Self defense basics - Part 1

There is an old cliche that says "If all you have is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail". In the CCW world you may interpret this as "If all you have is a gun then every problem involves a shooting". Here are a few of my comments on this issue:

1. First, if you wouldn't go to a certain area or place without a gun, then you absolutely shouldn't go there with a gun. Think about it.
2. Many interactions with a potential bad guy do not necessitate pulling out your gun. Remember, you should never pull out a gun unless you feel justified in shooting. In Michigan this means that you are in fear of losing your life, or incurring grave bodily harm or forcible sexual penetration. Brandishing a firearm is a felony in most jurisdictions.
3. You may be in one of the many pistol free zones and therefore do not have access to a firearm.
   
4. Lastly, many assaults will happen so fast, or so close that you will not be able to draw your concealed firearm. At this point you must have a pretty firm grasp on how to handle the situation. At the very least you need to know how to create that time or distance that will allow you to employ your firearm. We'll explore this area in a future post.
   

Citizen's Arrest

Someone asked me the other day if it is legal in Michigan to make a citizen's arrest. The simple answer is yes, it is. According to MCL746.16 :

A private person may make an arrest: (1) for a felony committed in his presence; (2) if the person to be arrested has committed a felony, although not in his presence; (3) if he is summoned by a peace officer to assist the officer in making the arrest; or (4) if he is a merchant, an agent or employee of a merchant, or an independent contractor providing security for a merchant, of a store and has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has violated certain laws in that store, regardless whether the violation was committed in the presence of the private person.

The more complicated issue is whether you should. Arresting a felon is a difficult, and often dangerous job even for a trained law enforcement officer. I would not recommend it except in very specific circumstances - such as you are convinced that this person will injure or kill innocent people if you let him go. Remember, as a civilian, you have no legal duty to apprehend this felon. Generally, my recommendation is to be the best possible witness and to notify the authorities as quickly as possible. If you do feel this person is a threat than the prudent thing to do would be to detain him (at gunpoint if you must) and wait for law enforcement to arrive. Trying to handcuff or tie him up is extremely dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.

6.8 EGR

Here is my latest AR-15 build and my new all time favorite rifle. The upper is a lightweight Kotonics 16" with carbon fiber handguard and TA31 ACOG scope. The lower is a 6.8 Stag Arms with Geiselle DMR match trigger, Magpul MIAD grip and CTR stock with AR-Restor hydraulic buffer and Tubbs CS spring. The gun is finished in OD green Duracoat (yes, the EGR moniker stands for Evil Green Rifle). Overall weight (without the mag) is only 6.75#.

The gun is light, short and well balanced - perfect for CQB or stalking deer in the northern woods. My best accuracy so far is with Barnes 110 grain Triple Shock handloads at 1/2" at 65 yards with a velocity of just over 2,600 fps. I have no problem hitting a steel IPSC target at 350 yards every time.

The hydraulic buffer and spring make this lightweight pleasant to shoot - it feels much more like a 5.56 than the 6.8 SPC.

I believe that the 6.8SPC (Special Purpose Cartridge) is the perfect caliber for the AR platform at it's too bad that it wasn't thought of 50 years ago. It was developed as a project for the US Special Forces and has a good following in that arena. Rumor has it that some countries are seriously considering it for adoption. the 5.56 is effectively a 150 yard gun but the 6.8 easily doubles that range.

So far I have shot 4 deer and one hog with it and all have been one shot stops with the last deer dropping in it's tracks. If I could only have one rifle, this would be the one.

Therapy Thursdays

I have a tradition with a friend of mine where we occasionally get together on Thursday's and meet for lunch and do a little shooting. Yesterday was the first Therapy Thursday of 2008. Although the temperature was in the low 30's and the range was still covered in ice and snow we did not let the conditions slow us down one bit.

My buddy had a new MSAR STG AUG that he wanted to test. I have always thought that these were ugly guns but after spending some time behind the trigger their functionality is amazing. The balance is superb, even with the 42 round magazine and they weigh even less than a standard 16" AR-15. The gun came with a half power scope that worked fairly well although I think a red dot would be more versatile - particularly an Aimpoint T-1. This is certainly not a long range gun but I think it would be great in CQB situations - especially in a building.

The only negative comments I had was that it uses proprietary magazines (it would be nice if it used standard AR-15 mags) and the trigger has a long reset and fairly heavy pull. I did not have my timer with me but split times are much longer than a good AR.

I also brought out my new Kotonics AR-15 in 6.8 SPC to wring out but I'll leave that review for another post.

All in all it was a great day of good conversation and fine shooting.

I have always had a long-standing dislike for a lot of the cheap Chinese crap that is imported to the U.S. The flashlights from the Chinese manufacturer Fenix are a whole different story and maybe are a little peak at what the future holds?

The first light on the left is the T-1 Tactical. It uses (2) CR123 lithium batteries and has two modes – 225 lumens (with about 1.5 hour battery life) and 60 lumens with about a 10 hour life. With a thick stainless steel head and anodized aluminum body, this thing is built like a tank. The illumination comes from the new Cree C-5 LED and features a 50,000 hour life. It weighs in at 6.7 ounces with battery and has a recessed push button tail cap switch and the end is scalloped for CQB use. And trust me when I tell you that 225 lumens is absolutely blinding!

The L1D light in the middle uses one AA battery and also has two modes. The general mode has settings for 9, 40 and 80 lumens as well as SOS. The turbo mode has 90 lumens and a strobe mode. I used this strobe mode in FOF house clearing scenarios and I can tell you it’s very disorienting for the bad guy. It only weighs 2.1 ounces with battery. It utilizes the Cree 7090 LED.

The little P1 on the right uses one CR123 battery and has settings for 12, 72 and 135 lumens as well as a strobe and SOS. This tiny little light only weighs 1.2 ounces with battery and is small enough to put on your keychain and also uses the Cree 7090.

Each one of these had their own little niche. My T-1 is parked in my truck door, I’ve added the L1 to my duty belt as a back up and the P1 is always in my pocket. These lights put out a lot more light than anything Surefire or Streamlight offers in a comparable size and are priced in the $50 to $80 range. As a bonus they come with a nylon holster, lanyard and extra O-rings. If they turn out as durable as I think they are going to turn the whole handheld flashlight industry on it’s head.

High Noon "Bare Asset" holster review

High Noon “Bare Asset” Holster Review

I have to admit that for as long as I’ve been carrying a concealed handgun I have not been able to find an inside the waistband (IWB) holster that I liked. Every one I tried would dig into my side and would be very uncomfortable.

This has all changed with a friends’ recommendation to try the High Noon IWB holsters. I chose the Bare Asset model (and really, how can you go wrong with a name like that?) and had it in my hand 4 days after I ordered it. This holster is constructed of a very thin premium grade cowhide and features a 15 degree cant and a very solid steel belt clip as well as a tension adjustment screw. The clip fits my gun belt perfectly and does not move around at all.

This is the closest thing to wearing no holster at all and is very comfortable to wear either in front of the hip or behind the hip. The only negative comment I have is that it is so thin that it tends to collapse after drawing and this makes reholstering somewhat difficult. I guess it’s the one thing I’ll have to give up to gain the extreme comfort and conceal ability of this model.

Situational awareness

We had a couple of 16 year old girls come running into the Sheriff's Department the other night. They were very excited and explained they had been getting gas at the local station and there was a guy in a van who was just watching them. They said the guy gave them the creeps and they had the presence of mind to memorize the license number.

When they left the station the van started following them. At this point they decided to drive directly to the cop shop and file a complaint and at this point the van drove off. These two cute little girls were able to give me a detailed description of the guy, as well as the van with the license number.

I took down all of their info and then told them how proud I was of what they did and the fact was that they could not have have handled the situation any better. I remarked that in my experience most adults would not have done nearly as well.

The moral of the story is twofold. First, be constantly aware of whats going on around you whenever you are out in public. And secondly, please teach your kids how to handle strangers who show too much interest in them.