Just in time for Thanksgiving, a buffet of great articles — and not a turkey among them!
Low light shooting isn’t really about shooting
Lots of folks are sticking lights on their carry guns these days without a real understanding of their purpose or their use. The light isn’t supposed to facilitate your shooting; it’s to enable you to search and find a threat. That’s not something that’s efficiently (or safely) done with a WML mounted on your pistol. Jeff Gonzales has some thoughts on lights, handguns, and their proper use.
Lessons learned from home invasions
An excellent article which looks at several home invasions and the defender’s reactions to them. There are some important lessons here about ego, judgement, and self control. Highly recommended reading.
Think you can’t be fooled by a skimmer? Think again.
From Krebs On Security comes some news about “deep insertion” skimmers — the kind you can’t see from outside the machine. Just because you can’t spot the skimmer doesn’t mean there isn’t one ready to steal your card’s information!
What happens when he doesn’t obey your commands?
I see lots of stories about folks who interrupt car burglaries and other property crimes in a misguided desire to “hold him for the police”. While this story isn’t about isn’t a petty crime, and the defender would probably have been justified in the use of lethal force, the reason I share this story is because it illustrates what can happen when the bad guy does something unexpected. What if the person on the other end of your gun decides to challenge you? Are you ready for that possibility? And are you prepared to shoot — or get shot — over some change from your glove box? These are things you need to think deeply about before you’re faced with a decision.
What’s different?
One huge part of personal security is understanding what the baseline is for the environment(s) which you frequent, and managing your distractions appropriately so that you can take the correct action when something deviates from that baseline. Most of the time, as in this article, they’re just coincidences; but the reason we prepare is for that time when they’re not. It’s not so much about being generally “alert”, but understanding when your attention should be directed to something that isn’t quite “right”.
Distractions can blind you. That’s a bad thing for your safety.
Let’s get this out of the way: yeah, the article is from Paladin Press’ website. Yes, Paladin Press has published a lot of ridiculous stuff over the years. This article, however, is pretty good. Allowing yourself to get distracted, particularly by your nagging smartphone, is a good way of shutting off your sense about the world beyond that little screen. Most people think they’re very aware of their surroundings, but rarely are. Good food for thought. (Oh, and keep your phone in your pocket when you’re in a space you can’t control!)
Counterfeit gun parts — are they really a problem?
Yes, they certainly are. Remember the old adage: If the deal seems too good to pass up, you probably should.
Getting in your reps
By that, I mean the repetition of your learning! The best students I’ve had are those who come back to take the same class; they understand that they can’t possibly have absorbed everything the first time. These are the people whose ego doesn’t get in their way, who really want to learn and develop their skills — as opposed to collecting yet another certificate. Tiger McKee is on the money with this article, in which he encourages everyone to repeat a class, re-read a book, re-watch a video, as many times as necessary to absorb all the material. (Then get out and practice what you’ve learned!)
– Grant
P.S.: Why go out and brave the Black Friday crowds when you can give the gift of personal and family safety from the comfort of your recliner? Check out my book selection; “Prepping for Life: The balanced approach to personal security and family safety” is particularly good for those who aren’t interested in guns and shooting, but still need to plan and prepare for their safety. Like my other books, it’s available now in Kindle, iBooks, and paperback versions. Now isn’t that better than another ugly sweater?
Opening photo by Backpacker – pixabay.com (CC0 public domain)
The post Your Hump Day Reading List for November 22, 2017 appeared first on www.GrantCunningham.com.
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