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Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.6/151 - Release Date: 10/28/2005 Both Sides Take Credit For NC CCW Success: As the tenth anniversary of licensed CCW in North Carolina nears, both advocates and opponents of that law take credit for the program's success in that state. http://www.kinston.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=31629&Section=Local --- Local PD To Access ATF Database: Article describes the process of tracing firearms by law enforcement agencies and reveals that the Yuma (AZ) PD will soon have access to the BATFE eTrace system. http://sun.yumasun.com/artman/publish/articles/story_20111.php --- Florida Bill Would Ban Firearm Seizures In Emergencies: In the wake of illegal seizures of firearms in post-hurricane New Orleans, a Florida legislator has introduced a bill to block similar action in that state. http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051030/NEWS/510300368/1036 http://www2.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MIA10031/ --- From Force Science Research Center: Force Science News #30 October 25, 2005 ======================================= The Force Science News is provided by The Force Science Research Center, a non-profit institution based at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Subscriptions are free and sent via e-mail. To register for your free, direct-delivery subscription, please visit forcesciencenews.com and click on the registration button. For reprint clearance, please e-mail: info@forcesciencenews.com. ======================================= I. BREAKING NEWS: 2 COPS CLEARED BY FORCE SCIENCE IN CONTROVERSIAL "SHOT-FROM-BEHIND" ENCOUNTER After 6 tense years of investigation, 2 officers in London, England, have been exonerated in a highly controversial shooting, thanks to the last-minute analysis of the circumstances by the Force Science Research Center. The officers had potentially faced trial on charges of criminal homicide and long prison terms. The shooting occurred in 1999 when Chief Insp. Neil Sharman and Cst. Kevin Fagan, so-called "gun cops" on London's Metropolitan Police, confronted a 46-year-old Scottish painter and father of 3 who had allegedly boasted in a pub that he was armed with a sawed-off shotgun. At least one patron took him to be an Irish terrorist, and phoned police. When Sharman and Fagan challenged the suspect on an East London street, he turned toward them, pointing a long, blue plastic bag in their direction. They believed the bag contained the gun. The suspect was shot fatally in the head and in the hand. Because of the placement of the head wound, local forensic investigators concluded the man was shot from behind, unjustifiably, rather than as he faced the officers in a threatening manner, as they insisted. Complicating matters, the bag turned out to contain not a shotgun but a wooden coffee table leg that had been repaired by the suspect's brother. Over the years, 2 inquests, 2 case reviews and 3 separate referrals for prosecution for an "unlawful killing" followed, accompanied by public outrage and media hype targeting the officers. Last June, Sharman and Fagan were arrested on suspicion of murder, gross negligence manslaughter, perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Their prospects looked grim. A few weeks later Dr. Bill Lewinski of the Force Science Research Center at Minnesota State University-Mankato was asked by London police and union representatives to review the case. His analysis, drawing from his meticulous studies of physical dynamics in police shootings, along with a unique animated reconstruction of the event by Parris Ward, an FSRC National Advisory Board member, proved critical in suddenly and dramatically turning the case in the officers' favor. Last week, to the accused officers' relief, prosecutors announced that no charges would be pursued any further. Watch for a full account of force science at work in this fascinating case in an upcoming issue of Force Science News. II. IS THAT A SUICIDE BOMBER...OR JUST A JOGGER? Police in California report a piece of sports training equipment that could cause an officer to mistake an innocent jogger for a would-be suicide bomber. The item is a "weighted running vest," which affixes to the torso and back with shoulder straps and a wide, Velcro waistband. Large pockets front and rear can be filled with small-diameter, solid metal cylinders about the length of a shotgun shell to add extra poundage and thereby intensify a jogger's workout. "These vests are becoming popular among joggers, and it's likely we will see an increase of individuals utilizing them," cautions a photo bulletin circulated to law enforcement. "All personnel should use extreme caution when confronting any individual wearing a vest of this nature, as it's difficult to differentiate between a running vest and a suicide bomber's vest." Notes Cpl. John Chapman of the Presidio of Monterey (CA) P.D.: "This thing looks almost exactly like a homicide bomber vest. Our concerns include the obvious: implementing suicide-bomber response against someone training for a run, or the opposite, a real homicide bomber using this item to [disguise carrying] his device." Photos of this equipment are posted at: www.forcesciencenews.com/visuals/weightcoat Our thanks to Cpl. Chapman and George "Butch" Rogers, an instructor with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and a member of the Force Science Research Center's Technical Advisory Board, for bringing the ambiguous vest to the attention of the Force Science News membership. ================ (c) 2005: Force Science Research Center, www.forcescience.org. Reprints allowed by request. For reprint clearance, please e-mail: info@forcesciencenews.com. FORCE SCIENCE is a registered trademark of The Force Science Research Center, a non-profit organization based at Minnesota State University, Mankato. ================ --- From John Farnam: 23 Oct 05 The Competent among the Incompetent, from one of our young students who is currently attending Basic Infantry Officer's Training at Ft Benning, GA: "Last week, we were on an automated rifle range, designed to accommodate platoon-sized, live-fire, infantry exercises. I was assigned the role of platoon commander, so most of the others were deployed ahead of me. We were assaulting a squad-sized group of hostiles, represented by automated, pop-up targets that go down immediately when hit. The whole exercise went south when one of my squad leaders got lost and positioned his men where they couldn't see the targets. Others in the same squad could not figure out how to get their SAW running. The few who were actually firing were utterly unable to hit anything they wanted to hit, although they did succeed in unproductively peppering the landscape! Realizing that our time was just about up, in disgust and frustration I raised my own rifle and shot down all hostiles, one at a time, left to right. Each went down with a single hit. I then lowered my rifle and said nothing. Everyone else, seeing all targets down, declared themselves heroes and ended the exercise. I am astonished that basic rifle skills I picked up at the NTI are nearly unknown here. Individual weapons skill is becoming a lost art. By contrast, 'sensitivity training,' gets more than its share of attention from management!" Comment: Thank heaven our guy is there to show these grasseaters the True Way! One can only imagine what their pistol training is like! /John (I'm all for good training but my alarm bells go off when I hear phrases like "the True Way.") 23 Oct 05 Vicki and I, along with a complement of our senior instructors, just spent a week with the firearms instructor cadre of a large, federal agency. We had the honor of working with all of them. Some observations: Once again, I am persuaded that the only reason anything works at the federal level is the tireless, unselfish efforts of those at the bottom of the food chain. These guys and gals beat themselves nearly to death providing valuable training during the inadequate amount of time they have to spend with agent trainees. Once again, I am pleasantly impressed with the quality of agent trainees. I had a chance to speak with several groups of them, and I am exhilarated that this nation can still produce such fine, young people. God bless them! We tried to emphasize the importance of integrated movement, integrated verbalization, retention awareness, and accurate shooting at all ranges. Betterbilt's Rotator targets were extremely popular, as always. There was great interest in Vicki's presentation of techniques to improve the interaction of male instructors with female students. This agency has been influenced by competitive shooters, not all of which is negative, but most pistol competitors like the isosceles stance. We tried to point out that, while conducive to accuracy, the isosceles stance is not particularly conducive to weapon retention, nor does is permit one to effectively confront threats from multiple directions. I observed that trainees spend far too much time carrying empty weapons. Hot ranges, and the continuous carrying of loaded weapons that they require, carries with it risk. We all know and accept that, but I tried to make the case that we must never lost sight of the purpose of training. We are preparing these young folks to be victorious in a dangerous world, not just preparing them to be "safe" on a range! In any event, we were treated with the utmost grace and hospitality, and we're looking forward to the next time. As is the case when we train Marines, it is a great honor to be able to, in some small way, influence this next generation of instructors at the federal level. /John (Back in June I picked up a copy of Vicki Farnam and Diane Nicholl's book Teaching Women to Shoot. While I think that the book would more accurately be titled Teaching Female Officers to Qualify with a Handgun, the book does contain several insights for men who attempt to teach women. "The True Way," according to the Farnams, involves a form of Weaver shooting position for handguns, something that I'm not convinced is a panacea for either male or female shooters. ) 24 Oct 05 On serious gun handling, from a friend and one of our instructors recently returned from New Orleans: "In New Orleans, it was hot rifles the entire time, both in the field and in garrison. Rifles and pistols were constantly carried and were never unloaded. We had to be in a high state of readiness all the time. Most of those in my crew had never worked for an extended time as such (at least with rifles), nor had we worked around so many loaded long guns in the hands of people we did not know. I, of course, enforced correct gun handling among my guys. The worst examples of poor gun handling were associated with those carrying rifles without pistol grips, like the M14. We work muzzle depressed (low/ready), always. Non-pistol grip rifles encourage a high/ready carry, or a horizontal carry. Both are unsatisfactory, as the rifle ends up pointed in unsafe directions constantly, and both postures are an invitation to a forcible disarm. Muzzle-up sling carry is also unsatisfactory, as there is no way to get the rifle off one's shoulder without pointing it in multiple, unsafe directions. Muzzle-down sling carry is much better. Tactical slings are superior to both. We rode many places in military, five-ton trucks. Our protocol for entrucking was to unsling, hold the rifle (muzzle down), and call to the man above that 'Passing a hot rifle." The man above confirms he is taking a hot rifle, and the transfer is made. After climbing up, the rifle once more is handed off, with, "Transferring a hot rifle." Wherever used, this system worked. Clear communications reminded us that we were continually 'in the war.' Entrucking or detrucking with rifles slung doesn't work. Too many muzzles get pointed in unsafe directions." Comment: The lesson is clear. The forgoing is precisely what we need to be doing in training. "Let's Pretend" training, where students have few opportunities to handle loaded rifles (and, what opportunities there are, are sterile and mute), fails to prepare them for those situations we're purporting to train them for. Many claiming to be "trainers" are only concerned with preventing mishaps during training. Those same students getting needlessly killed in the field, because they've been ill prepared, doesn't seem to concern anyone! Recently, I saw a sign posted on an indoor climbing wall. It said simply, "Climb safely." What a ridiculous, inherent contradiction, and so typical of today's self-deceptive society. Climbing is inherently unsafe. The only way to 'climb safely" is not to climb at all! Likewise, true and relevant firearms training is also inherently dangerous. We are dangerous people, and, when we train correctly, we engage in an inherently dangerous activity. The more realistic our training, the fewer of our number will die needlessly in the field. But, it requires both fearless trainers and fearless students, who are dedicated to advancing the Art, not merely going through the motions and getting their ticket punched. /John 27 Oct 05 Caught in the nick of time: "Our department recently purchased G22s. Today, I received from Glock NY1 Trigger inserts with instruction from our chief to install them on all department pistols. One of our deputies dutifully came into the armory in order to have the part installed. She was in uniform and in the middle of her shift. I asked her to remove her pistol from its holster and hand it to me. As I 'unloaded' it, I discovered it was already unloaded! She then informed me, 'Oh, the pistol isn't loaded. I shot all my bullets up last week during training.' Trying to retain my composure, I asked her if she saw a problem with this! She sheepishly told me that she was too 'embarrassed' to ask for replacement, duty ammunition! As supervisors, with all our coaching and directing, we obviously sometimes fail to note philosophical gulfs in our charges. What followed was yet another half-hour lecture on the nature of police work and this young officer's role and responsibilities in it. I sincerely hope I 'got to' her this time, albeit late!" Comment: Supervisors have to be watching all the time, as many of our young officers are naive and, dare I say, adolescent. We need to see to it that they live long enough to be able to laugh someday about their youthful ignorance! /John (While this one may seem like "no-brainer," I believe that it has a close analogy in the concept of carrying a handgun with the chamber empty. This is a recurrent topic on a popular website devoted to concealed carry. If you are approached by someone who makes you uncomfortable, you may well face a charge on the order of aggravated assault if you draw your handgun to chamber a round, absent the justification to threaten or use deadly force. If you wait until the person is close enough that the justification is certain, you may never have the opportunity to chamber a round in time to use the handgun.) -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .