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NO GUN FOR YOU !!!
By DAVID T. WRIGHT

APBnews, a Website devoted to public safety issues, recently reported that the Los
Angeles police commission has voted to require background checks for people buying not
just guns but also ammunition. This, of course, in the face of the fact that people can buy
ammo not only in the surrounding counties but also through the mail, perfectly legally.A
bill containing the proposal will be voted on soon by the L.A. City Council, and it's being
introduced in the San Francisco City Council as well. It was developed in consultation with
the California state Ministry of Love, with the idea that cities all over the state will each
be able to adopt a uniform proposal. And, of course, after that, it'll be easy to pass a
state law.

As California pro-gun types are pointing out, limiting ammo sales won't do much to deter
criminals, because they don't use a lot of bullets. The people who do are security
guards, private citizens, etc., who expend ammunition in target practice — in other
words, in practicing gun safety. Less ammo, less safety training. Makes sense to me.
But Billie Weiss, director of Injury and Violence Prevention for the Los Angeles County
Department of Health, sees the ammunition-control bill as a potential asset to public
safety. "As a public health person, anything that reduces the access and availability of
weapons and ammunition is helpful to law enforcement and potentially saves lives," said
the grammatically challenged Weiss, who also heads the Violence Prevention Coalition of
Greater Los Angeles. No conflict of interest there!

Note the increasingly popular classification of violence as a "public health" issue. Besides
being a bare-faced power grab by health-care barons, it's a great propaganda ploy. It
implies that the whole issue can and should be handled by faceless technocrats, with
none of the emotional arguments about "rights" and other nonsense currently mucking up
the effort to build a safer, softer world.

But even so, Weiss has a point. And I think we should start confiscating weapons where
it will do the most good. The fact is that a handgun possessed by a police officer or
other "law-enforcement" minion is about five times more likely to be misused than one
held by an ordinary civilian. So, using the Gun Nazi logic apparently embodied in the ammo
scheme, if you train people heavily in police tactics and firearms handling, they become
more likely to blow somebody away for the wrong reason or to leave their sidearm lying
around so little Jason can plug his playmates. And, in fact, here in the Imperial City, a
number of cops have been arrested for shooting people on their own time, which is still
officially frowned upon.

Let's stop fooling around and get serious about gun control. Take the guns and ammo
away from the cops, and take a huge bite out of a grave health threat!

The fact is, a handgun fight is quick, close, pandemonium-filled and bloody, and anyone
who is considering carrying a handgun for such purposes must ask himself if he is up to
the task of close-quarters combat. If not, then the gun will likely be used against him
when he draws it to try to scare away an attacker. Over the past 30 years (seven of
which were spent working in the county jail), I have spoken with my share of criminals,
and the one thing I can assure you is that they are not afraid of guns but are afraid of
the willing person with a gun. And trust me—they know the difference between the
willing and those who posture.

So if you've decided that you're mentally ready to carry a gun to protect yourself, it's
time to consider the system that is concealed carry: handgun, holster,
support/suspension system (belt), spare magazine or speed loader, some type of
cutting tool like a folding knife and a compact but powerful flashlight.

The first thing you need to select is the handgun because the other equipment will be
somewhat dependent on that choice. Pick a sidearm with the understanding that it is a
defensive weapon that cannot be counted on to stop a determined opponent with one or
two hits, regardless of caliber.

I'm going to avoid the stopping-power debate, but I will say it has been my experience
that a bigger bullet is a better bullet. At the same time, a bigger, heavier bullet will
create more felt recoil, especially when contained in the light, compact package that will
likely be used for concealed carry. If the gun is so powerful you cannot provide quick
follow-up shots (no more than half a second between shots, a third even better) and hit,
say, an eight- or even 12-inch square, then select a caliber that you can do it with.

I would not choose a gun less than 9mm/.38 Special in caliber. History has shown that
people shot with the .22, .25, .32 and even the .380 continue to fight without even
knowing they are shot. While this can happen with larger handgun calibers, too, it is less
likely.

You also want to select a pistol or revolver that fills your shooting hand completely so
you can control the gun during rapid fire. Short grips may be easier to conceal, but they
are also harder for most people to shoot.

Next, decide where you're going to carry the handgun. The biggest mistake many people
make is to conceal the gun too deeply, making quick deployment problematic if not
impossible.

The ideal concealed carry gun is compact but with grips large enough to fill the hand,
which allows for controlled but rapid follow-up shots. The gun should be powerful enough
to count on and totally reliable.

The dynamics of handgun conflict are this: You should be able to draw your firearm in
two seconds or less and get a solid hit on a moving target while you are also moving. If
the gun is tucked so deeply that you cannot achieve the first step, then your gun is really
just a fashion accessory and it might as well be at home.

Quick access means that you will have to dress for concealment and not try to hide the
gun under the clothing that you may have worn before you made the concealed carry
decision. Think about where you travel, work and live, and then dress appropriately
around the gun and the selected concealment location on your body.

Clothing considerations must be based on the environment, which includes weather as
well as locale. The vest or jacket that is normal on your way to work may not be right in a
tourist area, where jackets are rare but fanny packs are everywhere.

While we gun people think of the fanny pack or related "belt boxes" as holsters, the
majority of the citizenry think of them as a way to conveniently carry credit cards, cash,
baby supplies or a camera. Shift the fanny pack to a similar place as your regular carry
location and practice with it. Clothing considerations should be based on blending in to
what is normal as well as providing a reasonable level of concealment. It's a compromise,
folks; the gun must be hidden but also accessible.

Since the gun must be drawn quickly and easily, the best concealment location will be
someplace near the shooting hand. Think about where your primary hand is located as you
go through your daily routine. The waistline at the front of the body offers the shortest
travel distance for the shooting hand, but since the weapon must be concealed under a
garment, shifting the gun around to the side of the body helps keep the gun away from
prying eyes. How far around the body is up to the user based on body style and
flexibility.

A handgun can be held only so close to the torso, and a semiauto pistol will be flatter
than a revolver, but a quality holster will go a long way toward hiding the gun. For
example, a dual slot holster—commonly called a pancake holster—will pull the gun in
tighter than will a pouch holster with a single loop stitched to the rear. This is because
inward pressure is applied to the entire body of the holster instead of just the
suspension point. The thickness of the holster material will also come into play, as it will
add bulk to the package being suspended from the belt.

If a belt holster does not offer the level of concealment desired, then an inside-the-
waistband holster can be considered. This style of carry gets the gun underneath the
pants and belt, which normally holds the gun out and away from the body when a belt-
mounted holster is used.

The inside-the-waistband rig uses the contours of the trousers, wrapping around the
body to help conceal the holstered pistol. But this can become a disadvantage because
the gun is now held as tightly to the body as possible, which can interfere with obtaining
a solid, three-finger wrap around the front strap of the handgun as it is being drawn.
This is definitely something to consider.

Cross-draw carry? Like many people, I advised against it for many years, but once it
was brought to my attention that it has been used in many real-world situations by
armed professionals around the world, I changed my mind. In several cases, the men
(and one woman) who related their stories to me were convinced that if they had carried
the gun anywhere else, they would have perished.

To ignore these actual shooting situations would be ridiculous, but I'm still not a huge
fan. I have found that drawing from a shoulder holster violates the quick and simple
body action needed to get a concealed handgun into the fight.
First, reaching across the body to acquire the gun can actually carry the holstered
handgun around to the back, retarding the draw. Second, it is all but impossible to draw
the gun to a weapon-retention position against the body without a great deal of arm
motion—a motion that can also be trapped against the chest by a determined attacker.
While it is true that the belt-mounted cross draw can also be subject to such a trap, the
arm is lower and does not travel as far around the torso, making the draw faster and
easier to accomplish.

Regardless of which holster and concealment location you select, it must be comfortable
for long periods of time. It must also be accessible from every likely position that you
might likely find yourself in. You will not always be in a standing position; you might be
sitting or kneeling, so being able to draw from these positions is essential.

Such positions should also be part of your regular practice sessions, but don't become
overly concerned with being able to shoot from, say, a motor vehicle. Knowing how to do
so (both stationary and moving) and being able to get out of it while under fire are good
to know, but knowing how to drive away quickly is even better.

I have conducted training scenarios in which the obvious answer to the problem is to
punch the accelerator and exit the danger zone, only to have students bail out of the car
and return fire from the hood. When asked why they did this, they say they learned it at
a "high speed" tactical pistol school. Please trust me on this; keep your response simple
and don't fall victim to "tactical stupidity."

While I'm on the subject, developing a combat mindset is more difficult than you may
think. A quality combat pistol course will deal with this topic sometime during the class.
If it doesn't, then you are just learning how to shoot, not fight—and there is a
difference.

Once you've chosen your gear, seek quality training. There are many quality instructors
across the country, and you don't have to go to a big-name school to get top-notch
training. Just be sure to shop around, and if the school or course you're considering
doesn't offer training in proper mindset, go elsewhere.

In the end, the mental aspect of concealed carry is much more complex than the
mechanics of it. For the latter, all you really have to do is select a quality handgun that
will fill your whole hand and fires the most powerful cartridge you can control. Carry it in
a comfortable holster that will reasonably conceal the gun under the clothing that is
common to your locale, and in most cases you'll suspend the gun and holster from a belt
that is capable of holding the gun solidly in place without shifting.

The only remaining equipment considerations are to have a spare magazine or speed
loader readily accessible. Also, carry a folding knife that will cut things that may
endanger your life and have a light powerful enough to allow you to identify an adversary
in situations where vision can be impaired.

Once you've selected these accessories, get quality training and then stay alert to what
is going on around you. If trouble rears its ugly head, then be prepared to do whatever
it takes to prevail. Survival is not enough.