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LOWER LEVELS OF FORCE
Even perfect marksmanship does not guarantee a
perfect outcome. Nearly all criminal encounters can be
solved with lower levels of force -- and you will need to
convince a jury that you used the lowest level of force
that would work.
ters because of bad grips and dangling
clothes and pressure on the slide, barrel
or hammer. The muzzle blast may do as
much damage as the bullet. How much
backflash and echo will come from a
contact shot? (Expect another article on
that when we’ve had some time to field
test.)
The second reason would be obvious,
except most people, shooters or
not, are in denial about some simple
facts. Taking a life is a profound act. It
is something that some find they simply
cannot do. I’ve put a big, burly jail guard
through a scenario, a man with probably
a hundred hand-to-hand fights
under his belt. He wasn’t someone you
would think of as a pacifist … but he
couldn’t point a gun at a human being.
Worse, he was completely unaware that
he wasn’t pointing it. As he approached
the threat, one hand up and ready to
fight, the other holding his gun behind
his leg, he clearly remembered looking
down the front sight at the threat.
Until you have been in the position to
pull a trigger, you don’t know—you can’t
know—if you will. I have seen “heart”
grow over time, when an initially meek
officer spends time with a professional
group. I have yet to see a training that
implants heart. Confidence increases,
but confidence is completely different
than heart. Confidence is believing
you will do the right
thing should the dark day
ever arrive. Heart is actually
doing it. I haven’t
seen a lot of correlation
between the confident
people and the ones who
come through.
I’ve noticed that criminals
who act defiant at
gunpoint comply immediately
when faced with
a Taser. Not all of course,
but many.
Is it because the Taser
hurts? It hurts a lot (trust
me on that one), but does
it hurt as much as getting
shot, recovery, and potential
death or disability?
I doubt it. The pain
certainly doesn’t last as
long.
The reason is because criminals
expect the officer to hesitate before
shooting. They know that a certain percentage,
even of trained, motivated officers,
won’t pull the trigger at all. But
most won’t hesitate to tase.
Ask, advise, order and then what?
With a lethal option it can be an agonizing
decision. With a pain compliance
tool it is time to ride the electric
pony.
One last reason to have non-lethal
options: For a certain percentage of
you reading this, you won’t be able to
shoot another person. We do not know
who you are, and unless you have been
there, neither do you. If you find on
that dark day that you’re a pretty nice
person, you may want to have some
other options. H
A seventeen-year veteran of a metropolitan
correctional system, and a former
advisor to the Iraqi Correctional System,
Rory Miller has built a resume that includes
thousands of hours of firearms,
unarmed combatives and tactical work
and training. Rory has a Bachelor’s degree
in psychology, a blackbelt in jujutsu
and college varsities in judo and fencing.
He wrote “Meditations on Violence:
A Comparison of Martial Arts Training
and Real World Violence.” Visit his website
at www.chirontraining.com.
Gun Tote’n Mamas new lineup
includes bright colors and fun designs.
Gun Tote’n
Mamas
Expands Lineup
[ BY KATHY JACKSON ]
Claudia Chisolm, president
of Kingport Industries and
designer of the Gun Tote’n
Mamas line of concealed carry
purses, once told me her design
strategy. “I’m not out to produce a
trendy purse,” she said. “We want to
produce classic, everyday styles that
are affordable for people and that
will stand up to the test of time.” In
keeping with this philosophy, GTM
purses in the past have been a bit
drab. Functional, affordable, durable,
but honestly, a bit on the boring
side.
Not so with the new lineup! Oh,
the purses remain affordable and
durable. They still feature the very
practical functionality that originally
drew me to the company. But
many of the basic shapes are now
available in brighter colors and fun
patterns, and they have become
much more attractive for daily use.
At the same time, the company has
expanded its offerings to include
unisex and urban man bags with
the same impressive quality at reasonable
cost.
Prices for these well-designed
purses start around $65, and you
can find the website at www.
guntotenmamas.com. H
PHOTO BY OLEG VOLK • A-HUMAN-RIGHT.COM
MAY/JUNE 2011 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
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