Two weeks ago, I spent three days teaching and learning at the Rangemaster Tactical Training Conference in Dallas.  I’ve now taught at the last 11 Tactical conferences and my TacCon blocks are regularly some the most fun classes I teach every year.       The conference consists of three days of material taught by more than 40 different world-class instructors.  Each instructor teaches blocks lasting between two and eight hours long on a variety of tactical topics.  It’s an opportunity to get a lot of top notch training at a very reasonable price.     Al ..read more

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Adversarial Mindset: Understand Criminals and Their Motivations An absolutely stellar article from John Hearne.  While you are on the site, you might also like to read What If You’re Surrounded by Aggressive Rioters?     3 Lessons to Learn From the Death of an Armed Good Samaritan   This is an incredibly ugly incident.  If you choose to intervene in an incident like this one, you better be able to finish the job. “Here is the cold, hard truth. Unless yo ..read more

Amazon has a tremendous number of FREE ebooks on their website.  You can find thousands of free kindle books on Amazon’s site every day.  These books can be downloaded to a Kindle reader or a free App on your phone or personal computer.  Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a free Kindle reader for your computer or phone HERE.     Here are a few free books that I think my readers might enjoy. Check these out.   One caution….   These books were free at the time I posted them. Prices change rapidly. Please check the price before you hit the ..read more

Written by: Greg Ellifritz   The now-deceased criminal who handcuffed the elderly homeowner   Did you see the news last week about the 85-year old woman who was handcuffed to a chair during a home invasion?  The woman covertly accessed a .357 magnum revolver and shot her assailant while still handcuffed.  Unfortunately, the attacker shot the woman as well.  The elderly homeowner remained cuffed to the chair for 10 hours before police arrived.  She lived.  Her attacker did not.     Handcuffs are somewhat unusual in home invasions, but being restra ..read more

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   Guns for Granny – Choosing A Gun for the Elderly or Infirm Some tips to solve a problem we will all be lucky enough to face someday.     Hair Triggers Massad Ayoob discusses the pitfalls of a trigger pull weight that is too light.     Confessions Of A New Red-Dot Shooter If my eyesight worsens or the technology and mounting options improve significantly, I may reconsider; but until then I’ve decided to remain dot-free on my defensive handguns.  I have ..read more

  A few of the police trade revolvers I’ve picked up for cheap prices over the years. With holsters and ammo included, these five guns still cost less than the price of a single AR-15 rifle. Which would be a better bet in a survival situation: five friends with hidden .38 revolvers or one friend with that new AR-15 you put in the safe “just in case”?   Last weekend I attended the Rangemaster Tactical Conference.  I put my new Lipseys .32 revolver through a workout during Wayne Dobbs’ revolver fundamentals class and then drove home right before the total eclipse.  My driv ..read more

I imagine it’s a question quite a few of you folks ask yourselves.  I have to admit that I ask the question myself more regularly as I age.     When I was a cop, I had a reputation of staying calm in life threatening emergencies.  I’ve been retired almost four years now.  Since my retirement, my life has been pretty mellow.  No emergency responses.  No death-defying travel experiences.  No physical fights beyond consensual combatives training sessions.  I haven’t drawn my gun on a single person since I retired the badge.      I occas ..read more

Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.   What Makes A Great Truck or Vehicle Gun? I’m generally not a big fan of “truck guns.”  A long gun in a vehicle is far more likely to be stolen than to be used defensively.     Blocking Your Dot — Occluded Optics A training technique for you dot shooters.  Also on the topic of handgun dots, read Jeff Gonzales’ When You Can’t See The Red Dot.     Be Prepared: Training your kids for emergencies A structured learning progression of age-related survival ..read more

I’ve been excited to see the new Lispeys snub revolvers that my friends Bryan Eastridge and Darryl Bolke had a hand in designing since they were introduced at the SHOT show this year.  For those unfamiliar with the guns, check out my last two Weekend Knowledge Dumps for more articles about the background and features of the guns.     Basically, these are snubs that fixed most of the issues that have plagued snub revolvers for a century now.  Most snubs have crappy triggers, invisible sights, and poorly designed grips.  These new designs address all of those issues str ..read more

For all of you folks who get tired of reading my long articles, I have some audio content for you today.   I did two podcast interviews that were recently published.     The first is with Gila Hayes from the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Fund.  It’s called “Safety in Unfamiliar Environments.”   I really like how this one turned out.  It may be the most informative podcast I’ve ever done.   You can watch it in the embedded YouTube video below.  The ACLDN also produced a shortened and edited transcription of the high points on their website HERE ..read more