Required Reading for Concealed Carry

Here is a good write-up of a self-defense shooting that went to court twice. HT Snowflakes in Hell

The defendant, Mr. Hickey, was involved in a self-defense shooting when he was attacked by three neighbors in his own driveway. He was charged with aggravated assault and spent 71 days in jail. Massad Ayoob gave expert testimony in the second trial, possibly saving Mr. Hickey's bacon.

One of the commenters notes that Mr. Hickey's wife might have been treated better by the police, and that's probably true. Hickey is a part-time firearms instructor and trains troops preparing to deploy.

The write-up is the September newsletter for the Armed Citizens' Legal Defense Network, an organization that provides legal assistance to members that have to defend their self-defense actions in court.

Getting Out of Traffic Ticket by Carrying a Gun

Extreme Tolerance relates his story of getting out of a ticket by virtue of legally carrying a gun. The officer that pulls you over will know as soon as he looks up your license plate that you have a concealed carry permit, which with many cops is a "certified upstanding citizen" indicator.

I had a similar experience. I was riding my motorcycle (back when I still had such vestiges of my single days) here in Northern Virginia, going down a really big hill. Light turned yellow as I was approaching a T-intersection traffic light at the bottom, and when I made it through the intersection it had already turned red. This wasn't so much a case of me not paying attention to the light, but more of a case of not wanting to slam on my front brake so much that I endo (bring the bike up on the front wheel for the non-biker crowd) at the stoplight and dump the bike. A police officer was waiting at the light, and he pulled me over.

I had just moved to VA and was still carrying with my reciprocal out-of-state CCW. I didn't have to tell the officer I was carrying (VA law doesn't require it) but did so anyway. The officer was surprised; carrying in your own state means that an officer running your license will know you have a permit when he runs your plate or driver's license, but to my knowledge states don't generally share carry permit info with each others' DMV systems.

He asked me where I was carrying, and I told him it was on my left ankle. I didn't make any sudden moves to show him what caliber it was.

He checked my traffic record - clean since 1997 or so - and sent me on my way. He thanked me for notifying him that I was carrying, and suspect that this played a part in not getting a ticket.

Side note: when riding a motorcycle, I recommend carrying ankle carry. I once laid a bike down while ankle carrying with no ill effects, but if I'd been carrying on my hip I suspect that the gun would've become a semi-permanent part of my pelvis.

Value of a Quick Draw

In this post, Hell in a Handbasket says that a quick draw of your defensive tool may not be that big of a deal:

I’ve never been very keen on developing fast draw skills. Though necessary for
competition, they should be unneeded for defense as long as someone maintains a
decent level of situational awareness.

Caleb disagrees, and outlines the value of having your defensive tools out and ready lickety-split in this post on his encounter with a would-be mugger. I'm with Caleb on this one - practicing your draw from your carry setup is a valuable use of your time.

Uncle approximates his draw time as such:

I can draw and fire center mass accurately in over a second but less than two.
Not a real spiffy time but, you know, not a slouch either. And that’s with a
Glock and a CompTac. It’s faster with a Serpa holster and much slower when I
pocket carry.

That's a good place to be and I'm somewhere in that band of performance. So are federal air marshals - their standard is to draw from concealment and fire two rounds in 1.65 seconds.

As Todd G at pistol-training.com says, "Call me crazy, but I'm going to keep working on my draw."

Shoot Him to the Ground - and Yourself in the Foot

Matthew Temkin has a video out he calls "Shoot Him to the Ground." I think that this is neither good shooting technique nor smart tactics, as Jason points out. Worse yet, it could help get you prosecuted. Here's the YouTube of the promo:



The tactical implications of charging one-handed at your assailant are bad enough. Guns are effective missile weapons because they take you out of melee distance. If you have to shoot someone at arm's length, so be it. Many self-defense encounters happen at spitting distance, but that's no excuse to put yourself there if you don't have to. It's worse with multiple assailants, where retreating to cover while firing, or sidestepping to "get off the x," may be the best course of action. Distance is your friend.

The legal implications, depending on the state, could be terrible. Some states, in spite of a strong "Castle Doctrine" statute, maintain a generalized duty to retreat (if possible) outside the home. I'm looking at you, North Carolina, California of the South. If you have a duty to retreat when possible, then charging your assailant and firing your last round while standing over him is a pretty bad idea. Witnesses may provide a less-than-flattering account of your actions. "Joe was just talkin' to this guy and reached in his pocket, when the defendant whipped out his gun, ran at Joe and blazed away, puttin' the last round in his eyeball!"

That defensive shootings outside the home that occur in North Carolina (and other states with a duty to retreat) where sumdood's intended victim didn't retreat is a testament to prosecutorial discretion, or at least prosecutors' recognition that the upstanding citizen defended herself against a violent assailant, and that no jury will convict on those facts. Like in this case.

Bottom line: I don't plan to buy Temkin's video, nor use his tactics.

Shooting Guns Out of Hands

Shooting a gun out of someone's hand or "shooting to wound" is a bad idea for a number of reasons. Yet the New York State Assembly was trying to mandate that officers do just that.

Commissioner Ray Kelly invited City Council members to the range to show them how hard it is to do what they are considering.

This is what it comes down to when people who know nothing about guns try to write laws to govern them.

In related news, microstamping just passed the Assembly.

UK Spree Shooting

PDB has some thoughts on the spree shooter in the UK. Guy ran around with a shotgun for three and a half hours capping people. While the gutless bobbies followed him around and didn't engage him.

The police aren't responsible for your safety. You are. Carrying isn't a cure-all, but it sure helps.

Hampton Roads Shooting Ruled Justified

The Hampton Roads shooting I posted about earlier prompted no prosecution. The store owner that shot the thief at his place of business will not be charged.

Recidivist Horse Rapist

Now that the title caught your attention, Jonathan Turley has the story. Dude.

Open Carrier Plugs Robber/Spree Shooter

Robbery halted by an armed citizen in Richmond. It seems the robber shot the shopkeeper and threw hellfire and brimstone at some customers for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A friend of the shopkeeper was open carrying a single-action cowboy gun and fired once, dropping the armed robber. While this does fulfill some of the imagery of the "Wild West" gun control propaganda, it's hard to disagree with the result.

VCDL Blog has the inside story:

On Saturday, a violent criminal shot a store clerk, had the customers in the store lined up, and while reloading his revolver told the customers that he was going to kill them all.
Then a person open carrying a single-action Colt .45 came in and shot the criminal in the stomach, saving at least six or seven lives. I received a detailed account from a VCDL member who was at the scene (but not the person with the .45).
One of the things I was told is how some of the customers were telling the police that the open-carrier was a hero and how he saved their lives.
If that's not being a first-responder when no one else was there to help, I don't know what is.

It appears that the would-be bandit will be charged with attempted robbery, use of a firearm, and (predictably) possession of a firearm by a felon.

Don't Try This At Home. Please.

Brillianter has a video up of someone using a Glock 18 (the full-auto machine pistol) with a foregrip on it. He loses control and shoots himself in the hand.



I'm pretty sure the foregrip makes it an AOW (Any Other Weapon) and requires ATF paperwork. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in the comments.

Retired Marine Thwarts Robbery; Felony Murder is a Harsh Mistress

Old news story (2007) with a legal twist to it.

So this 71-year-old former Marine named James Lovell is at a Subway restaurant in Florida when a significant emotional event transpires:

While John Lovell was finishing up his sandwich around 11:15 p.m. last
Wednesday, two masked men armed with guns barged into the restaurant, according
to a statement from the Plantation police. After taking money from the register,
the two men turned to Lovell and demanded his wallet, police said.

As the two tried to force Lovell into the ladies’ room where he thought
he would be killed, the former Marine reached behind his back to grab his
.45-caliber handgun, which he fired seven times at the two men, according to the
police statement.

Donicio Arrendell, 22, of North Lauderdale, was fatally shot in the head
and chest. Frederick Gadson, 21, of Fort Lauderdale, ran from the store after he
was shot in the chest, according to the police statement. A police canine unit
found him hiding next to a nearby bank. He was sent to Broward General Hospital
and was listed in stable condition.

The only reason I can think of to take a stickup customer to the bathroom is an execution. The authorities did not charge Lovell with any crime. In fact, the law swings the other direction here:

Gadson was charged with felony murder and armed robbery. According to Florida
law, a person charged with a felony, such as armed robbery, resulting in death
can also be charged with murder.

This is the Felony Murder Rule. Under this merger theory, the getaway driver is culpable for the dead clerk as if he were the trigger man who dropped the hammer. Florida is one of several states that extends liability for the death of one your co-conspirators. So trigger man #1 is liable for the self-defense shooting of trigger man #2.

Result: Gadson gets 12 years. Will be released in 2019.

Pretty good shooting, too. The would-be victim gets the drop on two men who have him at gunpoint and hits both center-mass and one of them in the head.

Predictably, not everyone was happy with the outcome. The mother of the deceased criminal said that Lovell shouldn't have pulled the trigger.

I'm not sure what kind of course of action she is prescribing besides "die." Lovell had already given them his wallet. She asks that he give up his life.