Ohio CHL-Records Law Causes Confusion: A new law governing access to records on concealed weapons permits is confusing sheriffs and stirring disagreement among legislative supporters, with at least one state official calling for it be challenged in the courts. The law, set to take effect Sept. 29, was passed during December's lame duck session as a compromise between lawmakers backed by the National Rifle Association and others who think the permits should be public records. The law only allows journalists to view the records, but doesn't allow them to copy them. http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770908017 --- Which Safety Rules Weren't Violated?: An 18-year-old Tucsonan was sentenced Friday to five years in prison in the shooting death of a friend...Ramirez and Valenzuela were at Lincoln Park, near East Escalante and South Pantano roads, with four other friends when Valenzuela displayed a pistol that he had brought with him. The gun was mishandled and Ramirez was holding it when Valenzuela was shot once. Valenzuela was taken to a hospital, where he died. http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/62397.php --- Polite Society Revisited?: Science-fiction writer Ben Bova strikes a chord reminiscent of Robert Heinlein with his proposals for adults to be required to own firearms and learn how to use them and to rescind laws against dueling. (The complete Heinlein "polite society" quotation is posted at http://www.spw-duf.info/quotes.html.) http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/sep/08/ben_bova_safety_wellarmed_citizenry_and_other_craz/? --- From John Farnam: 4 Sept 07 Incident in OK, from a colleague there: "One of my off-duty officers was at a local convenience store last Thursday. Staring at him, he noticed a VCA he had previously arrested for assault. Our officer turned to leave, having no wish for a confrontation. Unfortunately, the suspect, actively seeking a confrontation, continued to stare, cursing under his breath. The suspect made his move, walking over to our officer, fists clenched and by now cursing and threatening loudly. The officer stepped back, assuming an interview stance. He politely told the VCA that he couldn't help him and that he needed to move on. Suddenly, the suspect reached into his pants pocket. Using a technique called "bursting," our officer pinned the suspect's hand with his support hand and simultaneously punched him in the face with the other. This maneuver sent the astonished suspect sprawling to the ground. Before he could recover, our officer delivered several more precise strikes, then backed off and commanded the suspect to stay on the floor. Other officers arrived quickly and took the suspect into custody without further incidence. This particular officer is a true Operator. He trains constantly and attends continuing education at every opportunity. Here is an example of preparation and opportunity having a chance meeting!" Lessons: Be alert/aware. Go armed. Know when to disengage, and when to stand and fight. Overwhelm your opponent quickly. Don't allow him to recover. The best kind of fight is a short one! Comment: Our civilization is stuck in "negotiation mode." We have deluded ourselves into foolishly believing that all criminal violence can be dealt with effectively through negotiation. We have unwisely tried to persuade ourselves that it will never be necessary to stand and fight. We couldn't be more wrong! Force may not always be the answer. But, when it is, it is the only answer! /John (While the defender in this case was no doubt given the presumption of having acted reasonably by his fellow officers, note the element of jeopardy or expression of intent, coupled with the "furtive movement," as the would-be assailant thrust his hand into his pocket. Even with stand-your-ground legislation, a private citizen would likely be dependent on the corroborating testimony of witnesses in a similar situation. Still, better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.) 7 Sept 07 Range accident, from an instructor in SC: "We had a accident on our police range Friday. One of our instructors left the line to take a phone call. While back at the administration building, he raised his safety glasses, placing them on his forehead. We concluded our course of fire and were preparing to leave the range just as he returned to the line, with his safety glasses still on perched his forehead! Nobody, including me, noticed. We had finished shooting, but a student was in the process of unloading his AK 47. With his muzzle correctly pointed downrange, and after removing the magazine, he pulled the bolt to the rear briskly in order to remove the chambered round. As you know, Kalashnikovs eject with much force, typically flinging the round, or ejected case, a considerable distance. You guessed it! The ejected round flew down the line and struck this instructor right in his unprotected, right eye. He immediately dropped to his knees. He was in great pain. He had to be transported to the hospital, and we still don't have a prognosis. This is the first significant injury we've experienced on this range" Lessons: Harmful objects fly around ranges with no objective predictability, and not all are directly associated with shooting! That is inherent in the nature of ranges and of any shooting activity. Accordingly, while on any shooting range, eye protection must be worn constantly, by everyone, not just active participants, and not just when people are actually shooting. It's cheap insurance! /John (Massad Ayoob counsels that even those who don't require prescription lenses are well served by wearing shooting glasses off the range. I know one LFI graduate in California whose vision was spared by following this advice when armed robbers he was pursuing took multiple shots through the windshield of his patrol car, peppering his face with small shards of glass. More recently, someone in a forum observed that even if he misses, someone who shoots at you from close range could easily shower your unprotected eyes with unburned powder granules. My students will recall my pauses to show the stippling and tattooing these produce on paper targets, as they do in living flesh.) 7 Sept 07 SIG's Short-Reset Trigger (SRT): This week, I had the opportunity to use a SIG 229, equipped with SIG's SRT system. The second and subsequent shots from this pistol (until it has been decocked) all reset crisply and distinctly, but the reset point is shallow, similar that found on S&W's four-digit autoloading pistols. Of course, the SRT System is only available with SIG's manually-decocking pistols. For now, SIG will continue make pistols on all three systems (four, if you count the new single-action 220). That is, some may still prefer the conventional, deep-reset SIG trigger, and others will want the new SRT, while still others will prefer the self-decocking DAK System. My conclusion is that the SRT is a real boon to Operators who can recognize, appreciate, and take full advantage of the increase in speed and accuracy this shallow reset affords. The difference between the conventional deep-reset trigger and the SRT is surely noticeable among experienced gunman. Probably not among amateurs. The SRT is available on most SIG models, and, for seasoned Operators, I recommend it. It will eventually be available as a kit/retrofit, as the upgrade involves the replacement of only four parts. Many, like me, will still prefer SIG's DAK Trigger System for its simplicity, but SIG is obviously doing its best to appeal to both the beginner and the sophisticated shooter, the glib competitor, and the serious gun-carrier/Operator. They listen, and I admire them for that! /John (Perhaps the best lesson to draw from this report is that different pistols have different reset characteristics and that if you are in the habit of switching carry guns, you could end up with a serious problem if your reflexes are not tuned for the one you are carrying the day that you really need to use it. Better, in my opinion, is to select one model and carry at least two copies of it [preferably with a third copy in the safe, in case one needs to go into the shop] than to switch handguns along with your underwear.) 7 Sept 07 Federal Flight-Control Shotshells: At a LEO Program this week in OH, one of my students, Training Officer for a large agency, brought a copy of his department's short-barreled Mossberg 590 shotgun. He came with two brands of 00 buckshot ammunition. His agency does not issue slugs nor any other size of buckshot. Current department-issue is WW "reduced-recoil" buckshot, and he had a supply of that. However, he is considering switching over to Federal "Flight-Control," also in 00 buckshot, so he had some of that also. The Federal rounds are full-power (not "reduced-recoil), and the recoil difference is noticeable when one shoots one, then the other. However, what jumped out at all of us was the difference in patterning! Shooting at ten meters, WW rounds consistently produced twelve-inch, uniform-density patterns out of the short-barreled shotgun. Out of the same shotgun, Federal rounds produced dense, eight-inch patterns. A two-thirds reduction! From an eighteen-inch-barreled shotgun, the same Federal round produced four-inch patterns, an eighty-percent reduction, all uniformly dense, and with no flyers. Wad technology employed by Federal is clever. The one-piece, plastic wad has fins that deploy after exit from the muzzle. When deployed, the fins resemble those on a high-drag bomb. They are designed to immediately slow the wad and prevent it from overtaking and passing through the pellet mass. It works in spades! A similar effect can be attained with conventional buckshot rounds on shotguns equipped with the wad-retarding Wad-Wizard device or that have been modified with a Vang-Comp. Now, Federal has incorporated the technology into the shotshells itself. When using this ammunition, even in a short-barreled shotgun, one is essentially shooting a "bullet" between the muzzle and seven meters. Maximum useable range has been effectively extended from twenty meters to twenty-five meters; thirty meters with an eighteen-inch barreled shotgun! For those using shotguns for serious purposes, Federal Flight-Control is a good way to go! /John (What a tangled web we weave when we use shotguns to perform tasks that are usually easier to perform with a carbine.) 8 Sept 07 Do we need to add another step to our Tap-Rack-Resume procedure? At one time, I advocated, as part of our autoloading pistol stoppage-reduction procedure, that one should, as a first step, first release the trigger all the way and then press it again. Only when that failed to get the pistol running need one continue with the T/R/R. However, we began eliminating that first step when most of our students started showing up with striker-fired pistols, like Glocks. Striker-fired pistols lack a traditional, arching hammer. The ignition system is little more than a spring-loaded firing pin. There are many advantages, but there is one disadvantage: striker-fired pistols cannot be made with a double-strike capability. That is, when the striker falls on a dud round, releasing the trigger and pressing it again accomplishes nothing! The entire slide must reciprocate normally in order for the trigger to reactivate, a procedure that will, of course, remove the bad round and replace it with a fresh one. By contrast, trigger-cocking, hammer-fired pistols, which feature an arching hammer and separate firing pin, can be designed so that, when the hammer falls on a dud, releasing the trigger and pressing it again will re-cock the hammer and cause it to fall a second time on the same round, without the slide having to reciprocate, or move at all. Most trigger-cocking, hammer-fired pistols, like SIGs, feature a double-strike capability. Some don't. The dud round is often not "dead," but just recalcitrant, and a second strike will cause many to fire normally. Accordingly, some argue that a "double-strike" capability is a desirable, even critical, feature on a serious pistol. In any event, we reasoned that pressing the trigger a second time should be part of the stoppage reduction procedure, only with hammer-fired pistols, and, of those, only the ones that have the double-strike feature. However, it isn't just "duds" that cause pistols not to fire when the trigger is pressed. There are two other conditions that give rise to the same result: (1) The slide is out of battery far enough to activate the disconnector, and (2) the shooter short-stroked the trigger, failing to let it go forward far enough to "catch the link" (engage the reset). Both these conditions occur with striker-fired and hammer-fired autoloading pistols, and releasing the trigger and pressing it a second time will surely remedy the second and may well remedy the first also. So, should we reinstate a second trigger press as the first step in our stoppage-reduction procedure, with all autoloading pistols? I say yes! It is a quick step, consuming only a small fraction of a second, and many of our students are unconsciously doing it already! I've found it easy to teach, and students pick it up quickly and naturally. However, a single, second drop will suffice. When that is not efficacious, the student must go on to the T/R/R, rather than pressing the trigger again and again. /John (I repeat my warning about promiscuously switching carry guns. Different makes of autoloading pistols, in particular, may have different operating characteristics and one cannot afford the risk that today's pistol will not fit the reflexes you developed with a different one. Note John's comment about short-stroking the return of the trigger. The risk of this is great if you are not accustomed to the pistol you are operating. Some pistols, such as the Para Ordnance LDA and Beretta PX4 C model, must have the trigger go forward two clicks to reset for the next shot.) -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .