Tag: self defense

June 20, 2025 – In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, Chapters 17 and Conclusion

June 20, 2025 /

We have come to the end of this highly regarded book. Today I am am talking about what happens after a self-defense shooting, my opinion of the book and then what is next on AltF4.co. Let’s go.

Ayoob’s advice on what to do after a shooting is in alignment with what I have heard in today’s environment. Be the first to call the police if you can. Disarm before the police show up. Give a brief, non-confrontational statement and no more. It should contain certain phrases such as “I was afraid for my life. I shot this man and I will be happy to cooperate when I receive counsel with a lawyer”. That is it.

Before the ‘Summer of Love 2020’, there was the George Zimmerman shooting of George Floyd (2012). I happen to believe that Zimmerman was trying to do the right thing but going about things very ignorantly and stupidly. I am not sure that Floyd was up to no good, but Zimmerman was playing citizen cop, poorly.

There was plenty of digital evidence that something occurred and Florida is a castle doctrine state. The fact that Zimmerman was somewhat of a nuisance 911 caller and on the phone when he pursued and ultimately shot Floyd did not play well in his favor. Fortunately for Zimmerman, he was initially not charged with negligent manslaughter.

But, for political reasons (IMHO) Zimmerman was investigated for Civil Rights violations by the Department of Justice. Remember that this was the Obama era. From the time of the shooting in February 2012 until the case was ultimately dropped by the DOJ in April 2015, there was widespread speculation into Zimmerman’s character and intent. How is your nest egg? I will remind again that there are organizations like USCCA and Citizens Legal Defense Network.

This is a book that I was excited to read. I wanted to believe that being a highly respected work by a highly respected subject matter expert it would stand the test of time. Upon reading it, I realized that there has been too much legislative and technological water under the bridge to make this book relevant today. It would take a person already versed in this topic to be able to discriminate between the good and the not so good here.

What I think is good with it is that if you live in a ‘Constitutional Carry’ state, you need to know that there is a lot more to things then just strapping on your piece. Even if you just have a gun in the home, you need to know the parameters of when lethal force is legitimate. There are proper procedures to perform after a confrontation and you have to start somewhere.

I think Ayoob is in his mid to late seventies now. Ten years ago or so, I used to occasionally listen to him on his own podcast. I am a little surprised at some of the language used in the book that I am more than sure he would not endorse today. These would be the brandishing suggestions and the more tough guy bent that he set in some cases. I suspect that a lot of that was more a result of him being a New York City police officer. Lawmen will always be held to different (looser) standards than citizens not to mention qualified immunity (again).

It can’t be helped that so much time has passed as well as technology. Since I have been around so long, I have observed Ayoob’s recommendations evolve to slim automatics to 9mm to the current one and a half stack pistols like the Sig Sauer P365. Technology changes everything with tactics. It makes things like the suburbs possible to commute to a job daily. Now, with work from home ubiquitous an employee can literally live anywhere.

The book that I am starting next week is called Boundaries by Henry Cloud. This is a book that I have been wanting to read for twenty years. It is on the Dave Ramsey recommended list and it happens to be an area that I am weak in. There is no excuse to delay things that long as I always thought that it would be useful when my wife’s parents were alive. Better late than never.

I am not committed to how to break it up yet. It will likely be two chapters a week with the last week of reading is the last three chapters. To be prepared, read chapter one and two.

End Your Programming Routine: Ayoob has a newer book called Deadly Force which is definitely on my list. The description says that it is a follow-up to this book. I suspect that we will see all the newest and better, more relevant recommendations there. It is not my next book but I will probably read it this year. In the Gravest Extreme is out of print and rightly so. I think that it’s time has come and gone.

June 13, 2025 – In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, Chapters 15-16

June 13, 2025 /

Reading gunfighting tactics from a book is probably not the best idea. Don’t take my word for it, I am no consultant or trainer. I do believe that even with the best laid plans, practice is required. The problem is that most ranges do not allow holster draw. Mine specifically does but it does have to be with the intent of practicing techniques. I am not sure how you prove that but word to the wise.

The value of reading tactics comes after some training. This provides another perspective and the ability to analyze information. I do have to say that I learned something in this chapter that I never knew. Apparently, some revolvers have full length ejectors while others do not. Truthfully, I don’t know which ones I have or how to look for them, what models, etc.

The reason that I bring this up is that I was considering some classes for my wife. Nearly ever single self-defense pistol class requires a pistol (not a revolver). I don’t really have such a thing that I would consider appropriate. If it were me, I would just take what I have because that is what I might carry. The point is that I paid much more attention to the revolver information in this book whereas the vast majority of today’s concealed carrier would have a pistol.

Practice: no truer words were said. If you cannot hit anything at the range, how in the heck do you think you will defend your life properly? I have to admit that while I take a handgun nearly every range trip, I am a significantly better rifle shot. Not only are handguns harder to shoot accurately, but I practice rifle shooting most days with the air rifle. Most of my practice is offhand (no support) or left hand (weak hand) as well.

When it comes to things like shotguns and trap shooting, my kids can shoot my pants off. They shoot at least 75 targets for sixteen weeks a year whereas I might shoot 25 targets in one season (2X a year). They have significantly more experience than I ever have and it shows when we compete or shoot together. Those are two examples where practice is better than a loaded handgun in the sock drawer.

I do believe that you can read about safety from a book and it is effective. I am not going to extensively cover the rules of firearm safety. Some groups reference three rules while others say four. Neverthess, if you follow these you will always be safe.

  1. Treat every gun as it is loaded
  2. Keep your finger off of the trigger until ready to shoot.
  3. Verify your target and what is behind it.

Something that I think about is when others are around. I know that I am not going to do something stupid but what happens when there are other kids around? For that reason, when I am going to clean some firearms over the course of several days, I make sure that they are disassembled to the point of not being able to be used. I suppose kids smart enough could figure out how to put it back together but then they would have to know where the ammunition is, how to load it etc.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t leave stuff laying around routinely, even temporarily. But, I like to put stuff back in the safe clean. Often when I come back from the range I don’t have the time to clean up that day. I may have stuff on the bench for a few days while is am actively cleaning. Always make sure that I get my stuff put away expediently and be aware of what others may or may not know.

One last story. I know someone that was sleeping with a 9mm handgun under the pillow. One night while this person was sleeping they accidentally pulled the trigger. Fortunately, the only consequence was a hole in the wall. I have never gone out shooting (intentionally) with them but I highly suspect their judgement. Don’t do this.

End Your Programming Routine: We are approaching the end. Next week will be the last chapter and I will offer a conclusion as well. This will be unlike most books where the conclusion follows the last chapter. I felt this book was sufficiently short enough that it didn’t warrant another week. It is extremely unlikely that you would ever have to defend yourself, above everything else… be safe.

June 6, 2025 – In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, Chapters 13-14

June 6, 2025 /

OK, my opinion of this book is changing from what I believed before I read the book until now being almost finished. These two chapters are nearly worthless because so much has changed in 45 years. Even some of the information is no longer accurate because of technological changes. I just don’t think that you can overlay the old information with today’s new choices.

The first chapter is all about firearms choice. Ayoob recommends a two inch, 38 Special as the best overall choice. Personally, as someone who owns one, I have to disagree in today’s market. With a short barrel length, accurately aiming is very difficult. Recoil ranges from snappy to stinging, making shooting often uncomfortable. A magazine capacity of five pales in comparison so something like a Sig Sauer P365 that holds 13.

Something that I feel is definitely wrong is the lack of endorsement for the rifle as a self defense platform. The Modern Sporting Rifle (ex. AR-15), primarily in carbine configuration has a long track record in urban combat. I do not believe that it works well for the untrained and unpracticed but then again I don’t think that any of this does. Any sort of long arm is not for street carry. Ask Kyle Rittenhouse about packing around a rifle into trouble. That fits right into the Machismo of carrying a firearm.

But as far as home defense, it is amongst the best choices. As a rifle, the bullet energy of a 223 Remington is three times that of a 357 magnum. Rifles are inherently easier to aim and shoot accurately. An MSR magazine can carry 30 rounds. Last and best is that the 55 grain bullet tumbles on impact. This phenomenon tends to significantly reduce over penetration that will be experienced by almost any other choice.

When I started this series, I referenced the 1986 Miami shootout. This was a pivotal moment in self defense and ballistics theories. It was deemed that a large part of the failure was the result of 9mm full metal jacket ammunition that was unable to penetrate glass and deliver lethal force. As a result, the FBI developed the 10mm cartridge.

The 10mm proved to be extremely effective but caused an unintended consequence of swelling the grip size. The extra recoil and increased size made slighter, statured officers unable to competently use the firearms. That quickly morphed into another cartridge which is the 40 S&W. The Forty reigned supreme for twenty years in the law enforcement arena due to superior ballistics over 9mm.

But, times change and the economy of scale with the military (and most of the world) using 9mm, it was deemed more economical to use. There were also still complaining about the recoil of the Forty as well. As a result of the shootout and all of the cartridge development led to the FBI ballistics test. Note that the test is not caliber specific. Consequently, 9mm has largely overtaken the law enforcement market again due to significantly better ammunition development.

All of this is to say that Ayoob deemed the 9mm marginal which is simply not the case in 2025. Ayoob himself claimed that the ‘king’ of cartridges is the .45 Auto. This analysis is simply due to bullet diameter. Mind you .45 caliber is 11.4mm. So, in reality we are talking about a 2.4mm difference between bullets as the only real differentiator on full metal jacket ammunition.

That is all semi-automatic pistol stuff. There have been a bunch of new cartridges in the revolver arena as well. I will disregard all of the elephant rounds and say that the 327 Federal and the older 32 H&R Magnum have come onto the scene. When Ayoob says that there are no 32 caliber cartridges that are adequate for self defense, that would be wrong. There are a host of other benefits that I will not get into here but if I was picking a revolver and cartridge for self defense, I think I would look in this direction.

I want to end this by saying that I do not own a whole bunch of firearms. But, the reason that there are so many handgun choices and calibers is that there is a situation for all of them and choice is only one of them. A person could reasonable justify revolver for the woods, a small handgun for pocket or summer carry, a double stack for crowded situations or winter carry. In my mind, there is no perfect situation. A handgun is best for concealment and to keep the other hand free.

If you were to tell me that I had to pick one, I would say that I prefer not to be there when the confrontation happens. If you said that I had to be at the confrontation, I pick a long gun. If that is not an option, pick the one that you are the most comfortable with and can shoot the best. While I respect Ayoob’s vast experience in the ballistics arena, I side on the fact that a hit is better than a miss.

End Your Programming Routine: I don’t mean to demean Ayoob, it is just that these chapters do not stand the test of time for reasons that is beyond his control. As a person that was alive in 1980, I can tell you first hand things are very different technologically between then and now. What if you were advising cars from 1980 in 2025? The best economical car to buy is a Renault Le Car…

May 30, 2025 – In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, Chapters 10-12

May 30, 2025 /

This week we have three chapters that are all about personal protection in action. Some anecdotes are personal while others are first hand. I will spend the majority of today’s work talking about the last one but each chapter will get a little bit of analysis at least.

Before we actually get into the specific chapters this week, I have been reading mention of the term “Super Vel”. I figured that it must be some sort of ammunition but I have never heard of it. I decided I would look into it a bit. As it turns out, Super Vel is a brand of ammunition. Based on the history (in the link), I would say that it was one of the first boutique, high performance cartridge manufacturers. Today’s equivalent would be Double Tap or Buffalo Bore. Sadly, Super Vel went out of business in 1981 right after this book was published.

The good news, a contemporary of Ayoob at Guns Magazine purchased the name and is producing Super Vel again. I have never seen it in the stores but looking around it can be purchased over the internet at what appears to be reasonable prices to me. It is 50% cheaper than the Underwood, hard cast lead .38 special I just purchased. Cool, retro packaging and story, now I know.

Chapter ten, I think is about justifying an informed choice to carry a handgun. While I am no Massad Ayoob and I do not claim to be, I don’t think that the advice is that good. What Ayoob is implying is that flashing your firearm (brandishing – see last week) can be a deterrent all on it’s own. While I believe that can be true, what if there was another assailant behind that I didn’t see. I repeat again, only show a firearm when you are justified to use it. An intimidating guy leaning against a car does not meat that standard.

There is also another phenomenon in self defense. The first person to contact the police is the victim. It would not be beneath a low life to call the police on you for flashing a firearm and all of the sudden you are arrested. Show your firearm only when you draw it. Draw it only when you are justified to use it. If you cannot shoot them on the spot, best to turn around if your are feeling intimidated.

In the next chapter, it talks about two things, discretion and competency. I made my feelings known about discretion already. As to competency, I whole heartedly agree to the concept. Some states require competency for your permit. But, going deeper than that a well placed shot beats misses every day.

When it comes to caliber or capacity, there are a lot of mall ninjas out there. The fact of the matter is that if you cannot hit your target, then all of that is moot. But even more than hitting the target is hitting the target to stop it. I have seen enough animals hit in less than lethal spots to run off or hole up to be dangerous. An animal is enacting the fight or flight reaction where as a person hellbent on suicide by cop might start coming for the person shooting at them.

Finally, the last chapter this week is the gold treasure of the book. You can do all the fundamentals right, a justified shoot, no other injuries and lose nearly everything. As soon as the ‘victim’s’ family decides to file suit, your second hell is about to begin. This happens with police departments all of the time. They have a nice insurance policy to accommodate the situation.

Criminals have figured out that they can get one more payout from the state. Generally, it is in the form of a settlement rather than invest all the resources in a trial. If $10,000 makes the problem go away then that is saving a week’s worth of lawyer fees. Hence, this is why Ayoob’s advice on cash wrapped in a matchbook is a cheap insurance premium.

Who has cash and needs matches these days? Don’t be an idiot, figure out some token that you can sacrifice to potentially eliminate years of pain (if you make it out of the situation). There are also concealed carry insurance funds out there. It would be wise to belong to one of those if you have made that choice to carry a firearm. The principle that I always go back to is “If you think that you are walking into a place that you will need to use your firearm, then it is best to avoid that place”.

End Your Programming Routine: If you are reading the book along with me and you are having a hard time with me contradicting Ayoob, I would say that you need training. I will admit that I also need more training and do not consider myself an expert. But, my words are coming from years of multiple, consensus sources in a developing field of civilian concealed carry. Don’t forget that this book was written before any of that began.

May 23, 2025 – In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, Chapters 6-9

May 23, 2025 /

**Note: May 26, 2025 is a holiday. I am taking one, you should too.**

This week gets into the tactics of concealed carry. It covers the basics of where you might possibly have or use a firearm. I do think what is conspicuously missing is our interactions outside of our own business, home, street or car. We are missing things like church, restaurants, stores and all the places we might be besides the four that he talks about. That being said, we were years away from ‘shall issue’ concealed carry when this book was written. As a result, it is understandable the focus and the omission.

I never knew this but apparently, Ayoob grew up in a family business. A jewelry store to be specific. Rightly so that he was exposed to potential conflict while at the shop. I don’t know but that is possibly as risky of a proposition as being a convenience store owner operator. For most of us, I would guess that having a firearm stashed at work is probably a no go. Likely, carrying concealed would be a better proposition anyway.

My grandfather was a sole proprietor in an shady business. He was a landlord that dealt in the lower tier of renters. As such, he was robbed several times in his career during office hours. Unfortunately, they did get away with his Purple Heart awards from World War II. I would say that he could have benefitted from a gun at his office.

A gun in your home is the most likely place that it will be. While there are many people that are permitted to carry, I suspect that few will actually do it. But, having protection around at home is much more likely which is what makes going into somebody else’s home so risky. Ayoob offers what I think are reasonable tactics still today for dealing with a home invasion and family protection.

When we were living in South Carolina, I don’t think concealed carry was a legal construct. I didn’t investigate thoroughly, but I was told by many residents that it was legal to have a firearm in the glove box. I do know that was the case in other states and so I had no reason to doubt that. This has never been a practice that I have ever been comfortable with or employed.

Today in Oregon, to have a firearm in the glovebox would require you to have a concealed carried permit. Surely others will do this as well but it still doesn’t make it a good idea. I was home a few years ago when the police rang the doorbell. They said that the neighbor had a firearm stolen out of the car and wondered if we had any doorbell footage. I told him I would check and didn’t see anything.

The point being, is that leaving a firearm in the car leaves it out of your control. Run of the mill break-ins can have your property ending up in the black market. It also would be hard to reach when you really need it too. That being said, I could see putting a firearm in the car when going on a road trip or something. Where legal of course.

I know that I skipped around a little bit but the last chapter I am going to talk about is the gun in the street. Ayoob really is focused on the tactics of deploying a firearm in the streets but this is really the run of the mill concealed carry. I suspect that it is pretty sound advice but I do think that it should be taken with a grain of salt. A lot of this has changed but you do need to be aware of the term brandishing.

Brandishing is flashing a firearm with the intent of intimidation. I am more than sure Ayoob is not implying that you brandishing is a valid technique, but the wording and the way that it is written kind of, sort of seems that way. Once again, in states where that is a crime you are only legal to display a firearm when you are legal to use one. States that permit open carry typically do not have brandishing laws. The point remains that you need to know your state laws down pat.

There is a concept in this chapter that is talked about but it also comes up later in the book in a big way. That is, it is cheaper to not get in an altercation than to be in the right. I will save most of that for next week. Suffice to say, carrying a gun is a tool in the toolbox. It doesn’t mean that it is the first or best or only tool.

End Your Programming Routine: Good stuff. I keep saying that with all that has changed in this landscape, the tactics remain good and legally defensible. It helps to know and understand the history and evolution to be able to pick out the nuances and changes. Reading this book has inspired me to get the updated book that Ayoob has published because I suspect that most of what is wrong here gets corrected. It won’t be the next book but it will be soon.

May 16, 2025 – In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, Chapters 3-5

May 16, 2025 /

I know that I keep saying this but I feel like this group of chapters is another where time has probably changed prevailing attitudes. For one thing, the deregulation of concealed carry has created an industry of specialized civilian training. And with that, has come a plethora of resources that didn’t exist in 1980 like the internet and podcasts as two examples. I think that those resources have spread a broader net of better information.

I remember as a kid, we would say things like ‘shoot bad guys in the knee’. Of course, I grew up under the shadow of the early westerns and every TV show with a bad guy had a good guy. There was no such show concepts like Breaking Bad where the good guy was also a bad guy or you couldn’t quite draw clear lines. As such, we wanted to do the proverbial ‘shoot ’em in the shoulder’ because the thought of taking life would put us in the bad guy category.

With that strong desire to be a good guy, there was also the idea that we would put the bad guys away with a citizen’s arrest. This is probably the result of too much A-Team or MacGyver. Ayoob did a pretty good job of cautioning the bad guy could turn the tide from captive to captor. That is a pretty valid point because the best practices today would say you shouldn’t draw a gun unless you are justified to shoot in the first place. Holding a perpetrator at gunpoint changes the force equilibrium.

More so than the risks of a captive, if a third party calls in a 911 call, how do the police distinguish between a good and a bad guy? We assume that we are talking about the good guy holding the bad guy at gunpoint but it could be just as easily the other way (for lots of reasons). For reasons of both safety and liability, it is just best to not emulate TV shows with a Citizen’s Arrest.

Regardless of what the police would do, what are you going to do? There is probably a 95% chance that a man beating a woman in the parking lot is the aggressor. But what if you were wrong? What if it was two men fighting, now who is the aggressor? What if one is stabbing another, is that assault or self defense? We just don’t know. It is sad and selfish but it is best for self preservation to not try to pick.

An active shooter is a different story. In that case, there is a clear aggressor. When I talk about concealed carry, I am also talking about a handgun. If you are unfortunate enough to be around an active shooter event the best you are going to do is have a loaded handgun. Handgun against handgun and you have a chance if they are an average marksman. Handgun against a rifle and you are going to need some luck.

Every person needs to make the calculus on what you would do. My values are to get myself and anyone with me away from the shooter. That means that I am not typically looking to engage. If you did, what if the shooter is dead but you also hit a bystander? Are you legally prepared for a lawsuit? It doesn’t matter if the victim should be thankful, he might be looking to cash in or maybe he can no longer work. These are all of the tough choices that need to be made.

Really the last chapter I want to talk about today does not fit into the first two nor next week’s so it ended up here. One of the largest growth factors in firearms has been women. I have to say that his suggestion of a snub nosed 38 special is superseded by many, many better choices today. As an owner of one, it is difficult to shoot well. It also recoils like a getting kicked in the hand. That was probably the best you could do in 1980.

You all know that I am not a woman (even in today’s culture) so it is hard for me to really identify with those particular struggles. That being said, the number of products for women’s concealed carry is a lifetime away from where it was when the book was written. I know for a fact that 5.11 makes yoga pants with integrated holster as an example.

End Your Programming Routine: The fundamentals are definitely 1980s sound. There isn’t much that has changed from the legal standpoint. We are really talking about legal standards that go all the way back to middle ages England, what is another forty-five years? It is the gear that have made exponential improvements. From bullets, holsters, laser aiming devices, flashlights, red dot sights, glow in the dark (tritium) sights, magazine capacities, new calibers, etc. The one right choice in 1980 has a bunch of potential better choices today.

May 9, 2025 – In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, Chapter 2

May 9, 2025 /

Chapter two is among the longest of the book which is why it gets it’s own week. Did you know that that there is a legal principal that force response has to be equal or lessor? Most of us would slap our foreheads when someone says you can’t just shoot somebody that simply insulted us. That seems like an obvious inappropriate response but there are more nuanced scenarios that you probably never considered or at least don’t know.

I am going to quickly cover some of the legal definitions in this chapter. To play in any world, you must learn the vocabulary. Otherwise, we cannot have any meaningful communication because it is likely two people would not understand what each is saying.

Lethal Force – This is a particular type of assault that has an expected outcome of death. This should not be confused with Deadly Force where the outcome is actually death. Depending on your skills and stature, simply punching someone may be deadly force but not lethal force. A man punching a baby is lethal force, an average man in a bar fight that ends in busted knuckles is neither.

Disparity of Force – This has multiple implications. Generally speaking in a one on one scenario, the person with the firearm has a disparity of force. But what if there are four people unarmed versus one armed? It is not favored in court to apply unequal force in the case of self-defense, particularly when it is deadly.

Equal Force – Unless you are in a Castle Doctrine state, it is generally considered imperative that self defense is only justified under equal force (or less). This is why we need to understand the concept of disparity of force first.

Reasonableness – The reasonableness standard is of course subjective and possibly changes with time. I think about the incidents where there is some kind of traffic issue and then the ‘victim’ chases the offender for redemption (or whatever). Would a reasonable person feel victimized in the situation and all of the above response reasonable? If the offense or response is not reasonable for the jury, then neither is self-defense.

Premises – The location of deadly force makes a huge difference to the standard by which you are judged. Incidents that happen at home have significantly different latitude that something that occurs at a public place.

Bare vs Reasonable Fear – Bare fear is fear that exists. It would be going to a certain part of town or someone wearing a motorcycle club vest. There must be more to the situation than bare fear like proximity and even more, belief of intent. You are on the same side of the street and they are aggressively moving toward you with agitation. Only reasonable fear is considerable for justifiable self-defense.

Innocence – The best legal defense is no protoorganism whatsoever. Remember that innocent is not the same as not guilty. If you knew there was going to be a gun-fight, it would be best to not go there in the first place.

Escalation – Escalation rarely is justified in self-defense. It get’s pretty muddy when you participate in some of the back and forth before deadly force. You possibly could have provoked the incident but met the other standards in the use of deadly force. For that reason leave the area/fight/confrontation before it starts.

This is a super quick run through of the key vocabulary terms. Many definitions have a significant amount of additional information, particularly reasonableness. So again, if you conceal carry and have not educated yourself with the intent for mastery in these subjects, you need training.

I find it untenable that someone can physically assault you and it still may not provide justification for deadly force. It all depends on what your grand jury neighbor’s feel is reasonable. As I keep saying, your particular jurisdiction may have broader interpretations of what is permissible, but if you stick to these definitions, it is much more likely that you stay in the clear.

End Your Programming Routine: In chapter one, Ayoob mentions that carrying a firearm is a privilege. I agree and disagree with that statement. It was certainly true that 1980 NYC (and today) it was a privilege because it is a very strict ‘may issue’ jurisdiction. Given more recent Supreme Court interpretations of the second amendment I disagree. Those are functions of changing opinions over time. One opinion that does not change is Ayoob is amongst the foremost experts in this topic. It would be wise to get these definitions down pat.

Next week, chapters 3-5.

May 2, 2025 – In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, Introduction (Chapter 1)

May 2, 2025 /

If you own a firearm with the thought that you could possibly use it for self defense and you have never heard of Massad Ayoob, stop right now and go find this book. Unfortunately, it is out of print but I bought it reasonable priced/used on Amazon. So, it is still available. While the book is dated for reasons I will talk about a little later, the fundamentals of this book are rock solid.

Ayoob started as a police office and morphed his career into expert witness for criminal trials. His information is based on real life situations and trial information. I would say that he is recognized as the preeminent subject matter expert in the legal aspects of self defense. He offers some of the most well respected and sought after firearms training in the country through his company Massad Ayoob Group (MAG) as well.

There is a reason that this book is out of print. It was published in 1980 and a lot, I do mean a lot has changed in 45 years. The extremely affordable, polymer framed, striker fired, double stack magazine Glock had not yet been invented. The FBI had not yet had the Miami shootout the lead to the creation of the 10mm cartridge followed by the 40 S&W that spawned the resurgence of the 9mm that killed all of them using better bullet design.

In 1980, Indiana became the first state to change their approach to concealed carry. At that point, only Vermont had no concealed carry regulations or restrictions. They adopted a ‘shall issue’ stance meaning applicants no longer had to justify a need for concealed carry permit (known as may issue). By the late 1990s, 30 states were shall issue and by 2006, 39 had shall issue or no restrictions. A second wave of concealed carry changes started in 2003 with Alaska no longer requiring a permit to carry (known as constitutional carry). As of time of this writing 29 states have a form of permit less carry.

For those of you that have not gone through the licensing process, every state is different and the laws vary quite widely. Some require a shooting test but at the core of all is a very basic overview of the law. For example, some states do not recognize other states permits. A very convoluted affair.

One of the most significant tactical changes since 1980 has been the prevalence of adoption of Stand Your Ground laws (now 30 states). In all states, stand your ground removes the requirement of retreat until deadly force can be employed. A more extreme version of this is called the Castle Doctrine which exempts the fear from imminent harm as a requirement for deadly force.

I say all of these things not to necessarily give you a history lesson but to highlight how much has changed since the book was written. You cannot just read something and take it as gospel. That being said, if you take the more conservative advice, you are likely going to be the safest under the circumstances. You absolutely need to be up to speed on the laws of your jurisdiction if you are considering self defense.

Chapter One is three pages long, so there isn’t a ton that I can distill from there. The one thing that I can pick out that I agree with is that self defense has two key components, knowledge and skill. This book can help fill in the knowledge gap. Books can point in a starting point direction for skill but you also have to get out there and practice.

Fundamentals for hitting the target are necessary. But can you do it under stress? What about if it is dark? Maybe flipping on the light switch is not the smartest idea, but maybe it is. You can probably spend your whole life working on this. I say this, starting somewhere is a good idea, even if you decide this is not your life’s work or passion. It is not going to be mine, but I know that I need to do a little more than what I have done.

End Your Programming Routine: This is a short book. I am going to group this study into similar concepts as I cover the book. That means next week will be Chapter two which is all about the different definitions of lethal force. I will certainly point out where things have changed since its publishing because that is also important to know where the gotchas are.

November 9, 2023 – The Role of ‘Less Than Lethal’

November 9, 2023 /

I have finished my analysis of the Crossman 760. If you recall, this is my son’s BB gun that is multi-pump. Since you already know that I hate pumping, then you know that I don’t have a ton of interest in this platform. That being said, I got curious in the difference between this rifle and my Crossman Legacy when shooting BBs.

I am going to skip a lot of the technical information about this test and the results. But I will give you the bottom line. My initial hypothesis was that it took a certain velocity to stabilize BBs and therefore be more accurate. Unfortunately, even at the maximum number of pumps on the 760, the BB did not reach the same velocity as the most accurate number of pumps on the Legacy.

It does appear to me that there is one target slightly more accurate that the others. In this case it is the four pumps target. That correlates to an average velocity of 391 fps and energy of 0.7 ft/lbs. That is a far cry of difference from the Legacy that was most accurate at 608 fps and energy of 4.3 ft/lbs.

There are however many factors that impact the analysis of the results. The first is that I couldn’t validate my hypothesis in the first place. The max velocity of the 760 was 514 fps versus the most accurate level of pumping on the Legacy was 608 fps. Second and possibly more vital was that I have a scope on the Legacy and only have the open sights on the 760. It is entirely possible that the inaccuracy was due to the sight picture. I was hoping that I would be good enough the way things were to get comparable results. I have to say that is a variable that should be considered.

This post is more focused on what to do with this information. Since I have already announced that I hate to pump and the number of pumps for follow-up is what drove me to purchase another rifle the Optimus, is there any place for the Crossman 760 at home or homestead? The answer is yes.

First of all, never have a BB gun fight with something that is really going to hurt you. If you can’t tell, that was very strong sarcasm, don’t ever do that. But, thinking along those lines, maybe you want to discourage uninvited visitors. When we were kids, we used to shoot deer with our Daisy 840s that hopped into the garden and wrecked havoc on beans and everything else. I also know from hearsay that pellet rifle can kill a deer.

Other animals may be either pets or fall under the furbearing game regulations. Killing animals just might be a crime, not to mention many municipalities prohibit discharge of air rifles and bows. That being said, I think that a stinging BB is a perfectly acceptable deterrent in the right circumstances. Even though that cat pooping in your yard drives you crazy, just wait until you have to face them when you have shot and killed beloved ‘Fluffy’.

This is a very contentions subject in rural America. As we have a right to property, if someone’s pet is causing or potentially causing harm particularly to livestock, then we have a right to defend our property. Lethal force is permitted in those cases. All that is a subject for another day. My point is that you might want to have less than lethal options to avoid unwanted drama, legalities and other situations that may be uncomfortable at the least.

I do not know the exact energy that it takes to kill animals so it should be said that using a BB gun may also be risky if you are looking at non-lethal deterrents. I shot a lot of birds as a youth with my Daisy 840 which I calculate around 0.6 ft/lbs. That same rifle had no penetration on deer and racoons. Possibly better options include pepper spray works well for dogs or something like Airsoft that shoots a larger projectile at lower velocity.

End Your Programming Routine: Adding a scope ($12) to my son’s BB gun is certainly a strong possibility. I have half a notion to move the scope that is on my Legacy over to my son’s 760 and upgrading my own rifle. It is really a terrible piece of kit but it just may be slightly better than open sights, I don’t know. For now, I am going with four pumps is the optimum accuracy with that rifle. That makes my new hypothesis something like pump rifles are most accurate at pumping slightly less than half the total of pump capacity.