Back in the dark ages of a lot of revolver carry when we used a lot of holsters that didn’t stay open, the reality was the gun was not going back in the holster post need or shooting. They got shoved in to anywhere convenient. This was part of the beauty of the snub revolver and why a couple things were important that the serious folks did tactics and set up wise. Pro’s didn’t cock guns or ran DA only guns, and were very good on finger discipline POST shooting even though they were running finger on Pre shooting.
Just a Hairy Special Snowflake supply clerk with no field experience, shooting an Asymetric carbine as a Try Hard. Snarky and easily butt hurt. Favorite animal is the Cape Buffalo....likely indicative of a personality disorder.
"If I had a grandpa, he would look like Delbert Belton".
While it isn't an automatic, I think I could articulate why lethal force was still on the table, based on my age, physical injuries and training on ground tactics, but mostly because in many of these situations I'm going to have my wife and five year old in tow and rolling around on the ground with Joe Methhead is the exact opposite of retreating with them to a position of safety.
I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.
Got through the first 2 hours while I was sitting by the pool today. Good stuff. I’ve been thinking about a J frame sized revolver lately. Got me thinking some more about it. I’d really like to see more about your 642/D&L sighted J frame. Anyone know if there’s a reason Smith hasn’t come out with a 642Pro (a la 640Pro)? I imagine it would sell well.
I’ll finish the rest later. Interested to here your and Chris’ thoughts on ballistics.
There were a bunch of other points made I’m still mulling over. Your comment about people putting their finger on the trigger automatically made me chuckle. When I do a CCW class, I always pass around a blue gun so people can see I’m not using a real gun for demoing grip, etc. I always watch as they pass it around and invariably about 90% of the class immediately put their finger on the trigger. Which then leads to a good conversation on the topic.
Last edited by Lon; 06-12-2019 at 02:58 PM.
Formerly known as xpd54.
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It was an excellent interview with quite a bit of very useful and helpful info. Thank you for taking the time to do this, and Thanks to Matt and Chris as well.
I particularly found the discussion regarding assessment and articulation (even to one's self) as it relates to processing information and decision making helpful. I believe your phrase was "not over running your headlights". I appreciate the deliberateness of my J-Frames DOA trigger (my 640 and my newly acquired LCR's).
I had to dig around a bit for the below pics. You mentioned the "old school" .357 ...it was a blast monster!
IIRC this is Remington 125 gr .357. I was shooting my first carry gun, a 686 Smith. I believe the photo was taken in 1987.
Thought you might appreciate it. I wouldn't want a thumb's forward grip firing this sucker.
apparently my cyber skills suck as I can't rotate the pic...
Last edited by Jamie; 06-12-2019 at 05:48 PM.
No, you're not being paranoid.
Sharps, if they're out to get ya, they'll say you were paranoid for carrying one. But, you are right, there's a possibility they'll claim that carrying multiple handguns indicates intent to shoot someone. I've done two of those cases, one off-duty cop who carried 3, one armed citizen who had 2 revolvers at the time of the shooting.
Off-duty Fed: Judge threw the case out and "strongly suggested" to the defendant (who worked for an agency that did not allow backup carry on duty) to pay strict attention to agency rules. Said it with a smile, too. He had injured someone in an off-duty altercation and none of his guns ever came out, but prosecutor made a big deal out of how only a Rambo would pack that much heat if he didn't have to. The injury he did inflict was totally justifiable under the circumstances.
Armed citizen: Charged with murder. Licensed to carry and always packed an Airweight J-frame, kept a Ruger .357 in his glove box. Burglar alarm at his store sounded at his home, and he drove to the scene, expected intruders to be long gone and cops already there, the way it had always happened before. This time, got there ahead of the cops as 2 burglars were emerging from his place. Grabbed .357 from glove box, ordered them to halt; one did, the other lunged for the defendant's gun, and was fatally shot. In opening statement prosecutor made a HUGE deal out of why arming himself with TWOOO!!! deadly weapons was obvious "indicia of malice." It went to trial, and he was acquitted on all charges.
As DB has said, be able to explain why you're doing what you're doing. I consider that a rule of life, and not just carrying weapons or using force. My report in the first, dismissed case and my testimony in the second included many reasons for a lawfully armed person to carry a spare.
The primary can be lost, dropped, snatched by the criminal (in the course of a fight, or when he caught you off guard at gunpoint), or inaccessible in its current position due to circumstances. There are many situations in which grabbing a second gun is faster than reloading if the primary has run dry. (Particularly true for my revolver-armed defendant.) It will usually be faster than clearing a jammed primary. A HUGE advantage of the backup gun that way too many people miss is that when the crap hits the fan, it allows the practitioner to arm a trusted, competent other person at the scene who might be capable of dealing with lethal danger but did not have their own firearm with them. I explained carrying a backup gun was simply redundant capability of safety rescue equipment.
The judge "got it" in the cop's case and the jury "got it" in the armed citizen's case, but those are not things twelve ordinary people -- expressly selected during voir dire by opposing counsel for their lack of knowledge about firearms and self-defense -- are ever going to get intuitively. It has to be explained to them. It is always better if it can be explained by the defendant instead of by their expert witness, instead using the expert to confirm the wisdom of their decision to be in possession of that redundant capability of safety rescue equipment.
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