce, Kevin Creighton, Massad Ayoob, medical skills, Michael Bane, shooting drills, shotguns, Steve Tarani, Tatiana Whitlock, That Shotgun Blog, Tom Givens, vehicle tactics View Post

Why Carry a .22?

I recently posted an article discussing the fact that I occasionally carry a Ruger LCP .22 pistol as a defensive carry gun.  I got this email from a long time reader: Greg I know you did a few articles on the Ruger 22 lr in the past. Last I remember you were having trouble finding […]

Posted on November 9, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Reader Questions
.22, Darryl Bolke, pocket pistols, Ruger, Tim Chandler, William Aprill View Post

Post Election Violence?

Written by Greg Ellifritz   Unless you have been hiding under a rock you’ll know that tomorrow marks the day of the mid-term political elections in the United States.  As a result of the election, congress may soon be under the control of a different political party.  That often creates some cultural friction.   Most […]

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
flash mobs, looting, riots View Post
‹1234›»

Subscribe to our newsletter!

Recent Posts

  • Patterning Three Common Buckshot Loads
  • Weekend Knowledge Dump- February 3, 2023
  • Free Books- Part 267
  • Back From Mexico
  • Eastridge 2.5 Second Standards

© 2020 Active Response Training - Made with ♥ TheBlackBellCo
Privacy Policy