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Tactical Training Scenario- Daytime Rape at a NYC Subway Station

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   Imagine you are standing on a subway platform in a big city anywhere in the world.  A 25-year old woman is standing nearby waiting for the train to arrive.  Suddenly, a man approaches the woman, throws her to the ground, and attempts to rape her.  Lots of folks are watching.  […]

Posted on August 31, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Tactical Training Scenarios
rape View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- August 28, 2020

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Staying Alive in the Brave New World Michael bane shares some valuable survival information.  On the same topic, you should also read WARNING: Armed Conflict in America Is a Turning Point. Are You Prepared? […]

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, ankle holsters, AR-15, Caleb Giddings, ccw, Cecil Burch, Ed Head, GAT Daily, Glock, holsters, impact weapons, Legal, Massad Ayoob, medical skills, Michael Bane, Mike Seeklander, on target NZ, Organic Prepper, Practical Eschatology, Pro-Gun Millenial, Rangemaster, revolvers, riots, SBR, shooting drills, Survival Sullivan, Tamara Keel, The Revolver Guy, Tom Givens, vehicle attacks View Post

Shot in the Back! How does it happen?

Written by Greg Ellifritz   With predictable regularity, the media and various civil rights groups become indignantly incensed when the cops or an armed citizen shoot a criminal in the back.  It somehow violates society’s ideal that all confrontations should be settled “face to face” and be a “fair fight.”  That doesn’t happen very often […]

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
ccw, Force Science, Force Science Institute, police shootings, reaction times, shootings View Post

Traveling to Mexico During a Global Pandemic

I’d been twitching for awhile.   I hadn’t been out of the country since February.   In a normal year, I travel outside the USA at least four times for a total of about six weeks.  This is the first year since 2006 that I haven’t already taken at least three international trips by this […]

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in What's New
Mexico, pandemic, third world travel, travel View Post

The Firearms Manifesto Part One: Your First Gun

Written by Greg Ellifritz   It’s like clockwork.  At least once a week, I open my email and see some version of the following question:   “I’m worried about (your choice: crime, the declining economy, right wing politicians, mutant zombies, societal collapse, left wing politicians, etc) and want to buy a gun.  I don’t have […]

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
ccw, Glock, guns, handgun, M&P, rifle, shotgun View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- August 21, 2020

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   The Top 5 Low Round Count Drills Ammunition is expensive right now.  Here are a few valuable low round count shooting drills to keep your skill levels up.  Do you have some ammo stockpiled?  […]

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
.30 Carbine, Active Self Protection, active shooter, Ammoman School of Guns, Buckeye Firearms, Caleb Giddings, ccw, crime statistics, Gabe Suarez, GAT Daily, gelatin tests, Hock Hochheim, Integrated Skills Group, John Lott, knife fighting, Mike Seeklander, optics, Organic Prepper, pocket pistols, police, police training, Practical Eschatology, Prepared Gun Owner, Range Hot, Recoil Magazine, red dot sights, revolvers, riots, Selco, shooting drills, shotguns, Spotter Up, survival, Swift Silent Deadly, Target Barn, targets, TDI, Tiger McKee, Tom Givens, vehicle tactics View Post

Civilian Carry Radio Appearance

Last night I joined Chuck Haggard, Wayne Dobbs, and Darryl Bolke for a roundtable discussion of police training issues on Civilian Carry Radio.   I haven’t done a podcast or radio interview for a few years.  I honestly don’t enjoy them all that much and have been turning down any podcast requests.  I promised CCR […]

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in What's New
Chuck Haggard, Civilian Carry Radio, Darryl Bolke, Wayne Dobbs View Post

Attacked at Home

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   I had a long time reader write to ask the following questions:   “My wife (who is not a fan of guns, concealed carry, etc.) and I were talking about self-defense the other day, and she asked what percentage of self-defense incidents happen on a person’s property (house/yard/garage/etc) versus anywhere […]

Posted on August 18, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Reader Questions
crime statistics, home defense, home security View Post

Your Tactical Training Scenario…Do You Have a Light?

    You are walking down the street when you are approached by a man.  He asks you if you have a lighter.  How would you respond?   A Baltimore man was recently confronted with that same scenario.  When he reached into has pocket to grab his lighter to help the man out, the suspect […]

Posted on August 17, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Tactical Training Scenarios
compliance, robbery, self defense View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- August 14, 2020

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Situational Awareness – Everything You Need to Know A very comprehensive look at situational awareness.  You should also read Situational Awareness in the Age of Masks and How to Maintain Your Situational Awareness and […]

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
active killer, active shooter, AK-47, appendix carry, AR-15, Caleb Giddings, ccw, crime statistics, Daniel Shaw, David Yamane, dryfire, Elden Carl, exercise, Glock, Havok Journal, ITS Tactical, James Altucher, Jocko Willink, kettlebells, Larry Vickers, left handed, Marc MacYoung, medical skills, Organic Prepper, pocket pistols, police, Precision Rifle Blog, psychology, shooting drills, situational awareness, Spotter Up, Steve Moses, stratfor, Survival Sullivan, Swift Silent Deadly, The Art of Manliness, Todd Green, William Aprill View Post

Scenario Training Ideas from “The Upside of Irrationality”

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   Dan Ariely’s book The Upside of Irrationality is a book about making rational and irrational decisions.  Books like these are a goldmine of information for firearms and combatives trainers.  We regularly see people making irrational decisions in the context of self defense.  It’s nice to figure out why they are doing […]

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles, Book Reviews, Teaching Tips
force-on-force, scenario training, Teaching Tips View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- August 7, 2020

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   What’s the Best 38 Special Ammo for Self-Defense? Although I wouldn’t put the Lehigh Defense cartridge into my list of the “top loads,” the author’s ballistic testing results provide very useful information for any […]

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
37mm, active killer, Active Self Protection, active shooter, American Handgunner, Ammoman School of Guns, ammunition, Animal Attacks, AR Build Junkie, AR-15, Caleb Giddings, Claude Werner, gelatin tests, Integrated Skills Group, John Mosby, Massad Ayoob, medical skills, Michael Bane, Pew Pew Tactical, pocket carry, pocket pistols, police, psychology, Recoil Offgrid, riots, Sam Harris, shooting drills, shotguns, Steve Moses, Steve Tarani, terrorism, The Suited Shootist, Tiger McKee View Post

AR-15 Rifle Maintenance

  Written by Greg Ellifritz     Jeff Chudwin is a firearms instructor and retired police chief from whom I’ve taken a couple training classes.  He is amazingly knowledgeable and readily shares the wealth of information he possess.   Jeff compiled a list of maintenance checklists for AR-15 style rifles and sent them out to […]

Posted on August 4, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
AR-15, firearm maintenance, Jeff Chudwin View Post

Riot Survival Compendium

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   With almost two months of non-stop rioting in Portland and lots of other big demonstrations in other parts of the nation,  lots of folks have contacted me about re-posting some of my riot survival articles.   Here is my best advice…   Stay away from any scheduled protests, riots, uprisings, […]

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
Andrew Branca, Ballistic Radio, Gabe Suarez, Jeff Gonzales, Legal, Michael Bane, riots, Survival Podcast View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- July 31, 2020

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Short Barreled Rifles vs Pistol Braces A high quality analysis of the issues involved with having a short barreled “pistol” with a stabilizing brace.  I think these are exceptionally handy.  When I’m driving out […]

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
Active Self Protection, American Partisan, Ballistic Radio, Breach Bang Clear, ccw, Claude Werner, firearms training, Forward Observer, history, holsters, less lethal, Lucky Gunner, Melody Lauer, Mike Seeklander, Organic Prepper, Paul Martin, Rangemaster, riots, robbery, Selco, Seth Godin, shooting drills, Spotter Up, survival, survivalblog, Swift Silent Deadly, The Complete Combatant, Varg Freeborn, warning shots View Post

Ammo Shortage: Is the 10mm a Good Self Defense Round?

Written by Greg Ellifritz     I’ve been getting a few questions from readers about the 10mm auto for self protection.  With the current ammo shortage primarily affecting the common defensive calibers, some readers are seeing 10mm ammo still available online and in gun stores.  Is it worthwhile to own a 10mm defensive handgun in […]

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
10mm, ballistic testing, gelatin tests View Post

Pepper Sprayed for not Wearing a Mask

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   People are losing their shit.  It’s almost like the world has been turned completely upside down in a very short period of time.  In my police job, the calls about erratic behavior, mental illness, and alcohol/drug abuse have increased significantly in the last couple months.  There are a lot of […]

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
Legal, Paul Gomez, pepper spray View Post

Weekend Knowledge Dump- July 24, 2020

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Hold Tight To The Past “The upshot of all this? Ain’t much new under the sun. Sometimes we need to get away from being explorers of new shooting worlds and become archaeologists instead, digging […]

Posted on July 24, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Weekend Knowledge Dump
appendix carry, AR Build Junkie, BCM, ccw, Claude Werner, drugs, family safety, holsters, Integrated Skills Group, Jeff Gonzales, Justified Defensive Concepts, knives, Larry Vickers, Legal, Massad Ayoob, optics, Pew Pew Tactical, police, restraints, revolvers, shooting drills, shotguns, Steve Fisher, The Suited Shootist, Tom Givens, Varg Freeborn, Vortex View Post

Don’t be a CCW Idiot

I’m guessing that most of you who are active in the firearm-related blogosphere have seen this story.  If you haven’t, please check it out:   Gun fell out of man’s sweatpants and discharged, fatally striking woman outside Trend Bar in St. Paul Manslaughter charge for man accused of fatally shooting woman outside St. Paul bar […]

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice
accidental discharge, ccw, holsters View Post

“Don’t Run in a Straight Line” and other Bad Advice

Written by Greg Ellifritz   When listening to experts describe how to flee from an attacker who is shooting, the most common statement heard is “Don’t run in a straight line.”  Many people advocate running in a zig-zag pattern or running in a crouched position instead.  A target that is small or that moves randomly […]

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Greg Ellifritz in Articles
active shooter, escape, fleeing View Post
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