Police MRAPs

I found myself in somewhat of a pissing match on Instagram with a guy who questioned whether law enforcement agencies really "needed" Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. (aka MRAP) Having been in law enforcement for coming up on 6 years, I find myself siding with my brothers in blue.

The guy I was talking to, let's call him Caleb, suggested that these vehicles tend to scare the general public by making police look more like the military. He also suggested that MRAPs lead to or are directly related to abuse of power.  I tried to instruct Caleb on the nuanses of being a police officer and also about MRAPs as the excellent tools they are for protecting officers. Caleb likened these vehicles to tanks and predator drones calling them a clear overstep of authority.

I can see his point a little bit. On one hand SWAT teams have been operating and getting things done for many years without the use of MRAPs.  On the other hand, as criminals become better armed and terrorism finds its way to small-town America, why not give our officers the tools that will help them deal more efficiently and safely with these threats?

No one likes to see the world going to hell in a hand basket, but our best wishes do nothing to stop it from happening.  I say give law enforcement what they need to deal with the threats they face. To include MRAPs.  I have linked an article below that explains why the military gave away so many of these vehicles to law enforcement agencies.
What say you? Comment below.


Repurposed MRAPs Article

Beard Strong

"Whatever it is that motivates men to grow their own,(beard) the trend does raise questions about what is happening to men in our culture and why this sudden assertion of masculinity?" -Coline Covington

 LOL I love this!

I read an article recently about this "new" trend by men to grow beards, and I thought I would make a few observations and comments. My first comment?  It's not new. Men of every culture have grown beards for all of time. Many cultures see men with no facial hair as young and weak or immature. Basically saying that real men have beards. I couldn't agree more. 

I have always had facial hair. Ok clearly I wasn't born with it, but from my early teenage years anyway. My style was the goatee. I guess back then I just enjoyed my ability to have a style that made me different from some of the other kids. As an adult, my beard was attached to (my face) my hunting exploits. I would begin to let my face armor grow at the beginning of the deer hunting season in the fall, and refused to shave until I had killed my buck for the year.  As soon as the meat was in my freezer I went right back to my faithful face friend, the goatee.

These days I'm sporting a full beard.  I deliberately trim it to somewhat of a "point" below my chin. I like the look, but to be honest, having this beard tends to elongate my facial features and helps me appear thinner. I've always struggled with my self image, and my beard helps me feel more confident.
You can see my beard in my Blogger Profile pic.  

My beard is also a representation of the gun culture that I am most certainly a part of.  I'm a cop and a personal defense instructor by trade. Many guys in this industry grow beards. I think for us it really stems from the special operations community.  Seeing pictures of our Nation's best warriors sporting full beards makes us proud. We all want to identify with those guys. In many cases they are what many men wish they were. So If I can grow a beard and it helps me feel confident and warrior-like, then where's the harm in that? 

BUT.... (That's a big but)

Joshua Haarbrink says this -
"Not to be confused with the “hipster” scene where sideburns, handle-bar mustaches, pseudo-rugged goatees and stylish 5 o’clock shadows have become increasingly popular, the tactical beard community has grown rapidly and has spawned community groups like the private Facebook group, the Tactical Beard Owners Club, which now boasts almost 11,000 fans on its Facebook fan page as well as over 1,600 verified members with chapters in various locations around the world. Originally established as a community to provide networking and support for current military operators as well as veterans, this group provides a powerful resource in maintaining morale and connectivity for soldiers and tactical professionals, both in fields abroad and at home. This brotherhood of the tactically-bearded reflects the camaraderie and respect that both military and civilian operators develop in their communities, and the proud display of a fully nurtured beard has become a badge of honor among those who truly deserve that honor as well as a sign of respect and recognition among those who value the commitment of those operators."

Exactly! That is all.

- Me

Tacticool is Not

*** For some reason my picture of a KSG shotgun is not showing up. I'll update soon. In the meantime you can follow this link to see what I'm talking about. KSG Shotgun

This is a prime example of something tactical and cool, when mashed together, just becomes tacticool. Which is actually a bad thing.  On the tactical side of this you have a 13 round short shotgun. Because of its size you can maneuver it easily in and through doorways and other tight spaces.  You could fill this thing with buck shot or heavy bird shot and have one heck of a nice home defense weapon. All of this is assuming of course that KelTec makes a reliable weapon system.  The verdict is still out on that one for me.  Yup I just went there.

On the cool side of things you have mostly aesthetics. This gun looks mean that's for sure! Sometimes that's half the battle am I right? It has an Eotech optic which makes it totally tactical right? Well maybe, but what's going on with the backup iron sights? Honestly does anyone need sights on a close range shotgun? It's clearly not the tool of choice for taking that precise head shot at any distance. Again, short gun, short barrel, ammo that spreads; this equals close range weapon. With buckshot or birdshot in a shotgun, the human weapon system has the intuitive ability to just point and shoot. I'm not even sure what the Eotech is there for.  It looks cool and maybe that's all it's intended to do.

I would personally own this gun if someone could prove to me that KelTec is a reliable brand, but I would not be putting sights of any kind on it.  As I'm saying that it just came to mind that a laser would make a great aiming tool for this kind of setup. And before anyone comments, I'll point out that lasers make a lot of sense.  Without getting into too much science; our bodies tend to tunnel vision on the threat, and our ability to do fine motor skills such as aligning tiny iron sights are made extremely difficult. A laser allows you to focus on your threat and, Oh would you look at that, there's my laser dot easily visible on bandits chest! So i'd use one of these for home defense with birdshot and a laser. The laser to get me roughly on target, and the birdshot to spread out and eliminate my margin of error.

Your comments are always welcome...

-ME

Gun Disarm Yes or No?

Take a look at this short 1 minute video from Victor Marx and then comment with your thoughts on attempting to disarm an attacker.  

My personal take on this is to just simply give the attacker whatever they want. Usually they are just after your valuables and don't really want to risk jail time for murder.
However, should you decide to fight back there a few things happening here strategically. Number one, Mr. Marx is moving his head and shoulders "off the X" laterally as he reaches for the pistol. This is key! Chances are, you aren't going to be as fast as he is and the bandit will likely get at least one shot off. Obviously you don't want your head in line with that barrel if a shot goes off.
Second is that he's starting the gun grab from a "hands up" posture. Not only does it signify a defensive and submissive attitude, but it allows his hands to have to move a shorter distance. This is important to remember as action will always be faster than reaction. The faster he can get his hands on the gun, the less likely it is for the bandit to out-flinch him. There are a few other tactical tidbits here that I will forgo for now.

From a common sense approach, I'd like to point out a few things. First, this guy has practiced this gun disarm over and over for years. Literally making it the most often practiced drill in his arsenal.  I don't know that for certain, but you don't get this good at something without time and sacrifice. He's put a lot of time into it and has sacrificed practicing other skills in order to acquire the time to practice this one. Second, I would offer that the bandit could turn this gun grab into a wrestling match.  A close quarters retention fight for your sidearm is never a good plan, so if your disarm is successful, I recommend creating some serious distance as fast as you possibly can.

Again I just think it's a poor decision to attempt a disarm like this, but what are your thoughts? Let's discuss.

- Me

New Year. New Direction.

This year my blog will become an outlet for opinions on tactics, training and gear as they relate to the firearms industry.  I resolve to post three new articles every single week, typically on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I will be interviewing other shooters in the industry, and will be attending events where my goal will be to report on the positives of that culture.
As a man, I am as common sense as they come, (read unintelligent if you wish) and I hope to discuss these categories in a way that everyone can appreciate.  Hopefully offering a different angle on many of the established norms in our industry.

Let's kick this off right -
I've noticed a disturbing trend over the past few years that has got me asking some unique questions about our gun culture.  In particular it seems like we've got four different camps of shooters in the U.S.  Please watch Colion Noir's video. It so accurately pinpoints the differences of these four groups, and is darn funny to boot.

I find myself somewhere between the tactical and hunting guys represented in that video. I've been a lifelong hunter and have a law enforcement background. So on my tactical side I would argue that pistols are defensive tools period. There is no other purpose for them than to protect people. On my hunting side I would say that all firearms are useful for the purposes of taking animals for food and sport. I have wandered into the realm of competition shooting various times over the years.  First with IDPA, then with 3-Gun, and now I'm getting into precision rifle competition.  My problem with competition is that it's a game. Which is totally the point for many shooters, but my tactical side screams out, "it's not realistic to know what threats are going to pop up and be able to plan for it!" Therefore I can't label myself a competition shooter in any way.  As far as the "gun collector" goes - I own a collection of guns, but to me, they are all tools.  I don't idolize my tools, I use them. I could care less if my guns have dings and scratches.

My beef with all this is the growing "in fighting" between the different camps. Like on Mr. Noir's video, the tactical guy says "you're useless" to all the other guys and sets his mind to believe there's no point to their particular view of gun culture.
Folks this is wrong! We have go to stop fighting each other and unite behind our common goal, which is to maintain our firearms related freedoms.  It's like trying to support multiple conservative presidential candidates at the same time. Your support for one hurts the other, and at the end just insures that several good guys end up going home broke and defeated. Why don't all conservatives rally behind one candidate early on, and unite for the common purpose of defeating the liberals?
The different camps within the gun culture are acting no differently, and it's disgraceful.  It's actually just tearing us apart.

Tactical guys, you could learn a thing or two about having fun from the Competition guys.
Collectors, you might really enjoy taking down an elk from 800 yards with that $7000 rifle. The Hunters will gladly teach you how.

Wake up and realize that Tactical Tim's overly prideful opinions are just as worthy as your particular perspective on the gun culture. How about you prove your devotion to our cause by trying something outside of your comfort zone this year?  For me that's precision rifle competition...oh and I promise to stop harping on the worthlessness of the 1911 platform...

- Me

As Any Good Leader Will Do - Part 3

In the first two installments of this article I told you about a person on one of my volunteer teams who was having trouble committing to the responsibilities of the service position. At the end of part 2 I left you with the thought that I would probably "fire" this person. Well, sometimes things change.

Interestingly enough I never had to confront the man. He actually came to me. I think he realized he was falling short, and felt convicted to apologize. This was perfect because I actually like the guy and was seriously dreading that conversation. Due to his honesty and self awareness of the situation I decided to keep him on the team and give him another chance. He stepped it up and hasn't been a problem for me or the team going forward.

As any good leader will do I am constantly on the lookout for changing situations concerning our volunteer teams. Seems like there is always something that is completely out of my control. Typically they manifest themselves in some negative way, i.e. a missing child, a domestic dispute, or a medical emergency. But every now and then an uncontrollable situation turns out for the best. In the curious case of the irresponsible volunteer, he just informed me that he's taking a new job out of state and will be moving. He has resigned from the team.

The twists and turns of life are never dull are they?

As any good leader will do - part 2

There comes a time in every leader's life when you have to decide whether to forgive and forget or forgive, forget, and fire a volunteer.  It's truly unfortunate when this happens. No one likes confrontation. The potential for ruined interpersonal relationships abounds. Sometimes however, it just has to be done for the benefit of the entire group.

The scenario I gave you in part 1 of this article is a real situation that I am currently involved in. I have had to let people go before so i'm dreading what comes next. Couldn't I just leave him on the team and encourage him and hope he gets better? Yes I could, but why? How many times do you let your children disobey before you spank them? The last line of part 1 asks, what would Jesus do? I know from personal experience that he disciplines those he loves. It's always for the better. Yes always. This is a grown man who should know better and be responsible and reliable. I can not let this go.

How to handle this kind of situation is the point of this article. So how will I handle it? In a loving and respectful way with the intention of building up and training this man. I will not call him out in front of others. I will not voice my disappointment about him with others behind his back. I will meet with him personally and explain my position. I will show him our volunteer agreement and gently point out the ways he has fallen short. I will give him time to voice his opinions on the matter. I will genuinely listen.

Lastly, I will ask him to step down from the team. I will encourage him to not talk negatively about me or the team to anyone else. The Bible warns us not to stir up dissention in the body of believers.

What about his position on the team? Do I have someone to replace him? Yes I do. He's been shadow training for over a month now. He will be able to jump right in and serve in a timely fashion. As any good leader will do I try to look ahead and strategize my movements.

In part 3 I will let you all know how my conversation with him went. My hope is that this personal experience I'm sharing will be a training tool of sorts for you.  More to come...