training

Kerrian’s Notebook, p. 102 “Do you need firearms training?”

 

Glock

Do you own a handgun? 

Do you know when to use it?

Can you take care of it?

Do you know how to use it?

These are not dumb questions to ask, because not everyone is knowledgeable about firearms, not even the ones they have in their own houses. Sometimes people buy handguns in reaction to a nearby shooting, but don’t take the time to learn about the firearm they have plopped down good money for.  Sometimes one spouse has purchased the gun(s) and the other spouse is not familiar or comfortable with handling it (them).

Luckily, there are licensed, NRA sanctioned, firearms training facilities all across the country where a person can attend classes that teach the laws governing the use of firearms. The classes also cover safety, as well as proficiency, in handling a firearm.

In the USA, you must have a permit to legally purchase a handgun. You fill out a form at the gun shop, and in about a week, after the background check has been completed, you can actually purchase the gun.

If you need to obtain a concealed/carry permit, you must attend a class that includes:

  1. information about the gun laws,
  2. definitions of what is meant by lethal force,
  3. safe care and handling of a handgun,
  4. a written test,
  5. a handgun proficiency test.

If you meet all the requirements, then a stricter background check is run and in 4-6 weeks, the permit may be issued.

You need to know the laws in your state for owning and operating your firearm.

Not all states have the same laws about gun ownership. Some states allow open carrying, some allow concealed carrying, some allow properly licensed handgun owners to cross state lines with their guns, some don’t. Violation of these laws in any of these situations can land you in jail. And, by the way, ignorance of the law is not an excuse to avoid jail time or hefty fines.

There are legal definitions about when (and where) you are allowed to use your gun in self-defense and they vary somewhat from state to state. Ya can’t just go shootin’ your gun off in public. That will land you in jail everywhere.

Even if you have the proper credentials and concealed/carry permits, there are some places where you absolutely cannot take your gun. After a deadly shooting in a health care facility in North Carolina a few years ago, the laws were changed to bar handguns for everyone visiting private health care facilities except for law enforcement personnel. Some restaurants allow handguns, but if liquor is served, the law is different. A training class will point out the most recent changes in the law for a dozen different public settings – parks, bars, parades, etc.

How does one decide when to use a gun for self-defense?

Ask yourself whether firing it is an appropriate use of lethal force, because make no mistake, if the bullet leaves the gun, it can kill somebody.

Think before firing. There are legal ramifications to your decisions. The law requires certain legal hurdles to be met before a shooting can be justified.

Is it reasonable to shoot this person?

If the person is your size or larger, as fit as you or stronger, is threatening you with serious bodily harm, you are sure that walking away will not stop the threat, and if the police won’t get there in time, then you may be within your rights to shoot – but not always.

Is it proportional to what has already happened?

If talking the situation over has not worked, or if the other person has escalated the violence in the situation, if you are being robbed, if you are being beaten, or if you are being threatened with a gun, then you may be within your rights to shoot – but not always.

Is it necessary to shoot this person?

The danger for harm to yourself must be immediate – that is, if you don’t take a shot right then, it will be too late. You may be within your rights to shoot – but not always.

You do not have the right to shoot someone else “just ‘cause they had it coming.”

In every court case where a shooting is involved, when the phrase ‘reasonable force’ is used, the prosecution and the defense alike are looking quite seriously at what led up to the actual shooting – who did what to whom and why.

There is more to owning a gun than buying it and sticking it in a drawer.

Future posts will deal with loading your handgun safely without shooting yourself in the face or foot, proper storage of your firearm, as well as caring for your firearm so that it will fire properly when it’s needed.

 

*photos taken by Patti Phillips at Freedom Firearms Training, in Carthage, NC.

Steve Jones

 

 

Many thanks to Steve Jones and his staff for allowing me to visit during one of his concealed/carry permit classes.

Steve Jones is an experienced NRA firearms instructor and is the owner/operator of Freedom Firearms Training.

 

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KN, p. 134 “Could you be a detective?”

Detectives on TV have great jobs. They swoop into a crime scene after it’s been secured, and the Crime Scene Techs take care of all the evidence collection and any photography needed. The Patrol Officers take the statements and canvas the neighborhoods. All the stars of the shows need to do is solve the crime using their brains and years of experience in assessing homicides just like the one in front of them. You’re pretty bright and always solve the imaginary mystery ahead of the TV cops, so you could do that, right?

Be careful what you wish for, because not every town has special people assigned to be detectives and you may have to move to the big city in order to realize your dream.

In smaller towns, the police departments are too small (think “Jessie Stone” on TV) to have fancy labs, and the crime scene tech may be the same guy that answers the phones at headquarters. Any detecting is most likely done by the police officers themselves.

The sometime ‘detectives’ in smaller jurisdictions don’t have as many murder cases to work as in the big cities, so their time may be spent catching speeding motorists, or figuring out who broke into the liquor store after hours or how the Fitzer barn happened to burn down. There may be robberies, burglaries, domestic abuse, runaways, assault, and potential arson cases to resolve, and if there is more than one case at a time that comes into the local office, the investigations may be handed off to the county or state law enforcement agencies. In big cities, however, the need for detectives may be serious enough to create divisions that specialize in robbery or homicide or arson or cybercrime or gang activity.

The reality is that being a detective of any kind may be fascinating work, but Homicide Detectives have long hours (rarely 9 to 5) and are awakened in the middle of the night when a body is discovered. The investigation must be conducted while the leads are hot. If the killer isn’t caught within the first few days, the trail gets cold and the case gets tougher to solve. Sometimes, because there is not enough local manpower available or even a lab to process evidence, cases that require forensic analysis are handed over to county or state agencies.

What does it take to be a detective?

Training/Education – larger cities and/or state and federal agencies, or private corporations,  require criminal justice degrees for investigator/detective spots. If you’d like to investigate insurance fraud, art forgery/theft, or mail fraud, additional specific training will be expected. 

A candidate for the position of Homicide Detective would most likely start out as a patrol officer, having gone through the Police Academy first. Some cities require criminal justice degrees, or four-year college degrees in order to advance, so patrol officers interested in shifting the focus of their careers, may have to attend college in off hours. In smaller departments, detectives are sometimes chosen because of a special aptitude for spotting crime scene details. Some departments require candidates to pass special written/oral tests. At this point, there is no national standard for either minimum educational requirements, or training, to be a Homicide Detective.

Skills – Homicide Detectives must be able to organize information, work for long hours, be physically fit, be emotionally able to deal with the terrible things they will see, and have a strong stomach. He/she can’t be bothered by blood, or body parts scattered around. In order to be effective, they must be able to interrogate witnesses without having them clam up. They should be able to ask questions that require other than yes and no answers. Immediately after a crime has occurred, the detectives must be able to discover the facts, sort out the details, determine the oddities of a case, and deal with grieving widows and relatives and neighbors.

Not really interested in murders, but want to solve those sexy art fraud and insurance fraud cases? Cybercrime sounds cool to you?

In that case, you need:

  • a great eye for detail
  • ability to pick out missing information or conflicting information in someone’s story
  • excellent observational skills
  • ability to solve situational puzzles
  • ability to interpret body language or speaking patterns
  • reasoning skills
  • ability to make educated guesses about how certain people would act under stress.

Pretty much what a Homicide Detective needs, but without dealing with the blood.

Like digging through seemingly unrelated facts in order to come up with the ‘who, what, where and how’ of a crime? Then a ‘why’ so that motive can be established?

Maybe you could be detective.  🙂

Related article:

http://www.newgeography.com/content/00242-america-more-small-town-we-think   

      

 

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KN, p. 83 “Don’t shoot your foot!”

 We’ve all seen TV shows and movies where nobody (good guy or bad) can hit the broad side of a barn. After a gazillion rounds, not one single bullet has connected with the intended targets and the only thing hurt is the house/car/fruit stand between the shooter and the person they were supposedly trying to hit. The typical viewer conclusion is that the cops are bad shots or that the script is meant to be a comedy.

Guess what? It’s not as easy to shoot on target as you might think.

I’m a decent shot with my S & W snubnose .38 personal revolver and my Glock service piece when I’m at the firing range, standing still facing a suspect straight on, or when crouched behind the cruiser, but I’ve never had to shoot at anybody on the run. And, not a large percentage of real-life law enforcement officers outside metropolitan areas do either. I’ve been told there are some police officers that have never fired their department issued guns their entire careers.

Back in the 1980s, the FBI did a study about gunfights. They found that most shootings were under three yards, lasted about three seconds, involved three or less rounds (bullets), and the hits? About 20% on target.

For the guys and gals who want to work in the larger towns and cities, practice is the only way to make sure that the guns can be relied upon to do their jobs. Sessions at the range are required only three or four times a year in most communities, but instructors are usually available for refresher tips and the department pays for the ammo. However, if I want to visit the range more often – once a month to stay as proficient as the drug dealers I might go up against – I pay for my own ammo. It varies, but ammo for my .38 revolver costs between 50 cents and a buck a bullet unless I can get a deal.

But, even a top shot needs more training than shooting at a bulls-eye type target and learning deadly force policy. It’s not enough to be able to shoot the gun in a quiet, controlled setting. Police academies are now including Meggitt FATS (Firearms Training Simulator) or Meggitt training, as a safe way to place officers (and civilians) in scenarios that mimic real life. Interactive videos might include shooting in a crowded mall, deciding whether a twelve year old getting out of a vehicle is armed and dangerous, choosing which of two similar looking women is a fleeing suspect with a gun…and the copied-from-actual-cases list goes on.

The first time I tried the simulator, I was so distracted by the people who were in motion in the scene that I shot a file cabinet. Dead. My instructor didn’t laugh, because while I was busy shooting office furniture and wasting rounds, the ‘suspect’ got away.

A few of the areas covered during the best refresher training:

1)   low-light and decision-making shooting

2)   shooting while moving to cover

3)   one-handed firing

4)   multiple targets

5)   verbal challenges

6)   what to do when the gun malfunctions while under fire

 

Rules that actual flesh and blood cops live by?

They try to avoid getting into gunfights, but if the bullets start flying, they know: 

1   Real cops don’t fire warning shots.

2)   Real cops don’t shoot guns out of a suspect’s hand

3)   Real cops don’t cut vans in half with machine guns.

4)   They do aim for the center of the body.

In an actual exchange of gunfire, the heart rate goes up, palms start sweating, the mouth goes dry, hearing is distorted, tunnel vision often occurs, fine motor skills decrease, thought processes slow down, and officers can get the shakes because they are operating on adrenaline. The only way to combat and reduce the natural ‘fight and flight’ response is to train, train, train to develop muscle memory.

 

Thanks to Rick McMahan, a former special agent with Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, an instructor at the Writers’ Police Academy conferences for several years. His classes have been an invaluable source of information.

Additional information from www.PoliceOne.com

 

*Photos by Patti Phillips

 

 

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