Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.
The Allure of Accuracy
“There are many reasons to train accuracy to a high level. First, it refines fundamentals—posture, grip, trigger speed, vision, and process—allowing a shooter to know they can hit a target when given sufficient time. Second, it is easily measurable via a tight group at the center of a target. Lastly, there is an abundance of standards and tests that are easy to administer. Accuracy should be trained to a high level, but it must be balanced against speed and integrated into a realistic context.”
AIWB: A Frank Discussion on Carrying Forward of the Hip – Guns and Ammo
Dave Spaulding’s thoughts on appendix carry.
Do You Have the Right Flashlight Skills? – The Armory Life
Too many students fire a few rounds at a target coordinating a gun and flashlight while thinking they have flashlight skills. My entire police patrol career was spent on evening or overnight shift. I used a flashlight every night. Shooting with a flashlight is the easy part.
What common or household objects will stop bullets?
A very comprehensive look at the difference between cover and concealment.
How Young is Too Young to Teach Kids Self-Defense?
If you are interested in getting your very young child involved in a self defense focused art, I would highly recommend getting them into a competitive wrestling program. Those skills form the background of every grappling-based martial art they will ever study in the future.
Explosive Violence Monitor: 2025 – AOAV
“In 2025, AOAV recorded 49,814 deaths and injuries as a result of the use of explosive weapons around the world, the second-highest levels recorded since 2010. With 45,362 civilians among these casualties – 91% of all those reported killed or wounded by explosive weapons globally – 2025 was the second most injurious year for civilians since the EVMP began. 39% (17,614) of these civilians were reported killed.”
An Official Journal Of The NRA | Surprising Concealed Carry Statistics
“Overall, the survey determined that the percent of Americans carrying increased from 24.3 percent in December 2024 to 29.8 percent in May 2026.”
I think those statistics could only be true if “carry” was defined as “occasionally throw a gun in the glove compartment of your car.”
Want some more gun statistics? Read UPDATED: How many people have been murdered with Glock-style guns using Glock switches? About 43 total.
Finally, you may also want to watch What Are The ODDS You Will NEED Your Gun? | Active Self Protection Extra.
Ayoob: Don’t Make These Carry Gun Mod Mistakes
Pay attention to Massad’s advice here. You should also read The Case for Custom Defense Guns.
Rangemaster Monthly Journal
Tom included my deep dive article on body language and pre-assault indicators in this edition of his monthly newsletter.
Low Ready: The Space Between Awareness and Action
A primer on the low ready position. You should also read Ready Position vs. Defensive Display: What Every Responsible Gun Owner Needs to Know and about Position Sul.
The Backup Gun: 22-Year-Old Fired Back With Second Gun After Having First Pistol Stolen In Robbery | Concealed Nation
An unconventional armed citizen gunfight involving a backup gun.
How to Get out of Handcuffs Using Picks and Shims
A useful skill to acquire, especially for my cop readers. On two occasions in my police career I had to shim a prisoner’s handcuffs after an officer’s key broke off in the lock.
P&S ModCast 454 – You Have Only Two Hours
Classified Cold War J-Frame | Tales from the Vault with Jerry Miculek
A fun look at a very unique revolver.
For more revolver content, check out the following links below.
Self-Defense with a Revolver: Fundamentals and Tips – Firearms News
Check Your Six: Looking AND Seeing
Some thoughts on an after-action scan. I actually favor the technique taught by Craig Douglas. Instead of merely looking by turning the head or turning your back on your attacker, MOVE. Imagine the battlefield as a clock. You are in the center of the clock. The down bad guy is at 12 o’clock. You need to see behind you (six o’clock). By aggressively moving to either nine o’clock, or three o’clock you will be able to see both the bad guy and the area previously behind you.
This is difficult to practice on most commercial gun ranges, but extremely effective in real life.
LPVO vs Red Dot + Magnifier
The difference between these popular sighting systems.
On the topic of rifle optics, you may also like Lies Your Customers Believe About Riflescopes.
grappling and ankle carry
Cecil talks about how ankle carry isn’t a huge benefit in ground encounters.
Most school shooters flee. Why do police search every room of the school?
An important concept for my police readers. Transition to the job of saving lives if there is no obvious indication of a remaining threat.
Avoiding Attacks While Driving
Pay close attention to my late friend Marcus’ advice here.
The Five Waves of GunTube
Last week, I posted an article about the different eras of gun ownership in the USA. This breaks down the different eras of gun YouTube videos.
Dispelling Myths of the 12 Gauge Shotgun
Debunking the myths of the shotgun…a good article. My primary home defense weapons are still shotguns. Even though I carried an AR-15 in my police cruiser, I found myself grabbing the Benelli from the shotgun rack about twice as often as I grabbed the AR-15 when bad things went down. Craving more shotgun content? Read Testing 12 Gauge vs 20 Gauge.
Continuing on the topic of shotguns, Winchester’s new #1 Buck load looks like trash. Read Testing Winchester’s Affordable AutoBuck Buckshot Rounds.
The Determined Mindset: How The Decision You Already Made Wins The Fight » Concealed Carry Inc
Solid mindset advice here.
Paul Gomez 1971-2012
I can’t believe it’s been 14 years since we lost my good friend Paul Gomez. Nothing is guaranteed. In addition to Gomez, in my adult firearms training life we’ve lost Jeff Cooper, Louis Awerbuck, Jim Cirillo, Wes Doss, Chuck Taylor, Carlos Hathcock, Pat Rogers, Rex Applegate, Ron Avery, William Aprill, Todd Louis Green, Dave Harrington, Marcus Wynne, Ed Lovette, James Yeager, John Holschen, and John Benner.
I was fortunate to train with many of those guys before they passed, and even more fortunate to be close friends with some. I regret not scheduling classes from the others. Some of the world’s best instructors are aging and getting close to retirement. They won’t be around forever. Book a class. You’ll be glad you spent time training with that person when you read his obituary and realize that no one will ever train with him again.
Quote to Ponder:
“Despite the urban legends of 90 pound mothers magically lifting Buicks off of their crushed children, nature doesn’t actually give a shit about how strong you are relative to your body weight. It only cares how strong you are relative to the task at hand. More absolute strength is almost always better than less. That much is inarguable.
Becoming as strong as possible, within certain limits, will have significant effect on your ability to perform a variety of combat relevant tasks, and therefore represents the most critical aspect of your conditioning program. When you become stronger, raising your absolute strength, every other physical attribute that requires a percentage of that strength becomes effectively better: stamina, endurance, power, and agility.”
– The Mountain Guerilla
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