Once again, America comes face to face with the reality of what can happen inside a Gun Free Victim Zone. The widely publicized theater shootings in Aurora, Colorado needs no link from here.
A large focus of the discussion since has been to try to get anti-gun people to see that prohibiting firearms in any situation does not guarantee anyone's safety.
The counter argument I have dealt with more than once is this: what could one lone armed individual do against someone with the kind of firepower that the Colorado shooter brought to bear?
My answer is and remains that the reaction of one lone gunner cannot be predicted, except perhaps in cases like this. But, the value of allowing lawfully armed civilians free roam is that potential criminals then do not know what kind of resistance they will encounter if they attack. They may encounter several people who are carrying, willing to resist.
This applies just about everywhere, from the movies to college campuses.
As always, I carried a pistol concealed, along with a spare magazine. I found myself watching others at the theater, looking for tells, signs that I wasn't alone. I saw more than a few who were concerned that their shirt tales were down over their waist, and a lot of us were scanning the crowd. (I probably tipped my hand, too, but that's not so bad.) I was very likely not alone.
There will always be evil people in the world. I might not be able to stop them, but, by knowing I might be there, maybe I can persuade them to go elsewhere. So, those of you who choose to go where guns are prohibited, you are on your own, relying on a sign on the door, and police who are ten minutes away, for protection. Good luck.
This was a good refresher for my son, who is 15. I remember being 15, and my attention span then was even worse than it is now. But he agreed that he wouldn't open the door for anyone he didn't know. He also agreed that he would call 911 if there were police at the door. He's heard enough about home invasions, I guess.
We talked about the scenarios and how to deal with them. I guess I should not be surprised but we were all in agreement.
My favorite reply from my son was when we discussed what to do if the 911 dispatcher told him they had no record of police coming to our house.
"I'll just tell them to go ahead and send some real police, and after they deal with these losers, I'll be in the back bedroom. Behind the bed. With a friend from Austria."
"It's just a bizarre set of circumstances. The bottom line is, you
point a gun at a deputy sheriff or police office, you're going to get shot."
- Lt. John Herrell, Lake County FL Sheriff’s Department
At 1:30 AM on July 16, 26-year-old Andrew Lee Scott did what a lot of
people might do. When there was a loud banging on the front door of his
apartment in Lake County, Florida, he grabbed a pistol and answered the door.
Deputies were looking for an attempted murder suspect, and found his
motorcycle parked in front of Scott’s apartment. So, they knocked on his door
without announcing they were police.
Robb Allen at Sharp As A Marble probably said it best when he referred
to “lethal levels of Fail.” There were so many mistakes made on both sides of this that the lessons should
be self-evident. But I wanted to go through them, and talk about how I
addressed this with my family last night, so that you might be prepared.
HAVE A PLAN
Everyone in your household needs to know the plan, and needs to follow
it. You have fire drills at your house - you need to practice this,
too.
Only the eldest person home answers the front door after dark. If my kids are home alone, they don't answer the door. Period. If they are seen and called to by someone outside, they can deal with them at that point. But they don't open the door to someone they don't know.
FOLLOW THE PLAN
If someone knocks on my door late at night, we don’t open the door. It's that simple.
I will go to the door with a pistol either holstered or concealed behind my back, and with a phone. We
first find out who it is, by turning on the front porch light, and looking out
the front window at the porch. (If your house isn’t set up that way, you need
to have some way to see those people.)
If they are people we know, and they don’t sound under duress, and
there are no others with them that we don’t know, only then would we open the door, and deal with the situation.
If they are people we know, but they sound under duress, we find out why
and assess the situation from there. If they have trouble and need my help, I
would decide which way to go.
If they are not someone I know, I will call 911 and tell them help is
on the way, but I’m not opening the door. Not if it’s raining, or winter, or
the baby is sick. It sounds cruel, but I would rather that, than for you to
read about me the next day, killing by home invaders.
IF IT’S THE POLICE
If they claim to be the police, I would tell them I am calling 911, and
do so. I would tell the dispatcher that the police are here, and ask why. If they
have legitimate reason to be there, I would put my pistol away, and open the door, and follow their instructions.
It is vital that at no time would I show a gun or other weapon to
someone at the door. First, if they are police, they will shoot me. If they aren’t police, they could call 911
themselves and report me for assault. Yes, I could present a positive defense
under Georgia’s Castle Law, but that would still involve being arrested, hiring
a lawyer, and lots of money.
WORST CASE
Of course, if someone forces their way through my door, I will have a
split second decision to make. If they are police, I need to follow their
instructions completely if I want to live through this. For me, this is vital.
I have quite a smartass disposition, and a more than a little bit of a Don’t Tread
On Me attitude. The key here, though, in every situation, is to de-escalate, so that,
hopefully, no one has to get hurt. And certainly, things turn out better for us than they did in Lake County.
Rule 2: Never let the muzzle cover anything which you are not willing to destroy.
If there was a single gun rule that, when violated, resulted in the most damage, injury, and death, it would have to be Rule 2.
After all, the direction a gun is pointed determines where the bullet goes when the gun fires. While Rules 1 and 3 are devoted to preventing the gun from going off unintentionally, with Rule 2, it doesn't matter whether the gun is fired intentionally or unintentionally (or, as the anti-gun crowd believe, it goes off by itself). This Rule must be followed, or bad things happen.
Rule 1 is a philosophical rule. It takes a change in the shooter's thinking to make it work. You need to have a change in your attitude, so that you always treat the gun as if it were always loaded, even if it isn't. Which it is - see Rule 1.
Rule 2 is a concrete rule. It doesn't matter how you think about the Rule, what your attitude is. The gun is pointing where the gun is pointing, regardless of how you think about it.
In my experience, Rule 2 is the most violated of all the safety rules. The main reason for this is ignorance and inexperience. New shooters may be used to playing with a toy gun, or not having a gun around at all.
And then there are the thousands of very bad examples on TV and in movies.
Wow. Not only did Vincent violate Rule 2, he violated Rule 3. Bad things happened. Sorry, Marvin.
Almost as bad are the hundreds of images where an actor points the gun in the air as they move around. No one tells viewers that this isn't for good safety practice, this is so the gun is in the shot with the actor's face.
This Rule takes concentration. Nothing about Rule 2 can be left to attitude or thinking or philosophy. You must be aware where your gun is pointed at all times, or bad things can happen.
So, what works when teaching Rule 2? Zealous enforcement and repetition. When you find someone waving a gun around, call them on it. Whether you are polite about it or not depends on the situation and the violator, I suppose, but you should be firm and unequivocal in any case. In my family, we are all allowed to call "MUZZLE!" and push the gun downrange or toward the ground if it's safe to do so.
A search of most gun forums will also find many accounts of violation of this rule at gun ranges, gun shows, and gun stores. When a polite but firm reminder not to point the gun at something they aren't willing to destroy goes unheeded, the only recourse then is to leave. I know I've done it.
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Rule 2 is the failsafe of the gun rules. Follow it - make sure the gun isn't pointed at anything you aren't willing to destroy - and even if someone violates the other rules, you will be safe.
This rule has probably generated the most dissension among gun owners than anything else, including the "9mm versus .45ACP" debate. Some don't even include it as a rule, arguing that, if the other rules are followed, it becomes moot.
However, it can be argued that unloaded guns cause more "accidental" shootings than anything else in the shooting world. Of course, what really happened is that guns that were assumed to be unloaded did what loaded guns are designed to do when the trigger is pulled. And, since no care was taken about which direction the gun was pointed, the result, many times, is tragic.
A loaded gun is a deadly weapon. To treat it as anything else is negligent and foolish.
But the argument is made that not all guns are loaded. Examples would include guns at a "cold" range, such as at a competition. In this case, guns are only loaded once the competitor is on the firing line, and then only at the direction of the Range Officer or Safety Officer.
The point of this rule, though, is to prevent the negligent discharge of a gun that was assumed to be unloaded, but really wasn't. As with many things, Lt. Colonel Jeff Cooper said it best in his final version of Rule 1:
All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
If we treat all guns as if they are loaded, then we won't point them at anything we don't want to destroy, and we won't put our fingers on the trigger until we are ready to shoot.
It's a mindset that we have to develop, that is part of the overall safety mindset - that our gun is a powerful tool, which we must control and direct at all times.
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Certainly one of the scariest and most frustrating experiences is to be around someone who has no concept of gun safety, and insists on waving it around or putting their fingers on the trigger. I have no qualms about asking someone politely to treat the gun as if it were loaded, and please stop that. It is usually at a gun show or gun store. If they get upset about my request, I take myself and my business elsewhere.
Of course, at a range or in my home is another issue. I try to be as nice as I can, but nothing pulls the barium rods out of my nuclear asshole reactor quicker.
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Once, when my son was perhaps 8 or 9 years old, we were getting the BB guns out for a shooting session. We put on our safety glasses, and I took down the trusty Red Ryder Range Model Lever Action Carbine (without a compass in the stock, or this thing that tells time), and I tilted it back and forth to make sure there were no BBs in the action.
I handed it to my son, and asked, "Is that loaded?"
"No."
Wrong answer. The guns went back up, to be brought out another day.
He's never forgotten that lesson. And he knows every gun is loaded, even if there might not be any ammunition in it.
I've recently been thinking about the Rules of Gun Safety. As I see them, they are:
0. Always wear eye protection, and hearing protection where warranted.
1. All guns are always loaded.
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything which you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger OFF the trigger until your sights are on the target.
4. Always be sure of your target and what’s behind it.
5. Never try to catch a dropped gun.
As I've said before, these are the classic rules (1 through 4) as developed by Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper, plus a couple that I emphasize as well.
I have a 14 year old son who is learning to shoot, and he has various friends who join us. Since we live about an hour from the range, every shooting session starts with a discussion of the rules. I've found that some points resonate well with these guys, so I wanted to share what we've talked about.
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Rule 0: Eyes and Ears.
Or, Always wear eye protection, and hearing protection where warranted.
[My version of this rule says "hearing protection where warranted" because Rule 0 also applies to Airsoft guns, BB guns, and other non-gunpowder guns. I require my son and his friends to always wear shooting glasses during their maneuvers.]
TEENAGER VERSION
Protecting your sight and your hearing should be a no-brainer. You want to spend the rest of your life enjoying the world, and all the sights and sounds it has to offer. Think of life without music or television. Bleak, isn't it?
But a lot of people see movies and TV and soldiers and think they can get away with not wearing protection when shooting.
The problem is, when you shoot a gun without eye and ear protection, you are damaging your hearing every time, and you could damage your sight, if you get hit by a stray shell or ricochet. Hearing damage and sight damage are not reversible. Once you lose hearing, it's gone. The cilia in your ears, the little hairs that transmit the sound, don't grow back. And once you damage your eyes, chances are the damage is irreparable.
So, everybody put these on, keep them on, and don't give me any more lip.
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GROWN-UP VERSION
[WARNING: Engineering content.]
EYES
The regulations and standards for protective eyewear are found in ANSI Standard Z87.1. Now, this standard covers eye protection for just about every exposure, not just impact, and it's quite involved.
But you should always use eyewear that's stamped somewhere with "Z87.1." This means it meets the impact standards at least.
Regular glasses generally don't meet this standard, because of the lack of impact resistance, and the lack of side shields. If you wear prescription glasses it may be worth it for you to get a pair of Z87.1 standard shooting glasses.
Off the shelf sunglasses fare even worse. May of them don't offer even basic impact protection.
Shooters' eye protection comes in all shapes and sizes and colors. Pick the one you like, and buy 2 or 3 pairs. Different colors help make targets easier to see in different light conditions. The most common are gray for sunny conditions, yellow or amber for low light, and vermillion, which enhances a beige or orange target.
EARS
The intensity of a noise, that is, how loud it is, is expressed in units of decibels, or dB. Hearing protection is rated by a Noise Reduction Rating, or NRR, which is also stated in dB. This is pretty much the measure of how much the ear protection reduces the noise level for the wearer.
Generally, noise about 85 dB is considered dangerous, since it can cause permanent damage. Noise over 140 dB is usually painful, and gunfire can range from 120 to 160 dB depending on the caliber and the surroundings of the shooter.
The NRR of hearing protection is measured by the manufacturer using a continuous noise, so its applicability to the sharp pressure wave of a gunshot isn't exact. However, most experts recommend using ear plugs or ear muffs with a NRR of 19 or higher when shooting.
Obviously, the higher the better. Ear plugs can work, if you use them right. Foam ear plugs need to be inserted all the way into the ear canal, almost flush with the ear opening. Roll them up, and insert them before they expand, by reaching behind your head and pulling your ear back, and inserting the plug with the other hand.
If you can see foam ear plugs sticking out of your ears, you don't have them in right.
Earmuffs are easier to use, but they can be hot, and they're bulkier. The choice is yours.
Personally, I wear foam earplugs with a NRR of 21, inserted correctly, during any time I'm at the range. Then, when it's my turn to shoot, I put on some earmuffs with a NRR of 25. This prevents me from having an involuntary startle reflex when I shoot.
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Don't overlook eyes and ears around the home, too. Wear eye protection when you cut the grass or use hand tools. Wear hearing protection when you use power tools or lawn tools.
I even bought a set of ear buds for my iPod that fit into the ear canal, and provide a NRR of 22. Very nice when I'm cutting the grass, or on the airplane.
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Finally, here's a good video that explains it all, from our friends at MidwayUSA.
Here are the Rules of Gun Safety as posted at the Fill Yer Hands zombie-proof bunker in Kennesaw, Georgia:
0. Always wear eye protection, and hearing protection where warranted.
1. All guns are always loaded.
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything which you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger OFF the trigger until your sights are on the target.
4. Always be sure of your target and what’s behind it.
5. Never try to catch a dropped gun.
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All these rules apply to Nerf and Airsoft and BB guns, too, for a couple of good reasons. First, these guns can hurt you if you don't follow the rules, and second, if you don't follow the rules with these guns, you're likely to ignore them with "real" guns, too.
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This sign is posted at the Nerf Gun / Airsoft storage area in the zombie-proof bunker:
Rule Zero: Eyes and Ears.
We also store the eyewear in the same place as the ammo for these guns. It makes it a lot easier to remember.
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When we are at the range, the first thing we do after setting up targets is go over these rules with everyone in our party. Everyone there knows they are free to call any of the others on a rule infraction. This isn't meant to be mean, it's meant to keep everyone safe.
Usually, Rules 2 and 3 are the ones to violated, but usually only once. All I have to do is yell "Muzzle!" or "Finger!" and the person gets what I'm saying.
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I find that with my son's friends, one of the hardest things to teach is to point their guns at the ground when not shooting, not in the air. Thanks a lot, Hollywood.
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It makes me feel good when I pull into the driveway in the evening, and my son is leading an assault on his backyard action shooting range, and he and the four teens with him, all armed with Airsoft or Nerf guns, are all wearing eye protection. In fact, my son has on knee pads and shooting gloves.
I am more than willing to furnish eyewear for all the shooters. And I am more than willing to banish someone who refuses to wear them.
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I recently came across this video from the NSSF that explains the Four Basic Rules very well.
First, for those of you who asked, YES, there will be a quiz. Every day. But you won't know when it is. And if you fail, you may not know it.
Second, for today's class, I have brought in a guest speaker, a man named Derek "Tex" Grebner. Please pay attention to his video.
Someone please get the lights.
Okay, okay, okay. Settle down.
Lots of lessons to learn here, students.
First, never attempt a new pistol technique with a loaded weapon. Especially the first time. Or probably for the first 10 times. Do this very slowly, with a training partner, until you are both sure you can do it without any problem. Then do it another 20 times before you load up. Then do it s l o w l y.
To me, the second lesson is that this is why I don't like holsters with retention devices on them. This whole thing happened, admittedly, because the first holster he used - with another gun - had a retention device that was in the same place as the thumb safety on a 1911. Bad design, no matter what. Your mileage my vary, but I won't own one.
Third, if you don't have a first aid kit in your range bag, get one. You should have one with you every time you go shoot. If you look on your syllabus, we will cover First Aid next week. Those of you who get queasy looking at blood, get over it.
I'm glad he came out of all this safe. And I'm sorry he's going to spend the rest of his life serving as a warning to the rest of us. But that's the risk we all take.
I have a match to shoot this weekend, and it got me to thinking about my preparations. Since my goal in 2011 is to improve as many aspects of my competition as I can, I thought I would begin at the beginning.
Assuming I have done the work in practice, there is still a lot of things I do to get ready. Before now, I just did them, but now I have my checklist.
Since it's already starting to get warm, I have been drinking water all day today, to get my body ready.
Here's what I will do tonight:
> Detail strip my Glock 17 (Bruce) and inspect all parts
> Change the factory connector for the (-) connector. (Bruce does double duty as a home defense gun and my competition gun. I keep the factory trigger connector in for home defense, so the trigger pull matches my other Glocks. Changing the connector to a (-) connector lowers the trigger pull about a pound.)
> Brush out but don’t clean unless it is very dirty
> Clean the fiber optic front sight with water only
> Lubricate the gun, using grease on the rails and connector
> Re-assemble the gun and dry fire it and practice drawing. Fix any problems
> Check mags – for damage, springs, followers
> Check holster and mag pouches - make sure that everything is adjusted correctly
> Load all my magazines to 10 rounds
> Make up some sports drink in plastic bottles, and put one bottle in the freezer
> Check my hearing protection and eye protection
> Make sure I have a clean towel in my shooting bag
> Make sure my knee pads, hat, and spent shell bag are in my shooting bag
Finally, make sure I have directions to the range, since there are about half a dozen ranges in the Atlanta area with USPSA or GSSF matches.
Tomorrow is a Steel Challenge match at Creekside Firing Range. I will try to live tweet it at @FillYerHands, so "stay tuned."
I am a chemical engineer by training. All my life, in school or at work, safety and safety training has been the first thing we give our attention to. So when I started shooting, gun safety was foremost in my mind, and I’ve worked to keep it that way.
So when my wife and kids wanted to learn to shoot, I started by teaching them the rules of gun safety. In the case of my kids, I started early, and I repeat the rules often. For instance, the Rules of Gun Safety are posted in my garage and in my son’s game room:
0. Always wear eye protection, and hearing protection where warranted.
1. All guns are always loaded.
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything which you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger OFF the trigger until your sights are on the target.
4. Always be sure of your target and what’s behind it.
5. Never try to catch a dropped gun.
These modeled on the classic rules first listed in this form by Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper at the Gunsite Academy. The fifth rule comes from a recent an article in Shooting Illustrated by Chance Ballew of the Say Uncle blog. Rule Zero, or “Eyes and Ears!” as we call it, should be obvious, but will probably be the topic of a future post.
So, how do you teach these things so they become, not second nature, but first nature? Simply, by making training an everyday thing. Even the Bible says in Deuteronomy 11:19, “Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” When you see a gun rule violated on TV, point it out. Even better, when you see an actor or policeman or soldier on TV following a rule, point that out, too. Positive reinforcement works.
Sometimes, though, the training has to get tough. My son has a Daisy Lever Action Range Model BB Gun (alas, not with a compass in the stock, or this thing that tells time) that we gave him as for his birthday when he was 9. At that time, I kept it in my gun safe along with my other rifles, and we would only take it out to shoot together.
One day, I took it out and handed it to him. He checked to be sure the safety was on, and turned it muzzle down. As we got the rest of our gear out, I asked, “Hey, is that loaded?”
He shook it, and there was no sound of any BBs, so he said, “No.”
Wrong answer. “Sorry, Bud, what’s Rule Number 1?” At that point, the gun went back in the safe, and we had to wait to shoot another day.
Thus began the weeping and gnashing of teeth, but I held firm to my decision. Was I cruel to a young child? Or just being a tough teacher? I can tell you that he still remembers, 5 or so years later.
When we are on the range, we call each other on the rules. If someone has a finger inside the trigger guard, we call “Finger!” And if someone gets careless with the muzzle of a gun, we are all free to help them point the muzzle down, and call “Muzzle!” And because of that day with the BB gun and Rule 1, he knows that flagrant violations will make me call a stop to the shooting session.
Does the training work? For me, consider I’ve been shooting for fun and competitively since 1992, and I’ve never had a negligent discharge, nor been disqualified from a match for any reason. For my son, I think this says it all - when he and his friends break out the Airsoft or Nerf rifles for a little force on force “Tactical Tag,” every guy in the group has on safety glasses, fingers outside the triggers as they move, and move with muzzles pointed in safe directions. And as a bystander, I’ve never been hit by a stray round, which must speak to Rule 4.
