Whewhhhhh...I'm tired. Annual Shoot.

[flintknapper]

Had my Annual "shoot" yesterday (missed ya LongTooth). We had 22 people, all ages, male/female...different levels of experience.

Started at 10:00 a.m., finished at 7:30 p.m. (stopped only for lunch).

Began with Prayer, and then started the "skeet shoot" portion, quit about 1:00 p.m. to feed everyone, and then back to the range for pistols.

Got the novelty stuff out of the way: Shooting S&W .500 magnum, letting those who haven't shot an "AR-15" have a go at it. Black powder, etc....

Kids and new shooters were instructed on proper gun handling/safety, and then allowed to shoot (supervised) with .22 pistols for a couple of hours.

Moved on to the more experienced shooters and covered the following:

•Why you should prepare to defend yourself (1,3, and 5 minute Cop)
•Proper draw/presentation
•Sight picture
•Point shooting
•Rhythm drill
•Trigger prep (double action/single action)
•Clearance drills (jams/malfunctions) and causes
•Controlled pairs
•Double taps
•Mozambique
•Tueller drill
•Shooting prone
•Shoot self off of ground
•Flashlight techniques
•Shooting from cover/barricade
•Shooting while advancing
•Shooting while retreating
•Shooting from vehicle
•Weak hand shooting, draws, reloads
•Reloads from slidelock and tactical reload
•Transition drills
•Position “Sul� and when to incorporate
•Action beats reaction
•Steel plate races
•Weapon retention techniques
•Weapon take-away techniques
•How to be a “good� victim
•What to do after a shooting

I got the range area cleaned up last night and all targets put up, but I still have my firearms to clean today. I am one tired puppy.

But is was fun, and well worth the effort, especially when you see a smile forming on a new shooters face. Love it!

[longtooth]

I am sure sorry to miss it. I would have loved it. Great program. much of it I could have benefited from too. Am Continuing to improve but would have been in the way this year.
Thanks for everything, friend.

[Cosmo 9]

My invite must have been lost in the mail

[Crossfire]

Sounds like a great day! Can you tell me about "How to be a “good� victim"?

[ElGato]

My invite must have been lost in the mail

Me too, and Gwenn gave me the whole day off yesterday.

The old dog is still TRYING to learn new trick's.

[flintknapper]

Sounds like a great day! Can you tell me about "How to be a “good� victim"?

Yes, I can.

The title is purposely misleading if you read it to mean being compliant (in all situations). I spend about 30 minutes presenting the antithesis of the "refuse to be a victim" program, but the goal is the same.

Much has been written and "preached" about how to avoid becoming a "victim". So much in fact, that I find people are becoming "numb" to it.

I simply present it another way. I tell you HOW to be a GOOD VICTIM (from the criminals viewpoint). It seems to "stick" better, because most (if not all) of the participants are guilty of one infraction or another.

I allow one or two of the participants to present a "scenario", we then discuss what might or might not be done to minimize the chance of any harm coming to them, recognizing that people have different physical capability's and ideas about what is worth fighting over.

I am more concerned with pointing out ways that people set themselves up to be "good victims" for a criminal than I am about suggesting techniques once everything has hit the fan.

In each situation... the reaction of the victim must be dictated by the totality of the circumstance. Compliance (total or to a degree) might be just the ticket in one event, and might get you killed in another.

The gist of the whole discussion is: Have a plan, and have ALL tools necessary to implement the plan. Simple.

Below are borrowed writings that speak of the type of "good victim" I don't want you to be.





In Praise Of Not Being A Good Victim

A Telegraph Column By Joe Konopka
as published in The Telegraph of Nashua, N.H., all rights reserved.

Ever notice that even courage is subject to a double standard? We honor those who overcome the innate fear of death to act in defense of our country. Yet, those who do likewise in defense of life and property are frequently admonished for not being good victims. People like Tony Nader must find this hard to take.

Nader was working one April evening at Bella Variety, a convenience store on Chestnut Street in Nashua. Customers present knew Nader carried a sidearm, but there’s always some doofus who doesn’t get the word.

Sure enough, a would-be robber wielding a revolver and wearing a bandana charged through the door. He threw a bag on the counter and yelled at Nader to fill it with cash.

While threatening to kill everybody, the robber stuck his gun in Nader’s face. To motivate Nader, the gunman punctuated his threats with profanity and cocked the revolver.

Nader picked up the bag as though he were going to comply with the demand. Instead, he dropped it. This distracted the gunman for an instant. That’s all Nader needed to grab the robber’s pistol with one hand and pull the semiautomatic from his belt with the other.

When faced with resistance, the robber’s tough-guy facade wilted like an over-watered petunia. He pulled away and ran. Nader gave chase, but called it quits.

Not so for the robber. He went where victims are more cooperative and held up another market.

One might be forgiven for thinking Nader’s bravery would at least be mentioned by someone. Not in today’s society. What Nader did was politically incorrect.

Nashua police implied Nader should have been a good victim and freely given his property to the criminal. The spokesman said, “The more weapons become involved, the more chance somebody could get hurt.�

Obviously, the spokesman was regurgitating department policy, but is insisting that people always be good, defenseless victims sound advice?

An Internet search on convenience store robberies raises serious doubts. Numerous incidents are documented in which robbers murdered helpless and compliant victims for reasons known only to those robbers.

In Westland, Mich., Michael Lamont Schofield robbed a convenience store.

In the process he killed four people and wounded two others. His girlfriend, Leslie Gordon, acted as lookout while Schofield methodically fired one shot into each of the two unarmed clerks and four customers.

That they were all good victims while they waited to die was irrelevant to the killers.

In another instance, two men killed an unarmed convenience store clerk in Houston, Texas. Neighbors told investigators the clerk was a nervous person in fear of the local crime rate. They said he’d have given no resistance and would have given his money over freely. Once again, being a good victim didn’t matter to the criminals.

These and other such stories lead to an ominous conclusion: criminals are incapable of feeling sympathy for their victims. Hence, posing no threat holds little promise of avoiding harm. And that’s not all. In many cases, the absence of a threat actually attracts criminals.

John Lott is a former economics and law professor at the University of Chicago. In his book, “More Guns, Less Crime,� he argues that very point. It was exemplified when Minnesota’s recently adopted concealed carry law went into effect.

Most businesspeople quickly armed themselves, but a minority who equated guns with evil were appalled. To protest their armed colleagues, they put up signs proclaiming their businesses “gun free.� Guess where the criminals went.

After several armed robberies in gun-free stores the intellectual light went on. Anti-gun proprietors quietly stopped advertising the fact they were not armed.

However, this change of heart pales beside that of the nationally acclaimed Charleston, S.C., Police Chief Reuben Greenberg. He had always viewed citizens defending themselves with firearms negatively.

That changed when Greenberg encountered evidence contrary to his views. A good example is the record of one downtown business in a high-crime area. Despite its location, it hadn’t been held up in 20 years.

Greenberg found criminals avoided it because they were aware the owner and the employees all packed pistols.

[MrDrummy]

Man-- I need to get down around you guys.

I'm in need of a good shooting buddy up here in Lubbock!

Sounds like y'all had a heck of a time!

[ElGato]

Sounds like a great day

[flintknapper]

Sounds like a great day

It was a lot of fun, busy day though. It ran a couple of hours longer than planned, but that was by request.

I had two of my former Martial Arts instructors (also gun enthusiasts) on hand to work with anyone interested in learning some basic empty hands skills. Everyone enjoyed that.

I had quite a few inexperienced shooters and some that had never fired a shotgun, rifle or pistol. These are the ones I cater to the most, so it makes for a long day...but is worth every second invested.

There is never any cost to anyone (just their time and attention). Some years I invite a more experienced crowd..and we stay pretty tactical.

Other times, we concentrate on making sure the ladies get their shooting time in. It varies year to year.

But yes, its always fun. Whoops.......gotta go to work.

[wrt45]

Man-- I need to get down around you guys.

I'm in need of a good shooting buddy up here in Lubbock!

Sounds like y'all had a heck of a time!

Try out Patriot range in Lubbock. Other than the regular range operation, they have a steel plate shoot on Tuesdays, a Bowling pin shoot on Thursdays, and IDPA on Saturdays. There's a lot of good people around usually.

[MrDrummy]

Yeah, I think that I need to get a little more involved with the IDPA and stuff. I think that I'd meet a lot more folks. Met one guy out there last time I was there, and he was great, but I just can't afford to be at the range day in and day out.

Do you come up here and shoot a lot? You're not too far from here, anyway.

[flintknapper]

Yeah, I think that I need to get a little more involved with the IDPA and stuff. I think that I'd meet a lot more folks. Met one guy out there last time I was there, and he was great, but I just can't afford to be at the range day in and day out.

Do you come up here and shoot a lot? You're not too far from here, anyway.

IDPA is good way to meet folks who enjoy shooting. I am a point in my life where I just wont shoot by myself. I have several shooting buddy's that I get along with well. We continue to learn from one another.

[wrt45]

Yeah, I think that I need to get a little more involved with the IDPA and stuff. I think that I'd meet a lot more folks. Met one guy out there last time I was there, and he was great, but I just can't afford to be at the range day in and day out.

Do you come up here and shoot a lot? You're not too far from here, anyway.

I try to shoot on Thursday evenings mostly, because I like bowling pins. I'm too far away to just drop in and hang out "day in and day out."

The best time to shoot and meet people is the Saturday IDPA, because the most people come out for it. Unfortunately, Saturday's are usually not possible for me.