The TSA: Coming to a highway near you!
Everybody’s favorite busybodies in blue are back and coming to a highway near you!
Story here.
My first thought was: “How is this even legal?” In reading the story, it seems like they are only checking trucks, so it is probably under Federal or state DOT regs.
Gun School Pro-tips
As we continue our countdown to the Gunblogger class at TigerSwan, I thought a few gun school pro tips would be in order. These tips will help ensure that you get the most out of your training experience.
- Make sure your gear works before you get there. Line time is like gold. Every drill that you have to sit out because your gun went down is like money down the drain. Put a few boxes through your gun to make sure any feeding issues, etc, are ironed out before you get there.
- Dress to impress. Most every school that I know of believes that the show must go on, regardless of weather. Make sure you have the right clothes to stay comfortable no matter what mother nature throws at you.
- Have a holster that is fitted to your gun and a quality gun belt. This isn’t the time for the $20 gun show special “universal” holster. A real gun belt and fitted holster will add to your comfort.
- Keep an open mind. You are paying them to show you how they do it, not to show them how you do it. If you are learning a technique that is different from one you know…give it a chance. You can decide what works best for you after the class.
- Have fun! Shooting is big fun. Learn as much as you can, but don’t take yourself and your performance so seriously that you don’t enjoy the experience.
Love it!!
Seems that the NSSF is kicking off a First Shots campaign in…wait for it…Chicago!
That’s going to leave a mark…
More on training
Some thoughts on training:
I’m very excited about the upcoming TigerSwan class. It will be interesting to compare the TigerSwan doctrine with Gunsite doctrine. Anyone who has read me for any length of time knows that I worship at the alter of Jeff Cooper. When I first started becoming a Gunnie, there wasn’t much serious defensive training for the non-professional. There was Gunsite, which was just coming back under Buzz Mills’ administration. There was Thunder Ranch. And that was about it. The idea of anyone other than police or military getting professional-level firearms training was simply not a mainstream idea.
Fast forward to today, and it seems like everyone who has ever taken a shooting class is opening up their own school and developing their own doctrine. The examples of just plain bad training are legion. So what do I look for in a quality shooting class?
- An appropriate understanding of the mission. I’m an armed citizen. I’m not a professional law enforcement officer. I’m not a full time warrior. The odds of me needing to know how to join a SWAT stack are pretty low. The odds of me needing to get good-enough hits on man-sized targets at reasonable distances, under more stress than I have ever known in my life, is actually pretty good. It makes sense to emphasize the latter, not so much the former.
- A doctrine that is focused on meeting the needs of the shooter. Everything in life is a trade-off. I’ve decided to become an armed citizen. That means that I have to carry around an uncomfortable hunk of steel with me. I have to dress a certain way, act a certain way, and can’t go certain places. I make that trade-off because I think that it is a better choice than finding myself in a place where I need a gun and don’t have one. Sometimes, that trade-off means that I carry a smaller gun than I would like. That’s ok.
- A focus on the fundamentals. As interesting as the high-speed, low-drag, blah-blah stuff is, it doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t get hits on target. Proper grip, sight alignment, trigger press gets you most of the way there.
- Drills that you can use. Any quality class will leave you with drills that you can use to improve your skills on your own time. These should be drills that you can do by yourself, at home or on the square range.
- At the right time, a focus on force-on-force. This might seem a little strange, given my list here focuses on fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. But I’m a big believer in force-on-force training. Before I stated doing force-on-force drills, I thought that a fight would be like an action movie. Strategy, tactics, plenty of time to think and move. After my first force-on-force drill, I realized that a fight is like a car wreck. You literally have a half-second to recognize what is going to happen and react. Force-on-force teaches you to recognize and react without having to think about it. It helps “pre-program” responses into you.
- Finally, and this should go without saying, safety, safety, safety. I’m talking a multi-layered approach to safety, beginning with the four rules and going from there. Any school that has you shoot past your partner, or anything even approaching that level of stupidity is nothing I want any part of. Note that safe does not mean cold range! Gunsite runs a hot range, yet is completely safe. When you are off the line, your gun stays in the holster. Period. Fiddling with the gun is simply Not Done.
It will be interesting to see where TigerSwan stacks up on my continuum. Given that a trip to Gunsite runs about $3,000 for me once you factor in tuition, ammo, airfare, hotel, car rental, etc, it would be nice to have a local option.
TigerSwan, four days and counting
I’m getting psyched for the upcoming NC blogger TigerSwan class. Sean sent out an email with the instructors info:
Brian Searcy – President/COO
TigerSwan’s President, COO, and co-founder, Mr. Brian Searcy, served 23 years in Army Special Operations and spent the last 16 years with Delta Force. His leadership experience included serving as a military advisor in Central and South America and as the Command Sergeant Major for a 1,700 person Joint Special Operations Task Force in Iraq. A decorated combat leader his awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit and the Bronze StarAs a Delta Force instructor, Mr. Searcy authored and taught classes in assault planning, VIP protection, rifle and pistol marksmanship, explosive and mechanical breaching, close quarters battle and hand to hand combat. He also served as the program manager and primary instructor for Delta’s shooting program. As a civilian consultant to the Pentagon’s Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Defeat Task Force, Mr. Searcy worked in Iraq and the United States training soldiers and marines to predict, detect and mitigate the threat of IEDs.
A competitive shooter for over 25 years, Brian has competed at the top levels of competition in both precision and action shooting. Brian is a U.S. Army Distinguished Pistol Shot and has been awarded the President’s Hundred Tab. His other marksmanship accolades include: Overall Winner- 2005 Joint Special Operations Command Small Arms Championships and the 2003 North Carolina Indoor Conventional Pistol Champion.
In addition to receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Government from Campbell University, Mr. Searcy earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Central Michigan University. Additionally he has completed an executive leadership program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School’s Finance for Senior Executives.
Looks like he’s the real deal. 
I’ve got to decide what I am bringing. I think I am going to end up defaulting with an M&P. 9mm or .40sw? Choices, choices…
Missing the picture
I meant to blog about this earlier in the week, but the week got away from me.
Last weekend, the family and I went out for some sorely needed R&R to an undisclosed large amusement park. On the way in, they do a haphazard bag check. As we were entering, the security guard stopped me and asked me about the knife in my pocket.
“Excuse me, sir?”
“Yes?”
“You have a knife on your pocket.”
“Yes.”
“Can I see how long it is?”
“Sure” I take it out and show it to him and put it back in my pocket.
“Sir, are you police?”
“No.”
“Active duty military?”
“Nope.”
I’m not sure where this is going…there isn’t any law against bringing a three inch pocketknife. What does it matter if I was police or military? You can see the wheels turning in his head, whether he is going to let me in or make me loose the knife. Finally, he says: “OK, sir. Just put it in your bag so it doesn’t fall out on the rides.”
“Sure thing.”
I was a bit miffed, and thought about making a scene, but my wife was giving me the dagger eyes that she wanted to get going, so I relented. Two points, though:
- I was later vindicated when my daughter wanted the tag cut off of a new stuffed animal, and I smugly presented my pocket knife.
- Um, Mr. Security Guard? You missed the Kahr .380 in my pocket.
Inciminating evidence
In going through some boxes looking for a holster for the blog shoot, I found a bunch of college photos, including a bunch of a certain blogger and his better half. Never found the holster, though.
Time to get on the scanner…
Steve Jobs, 1955-2011
It’s awfully sad to see Steve go. He was a brilliant man who dreamed big dreams and changed the world.
Rest in peace, Steve.
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Do your part!
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