Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.
Cold Hits Don’t Lie: Measuring Real Shooting Performance
I like starting every shooting session with a consistent drill I shoot cold to track my performance over time. In this article, Tatiana suggests several good drills for this purpose.
Introduction to Tactical Flashlights for Concealed Carriers
A flashlight is one of the most useful pieces of equipment you can carry with you on a regular basis.
How many school shootings in 2025?
Digging into last year’s school shooting statistics.
More Advice For First-Time Gun Buyers and Owners – RevolverGuy.Com
Solid advice for new gun owners.
The M13 Aircrewman Revolver, Part I
One more from The Revolver Guy. Taking a look at the history behind an exceptionally rare revolver.
How NOT to Talk About Guns
This is a unique article worthy of your attention. We can’t solve problems if we are unwilling to communicate with the “other side.” You may also like What Academia Gets Wrong About Guns.
100 Tips for a Better Life
This one is five years old but it’s one of the best advice lists I’ve read lately.
“57. There are two red flags to avoid almost all dangerous people: 1. The perpetually aggrieved ; 2. The angry.”
“73. In relationships look for somebody you can enjoy just hanging out near. Long-term relationships are mostly spent just chilling”
“92. You have vanishingly little political influence and every thought you spend on politics will probably come to nothing. Consider building things instead, or at least going for a walk. “
Primed to see guns: Why human reviewers mistake Doritos for danger after AI alerts
Some of the issues involved with using AI threat evaluation to prevent school shootings. You should also read Fake AI video of school fire creates panic and confusion.
16 Times Handgun-Armed Good Guys Stopped Long Gun-Armed Killers
It’s not the death sentence that you might imagine it to be.
3 MORE Lessons From Concealed Carry Renewal Classes
I don’t teach many beginners, so I seldom see this stuff in my classes. If you are teaching intro gun safety classes or your state’s basic CCW curriculum, be prepared to handle these issues. Please remember that if you train regularly and read websites like mine, you are NOT the average gun owner. Sometimes it’s hard to do, but we should realize that folks like us are a very small minority of the gun owning public. We aren’t likely to turn our students into lovers of the art with the same level of dedication that we have.
LIFE SKILLS | Increase Your Performance By Failing
“As crazy as it sounds, if you’re not making mistakes, to include mental errors, then you’re not pushing your skills hard enough to move past your comfort zone. Only when you step outside your comfort zone can that less-travelled-path be included as part of your gained ground. As a result, that newly earned real estate becomes part of your new comfort zone and pushes the edge of your skills envelop that much further out.”
Facing An Active Shooter: The First 30 Seconds
“Monk’s research shows that most active shooters fire a new shot every 3 to 5 seconds during the opening moments of an attack. By the 30‑second mark, the tenth victim is often already down. By the third minute, victim counts in the twenties and thirties are common.
Now, contrast that with reality. Even in cities with excellent police coverage, law enforcement response times typically fall in the 4‑ to 8‑minute range. That’s not incompetence. It’s physics, traffic, dispatch lag and geography. Police cannot teleport.
Even when officers perform heroically, they are almost always arriving after the decisive damage is done. That uncomfortable truth is not an indictment of law enforcement; it’s a recognition of the limits of our limited physical nature as humans.
Waiting for help is not a plan. It is a gamble … and the odds are terrible.”
You should most definitely read Ed’s new book.
What’s the Best Shotgun Barrel Length for Home Defense?
For defensive purposes inside a home or vehicle, shorter is definitely better (but please use a real buttstock).
Automatic Advantage?
Like most other “knife nuts,” I went through a phase where all the knives I carried were switchblades. I’ve learned a lot since those days. Now I agree with the author. Barring a rare exception, most users would be better served with a manually opening blade.
Self-Defense with Mobility Challenges
Some considerations for those of you with mobility challenges.
Institutionalization of Flukes
“Institutionalizing flukes” is common in lots of endeavors, not just martial arts. I think the biggest example of this is training the “combat crouch” hip shooting position that was common in police training from the 1930s to the 1980s. Nortorious FBI gunfighter Jelly Bryce was tremendously successful using this position and cops all across the country sought to emulate his techniques.
The downside was that Jelly Bryce was a fluke. His vision was so good that he could see every bullet in flight. He also practiced several hours a day. When the bosses thought they would improve gunfight successes by modeling his techniques, they set police firearms training back for over 50 years.
Weapon Lights That Win: Handgun, Shotgun, Rifle
Guidelines for picking a weapon mounted light.
Testing the Brush Gun Myth
Which caliber do you think deflects the least when passing through wood?
Understanding Ohio’s Weapon Laws – the Post-Bruen Ripple Effect
For my readers who live in southwestern Ohio.
The Truth about Violence
A very thorough guide from an unlikely source covering both how to avoid violence and how to prevail if your avoidance tactics aren’t successful. If you are going to read one article in today’s dump, make it this one.
The certification myth in defensive tactics training
“The case I am making is meant to address these long-held misconceptions about certifications. They are a snapshot, a crucial singular credential, but not a measure of the ongoing proficiency that is a necessity for law enforcement. Also, they are not the legal defense panacea that some believe they are. Objectively reasonable, well-articulated actions are the most important legal tools officers and agencies have, not certificates in a file. It is easy to be lulled into the box-checking comfort of certifications as the only tool to risk mitigation, but my point is that they aren’t enough for modern law enforcement.”
Pistol Recoil Springs: Should You Change Them?
Other than keeping your pistol well lubricated, regularly changing your recoil springs is the most important “gunsmithing” you can do to keep your handgun running reliably.
5 Secrets to Reading More Books
I mentioned in this article that I wasn’t happy with how many books I read last year. I’ve committed to improving that number and Justin’s advice is helping. I already have four books finished in the first week of 2026.
Speaking of books, this is one of the books I’m reading right now.
Do Tactical Lever Actions Make Sense For Home Defense?
I’ve seen an unusual number of articles lately about turning your old lever gun into something more “tactical.” I agree with the author’s take here. I know I could do good work with one of my lever guns, but I don’t think it’s an ideal choice unless you live in a state with strict regulations against owning/using semi-automatic long guns.
Silent Ammo – The Suppressor Free Option
Some very curious guns you may have never seen.
The Modern Firearms Instructor: Can We Do Better?
The answer is “YES”.
Teaching the Generations: One Range, Four Different Minds
Some tips to optimally convey firearms training skills to different generations of students. On a similar topic, you might be surprised to know that “learning styles” (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc) are largely a myth and may be harming your students.
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