Category: Carrying / Self-Defense

Clayton carries a mini-mag, and shows how to avoid losing them, which is a handy suggestion, since I lost a few when I used to carry the mini.   A few years ago I switched to carrying a Surefire 6P.  Not only is it a lot brighter than the mini, but it has a holster that completely secures it, and there are a number of tactical holster makers that make holsters for it.

Downsides are it takes a more expensive lithium battery, which won’t last long if you keep the flashlight on.  The Surefire isn’t really meant for continuous use either.   It’ll get very hot if you run it more than 10 minutes.   The nylon Surefire holster also doesn’t perfectly protect the button at the bottom, and I burned a hole clean in the top of the flap that covers and secures the flashlight when I sat down on the button one time.

It does, however, do a good job of hiding the Glock if put at 3:00 with the Glock right behind it at 4.  If your shirt blows open, you’re not made.  It’s also bright enough to night blind someone if you aim it at them.   All in all, I doubt I’d go back to the mini-mag.  For those that don’t carry a flashlight, I would highly suggest it.  In my line of work, I’ve always found it handy anyway, but you’d be surprised how often it comes in handy in other situations.

I think if I were a burglar, and I got shot by an old blind guy, I’d probably rather be dead.  I would imagine this guy will be the laughing stock among his criminal pals from now on.

All it took for me to get my unrestricted license to carry was filling out and application, a background check, and 65 bucks.  I had it in two weeks.  People in Maryland aren’t so lucky.   Go read Sebastian’s whole post, and if you aren’t as outraged by it as I am, something is wrong with you.

Restaurants are gun free zones in Georgia, unless you aren’t something interested in following the law. Fortunately for this group of people, there was at least one other person not following the law. That person had a Georgia Firearms License. It’s good to see that the authorities are doing the right thing and not charging him with violating a no-carry zone.

Hat tip to John Lott

Jeff points out to a reporter that most defensive gun uses don’t result in shots being fired. I’d also point out that most people who get shot with a pistol actually live. Even if there are 195 justifiable homicides by private citizens, there would be a lot more defensive gun uses where the perpetrator was shot, but lived.

From SayUncle:

TO: Deans

FROM: Dr. Patricia Telles-Irvin, Vice President for Student Affairs
RE: Protest Event Next Week

A national group known as Students for Concealed Carry On Campus, which advocates allowing students and others to bring concealed weapons to campus, plans an Empty Holster Protest all next week. Students who participate in the event are being urged to wear an empty holster to class in order to protest state laws and university policies that prohibit firearms on campus.

Neither state law nor campus policies prohibit carrying an empty holster, so anyone who participates in this event is within his or her rights. However, if any faculty member or student feels genuinely threatened, they should feel free to call the University Police Department. If you would, please pass this along to your department chairs and faculty.

Any bets on whether wearing holsters gets added to the student handbook as a verboten activity come next fall?

If you listen to the press, or the Brady Campaign, there’s only one conclusion you can draw from violence involving guns; guns are bad.  Breda, a victim of a tragedy herself, has a must read on this topic.  Those prone to PSH might not like what she has to say.

If you want to know why I think police need to stick with us gun nuts?  This is the reason:

That said, there appears to be far greater leniency with respect to the carrying, and use, of weapons by members of law enforcement in this country than is desirable.

Interestingly, as you know, police officers in Great Britain don’t carry guns, and that country has a much lower incidence of violent crime.

These people have absolutely no regard for officer safety at all.  They will put the lives of our police officers in jeopardy in order to quell their irrational fear.  They do not understand the nature of police work, nor do they care to.

Off duty carry is important for an officer’s safety, because the bad guys don’t have any concept of “off duty”.  5:00 doesn’t roll around and they suddenly become respectable family men.  If they get our guns, they will come restrict police guns next.  It’s not about fighting crime, it’s about feeding an irrational fear.

Hat tip to SayUncle

Someone pointed me to this story describing a sorry situation that a Pennsylvania LTC got himself into:

Mr. Gittens said the fight started at Tink’s Night Club in Scranton, where Mr. Padilla was fighting with a woman and Mr. Gittens thought he was not treating her with enough respect.

A group of people left Tink’s and traveled to Denny’s. About 3 a.m., Mr. Gittens and Mr. Padilla began to argue in the parking lot. Blows were exchanged and Mr. Padilla lunged at him with a screwdriver, Mr. Gittens said.

“He stabbed me in the arm; there was blood,” Mr. Gittens said. “I couldn’t believe he stabbed me. So I went after him again.”

Pretty soon, others stepped in and separated them. Mr. Belmonte was holding Mr. Padilla back, and pulled out his .40-caliber Glock pistol when Mr. Padilla took another swing, Mr. Gittens said.

Looks like this guy stepped in to separate his friend and Mr. Padilla.  His friend was the aggressor in the situation, having initiated the confrontation.  This was bad move number one.  I don’t like my friends this much.  If I were out with a buddy and he got himself into a fight, at worst it wouldn’t be the other guy I’d be restraining.   At best I’d call the police and let them deal with his sorry ass.

Charges have not been brought against Mr. Padilla, because “it was pretty clear he was not the aggressor in all this,” Ms. McCambridge said.

There’s a lot of missing information here.   Was someone restraining Mr. Gittens as well?  Had Mr. Gittens broken off the fight when Mr. Padilla resumed it and was shot?   Was he armed with the screw driver when he was shot?

Mr. Belmonte is claiming self-defense, which it could be, depending on whether hostilities had broken off and Mr. Padilla resumed them, and whether he was still armed with the screwdriver.  But I can see why the ADA would bring charges in this case.  There are probably multiple stories in this altercation and alcohol was supposedly involved, so she will leave it up to a jury to decide whether this was justifiable self-defense.

This illustrates the dangers of getting involved in the affairs of others.  This is really a matter that Mr. Belmonte should have stayed out of.  He definitely shouldn’t have been drinking and carrying, if that turns out to be the case.  Even if he is found not-guilty on these charges, he’ll probably never get another LTC in Pennsylvania.