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Negligent v. Accidental Discharge

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Perhaps one of the most embarrassing (and dangerous) avoidable situation for an officer to have is a negligent discharge (ND) of their firearm.  The situation is an immediate announcement of the failure of an officer to follow safety protocols, and in some cases the result of the (ND) is far more tragic than humiliation and discipline to the officer.  Recent examples of this abound.

Take for example the recent case with a BART Transit Authority officer who inadvertently discharged his sidearm and killed a suspect that was laying prone on a very busy train platform.  [Ed. note:  You can read more on the specific incident here.  The Force Science Institute gives a very good presentation of the facts immediately surrounding the shooting.]

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Off Hand Shooting: Priority or Passing Trend?

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The concept of off-hand shooting is for the shooter to become proficient in shooting with their non-dominant hand.  In other words, left-handed shooting for righties, and right-handed shooting for lefties.  This concept is valid for both handgun and long gun, but for this article I will focus on handgun shooting.  I hope this topic is worth addressing for the readers here as a valid point of discussion.  With that discussion you’ll be able to make a more informed decision about whether you want to add this advanced skill to your shooting resume.

Off Hand Shooting

I purposefully avoid using “weak” hand.  If you ever face a situation where you must shoot with your off-hand, the last thing you want in a report or on the stand is a statement that you were shooting with your “weak” hand.  That just sounds “weak”.

SHOOTING FUNDAMENTALS

Before I get too far into this topic I want to emphasize that the Staff here at Bluesheepdog.com are avid supporters of the shooting fundamentals.  Without an excellent understanding and mastery of the fundamentals of shooting, you cannot realistically expect to add advanced skills with any manner of proficiency.  The old saying is true – when it hits the fan we don’t rise up to the occasion, we actually fall back to our training.

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MAG-40 Class in Worcester County MD

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Massad Ayoob is teaching a 40-hour course in Worcester County, MD in August of next year.  The course is being hosted by the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and is open to all citizens and officers who legally carry/own a firearm for self defense.

Here are the key points:

  • August 8 – August 11, 2013
  • Massad Ayoob, lead instructor
  • Worcester County SO (MD), host agency
  • open to all law abiding citizens including LEOs (proof of no criminal history must be provided)
  • cost:  $800 tuition
  • equipment needed:  quality pistol, quality holster, 500 rounds of ammunition, safety equipment, good attitude (complete list of equipment here)
  • point of contact:  Detective Lou Esposito (443) 783-0393 or lesposito@co.worcester.md.us
  • additional class information can be found at the Massad Ayoob Group page

If you are not familiar with Mas Ayoob, he is a great firearms instructor with a great deal of experience in the law enforcement and “regular guy” realms.  In addition to teaching you how to get on the trigger, he is a court recognized expert on when, and when not, to shoot.

Ayoob wrote the classic book In the Gravest Extreme, which I highly recommend to anyone who owns a firearm for personal protection.

Review: IALEFI Master Instructor Development Class

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Earlier this spring, I had the opportunity to attend an IALEFI Master Instructor Development course in Shelby County, Alabama.  The International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors is an organization dedicated to improving the level of firearms instruction with the goal of keeping officers safe in life threatening events.  This focus on officer safety has been evident in my every interaction with IALEFI.

IALEFI CLASS

The Master Instructor Development program is a three day event with both classroom and practical components.  The first day was shotgun, the second day was rifle and low-light handgun, and the final day focused on handgun.  Each instructor provided classroom material supported by drills that could be taken back to participant’s home agencies.

Day One began with Sgt. Jake King of the Marietta, GA police department concentrating on shotguns.  Participants learned drills for teaching loading, ammo transitions, and shooting at various distances.  Using a variety of ammunition, we saw the different patterns and group sizes using pump and semi auto guns.  Jake also brought along a “shotgun library” consisting of about 25 different models, action types, and configurations.

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Todd Jarrett on Dry Firing

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Randall caught up with professional shooter and trainer Todd Jarrett at the 2012 SHOT Show. Jarrett, a huge supporter of law enforcement, offered the following advice to police officers looking to improve their shooting skills:

SIG SAUER P224

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SIG SAUER P224Over at GunsHolstersAndGear.com, I wrote about a new compact pistol SIG SAUER is releasing called the P224.  The P224 is a cut down (literally – take a look at the photos over there) P229 and is chambered in 9mm, .357 SIG and .40 S&W.

Initially, the new gun will come with the DAK trigger, which has a very smooth double action only pull.  SIG states a DA/SA pistol will be available later.  The gun should be at the 2012 SHOT Show, and we will get some video and more information on it then.

The Tactical Weapon Light – Poor Man’s Laser Sight

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weapon light as an aiming device

If you already have a weapon-mounted flashlight, then by default you possess a quick firearm aiming device…if you do a bit of homework!

Laser sights are all the rage and I confess to having purchased a couple. But they are not always financially justifiable or even allowed by policy for many coppers. At half the price, a tactical light can give you a similar service in a very close combat situation.

During night fire sessions at the range, some of our shooters began to notice that they were getting a flash sight picture from their handgun-mounted lights. At distances of five yards or less, the flashlights were illuminating center of mass on the targets and approximating point of impact.

A simple test is to unload and safety check your duty gun. Look over the sights at a wall at distances from one to seven yards. Turn on the light. If your sights are properly adjusted, the beam of your flashlight will give you a general aiming point.

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The Need for the Patrol Rifle – Tactical Patrol Part III

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Patrol Rifle

[Ed. note: The Need for the Patrol Rifle  is part three of a series on Tactical Patrol.  The prior articles are Tactical Patrol Mindset and Patrol Response to Critical Incidents.]

The use of a patrol rifle is not a new concept. In fact, when you think about the “old west” the image of a lawman with a trusty Winchester lever-action is the standard. The 20th century witnessed the creation of some of the most deadly criminals to ever prowl our country. Names like Dillinger, Bonnie & Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, and Al Capone. This was the era of the “Tommy” gun, even BAR’s, and of course shotguns. Those heavier weapons ended the careers of many criminals.

After WWII times were good, America was growing, the Baby-Boom generation was in full swing. Then the 1960’s came. The Civil Rights struggle, the progressively unpopular Vietnam War, and the emergence of radicals saw America suffer home-grown terror from groups like the KKK, the Black Panthers, and the Symbionese Liberation Army.

During this time America had its first, real taste of an active shooter when a murderer mounted the bell tower at the University of Texas in Austin and shot multiple victims before two brave patrolmen and an armed citizen raced up the tower and ended his reign of terror. The racial, political, and social violence led police departments to look for a way to counter this new era of deadly threat.

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Citizens Deserve Better Trained Police Officers

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Police Use of Force TrainingI read a story last week about an East Dublin, Georgia police officer who shot and killed a man on a traffic stop.  Without even touching the circumstances of the shooting, there was a serious training issue in the 2010 case.  The officer had not been through state-mandated use of force training in the prior year, and because of that did not have the legal power of arrest under Georgia law.

How do you think that will play out in the pending civil suit filed by the family of the decedent?

The officer in question was not the only one on the force who missed state mandated training.  In fact, of the eight man East Dublin Police Department, more than half did not attend the mandatory retraining and had lost their powers of arrest.  One of the people who failed to attend training and should not have the power of arrest?  Police Chief Bill Luecke.

If you be concerned about rigors of that use of force training, don’t be:  it is only one hour per year.  Mandatory firearms training accounts for one hour per year also, bringing the total to two hours per year.

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