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HOLSTER
SAFETY
PITFALLS AND AVOIDING THEM
firearm
fundamentals
for the whole family
volume 5 april 2008
taurus pt1911
an interview with
louis awerbuck
usconcealedcarry.com

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CONTENTS APRIL 2008 36
32 Taurus PT1911
Taurus’ Take On John Browning’s Icon
BY TODD BURGREEN
21 GUNSMITHING HORROR STORIES:
Don’t Let This Happen To You
BY PHIL ELMORE
26 LOUIS AWERBUCK
The Exception To The Rule
BY MICHAEL TAN
34 FIREARM FUNDAMENTALS
FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
Arizona Gun Club Gets The Job Done
BY RICK MEDINA
36 HOLSTER SAFETY
Pitfalls and Avoiding Them
BY KATHY JACKSON
40 SHOT SHOW 2008
A Sneak Peek At What’s New And What’s Cool
BY DUANE DAIKER
COLUMNS
08
THE
ORDINARY GUY
Ahhhh, Freedom
BY MARK WALTERS
14
PROFILE
Ben Shepherd
BY TIM SCHMIDT
32
TACTICS
& TRAINING
Words Of Wisdom
From A 20-Year
Police Officer
BY R.K. CAMPBELL
44
FORCE
ON FORCE
NOTEBOOK
Revisiting The
21-Foot Rule
BY JACK RUMBAUGH
46
REALITY
CHECK
Point Shooting Versus
Aimed Fire?
BY GABE SUAREZ
48
IT’S JUST
THE LAW
Militia Law “Warriors Of
The Working Day”
BY K.L. JAMISON
52
ARMED
SENIOR
CITIZEN
Entering And Exiting
Your Vehicle Safely
BY BRUCE N. EIMER,
Ph.D.
51
LICENSE
TO FEAR
The Future Of
Concealed Carry
BY L. NEIL SMITH
DEPARTMENTS
06
LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR
12
TRUE STORIES
32
SECOND
AMENDMENT
54
HOT BRASS

CONCEALED CARRY
MAGAZINE
Volume 5 - April 2008
Publisher & Editor
Timothy J. Schmidt
Managing Editor
Kathy Jackson
Art Director
Betty Shonts
Circulation Manager
Laura Otto
Copy Editor
John Higgs
Column Editors
Duane A. Daiker
Bruce N. Eimer, Ph.D
George Harris
Kathy Jackson
Jack Rumbaugh
L. Neil Smith - JPFO Liberty Crew
Gabriel Suarez
Mark A. Walters
Contributing Writers
Steve Farmer
Steve Henigson
Gary Hoff
Vance R. Lackore
Dan Starks
Michael Tan
Advertising Sales
Bob Cole
360-665-0542
E-mail: bobcole@centurytel.net
Signed articles in Concealed Carry Magazine
reflect the views of the author, and are not necessarily
the views of the editors at Delta Media, LLC. The claims
and opinions in the paid advertisements published
in this magazine are not necessarily the claims and
opinions of Delta Media, LLC. Delta Media, LLC takes
no responsibility for these views, claims or opinions.
Concealed Carry Magazine and the U.S. Concealed
Carry Association are registered trademarks of Delta
Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2004-
2007 by Delta Media, LLC. Reproduction, copying,
or distribution of Concealed Carry Magazine is
prohibited without written permission.
Published for U.S. Concealed Carry by:
4466 County Road P - Suite 204
Jackson, WI 53037
(877) 677-1919 • Customer Service
(262) 677-8877 • U.S. Concealed Carry
Concealed Carry Magazine - April 2008. Issue; April 12,
2008 (USPS: 022-302, ISSN: 1550-7866) is published
8 times per year for $39.00 per year by Delta Media,
LLC, 4466 County Road P - STE 204, Jackson, WI
53037-9272. Periodicals postage paid at Jackson,
WI and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send
address changes to: Concealed Carry Magazine, 4466
County Road P - STE 204, Jackson, WI 53037-9272.
tIM’S THOUGHTS
NEW EDITOR AND NEW ART DIRECTOR
I
am pleased and excited to announce that Concealed Carry Magazine has
a new editor and a new art director. Kathy Jackson is our new Managing
Editor and Betty Shonts is our new Art Director.
Kathy has been writing features and columns for Concealed Carry Magazine
for over three years. She and her boys were even featured on one of our
magazine covers. Kathy has also been publishing numerous articles on gun
safety, kids, mindset and many other fascinating self-defense subjects on her
website at www.corneredcat.com. Kathy brings excellent organization skills
as well as fresh, new content ideas to CCM.
Betty has been expertly designing the pages of SWAT Magazine for many
years. When I contacted the publisher of SWAT Magazine regarding her skills,
he told me, “Betty is the best in the business.” Betty will now be handling the
Art Director responsibilities for both SWAT Magazine andConcealed Carry
Magazine. One more interesting thing about Betty is that she was the model
on the very first cover of Concealed Carry Magazine ! Kind of ironic, don’t you
think?
I am excited to be working with these two extremely capable women.
Take care and God Bless,
APRIL 2008 COVER
PHOTOGRAPHER: Chris Wardell — Chris Wardell Photography
MODEL: Claude Werner of Atlanta, Georgia is the chief instructor at the elite
Rogers Shooting School in Ellijay, Georgia. He is also an NRA certified instructor
in six disciplines and has taught at numerous firearms training conferences.
CCM and the IDPA Journal have published articles he has authored.
Claude has been using firearms for recreation and self-defense since he was
11 years old. Having had a concealed carry permit since 1983, concealed carry
is an issue he takes very seriously. Accordingly, he is a member of the NRA as
well as the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network, an organization dedicated
to safeguarding the legal rights of armed citizens.
As seen in the photo, he is an active International Defensive Pistol Association
(IDPA) competitor, holding a Master classification in four divisions. He shoots
several matches monthly at local clubs. This prepared him to be the revolver
champion at numerous State and Regional IDPA Championships and to
place 2nd at the IDPA National Championship in the Stock Service Revolver
Division.
Claude regularly practices at his local gun club, Cherokee Gun Club in
Gainesville, GA. His most commonly used weapon, seen on the cover, is the
Glock 17 (9mm) with Warren Tactical sights. It is carried in a Safariland holster.
When not carrying the Glock, he carries a Smith & Wesson Model 642 in a
Safariland pocket holster.
His self-defense ammunition is Federal Premium HST 9mm and Speer Gold
Dot +P .38 Special. For practice, he normally uses Canned Heat ammunition
from Georgia Arms.
Claude knows that training and practice are key components of successful
self-defense. He urges everyone to train, practice, and be aware of their
surroundings.
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

1-888-732-5011
crossbreedholsters.com
CROSSBREED
HOLSTERS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Due to volume received, not all
letters can be answered. Letters may
be edited for space and clarity.
Dear Editor,
I started carrying concealed and
found your magazine a month later. I
spent 30 years in the military so I was
familiar with guns and gun safety. What
I have learned in your magazine has
been phenomenal. I learned to be more
aware of my surroundings at all times
and not to let down my guard as long
as I am carrying. I learned to carry all of
the time unless it is not legal to carry in
a location. I learned the importance of
practice to develop automatic muscle
memory. I learned how to conceal. I
learned the importance of tactical lighting.
I did not learn any of this in the military,
I guess because we did not carry
concealed and our enemy was a different
animal.
Thank you for a great information
source.
Steven Parscale
Paola, Kansas
Dear Editor,
As I watched the country I love disintegrate
around me, I struggled with
feelings of anger, duty and devotion.
I was in despair about what “I” could
do. It was if nobody else was seeing
what was in front of their eyes. Then I
found USCCA and recognized that I
was not alone. For the first time I had
a place to communicate with people
like me. I always felt a little different,
as if most people were not on the same
wavelength as me. I realized for the first
time, I was a sheepdog…and they were
sheep. Suddenly tumblers fell into place
and a door opened. The Forum is a great
resource. It offers a way to catch up with
others who are ahead of me on the path.
Thanks, Tim, for your devotion to the
USCCA project.
Kevin Coughlin
Candia, New Hampshire
Dear Editor,
I am a disabled senior citizen that
truly enjoys hand guns. I am starting my
seventh year as having my concealed
carry permit. I got the permit so I could
legally take a gun into the manufacturing
company on security call ins in the
middle of the night. The local law officers
seemed to appreciate the fact that I
had a gun and knew how to use it.
After a medical disability I still love to
carry and to also go out and shoot my
guns. I read almost cover to cover four
or five gun magazines every month.
Having my gun when I leave the house
gives me a sense of being in control of
what is and might go on around me.
Send your letters to:
Concealed Carry Magazine
Attn: Editor
4466 Hwy P - Suite 204
Jackson, WI 53037
Or use our contact form:
www.usconcealedcarry.com
I really enjoy reading Tim’s articles
that he emails to me from USCCA. I
like the idea of always being legal as
to where and how I can carry my guns.
Thank you, Tim, for all the good information
you have supplied on your web
site.
Sherrill Thompson
Smithfield, NC 27577
Dear Editor,
I just joined USCCA less than a month
ago and feel that I have already gleaned
enough information via the web and
the one magazine that I recieved to
pay for the subscription price. As a new
concealed carry person, I have had lots
of questions. Your organization has
given me a wealth of information that
I couldn’t have gotten anywhere else.
Thank You!!!!
Gary Hazen
Eaton, Co. 80615
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

Item No. Product Description Size Qty. Price Ea. Sub-Total

THE ORDINARY GUY
AHHHH, FREEDOM
[ B Y M a r k W a l t e r s ]
Friend Vincent
Savage
proceeding at
his own risk!
Take a close look at the
photographs accompanying
this edition of The Ordinary
Guy. They’re fun!
They represent good friends and family
enjoying the great outdoors and
a fun day shooting outside in the
open woods. They represent freedom.
They represent everything all of us here at
the USCCA stand for. Our ability to enjoy
our chosen activity of sport shooting, target
practice and pure fun are just a few of
our core values in addition to our right of
self-defense. These pictures are a reminder
of what freedom means and just exactly
what is at stake this November.
By the time this issue goes to print, we
will have a much clearer picture of the
presidential candidates from each party
and will more than likely know where we
stand as voters. I don’t want to spend too
much time in this edition talking about
the upcoming elections (there will be
plenty of time for that), but rather I’d like
to remind everyone that as important as
our self-defense is, our guns are FUN too!
Sometimes we lose sight of that.
For starters, some of you are probably
wondering if there is a story behind the
photograph of the gentleman with the
receding hairline standing next to that really
cool sign. Yup, there sure is and I’ll be
more than happy to tell you about it! Several
years ago, my father-in-law rented a
cabin in the north Georgia mountains for
a week-long family vacation of quiet solitude,
buried deep in the hills alongside a
beautiful trout stream. While unloading
the trunk, my mother-in-law pointed out
that imposing sign, located just below the
property of our rented abode. Now, being
who I am, I had brought virtually my
entire gun collection with me in anticipation
of finding somewhere to toss some
lead deep in those hills. Little did I realize
just how short of a distance I would have
to travel!
Before I could even unload our suitcases,
the innate desire deep in my genetic
makeup forced me to meet the individual
responsible for placing that sign on the
gravel road. Abandoning the emptying of
my trunk and having no idea what might
lie ahead of me, I drove down that road to
find the heavily armed Vietnam veteran.
No more than 100 feet down the hill sat
two beautiful cabins nestled along the
stream. I picked one, parked my car and
headed towards the door. As I approached
the porch, I noticed the “I don’t call 911”
sticker with the drawing of a S&W revolver
placed neatly next to the door handle and
knew I had found the right cabin! I will
admit that I moved slightly to my right for
cover before knocking on the door when
a man approached cautiously from inside.
I identified myself as someone who
was renting the cabin up the hill from him
and as a gun enthusiast couldn’t help but
introduce myself as a result of the posted
sign. To break any tension on his part, I
immediately asked if he was aware of any
place I could shoot each day while I was
on vacation for the week. He introduced
himself and the conversation immediately
turned to guns.
As usually happens with two like-minded
individuals, we developed a very quick
rapport and became swift acquaintances.
Needless to say, the quiet solitude of the
mountain vacation was interrupted each
afternoon and early evening with the
sounds of gunfire echoing throughout
those hollows. As time has passed and
luck would have it, I now live nearby and
spend some time each year shooting up in
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

My nephew Mason Dorin enjoying my
Henry Golden Boy 22LR.
the hills with Bob on that quiet mountain
road. On a recent trip up to my neck of the
woods, my friend, Vincent “Larry” Savage
was introduced to that hillside. Of course,
he couldn’t leave without a picture of himself
next to that now infamous sign. That,
my friends is fun stuff!
You’ll also note the pictures of my young
nephew with a Henry Golden Boy .22LR in
his hands for the first time. He is now addicted
to shooting and his father has purchased
for him his own rifle. This type of
activity is vital to the continuation of the
shooting sports. There is nothing like a
fall afternoon in the woods plinking cans
with that .22 or shooting posted targets. I
can assure you that my young nephew will
eventually take his own children or some
of his friends outside to enjoy the activity
a lot of us take for granted. He has also
been made aware of the importance of his
responsibility for his own defense as he
grows older.
My own children are getting closer every
year to being able to enjoy some of the
shooting activities that their father enjoys.
Although they are not yet old enough to
take them shooting, they have been taught
the fundamentals of gun safety and I have
stripped them of their inevitable curiosity
of guns. They have seen videos of daddy
shooting into that hill, they have heard
the report of a gunshot, and seen their
father clean his guns. They do not bat an
eye-lid when they see daddy strap on his
handgun. They know that daddy’s “shooting
guns” are for protection from the “bad
mans” as well as for sport and fun. They
are also keenly aware that they are never
to touch a gun wherever they may, be unless
in the presence of their parents. They
are learning the Eddie Eagle rules of gun
safety. It is such a shame that due to their
own unfounded ignorance and fear, more
parents don’t enjoy this activity with their
children.
Upon finding some of these pictures,
I felt it necessary to remind not only the
readers of CCM, but also myself, to get out
more often and enjoy the freedoms we
hold so dear but take so much for granted
in this country. As November approaches,
it is incumbent upon each and every one
of us to remember these freedoms lest we
lose them forever.
As you are all probably aware by now,
the DC gun ban case (DC vs Heller) is
being heard by the US Supreme Court in
March. To view the brief filed by Buckeye
Firearms Association, please visit the following
site. n
www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5410
BY: WWW.JPFO.ORG
To purchase your Goody Gun Cutter:
JPFO, Inc. - PO Box 270143 - Hartford, WI 53027
Order line: (800) 869-1884
www.goodyguns.com
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APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) has created a new
program to counteract the unceasingly lies and dangerous propaganda of the
victim disarmament (aka “gun control”) lobby—lies and propaganda mostly
aimed at a captive audience of children in the public school system, and
spread like a disease by the mass media—while providing hours of wholesome
family fun.
The program, called “Goody Guns,” consists of a special cookie cutter in the
shape of a semi-automatic pistol or a revolver. With the supervision and help of
the adults in their lives, boys and girls can turn their own kitchens into “Arsenals
of Liberty” by making gun-shaped cookies to keep and share, while learning
firearms safety lessons the public schools would never teach them, and which the
mass media don’t want to see taught.
Each Goody Gun comes with 2 JPFO “Gran’pa Jack” booklets, educational
comics aimed at everyone aged eight or older. These booklets destroy every major
argument for “gun control” while educating kids so they will know how to support
firearms ownership. You’ll also get 2 mini toothpick flags to decorate your Goody
Gun creations, plus two recipes to start you off.
Goody Gun Cutter - $9.95 each (postage paid)
or $16.95 for two (postage paid)
Goody Guns © Copyright 2007

SIG SAUER ® ACADEMY
TRAINING FOR THE FUTURE
[ B Y G E O R G E H A R R I S ]
Training takes on a
variety of meanings for
the majority of us.
About the Author:
Is it practicing what we know or is it
learning something new and repeating
the action hoping to become better
at it? Are we having fun or do we do it
in order to be elevated to the next level
of accomplishment? Is there a set goal
to be achieved? Lot’s of questions with
an endless number of answers.
I have known many people who got
so wrapped up in how to train and what
to train for, that they became indecisive
and didn’t do anything but wring
their hands and worry about what they
should have done. Then, as a follow up
to the indecision, they go to the range
and launch a bunch of bullets just to
be able to tell themselves that they did
something. These folks generate a lot of
once-fired brass with little more than
that to show for it.
In the next few paragraphs we will put
some definitions to training, education,
and practice that will help with setting
goals, having fun, and enjoying self improvement
all at the same time, just by
having a plan.
In simple terms, training is generally
physical in nature and most often involves
behavioral change in motor skill
development. Education is academic
in nature and involves change through
intellectual stimulation. Practice is repetition
of a previously learned action or
idea in order to elevate performance
to a higher level. Practice is further enhanced
with the understanding of the
specific benefit to us of what we are doing
and the concept of how it works to
make our performance improvement.
By understanding the benefit of practicing
a particular drill and how it changes
our shooting performance, the time
and ammunition we are spending on
performance improvement suddenly
takes on new meaning.
Unfortunately, way too many of us
practice specific drills because we read
somewhere that they will make us better
at the goals we pursue or someone
that we consider knowledgeable suggested
that we practice a certain drill
to improve our performance. Unless we
achieve some expected outcome fairly
quickly, the drill is tossed aside, unperfected,
in favor of another more glamorous
drill and the condition perpetuates
itself with lots of expended ammunition
and little improvement to show for it.
In determining what type of training
would benefit us the most and what
we should practice, questions have to
be asked about what we have decided
to improve on. These questions should
compare the relevance and reality of
the training techniques with the desired
outcome. A practical example would be
practicing drawing from a competition
holster to decrease our draw time when
in reality we always carry concealed
in an inside the pants, behind the hip,
holster. There is no relevance because
we don’t carry in a competition holster
every day. It is not realistic to believe
that drawing from an open holster, positioned
differently on our person than
the everyday carry holster, would realize
much speed benefit at all; the mechanics
of the two draws are significantly different.
Let’s take the same situation and develop
an effective practice regimen that
will afford us success in a minimum
amount of time.
First, to determine relevance, we
need to answer why we are carrying inside
the pants and behind the hip (as
there are better locations for drawing
with speed than this selection). Let’s
say that we are dressed daily in a suit
with the coat frequently un-buttoned.
Therefore, rather than an appendix or
point of the hip carry, behind the hip
would give us the best likelihood of
concealment. Relevance and realism is
George Harris has spent over 30
years in the field of Adult Education
with more than 17 years at the SIG
SAUER ® Academy.
He has focused
his efforts in the
arenas of small
arms, small arms
training and combat
skill development.
George has
evolved from an
10
Infantry Soldier, Small Arms Repair
Technician, and Drill Instructor to
become the Coach and Firing Member
of the Internationally recognized
United States Army Reserve Combat
Marksmanship Team. As a competitive
shooter, George has the coveted
distinction of being Distinguished
with both the Service Pistol and the
Service Rifle.
As Director of the SIG SAUER ®
Academy, George is committed to the
safe and successful use of firearms
by armed professionals and responsible
citizens alike through using the
SIG Principle of Training: Simple Is
Good!
Sponsored By:
sigsauer.com 603-679-2003
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

clear now, as this mode of dress is how
we live everyday life. The behind the hip
carry location gives us the best blend
of concealment, access and retention
that we could expect. The fact that this
carry method “makes sense” removes
any doubt as to why this carry location
has been selected. The brain tends to
embrace ideas that “make sense” which
then introduces an element into the
practice that in turn validates the practice
and achieves positive results.
The other half of the equation is the
“how” portion of the practice. Speed is
economy of motion. If we want to decrease
the time it takes to draw from the
holster to the target we must examine
every movement from the initiation of
the draw to the delivery of the shot for
unnecessary movement. This is done
by starting and finishing the draw to the
target in slow motion so as to be able to
detect errant movement that is not essential
to the task. Gradually increase
the speed until each flaw is found and
fixed, thereby eliminating excess movement.
Continue until the draw stroke
is fluid and effortless. Your body is now
conditioned to follow, at speed, the path
of the range of motion created with slow
deliberate movement. Even when forced
under the condition of a surprise attack,
the movement will be smooth and efficient.
This is but one example of training
for the future in establishing why we
need to practice a technique, and how
to practice it for maximum benefit.
As we strive to improve, we are benefited
by having a plan of action that
is relevant, realistic, and makes sense.
This makes the new skill to be learned
more easily accepted and successful in
its performance. This increases the likelihood
of sustainment through repetition
because it is enjoyable. The bottom
line is to set a goal that is relevant and
realistic. Secure the equipment, and formulate
a plan necessary to achieve that
goal, and then practice the plan until
it is committed to subconscious action
when needed. Each technique that we
learn and understand because it works,
and it “makes sense” puts another trick
in our bag of success and survival.
Hedge your bets and train for the future.
n
I have known
many people who
got so wrapped
up in how to train
and what to train
for, that they became
indecisive
and didn’t do
anything but wring
their hands and worry
about what they
should have done.
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APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
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11

TRUE STORIES
CARRY A GUN...
IT WILL SAVE YO
Don’t Bring a Knife
to a Gun Fight
A shoplifting suspect stabbed a security
guard at a busy intersection in
Kansas City. The guard responded by
fatally shooting his attacker.
Police Sgt. Mike Glass said the guard
was working at the Price Chopper at
6327 Brookside Plaza when he saw a
man trying to steal something about
8:40 p.m. on February 29, 2008.
The guard chased the suspect about
two blocks, to 63rd Street and Wornall
Road. The suspect stabbed the guard in
the upper body, and the guard then shot
the suspect.
The suspect was transported to a hospital,
where he was pronounced dead.
The guard also was taken to a hospital.
The guard’s injuries were not considered
life-threatening.
Kansas City Star
Feb. 29, 2008
12
Another One Bites
the Dust
An Arkansas man died after he and
an unidentified accomplice broke into
a residence off State Highway 22 near
Dardanelle on February 20, 2008.
Mike Jensen, 44, was shot and killed
by a shotgun-wielding occupant of a
home after he and another man allegedly
entered the residence by kicking in
the front door, Yell County Sheriff Bill
Gilkey confirmed.
Four people were inside the home at
the time of the break-in, Gilkey said.
Armed with an SKS rifle which investigators
later learned was not loaded,
Jensen entered the home and traveled
down a hallway. He was at the point of
entering a bedroom when he was shot,
Gilkey said.
The other intruder fled the scene in
a vehicle authorities later recovered,
Gilkey said, adding investigators were
working to process the vehicle in hopes
of learning the second man’s identity.
Gilkey said authorities do not expect
any charges will
be filed against
the homeowner in
connection with
the matter.
He said the intruders’
motive
was uncertain.
“We’re just assuming that they came
in there to rob the family,” he said.
Russellville, Arkansas Courier
Feb. 22, 2008
Intended Burglary Victim
Fights Back
An intended burglary victim shot at
four men breaking into
a business during the
early-morning hours of
February 22, 2008, in
the Los Angeles Harbor
Gateway area.
Los Angeles Police
spokesman Richard
French said the suspects
apparently entered the
building around 5:30
a.m. Someone in the
building, who was described
as a victim, fired
an unknown amount of
rounds at the suspects,
French said.
One of the suspects
was shot in the hip and
taken to a nearby hospital
after police arrived. A second suspect
was taken into custody, but two
suspects got away, French said.
The victim was not injured.
French did not say whether the suspects
were attempting to burglarize a
marijuana dispensary that is located in
that building.
Torrance, CA Daily Breeze
Feb. 22, 2008
Muggers need to get
real jobs in this town!
An intended victim shot at a wouldbe
robber at a northern Charlotte,
Alabama, restaurant on February
20, 2008. The robber was left with
Ingram, carrying a .40-caliber handgun,
ran to the house and found Fleming
attacking the other woman...
life-threatening injuries, police said.
After the 9:20 p.m. shooting at Floyd’s
Homestyle Cooking restaurant on
Graham Street, the suspect was taken
to Carolinas Medical Center. Some of
his bloodied clothes were strewn in the
parking lot of the restaurant. Nearby,
two guns lay on a sidewalk.
Police haven’t released an account
of what happened during the shooting,
but Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police
Spokesman Officer Hassan Peterson
said the restaurant was closed when the
first officers arrived.
Police interviewed the man working
at the restaurant and homicide investigators
planned to interview him again
late Wednesday.
It was the second time in less than
three months that someone working at
a business in Charlotte shot a potential
robber.
In December, a man shot a teenager
who was trying to rob his west Charlotte
convenience store.
On that day, two teens walked into the
Bradford Food Mart demanding money
and at least one of them was armed.
So was the store’s owner.
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

UR LIFE.
The owner and one of the suspects
fired their weapons, and one of the
suspects was hit in the stomach. The
owner wasn’t hurt and the injured teen
survived.
Charlotte Observer
Feb. 21, 2008
Armed Samaritan
Prevents Rape
Two Brighton, Tennessee, women
were attacked in their own home by
a 44-year-old registered sex offender
in the early hours of the morning on
February 19, 2008. A neighbor, summoned
by one of the women, shot and
killed the attacker.
According to District Attorney
General Mike Dunavant, David
Fleming broke into the home of two
women at about 3 a.m.
Fleming bound the women, but one
escaped and ran to a nearby home.
Dunavant said Fleming, who lived in
Munford, intended to rape the women.
The woman who escaped went to
the nearby home of Keith Ingram for
help, Dunavant said.
Ingram, carrying a .40-caliber
handgun, ran to the house and found
Fleming attacking the other woman,
officials said.
When Fleming tried to attack
Ingram, Dunavant said Ingram shot
Fleming once.
Tipton County Sheriff’s deputies and
Brighton Police officers found Fleming
dead on the front porch of the home.
Fleming had been convicted of attempted
rape in Tipton County. He’s
listed on the Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation’s sex-offender registry.
Dunavant said Ingram has no criminal
record and has a permit to carry
the handgun.
The women who were attacked were
treated at Baptist Memorial Hospital-
Tipton.
Commercial Appeal
Feb. 19, 2008
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APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
13

CCM PROFILE
BenShepherd
I grew up in a family
of five children (three
brothers and one sister)
with strong family ties
that exist to this day.
When I was a child, personal
responsibility and accountability
were not optional, they
were required. I am forever in debt to
my parents for giving me this start; it
has helped me run my life with a very
strong set of values.
As young as I can remember, which
is at about four years old, I was around
guns. It started with being able to finally
go to deer camp with my dad, and being
allowed to help in the reloading room.
Now that I have young nieces and nephews,
I know that doing these things with
me at that age was very detrimental
to my dad’s personal time. To my dad
though, these things were more important;
things such as spending time with
his boy, teaching me how to respect and
enjoy God’s wonderful world.
My dad has a set of guidelines for
14
guns that goes like this: When I turned
eight, it was time to start down a path
that I’ve never left: It was time to shoot a
gun all by myself! My dad sat me down
with a single-shot .22, reviewed all the
safety rules with me, and then handed
me a single bullet. What a feeling! I was
hooked. At age 12, I was given the .22
Ben’s “always” gun is a Ruger SP101 in
.357 magnum.
his father gave him (which I still have).
At age 16, I was given a shotgun, and at
age 18 a rifle. I had to wait until I was 21
years old to buy my first handgun.
I spent my early 20’s doing what most
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

Being controversial - Ben handloads
the ammunition for his carry gun.
people that age would do, trying out all
kinds of things: different jobs, different
classes in school, different hobbies and
different approaches to the demands of
life. But through it all, I never lost my
love of shooting. At the end of this little
experimental period, I came out knowing
what I wanted to do. I wanted to
make sure that future generations got
to live in the America I had come to
love! The more I studied and learned,
the more I realized that our great nation
was heading downhill—and I wanted to
do something about it!
By this time I was 25 years old. I had
a good career going, and had purchased
my home. I joined the NRA, GOA,
CCRKBA, and SAF. I was reading anything
and everything I could find that
was written about the founding of the
United States, especially anything dealing
with exactly WHAT and WHY our
laws are what they are. I started to pay
attention to politics, and social and political
climates. I started writing letters
to my congressman. I made sure that
I studied the candidates and voted in
EVERY election.
To me, fewer things are more upsetting
than listening to someone complain
about what this or that elected official
did, when they didn’t care enough to get
informed and vote in the first place.
Then, one day I read a book titled Dial
911 and Die. This really shook me up. I
knew it was my job to pay my bills, get
to work on time, and obey the law. Like
many however, I always figured that the
police department’s job was to protect
me. Wrong. This was just one of many
reasons that I decided to get my CCW
permit.
Luckily, my state had recently passed
“shall-issue” concealed carry legislation.
I took the required course, jumped
through the legal hoops, and received
my permit. I quickly realized several
things concerning concealed carry.
Here are a few of the ones I consider important:
Anger has no place while carrying.
A good belt and holster are mandatory.
Training and maintaining skills
are essential.
In the last couple of years, I’ve really
tried to increase my involvement in
Second Amendment issues. I am currently
certified as an NRA instructor in
Rifle, Pistol, and Shotgun. I also have
a Range Officer certification as well. I
am a Hunter’s Education instructor and
teach 40-50 students per month. All of
this has been exceptionally rewarding.
What a feeling to be able to take someone
from not knowing what a cartridge
is, or how a pistol works, to shooting
their first group. I know that when they
leave class they have the knowledge,
skill, and proper mindset, to handle
and care for a gun safely and correctly. I
get to do something I enjoy immensely,
and at the same time, someone is learning
to enjoy one of their rights as an
American.
I am currently married to a wonderful
wife who is very supportive of me and
has her CCW as well.
Interview
Was there a specific incident that
caused you to carry a gun?
No. In general I’ve just always figured
that it’s my responsibility to take care of
myself. We all need to remember that
911 is an after-the-fact response. If I expect
that law enforcement will be present
at the exact moment I need them,
then I might as well expect that one
Powerball ticket will let me retire.
Have you ever had to use your firearm
in a defensive situation?
Sort of. I used to work a part-time job
on the swing shift. This was one of those
high stress, low wage just-starting-outin-life
jobs. So after my shift would end
around midnight, I would usually take
a long walk home to unwind. On one
particular night, while on one of these
walks, I noticed I was being followed. I
picked up my pace, so did he. I crossed
the street, so did he. I slowed down, so
did he. All the while, he looked like he
was trying WAY too hard to be up to
nothing in particular.
At this point I’m asking myself,
“What’s he thinking? I’m half as much
again his size.”
After having a rough day at work, this
was not how I wanted to end my day.
I began to think that he must have an
edge that I hadn’t picked up on yet. I
made three right turns in a row, circling
the block, and then crossed the
street in the middle of the block. He
followed, keeping the same distance
the whole time. I decided it would end
here and now. We had been playing cat
and mouse for a half hour or more and
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
15

enough was enough. I spun a 180 and
stopped dead in my tracks, while making
direct eye contact. We were about
half a block apart. This stopped him
cold for a second. Then he took a cautious
step forward. My hand slipped
into my pocket around the butt of my
Ruger SP101. I moved slowly and deliberately,
in plain view. I also made it
plain by my body language that I was
not moving until he was out of sight. He
could tell I had my hand on something.
He stood there for about a minute then
just turned around and went the other
way. Neither of us had uttered word one.
I never did figure out if it was someone
thinking they were funny, or if I was in
serious danger. But regardless, the best
results were had that day!
What training methods do you employ?
Do you have any recommendations?
I do a lot of daily dry-fire practice.
Dry fire done with the proper mindset is
worth 90% of a live fire session as far as
basic fundamentals are concerned. I do
try to get live fire at least weekly. I also
use IDPA drills and stationary bull’s-eye
work. As far as a be-all-end-all of training,
I don’t believe there is one. Not
everyone has the time or means to attend
all of the big name schools. But
that shouldn’t stop anyone from getting
a good foundation in the discipline by
working with a local instructor like, for
example, a local police academy instructor.
Of course, we should work towards
being able to train at least once at a top
flight school.
How long have you carried a concealed
weapon?
A little over five years as far as the government
is concerned.
What weapons do you carry?
My “always” gun is a Ruger SP101 in
.357 magnum. Other than that, sometimes
I carry my Speed Six in .357, or if
I’m on a hike or in an outdoor-type environment
one of my 41 magnums may do
the honors. I own and shoot semi-autos,
but for me, my comfort zone means carrying
a wheel gun.
What type of ammo do you carry?
I carry handloads: A .357 magnum 158
grain Speer Gold Dot HP’sSpeer in front
of enough powder to do 1350fps out of
my SP101. I know some people have
cited possible legal issues. In my case, I
choose stone cold reliable over a possible
legal issue. Be advised however that
I have a great deal of experience with
reloading, especially this caliber, and
the decision to carry handloads was not
made lightly. [ED: Okay, but the general
consensus among professional firearms
instructors and legal eagles is that premium
quality defensive factory ammunition
is the best way to go.]
What concealment holsters do you use?
Luckily, I have a top-notch holster
maker in my backyard, so to speak. His
name is Eric Larsen, and he’s known as:
Holsters by Eric (hbeleatherworks.com).
I like this arrangement, as everything
is built to order, not one-size-fits-all.
Nothing wrong with off the shelf rigs,
but if you can get custom, well you end
up spoiled. If not one of his rigs, then I
use Lou Alessi’s rigs. I prefer the comfort
and tradition of leather over Kydex.
What do you do for a living?
I have a classic blue collar job. I work
at the parts counter of a local auto
dealership. Nothing fancy, but it pays
the bills and keeps me in powder and
primers.
Do you have any advice for our
readers?
You’ve heard it all in this, and other
magazines, but I’ll reinforce the two
points that I think are biggies:
1. Practice consistently; weekly if possible,
if not, at least monthly.
2. DO NOT skimp on your carry rig!!
This is a pet peeve of mine. Do not put
an $800 gun in a rig that costs 30 bucks
and then whine because is doesn’t work
right. The old adage of getting what you
pay for applies IN SPADES in this instance.
n
[ Each issue of CCM contains an article
that profiles an everyday individual who
carries a concealed weapon. This article
is an inspiration to our readers by helping
them to realize that they are not
alone in their lifestyle decision to always
be armed. ]
16
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TACTICS AND TRAINING
Valuable Wisdom from a
20-year Peace Officer
I
have seen a shift from faith in experience
toward questioning of values
we have held for years. Some feel the
”big bore” crowd is full of self interest.
Misconceptions concerning handgun
calibers may cause a person to make the
wrong choice, and end up dead. I have
no problem finding the bad guys gone
or incarcerated, but do not wish to hear
of the good guys and girls among the
enumeration of the dead. My approach
may not be scientific, but I think of it
as empirical observation. After two decades
as a peace officer, I realize that
when a cop says has seen something,
he means he arrived just as the fight
ended and he ”saw” the aftermath; the
flesh warm and the victim still screaming.
We state that the assailant who took
five 9mms was still mobile. The fellow
[ B Y R . K . C A M P B E L L ]
Debate can be lively but sometimes acrimonious.
with one .45 in his chest remained mobile
and decided to die just before we
arrived. These are observations on the
state of weaponcraft.
I have applied my education, and
observational powers to many areas.
I have written extensively on liability
and training issues and dealing with the
mentally ill. I am working to pass legislation
to limit access by sex offenders to
certain public areas. In general, I like to
make the miserable lives of criminals
more difficult. Some research is unpleasant.
Police journals are not eager
to publish articles on wound ballistics
because the debate is one of uncertainty.
Information must be verifiable, and
any experiment must be repeatable.
This is not the case with books and articles
on handgun caliber effectiveness.
We have a desire to learn. I suspect
there is a yearning to hear that our pet
caliber—a .32 or a .45—is just great. I
have studied gun battles for the better
part of thirty years and listened to anyone
who has been in combat. I have
looked over both ends of the gun barrel
to defend the public and myself. There
have been difficulties and permanent
injuries and scars gained along the way.
As for what I have learned, take this
with what you have learned elsewhere
and apply it to your situation. Most importantly,
the slacker will not get anywhere.
There are more in uniform than
among civilian shooters. The officer
at risk often regards qualification as a
chore. If you work in an occupation that
requires certification in haz/mat or other
boring subjects you feel you know
18
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well, then you understand. Officers do
not regard qualification as a learning
experience, but a chore. The cop who
practices on his own time and on his
own dime is rare.
Civilians enjoy shooting more, and
often become proficient. The civilian
usually has a broad choice of handguns
while the cop goes with the company
gun. What I know about bullet performance
is learned from real world experience.
Some has been gained from
shooting game animals. I shoot animals
only to eat or to feed others. A
deer approaches the size of an adult
human male. Either is about as hard to
put down although man is much more
susceptible to shock. I do not hunt deer
or boar with a 9mm. We stalk and kill
cleanly. If we need a weapon to defend
ourselves against an attacking animal
the weapons would be more powerful
than we use for defense against people.
Those who sneak up on humans and
rob them get by with .32s and the like.
When attempting to stop a motivated
attacker we need more power. There
are several types of attackers. There is
the fellow who falls into a swoon at the
sight of an armed victim, and runs. He
may lose his composure when he realizes
the victim is armed and he will run
away if possible. The second is the most
common type: he is dangerous but will
fight only when cornered or when there
is a profit in it. The man who takes punishment
and keeps coming, his only
mission that of murder and mayhem,
is a rare breed—but he exists. Among
peace officers, the ratio is the same;
with the average fellow keeping the
peace. I once accepted the resignation
of a young man who had his first run in
with a burglar. The civilian will have no
choice when the bad guys choose him
or her as the victim.
We need a handgun that is reliable
above all else, and in a suitable caliber
to face such warped men. Modern
handguns are more reliable than ever.
But in some cases, Technical has taken
precedent over Tactical. Questions
centering upon handgun caliber performance
are the most common. Testing
is difficult. Flesh is not translucent
like gelatin, and even harvesting an animal
doesn’t tell us much if the bullet exits.
But we can make generalizations.
We want penetration to vital organs,
and a bullet that is not deflected
by bone. Our bone structure supports
our body and protects the vital organs.
photos by Ken Lunde. lundestudios.com
I suspect there
is a yearning to
hear that our pet
caliber—a .32 or a
.45—is just great.
Bone can deflect projectiles. High velocity
bullets may fragment. Bone does
funny things to bullets. I have seen a
hollowpoint bullet that flattened out on
a skull; the victim lived. Other hollowpoints
did not expand at all, but hardball
rounds sometimes deform.
The old saying that something is better
than nothing is true. But we have
some good choices and we would not
be very bright if we did not take advantage
of them. I would not feel uncomfortable
with .45 caliber hardball, but
I deploy hollowpoint loads to take advantage
of their properties.
Bullet placement is very important.
We do not need to obliterate the heart
or annihilate the liver to stop a felon.
We only need to hit and damage these
organs. Let’s relate the big bore to the
small bore. We have all heard stories
of a .22 caliber bullet slipping into the
chest cavity and severing an aorta, immediately
stopping an attack. I am certain
it has happened, but I am equally
certain there have been many failures
to stop with the .22 (and larger cartridges
as well). But the advantage of the big
bore is present in literature and confirmed
events for over one hundred and
fifty years.
I recently studied a feature on aerial
shooting. I did so mainly for enjoyment
but I was struck by the recommendation
of using a big bore for exhibition
shooting. The author was successful in
shooting moving silver dollar size targets
with the .44 and .45 caliber double
action revolver. He found hitting
with the .38 was much more difficult.
While super human ability may play a
part, hard work is required. Hard work
is something defensive shooters should
get acquainted with. The 1.6 inch frontal
diameter of the .45 gave a much better
chance of hitting a small target. The
same is true when vital organs are the
target. When we are firing at a moving
target far removed from the one dimensional
stationary target on the range,
I want every advantage. The big bore
gives us a better chance of damaging
tissue as the bullet travels through the
body. Bullet placement is vital as there
are parts of the body that, if damaged,
will cause an immediate shutdown.
These areas include the brain case and
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
19

the spine. These targets are difficult to
hit quickly and are not high on my list
of aiming points. The center mass hold
works. When you are fighting, your
hands shake and your vision is blurred,
so a fine bead on the cerebral cortex is
not possible. Concentrate on marksmanship
and rapid [gun]handling. If
there is any shortcoming universal
among students it is a lack of familiarity
with the handgun.
There is an argument that those who
are not able to practice regularly should
deploy the 9mm. Handgun skills are
perishable, and the small bore is easier
to shoot well. If you cannot practice
monthly with the semi-automatic pistol
you need to be using a revolver. A
full size .45 is controllable by men and
women of average height and build.
Caliber is as important as hand fit and
feel. There is a certain amount of prejudice
toward one weapon or the other
that is easily dispelled at the range. I
have enjoyed range sessions with men
and women of varying ability. You do not
have to be well heeled to be well armed.
Being well armed is a product of proficiency
not the price of the handgun.
During a recent class I found that shooters
of modest means did not have to be
modest concerning their ability. Most of
my students had chosen their firearm
based upon their likes and perceptions.
I discovered that Highpoint pistols will
outshoot the Smith and Wesson SIGMA
every time. The inexpensive FEG 9 x 18
has a better feeling grip than the Walther
PPK. A couple of students had Glocks,
but the Ruger 9mm shooter present had
practiced with his handgun.
While we all have our preferences,
the person behind the pistol is the real
weapon.
Shooters swear by a certain caliber
of load and sometimes I am dubious of
their recommendation. Those who have
real experience in the field recommend
powerful cartridges that have worked
for themselves and others. The .357
Magnum revolver has a tremendous
reputation. I have seen the effect over
my own sights. An acquaintance hunts
with a four inch barrel .357 Magnum. He
swears by the Federal 180 grain JHP. This
is a heavier load than many would recommend
for self defense but this gentleman
often carries his Smith and Wesson
concealed on his ”town” trips loaded
with the 180 grain JHP. He has complete
confidence in his choice. Do you
have the same in yours?
I own many handguns. I would not
have gotten this far in the game if I did
not enjoy firing different types. The realist
in me knows to carry the proven Colt
1911 when the situation warrants. Old,
worn, and reliable I am familiar with the
zero with the chosen load and I know
exactly how the piece handles in all situations.
Some feel that if the .45 is good
then the .44 Magnum is better. I have
respect for this caliber. I have seen two
.44 Magnum wounds just after the fact,
and each was immediately effective. In
one case the bullet entered the kneecap
and traveled through the muscle of the
leg exiting the ball of the foot. This was
an unintentional self inflicted wound.
In another incident a homeowner fired
at a person he was arguing with. The 240
grain bullet pulped the victim’s liver but
exited and struck the homeowner’s wife
in the shoulder, crippling her for life.
The .44 Magnum doesn’t strike me for
personal defense, and the factory loaded
.44 Special is less effective than the
.45 ACP.
The size and shape of the handgun
mean much. A 9mm may be small and
light while the .45 needs weight for good
control. I often deploy a light weight
frame Springfield .45 but I am under no
illusions that I will fire it as accurately as
a steel frame pistol. I feel that many of
the super light weight handguns available
today are too light; while I enjoy big
bores, I do not enjoy guns that hurt.
The final word is: choose a handgun
that fits your hand size, and then practice
often. Choose a load that is completely
reliable (good quality control),
demonstrates a full powder burn, and
offers a good balance between expansion
and penetration. The caliber is
your choice, but the big bore is proven.
Old wisdom really is the best. n
[ RK Campbell is a writer with twenty
years police experience. He holds a degree
in criminal justice and has studied
firearms and their use for nearly forty
years. He is the author of three books and
over six hundred articles, columns, and
reviews. ]
20
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

Formerly spotless finish is now marred with
small scratches, which are worse on the
opposite side of the gun (not shown).
[ B Y P H I L E L M O R E ]
Gunsmithing
Horror Stories:
Don’t Let This Happen To You
It all started innocently enough.
My friend Mike, a novice to firearms
ownership and proud
holder of a new CCW permit,
bought himself a beautiful stainless
steel Colt Gold Cup Trophy Model
(1911). Not satisfied with the gun out of
the box, he took it to a local gun store.
To my knowledge, the store has a good
reputation for gunsmithing work. I’ve
even had some work done on my own
1911 at the same store without difficulty.
Based on Mike’s horror story, however,
it would seem I got lucky.
Mike took his .45 to get a beavertail,
ambidextrous frame safety, mag well,
and extended slide release installed. All
of these parts needed to be fitted and
polished to match the high-polished
stainless finish of the Gold Cup. He left
the gun with a salesperson who assured
him the gun would be well cared for.
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE
Three weeks later, he called to see if the
gun was finished. It wasn’t even started,
but one day later, all the work had been
done, Mike was informed. He went
back to the store to pick it up. Mike’s
pictures show what awaited him. The
gun was covered in scratches. None of
the parts were properly fitted, and the
safety was tight.
When Mike called back to find out
what had gone wrong, the litany of excuses
he received were like none he’d
ever heard: It was impossible to do the
work on a stainless gun like that without
scratching it, he was informed. It
was necessary to grind down the hammer
to clear the beaver tail correctly, he
was told, and the beavertail – a Series 70
– was mated to the Series 80 gun in attempt
to do Mike a favor. The gun was
also “made incorrectly” at the factory,
Mike was informed, which means the
holes in the frame didn’t line up correctly.
According to Mike, an examination
of the pistol revealed a far different
problem. Apart from the finish issues,
too much material was ground off the
frame of the gun, which in turn caused
the beavertail to fit incorrectly.
When Mike complained, he was told
his gun would be repaired at no charge.
When he next picked it up, the finish had
been corrected. Now, however, a host
of function problems reared their ugly
heads. The slide catch had never been
properly fitted to the gun, meaning the
slide would not rack with a magazine in
place. Magazines would no longer fall
free of the gun when the magazine released
was pressed. Worse, cartridges
were being nicked when rounds were
chambered.
21

“I examined the gun,” Mike told me,
“and the mechanism inside the gun was
taking chips out of the flat part of the
bullets while advancing. Also, someone
had placed the spring inside the gun on
the full length guide rod backward, effectively
chewing up my guide rod. On top
of that, the beavertail was installed incorrectly.
The hammer is hitting the beavertail,
preventing the slide from moving
properly.”
As you can imagine, my friend called
the gun store again and complained.
Then he took it to another gunsmith for
a second opinion. That smith explained
that material would have to be welded inside
the beavertail, and then milled down
correctly. The mag well would have to be
fitted, the safety would have to be corrected,
and a few other items would have
to be adjusted and refitted. The total cost
– figuring in an eight month wait time
– could be as high as $500. Placing yet
another call to the shop that did the work
incorrectly, my friend Mike was informed
that the smith who worked on his gun
had been doing work “for forty years.”
“I have to tell you,” Mike said, “that
doesn’t make me feel better, especially
given the shoddy work that was just
done.” As the conversation went downhill
from there, the smith was so incensed
that he agreed to cover the bill for having
the gun fixed at the second shop. Then
he banned my friend Mike from his store,
telling him never to set foot on the premises
again.
What can we learn from this horror
story? How can we prevent a costly,
time-consuming problem such as this
one from occurring? It’s a common
enough occurrence to have work done
on a pistol, particularly a 1911-pattern
.45. In what ways can you safeguard your
property and your wallet when you need
to have something done? The following
are some general guidelines for having
gunsmith work performed. While these
tips aren’t all-encompassing, they should
help the next time you have to take your
firearm to the shop:
Choose a shop with a good reputation.
This won’t always help you, as the shop in
question had a veteran smith and a good
reputation to go with it, but it’s usually a
good indicator. Whenever possible, take
your gun only to those shops that have
provided similar services to people you
know. Where your friends happy with the
work done? Would they recommend the
shop to others?
Choose chain stores with caution.
Many large chain sporting good stores
that sell firearms also offer gunsmithing
services. This is a hit or miss proposition.
Just as the folks in the orange vests
behind the counter might have firearms
knowledge or might not, beyond the basics,
the smiths employed at such shops
might or might not know what they are
doing. Locally, I don’t dare take my gun
to be serviced by one of the large chains.
However, you might have one near you
whose smith has a reputation for doing
good work. It’s a choice you’ll have to
make on a case by case basis. How many
pieces of mythology and folklore have
you heard being imparted from behind
gun counters in gun stores across the
country? Some folks employed in the
capacity of gunsmiths or even gun salesmen
just don’t know what they’re talking
about.
Get it in writing. Before you have work
done, make sure you get a receipt or
other documentation detailing precisely
what it is you expect to have done, as well
as what this is supposed to cost you. The
work to be performed must be clearly
defined so both parties know what to
expect. If I’ve learned anything when
dealing with matters of commerce, it is
always, always get everything in writing.
Word of mouth is useless when it comes
time to settle legal matters. Words on paper
will always carry the day.
Take photographs before and after
the work is done. My friend Mike is a talented
amateur photographer, so it didn’t
surprise me when he took pictures of his
gun both before and after the work was
performed. I don’t know if I would have
thought to do that before hearing his horror
story. When you have a gun worked
on, take the time to snap a few pictures of
its condition before it goes into the shop.
Make sure these are time-stamped in
some way. (For example, you could photograph
the gun on top of that day’s paper.)
That way you’ll be able to compare
the condition of the gun before and after,
in case something goes wrong.
Be polite and respectful. If you have
work done on a gun and there is some
The hammer on this 1911 is
actually fitted improperly
and shows a large gap on
one side.
Scratches are a result of
crude fitting of the safety to
this gun’s frame.
22
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

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problem, give the shop the benefit of
the doubt when you deal with them.
Politely and calmly explain what has
happened. In most cases, a good smith
will be very motivated to correct the
problem and make you a satisfied customer.
Don’t start off angry or you’ll just
put him on the defensive.
Don’t be afraid to get a second opinion.
People and their skills vary. When
you shop to have work done, don’t be
afraid to go to multiple stores to get estimates
and discuss the work with the
smiths involved. You may not always
have multiple options locally, but if you
do, this is a wise move. After the fact,
if there is some problem, get a professional
opinion before you go back to
the store that performed the work. That
way, you’ll be better informed when
discussing the problem and its possible
solutions.
Do your homework. Depending on
how you intend to use your gun, a lot
of the accessories a gunsmith might
try to sell you simply aren’t necessary.
Research these topics before the fact.
Publications like this one, as well as
countless online discussion sites and
reference books, will give you a better
idea of what is necessary and what is
simply optional where your gun is concerned.
By taking a few simple precautions
and informing yourself before the fact,
you can minimize the potential risks
while getting gunsmithing work performed.
In most cases, the work will be
performed to your satisfaction and your
firearm will be better off for it. Don’t
forget this as you move forward. Horror
stories are just that—exceptions to the
rule. Don’t let them happen to you. n
[ Phil Elmore is the publisher of The
Martialist, “The Magazine for Those Who
Fight Unfairly.” He is also the author
of the Paladin Press books Flashlight
Fighting and Street Sword. He can be
reached through his website: www.
philelmore.com. ]
Live: 7.375"
24
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

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Louis Awe
When I first met Louis Awerbuck I wondered if I had made a big mistake.
We were in a deserted parking
lot in front of a public building.
I was early, unlocking the
door for the class. Louis and Leigh Lambert
were there even earlier. I strode
over with my brother to introduce myself
to them. As we shook hands and I
greeted him, his lips parted and moved.
I’m not sure any words came out as a
residue of cigarette smoke wafted out. I
was rattled. At that point I wondered if
this class was going to be a big mistake.
His initial body language I read in those
first moments was unmistakable: cool,
reserved, uneasy, and suspicious. Yet it
was to be that my concerns were entirely
unfounded. Over the course of our
time with Louis (pronounced /LOO ee/)
Awerbuck, we found him to be patient,
personable, and quite talkative. His initial
response, in retrospect, was the response
of a careful individual when approached
by two unknown adult males.
Looking back on it, I realize now that I
had just met someone in Condition Yellow
(or perhaps orange!).
I had the pleasure and privilege of
taking a three-day tutorial-format class
with Louis. I embarked with certain expectations,
all of which were far exceeded.
Today, students of armed selfdefense
are living during a changing
of the guard. I believe that the recently
deceased Col. Jeff Cooper ushered in
a new world for armed civilian self-defense
through his teachings and writings,
the fruits of which we are reaping
today. He is now gone. Many of his original,
early staff members are still alive
and teaching, but they are older men,
many in their late fifties. They are in
their prime years in many ways, for they
have had three decades to watch, digest,
and hone their craft. Men like Clint
Smith and Louis Awerbuck (and there
are others) are established—established
in their reputation as teachers, established
in their outlook, and by their age,
established in greater wisdom and humility.
These men are able to process
and evaluate new developments without
being carried away with the chaff of
tool and technique fads. They are able
to teach and help novices and returning
students alike.
And so, while they remain with us,
and while they continue to choose to
teach, a golden opportunity exists, for
it has not yet become clear who will be
their successors. The school of fighting
and firearms awaits the next generation
of master teachers.
Louis Awerbuck turns sixty next year,
though you’d never know it by looking
at him. Quick, agile, and aggressive, his
strength does not seem to reflect his
years, nor does it seem diminished. After
standing in as the bad guy for the
CQT material or the disarm material in
class, you feel sorry for the bad guy that
might someday pit himself against Louis,
but then you catch yourself thinking,
“Wait, this guy is almost sixty years old!”
As Louis sees it, he has just been blessed
with an amazing metabolism.
Louis’ classes have lots of lecture content,
whether on the range on in the
classroom. If you’re a thinking student,
26
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

PHOTO COMPOSITION BY MICHAEL TAN
rbuck:
The
Exception
to the
Rule
[ B Y M I C H A E L T A N ]
interested in understanding, the pace
is just right. If you are into dumping a
thousand rounds downrange per day,
forget it. It’s just not that sort of class.
Louis has a reputation as being one of
the top diagnosticians—troubleshooting
and fixing shooting problems for
students. From what I observed, that
reputation is well-deserved, and watching
him identify and attempt to fix the
problems of students greatly helped
me in my own shooting, even when I
was not the immediate subject of his
attention.
The shooting in his class is not “target
shooting”. Louis focuses on moving,
shooting, and hitting 3-D humanoid
targets. The goal is to get good hits on
demand, at all angles, at all distances.
Techniques and tools have to be simple
and they have to work.
Because of his associations with Col.
Cooper and Gunsite (Louis was Chief
Rangemaster at the original Gunsite),
you might be surprised at how he almost
scorns single-stack guns (e.g.
stock 1911s) when a double-stack gun
can be had. Though his primary gun
is a double-stack 1911, he’s comfortable
with plastic as well, highly esteeming
the Springfield XD. He’s not militant
about stance preference (e.g. Weaver vs.
Isosceles). It seems that whenever his
gun comes out of the holster, he’s usually
moving, and often he’s holding the
gun with one hand. He’s more interested
in fighting than assuming a frozen
stance.
Regarding backup guns, if you spend
time in Louis’ class, you’ll likely be convinced
of the necessity of carrying a
second gun. Over and over, throughout
the class, whether reloading or practicing
malfunction clearances, Louis will
remind you that having a second gun
would have enabled you to continue
shooting. He’s not mean about it, but
he takes every opportunity to make the
point. By the end of the class, you’re seriously
contemplating putting a second
holster on your already overflowing
belt. What would your mother think?
Everyone is unique, but Louis is unusual.
If you have the choice between
buying another gun or taking a class
with Louis, take the class, and bring a
notebook. Unless you’re arrogant or unteachable,
you won’t regret it.
Louis and Leigh maintain a grueling
travel schedule, driving tens of thousands
of miles every year to teach students
in almost every state. I was grateful
for the opportunity to sit down
with him one evening for the following
interview:
Q: You’ve been teaching civilian firearms
training for over thirty years.
From your perspective, give us a thumbnail
history of what has come and gone
during that time. What have been fads?
What have been advances that you
have seen?
LA: Simplicity is gone. Fanciness has
replaced the brain. Technology is trying
to replace the brain; it doesn’t work.
The 1911 has come back into fashion after
105 years. Too many lies, too many
false resumes, which weren’t there thir-
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
27

“People hit a piece
of cardboard,
a flat piece of
cardboard, and
they think they’re a
gunfighter.”
ty years ago. It’s sadder than it was; it’s
less honest than it was—just like everything
else.
Q: It started to become prosperous,
and began to rot.
LA: Yeah. Values have gone 180 [degrees],
I think, and technology is not going
to replace the human brain. It never
will.
Q: You’re involved in teaching skills
and a mindset that involve defending
life and potentially taking life. Do you
think about your mortality more than
the average person?
LA: Yes, but I-
Q: How often do you think about
your mortality, the fact that one day
you will die?
LA: Almost permanently now. But I
don’t care; it doesn’t matter. I don’t have
any family, so it’s not a big deal. It’s literally
going back to what you were talking
about earlier—the Asian way of thinking
… the Japanese way of thinking. Everybody
holds life so precious; I don’t. I
mean, I’d like to live to a hundred and
fifty if I were healthy, but [pauses] death
and taxes.
Q: So in your understanding, what’s
after death?
LA: I don’t know, but I think there’s
got to be something. Otherwise, you
wouldn’t have a five year-old killed, ridden
over by a bus, for no reason. There’s
got to be something out there. There’s
got to be a reason one person lives to be
a drunken murderer for 105 years and a
good kid gets run over by a school bus
when she’s four years old. There’s got to
be something. What it is, I don’t know.
I’m not a theologian. I guess it’s just a
stepping in-between steps.
Q: You teach skills involving preserving
life. What’s worth living for in life?
What makes it worth preserving?
LA: Different people are different-
Q: For you?
LA: For me? For preserving my life?
Honoring my parents. That’s why I
didn’t die fourteen years ago. Not much
else. I don’t trust anyone. Can’t trust
anyone. So, that’s why I say I really don’t
care about my death. I’ve had a hundred
years packed into sixty. Why would I?
I’ve got nothing to live for. I’ve got nothing
to lose. I’ve got no Achilles heel. I’m
not the average person. I’m an exception
to the rule. The average person—
wife and kids, lineage, wants to see their
grandchildren play football or through
college or whatever. Fine. I’m the end of
the line. I’m the end of the blood line,
completely.
Q: Most adults wrestle with some sort
of fear or anxiety. It can be their financial
well-being, their health, or their
personal safety. What do you fear most
in life?
LA: Probably physical incapacitation,
if I were cognizant of it. Dependency,
physical dependency, and being cognizant
of it. Having Alzheimer’s and knowing
I’ve got Alzheimer’s and not being
able to [pauses] end it. That’s it. I don’t
fear anything else because … Mr. Roosevelt
said, “There’s nothing to fear but
fear itself.” I don’t want to be dependent
on anybody else. There is nothing else.
Q: Any regrets or things you would
have done differently in life?
LA: I would have given my parents
more time, of my so-called “valuable”
time, when I was younger. That’s all. I
was going to say I wouldn’t have put in
as much of my side of the pound of flesh
as I did, but I probably would have, but
that’s it. I owe nobody anything. Nobody
owes me anything. I’m happy.
You get up with daily fears—“I hope
the kids are alright, I hope the wife’s alright,
I hope I can pay the bills…” I don’t
have those worries. I go broke? I’ll make
some more money, somehow, somewhere.
No wife, no kids, my dog’s dead,
so what am I supposed to be concerned
about? No family (none living). No lineage.
I mean it sounds pathetic, or pathos-tic,
but why would I have worries
in life? All of the general person’s worries,
normal worries.
Q: You’ve written many columns over
the years. Are there any that particularly
stand out in your mind? Any specific
ones that you would like to have remembered
after you’re dead and gone?
LA: Two Pieces of Silver. I think the
only really decent article I wrote was,
I am the Bullet. I think [they] were the
only decent articles I wrote. Two Pieces
28
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

of Silver was a tribute to my Dad. Responses
from a lot of readers … it seems
to have touched a raw nerve with a lot
of people who lost their fathers. That’s it.
The rest of it—just ravings of a lunatic.
Q: ...Published, though!
LA: Published ravings of a lunatic.
Q: You have the advantage of having
lived in South Africa as well as America.
What’s right about American culture?
What about it concerns you?
LA: What concerns me is America is
what South Africa was thirty-five years
ago, and people are too blind to see it.
What’s right about it? It’s still got a Constitution
and a Bill of Rights, if people
will abide by it. But … it’s never coming
back to what it was. If anyone’s that
stupid….The cycle’s over. World powers
have cycles, and America’s is over.
Q: So you’re not optimistic about
the—
LA: I’m not pessimistic. I’m realistic
because I’ve lived through this before.
I’ve seen it all before. Without trying
to sound supercilious, I’ve seen it all
before. It’s just déjà vu, all over again,
to quote the lyric. It’s going to go in no
other direction. I think people would be
shocked to know what is not American,
owned in America, and I’m not going
to give specifics. But there’s hardly anything
“American made” that is American
made. They’re trying to do things the
right way…. The nice-guys-finish-last
syndrome applies. That’s it.
Q: Let’s shift gears a little and talk
about carry guns. Most people who
carry guns seem to change their carry
choice over time. Tell me about your
various carry gun choices over your
lifetime, over some forty-five years of
carrying.
LA: I’ve never changed my primary
gun system, except to go to a bigger
capacity magazine, in forty-five years.
Never.
Q: So what is it?
LA: It’s John Browning. John Browning,
stock. Does that mean it’s the best?
No. Do I think the Springfield XD is going
to make a great gun? Yeah. But, I’ve
never changed. All I’ve ever carried, as
a primary pistol was a Colt, a Hi-Power
Browning, or a double-stack .45. I’ve
never changed that, the primary pistol.
Q: How about secondary?
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LA: Secondary has changed because
of changing a 5-shot .44 Special for an
11-shot 9mm of the same physical size,
or something like. That’s the way it is.
The other one has never changed.
Q: So what have you gone through
for a secondary?
LA: 5-shot… [in the] old days, .38 Special,
Smith [& Wesson]. Then I went to
a .44 Special Charter Arms. Then, Glock
26, or Kel-Tec P3AT, dependant on circumstances.
As a secondary. Lately,
Springfield XD is looking a lot better. I
may be switching the Glock 26 for a subcompact
9mm from Springfield. Maybe.
That’s all.
Q: Let’s talk a little bit about equipment.
This is just what works for you,
what you like. Let’s say you’re going
into town. You’ve written about lights,
boot knives, backup guns, etc. We see
pictures of some of what you’ve got on
your belt. What do you prefer to carry
on your person? What works for you
these days that you are willing to talk
about?
LA: Same stuff. I don’t care about not
talking about it. Two guns. Always. If the
primary is a pistol, there’s another pistol.
If the primary is a shotgun, there’s a
pistol, at least one. Two guns, flashlight,
two 12-guage cartridges, and a knife because—just
because—every little boy
should have a knife.
Q: Or two.
LA: Or two. That’s every single day,
whether [or not] I’m going to town. Do
you wear a seatbelt going to the post office?
Do you wear a seatbelt going on a
five-hundred mile trip? Or do you wear
a seatbelt, period? That’s it. Same place,
every day.
Q: What light is working for you these
days?
LA: Surefire. Won’t use anything else.
Haven’t, for twenty years. Ain’t going
to use anything else. I think everybody
else has been chasing them, and they’re
going to be carrying on playing catchup
for the next twenty years.
Q: Which Surefire do you like?
LA: The 6-volt Executive, LED bulb.
Q: And the shotgun cartridges?
LA: They’re there because I like having
the double available, where legal.
Where legal, in a vehicle. The weapon’s
unloaded. I have the ammo for it if it’s a
grab-and-go, and that’s just what I like.
And that’s if I’m stuck in the middle of
nowhere and need a distance shot.
Q: Is general popularity or preference
for the shotgun something that goes in
cycles?
LA: Absolutely.
Q: When would you choose a shotgun
over a rifle?
LA: If it wasn’t an extended duration
conflict, and by that I mean if it’s going
to be a couple of weeks, with an unknown
situation.
Photo by David Yarashus
“I’m jaded with
mankind.”
Q: Like after a hurricane, you’re
stuck-
LA: Shotgun. How much ammunition
do I need? And who am I fighting?
If that’s what it comes to and it’s that
bad, I can get somebody else’s rifle with
my shotgun. I want a shotgun, and I run
slugs only. I do not run buckshot, period.
Slugs only.
Q: Why?
LA: Because I have the confidence
to hit with a big bullet. I may miss the
same as the next guy, but I have the confidence
to hit, and I want a big bullet.
And I want the reliability. The rifle and a
lot of the semi-automatic carbines that
are around today are completely unreliable.
I want something that’s reliable.
Q: When people think about the
defensive use of shotguns, there’s
only one person and one work that
people refer to, and that’s the video
that you did, as well as the material
that you teach. Has anything
changed since that video came out?
LA: Things always change. Some
techniques for the better, others for the
worse. I don’t think we fight as well.
Q: [Has anything changed since that
video came out] for you?
LA: For me? Yes.
Q: What’s changed since that video?
LA: The one major thing is I’m presschecking
the magazine tube on a tubefed
shotgun before I’m checking the
chamber, to make sure that there’s a
round in the magazine tube. I could
care less if there’s a round in the chamber.
I want to know that I’ve got ammo.
So that technique has changed. The
rest of it? I don’t change for the sake of
change. I think people a hundred years
ago fought better than we do. Shot better,
fought better, were more intelligent,
and had better strategy and tactics.
Q: And we’ve succeeded them.
LA: No. They’ve died of old age. And
generations have died. We haven’t succeeded
them. When it’s all over, there’s
going to be one guy standing there with
a bolt[action] Mauser on top of a hill,
with no armor plating on, in short pants
and tennis shoes with a hundred year
old 1898 Mauser. He’s going to the last
man standing. It’s as simple as that.
Q: Can you relate to us a story of a
student who got into a dangerous situation
and “got it right”? No names.
LA: I’ve gotten feedback. I won’t give
you names, and I won’t give you offensive
instances, which have happened
(one was eight days after a class). What I
will tell you is we’ve had a couple of letters
thanking us that they could walk
away from something because they felt
they had it under control, where prior
to the class they would have probably
pulled a gun and gotten involved in
a gunfight. They managed to evade it
because they knew they could control
it. But other stories—with all due respect,
I’m not going to recount it … out
of courtesy to those people … We have
on our brochure, “All business conducted
on a confidential basis.” That’s where
it stays.
Q: Can you tell us a story of when you
were pleased with your performance
when you were placed in a hazardous
situation?
LA: No comment. I said it to your
30
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son, and I’ll say it to you. No comment.
Q: Like it or not, you’re a respected
figure and personality in the firearms
world. Can you tell us a story of when
you once made a big tactical mistake?
LA: Every day of my life I goof up.
I’ve stabbed myself in the butt. I’ve slit
my own throat. I’ve gotten my finger
jammed in the roll-down garage door.
I think every strategic exercise starts
off wonderful, and every single one is
a blooper, and if you walk off the other
side, you’re a tactical genius; You’re
Sun Tzu. And that applies to everybody
and I’m pretty much at the bottom of
the pile when it came to the brain selection.
I make no bones about it. I don’t
think I’ve ever done a brilliant tactical
or strategic move in my life. Lucky,
lucky, lucky.
Q: You’ve seen many students come
to you over the years. What are some
of the mistakes in their mindset when
they come? What are some of the challenges
that they have to get over in order
to profit from the material?
LA: Primarily, in the United States,
anything is for sale. So, people think
they can buy knowledge. It’s not for sale.
You’ve got to put your 10% in. You can’t
just buy knowledge. What I try to do is to
make sure that when I walk away, they
know what can go wrong, as opposed to
what can go right. And, a lot of people
mix up shooting with fighting. They’re
symbiotic. If you can’t think, you lose.
If you don’t have a fighting brain, you
lose. You have to have both or you lose.
Or, if you’re the one in a hundred who’s
the 1% lucky person, lucky you! Good
luck to you. People hit a piece of cardboard,
a flat piece of cardboard, and
they think they’re a gunfighter—not because
they’re swell-headed, that’s not
what I’m intimating. They think it’s the
same thing as a gunfighter; it isn’t.
Q: What does the future hold for
Louis Awerbuck and Yavapai Firearms
Academy?
LA: The Academy, I don’t know. For
me, not much. It’s twilight and the sun’s
going down. Am I … despondent? No.
I reckon I’ve had a hundred years of
good health, but … I’m jaded with mankind.
That’s my problem. I’m jaded with
mankind. Too many people. Too many
years. Too many lies. Too many people
with no morals, no ethics. Money, money,
money. Me, me, me. Nice guys finish
last. I don’t mind finishing last, but
I’m tired of running, running the race.
There’s no point to it. What is the end of
it? What is it all? Nothing that I haven’t
seen before.
More knowledge, hopefully. In fact,
you can cancel the whole preceding
three paragraphs and say, “Hope for
more knowledge.” Just learn, learn,
learn. It’s the psychology that I’m interested
in. But otherwise, nothing.
What do I have left to do that I haven’t
done? Nothing. Except maybe golf, but I
ain’t going to try to hit a 4-inch golf ball
into a 3-inch hole. Snow skiing? And I
ain’t jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft,
so there’s nothing left to do that I
haven’t done that I wanted to do, except
learn. That’s it. The show’s over. n
[ For information about classes with
Louis Awerbuck, contact Yavapai Firearms
Academy at Yavapai Firearms
Academy, Ltd., P.O. Box 27290, Prescott
Valley, AZ 86312 (928) 772-8262 www.
yfainc.com ]
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APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
31

Custom features are standard
on the PT1911. It comes ready
to perform right out of the box.
Taurus PT1911
[ B Y T O D D B U R G R E E N ]
John Browning’s 1911
pistol is an icon.
The early 20 th Century design is
still going strong nearly 100 years
after its adoption by the U.S. military.
Mr. Browning would take satisfaction
in the fact that military units with
a choice in the matter still choose to
carry his design into harm’s way over
any others. 1911 manufacturers have
never been more plentiful. The Clinton
magazine ban helped prompt the 1911’s
resurgence in popularity. It is easy to
understand why when comparing ten
rounds of 9mm versus a similar number
of .45ACP. What better platform for the
.45ACP than the 1911? Its slim frame
width makes it an ideal carry gun, and
the single action trigger promotes accurate
shooting. I do not intend to rehash
all the well known 1911 design characteristics.
I want to highlight one of the
latest examples of Browning’s design on
the market today—the Taurus PT1911.
When I saw the press releases announcing
Taurus’ entry into the 1911
market, I wondered what niche they
would try and fill. It did not seem natural
for Taurus to go after the $2,000+
custom 1911 market occupied by several
firms. This would go against the
existing Taurus business model. Upon
further reflection, many manufacturers
seemed to have the entry to midlevel
price ranges covered for the 1911.
Often times, the simplest idea is the
best. Taurus decided to take advantage
of its manufacturing experience and
offer a 1911 model with many custom
features at near entry level prices—
Brilliant. Taurus gives the consumer
features found on semi-custom 1911s
at a low price using their strength as a
quality production manufacturer. Now
granted, all of this is conjecture on my
part, since I was not invited to any of the
Taurus boardroom discussions.
Taurus PT1911 literature claims
$1,600 worth of premium accessories
come as standard equipment along with
a forged ordnance steel frame, slide, and
barrel. Taurus’s estimate is conservative.
Let me list some of the accessories.
This will serve as a good guide for what
to look for with anyone interested in
purchasing a 1911. The PT1911 .45ACP
“with custom fitted five inch barrel includes
an ambidextrous safety, skeletonized
trigger, target hammer, serrated
slide, checkered trigger guard, mainspring
housing and front strap, genuine
Heinie ‘Straight Eight’ two dot sights, a
polished feed ramp, lowered and flared
ejection port, custom internal extrac-
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tor, beavertail grip safety with memory
pad, two eight round magazines with
bumper pads, and extended magazine
release.”
Taurus is the only production manufacturer
to ensure quality control by
hand fitting every 1911 with matching
serial numbers on the frame, slide,
and barrel. How were all these features
possible for well below $1,000? I must
admit I was skeptical of all the claims.
Surely short cuts were being taken with
quality control?
All of these features mean nothing
if the Taurus 1911 does not deliver on
the range or in the field. I have owned
and shot numerous 1911 models from
different manufacturers. Some were
disappointments. I admit not having
much success with 1911 models utilizing
short barrels and bushing-less
designs. One time, I had a certain fullsize
1911 from another manufacturer
malfunctioning out of the box. I was
informed by the manufacturer their
pistol needed to be “broke in” by firing
500 rounds or more. I asked the rep to
send me the ammunition or a check to
purchase it since I had already invested
over $1,100 in the pistol. I got nowhere
with my argument. I sold the pistol.
However, I want to stay positive. The
Taurus PT1911 had no such issues performing
straight out of the box. I now
have over 1,500 rounds through it without
a hitch. Several associates were
skeptical that the Taurus would deliver
on the manufacturer’s promises,
so I invited them to the range for the
Taurus’s initiation. My first range session
consisted of over 600 rounds fired
without cleaning or any lubrication as
soon as it left the box. While the bulk of
my firing was with 230gr FMJ practice
ammunition, I did fire an assortment
of premium ammunition (Hornady
TAP-FPD and Black Hills 185gr and
230gr JHP) through the PT1911 to verify
reliability. Firing was at a relatively
steady pace with different shooters
running the Taurus PT1911 through
its paces on plate racks, dueling trees,
and other drills. Everyone commented
on the Taurus PT1911’s uncanny accuracy.
The Taurus fired groups into one
jagged hole at seven yards and came
close to this performance at 15 yards.
If the shooter does his part, the Taurus
PT1911 easily groups inside a silhouette
target’s head at 25 yards. I am not a
big proponent of bench testing a pistol
for accuracy. It is a pointless exercise in
my opinion. A weapon like the PT1911
should be fired as it is designed to be
used—standing up from the hand. This
is the true measure of accuracy, combining
trigger pull, grip, and sights. I
had to beat back offers for the PT1911
after that day with many later acquiring
their own. Subsequent range visits
have only reinforced my initial impressions.
The 1911 design is too well known
for me to attempt any new expose story,
however the Taurus PT1911, with
everything it offers “standard”, is worthy
of Mr. Browning’s approval. The
PT1911 arrives ready to go right out of
the box. Kudos to Taurus for including
the right features for maximizing
performance without turning it into a
finicky or fussy competition gun. The
Taurus PT1911 represents a good balance
of features for daily use as a duty
or concealed carry weapon. The buyer
is gaining a lot of value for the listed
purchase price on the PT1911. Taurus
is due to unveil both blue, and stainless
versions of the PT1911 with an integral
accessory rail. Also, there is discussion
of a smaller frame size version in the future.
I look forward to trying out these
new models. As mentioned above, the
1911 is an icon. Icon for me means everyone
needs to own one (or more) and
the Taurus PT1911 is worthy. n
www.stonewallarms.com
www.taurususa.com
www.hornady.com
www.black-hills.com
www.blackhawk.com
[ Todd Burgreen is a freelance writer
with work published in PRECISION
SHOOTING, THE ACCURATE RIFLE,
THE VARMINT HUNTER MAGAZINE,
and S.W.A.T. His topics have covered the
gamut, including but not limited to, a
CQB tomahawk article, long range rifle,
single-shot rifles, full-automatic rifles,
hunting handguns and defensive handguns.
Todd lives in Virginia with his wife
and three sons. ]
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
BlackHawk Serpa holster with belt
attachment.
BlackHawk CQC Inside the Pants
holster.
DeSantis Small of Back holster worn
side-of-back style.
33

“I learned a lot from the class and it really
sparked my interest in guns. I can’t wait to
get more time on the range.”
Firearms
Fundamentals
for the Whole Family
Arizona Gun Club Gets the Job Done
[ B Y R I C K M E D I N A ]
One very positive trend that I have been noticing around gun clubs is an active
outreach campaign to attract more female shooters.
Arizona Tactical in Phoenix is one example
of a company that is enjoying
great success with their Ladies Night
promotion. It takes place every Friday
evening, when ladies may enjoy a complimentary
gun rental, free ear and eye
protection, generous range time and
professional coaching from certified instructors.
They only have to pay for targets
and ammunition. Since the implementation
of this program, Friday night
has become the most popular evening
on their range – and a local magazine
has named their facility, “Best Place to
get Loaded on a Friday Night.”
Another form of outreach involves offering
free “Introduction to Handgun”
courses specifically marketed to beginners
and children. One of the easiest
mistakes for experienced shooters to
make is to assume that everybody else
on the range is as knowledgeable, comfortable
and safety conscious around
firearms as they are. I therefore decided
that it would be unrealistic for me to
evaluate one of these classes on my own
and I recruited a student from Arizona
State University who had never previously
fired a pistol, to take the Women’s
Introduction to Handguns course and
critique the program.
Arizona Tactical’s Women’s Introduction
to Handgun course is taught by Carol
Rue, an NRA Certified Instructor. Carol
has a separate day job, but she makes
the trip across town once a month to offer
an evening class for women seeking
practical pistol instruction. She takes
pride in providing an environment
where women can feel comfortable.
Her sincere commitment to teaching
new students is readily apparent. Firearm
training is a labor of love for Carol,
and that enthusiasm is contagious.
Everybody is class looked attentive and
excited.
The class was scheduled on a Wednesday
night from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.,
and it covered topics such as safety
rules, familiarization with common
handguns, fundamental marksmanship
techniques and live-fire shooting on the
range. To my delight, it also included a
good introductory discussion of the 2 nd
Amendment and its role in ensuring the
integrity of our way of life as Americans.
I’ve attended numerous shooting
classes and seminars over the years, but
never one quite like this. The women in
the class looked especially at ease and
were not shy about asking questions
and admitting their past ignorance regarding
firearms. In fact, the discussion
was wide open with only two things that
Carol insisted on: 1) Full adherence to
safety rules, and 2) No crying. She customized
a Tom Hank’s line from the
movie “A League of Their Own,” and repeated
it throughout the night: “There’s
no crying on the firing range.”
“The course was taught in such an
encouraging and comfortable atmo-
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USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

sphere,” said Angie. “I could focus on
learning about firearms and enjoy the
experience.”
While there were a few curriculum
points I would have presented differently
(such as teaching the isosceles stance
before the Weaver, and spending more
time on the operation of modern pistols
and less time on the historic cowboy
action revolvers), I was determined
to remain silent and simply observe. After
all, this was an introductory class for
women and I was only there as a guest.
On the drive home after the course,
Angie told me, “I learned a lot from the
class and it really sparked my interest in
guns. I can’t wait to get more time on
the range.”
I was also sincerely impressed with
the quality of instruction that these
women were able to receive in three and
a half hours — for FREE. In fact, after
the class ended at 9:00 p.m., many of the
students stayed at the range with the instructor
to continue live-fire practice
until 9:45 p.m. It takes a teacher who
truly cares about the subject — and students
who really want to learn — to stay
45 minutes after a three-and-a half-hour
class — on a weeknight!
Why is this free introduction to handguns
course such a wonderful program?
Well, for a number of reasons. First,
everyone who keeps a firearm at their
house should ensure that family members
are familiar with the safety rules for
avoiding accidents with guns. It is your
responsibility to teach them and getting
some professional training assistance
is more of a good thing. Secondly,
if loved ones ever find themselves put
at risk-of-death or grave bodily injury by
an attacker, you will want them to have
the expertise necessary to defend themselves
with a firearm. That cannot be
accomplished until people are experienced
in handling and firing their pistol.
The more background information and
training a person has, the better their
chance of surviving a deadly threat.
Beyond these significant personal
benefits, these classes also offer longterm
benefits for the shooting industry
and our country. The more people
that enjoy shooting, the more handgun
manufactures and shooting clubs will
flourish. Consumer demand has always
been the driving force in our free-market
economy, and the more demand we
have for shooting equipment and facilities
the more numerous choices and
quality programs we will all
enjoy as the supply rises to
meet the demand.
Many Americans today do
not understand the importance
of the Second Amendment
or the crucial role it
plays in our political system.
This was vividly displayed
during the unlawful disarming
of law-abiding citizens
during the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina. If you think
that was an isolated incident
that only occurred under the
watch of incompetent officials
and the strain of a massive
local disaster, check out
the small group of misguided
politicians in San Francisco
that recently succeeded in persuading
local residents to vote for a total ban
of handguns within the city limits. This
legislation was eventually overturned in
court because it is unconstitutional, but
it still serves to illustrate the great need
for more public education about the importance
of our right to keep and bear
arms.
Teaching people—starting with our
family and friends—fabout the joys of
firearms and the valuable role that small
arms play in personal protection, is a
powerful first step. If your local gun club
does not offer easily accessible classes
for beginners, you should encourage
them to start. If they do offer them,
you should make arrangements for the
people you care most about to attend.
Only when people can experience these
things firsthand, can they really begin to
understand the bigger picture and grasp
the vital role that the Second Amendment
to the United States Constitution
plays in preserving the integrity of our
political system.
Here are some tips when sending a
loved one to attend firearm training:
1) Start short. It’s tough for people to
clear a whole weekend for a 16-hour
course, but they might go for a few
hours.
2) Find a class at the person’s skill level.
If they go to a class that is below their
expertise, they will be bored. At a class
where other students are much more
advanced, they may be shy asking questions
and the training will be beyond
their ability.
3) Find a reputable instructor and ask
how large the class will be. While there
are more people qualified to teach an
introductory class than an advanced
combat class, it’s especially important
among less experienced shooters
that the teacher and/or assistant range
masters can monitor class safety on the
range.
4) Equipment should be what the student
needs, not what you would bring.
For example, children generally require
stronger hearing protection than adults
because their eardrums are closer to the
surface of the ear. Your IDPA Unlimited
Class race pistol is also something beginners
will have to work their way up
to.
With these things in mind, look into
enrolling your friends and family for
firearm training soon. By exposing more
people to these classes, we will make
great strides in promoting the shooting
sports, ensuring our right to self-defense
and to maintaining the American
way of life for future generations. n
[ Rick Medina is an internationally
published book author, an award-winning
screenwriter and a private pistol instructor
in Phoenix, Arizona. ]
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
35

SHOULDER HOLSTER
The brachial artery in the upper arm can be at risk during the draw from a
shoulder holster and again during the reholstering process. An accidental discharge
at this point would very likely result in the shooter’s demise from rapid
blood loss. It is imperative that the trigger finger is away from the trigger when
reholstering.
CONCEALED-draw
1) The fastest draw begins with the
hand on the holstered gun. Note the
arms are overlapped, but not crossed.
Although the dominant hand has already
acquired a solid grip on the gun
underneath the cover garment, the finger
is off the trigger and well away from
the trigger guard. If there is a retention
snap, it may be unsnapped at this point,
or you can simply have your fingers in
place to unsnap it immediately when
needed.
2) As the dominant hand begins to retract
the gun, the non-dominant hand
moves to the opposite shoulder and the
shooter begins lifting her elbow at the
same time.
3) To avoid crossing the brachial artery,
the non-dominant elbow lifts high
out of the way during the drawstroke. In
very close quarters, this same basic motion
could easily become an elbow jab.
4) As the gun passes the point of the
elbow, the elbow drops and the nondominant
hand comes forward to join
the gun hand. Note that the gun has
swept everyone and everything to the
shooter’s left during the draw. This is
unavoidable during an actual encounter,
but during practice, every possible
step should be taken to avoid endangering
others.
5) The hands join near the midline
as the gun is moving forward. Take care
that the non-dominant hand does not
travel ahead of the gun during this step.
Open-draw
1) The non-dominant hand slaps the
dominant shoulder while the shooter
lifts her elbow high out of the way. At
the same time, the dominant hand acquires
a firing grip on the gun with the
finger far outside the trigger guard.
2) The elbow remains elevated until
the gun has cleared the area, then
drops as the non-dominant hand races
to obtain a solid grip. Note that the entire
area to the left of the shooter will be
swept; for this reason, during practice
a right-handed shooter should always
take the far-left shooting position and
make sure there’s a solid backstop to
that side. If this is not possible on your
range, you can practice the shoulder
holster drawstroke with a dummy gun
at home.
3) The trigger finger should not go to
the trigger until the sights are on target
and the decision to fire has been made.
This necessary decision needn’t slow
you down, since you can decide whether
or not you will fire before you even
begin to draw, or at any point during
the drawstroke.
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BELT HOLSTER - DRAWING
Although drawing from a kneeling position
may be necessary during a fight
for one’s life, such a draw always carries
a risk of muzzling the lower leg
during the drawstroke and again while
reholstering. The only way to avoid this
danger is to habitually draw before
kneeling, and to avoid reholstering until
standing up. If you wish to practice
drawing from the kneeling position,
get a dummy gun for safety’s sake.
If the non-dominant palm is not
securely anchored on the abdomen
during the drawstroke, there is a significant
risk of sweeping it during the
draw.
Some instructors recommend anchoring
the wrist or elbow rather than
the palm of the hand. This can be done
safely during slow-fire practice, but
tends to become sloppy or fall apart
dangerously as speeds are increased.
Another reason to anchor the nondominant
hand during the drawstroke:
if the holster flops or twists during the
draw, there is a strong but dangerous
temptation to move the support hand
in front of the holster as if to steady it.
This is one of many reasons a good solid
belt is worth its weight in gold.
OPEN-draw
1) The non-dominant palm anchors
flat on the belly button while the dominant
hand acquires a firing grip on the
gun, with the trigger finger far outside
the trigger guard.
2) As soon as the muzzle has cleared
the holster, the shooter drops her elbow
and the muzzle immediately aligns with
the target even before the gun is raised.
The sooner the muzzle is aligned with
the target, the sooner the shooter can
accurately fire from body index positions.
3) The shooter’s hands join at the
midline, with the non-dominant hand
coming from alongside or behind the
gun as the hands meet. Do not allow the
non-dominant hand to cross in front of
the muzzle as the hand races to join the
gun.
4) If the decision to fire has been
made, the finger moves to the trigger.
If the decision to fire has not yet been
made, the trigger finger indexes alongside
the frame.
CONCEALED-draw
1) Cover garment should be flung
far out of the way while non-dominant
hand anchors to belly button.
2) The dominant hand must move
quickly to the gun to avoid cover garment
rebound. If the garment rebounds
before the hand is on the gun, dangerous
entanglements can result.
Not shown: Another method to avoid
cover garment rebound is to splay the
gun-hand pinky finger during the drawstroke,
running it along the shooter’s
side to create a barrier against the garment’s
return, while the remaining fingers
obtain a normal grip on the gun.
Additional note:
On the range, if you think your garment
is getting tangled up during the
drawstroke, stop immediately and fix
the problem before continuing. If it happens
during a real-life encounter, you’ll
keep moving and cope with the tangle
as best you can. But when practicing,
there’s no particular reason to force the
issue, and there’s a good reason not to:
such tangles often result in dangerously
out of control muzzle directions and
dropped firearms.
Holster
Safety
[ B Y K A T H Y J A C K S O N — P H O T O S B Y B O B J A C K S O N ]
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
Perhaps the most dangerous
moment in any firearms class
happens when new students
begin using their holsters for the
first time. But even experienced
shooters can encounter some
common safety pitfalls when
using a holster. These pitfalls, and
techniques for avoiding them, are
shown in this photo essay.
37

BELT HOLSTER - REHOLSTERING
If you ordinarily carry in a collapsible
holster, it’s safest to place the gun
into it before putting the holster on
your belt, because it is very difficult to
open the mouth of a collapsed holster
on the belt and place the gun in it
without muzzling the non-dominant
hand. Range practice with such a
holster? Not worth the risk. Purchase
a stiff-mouthed holster for practice.
Before reholstering, tuck loose
clothing out of the way so it does not
become entangled with the firearm
and holster. If any resistance is felt
during the reholstering sequence,
stop immediately. Check for obstacles
before continuing.
The classic pattern for a
reholstering-related unintentional
discharge involves a negligent trigger
finger and too much speed. The gun
fires the moment the mouth of the
holster meets the shooter’s knuckle,
especially inevitable if the shooter
compounds her negligence by moving
quickly. There is rarely or never any
need to reholster in a hurry. Practice
deliberately slowing down and
changing mental gears before you
reholster, taking time to be sure your
trigger finger is where it ought to be.
Keep the wrist straight when
reholstering, especially if you have
difficulty locating the mouth of your
holster. This helps you avoid muzzling
straight into your torso.
Additional note:
When adapting to a new holster
or carry position, there is nothing
wrong with looking the gun into the
holster. Later, you will want to holster
by feel alone, but there’s no harm in
using your eyes during the early part
of the familiarization process, and it
is somewhat safer. For safety, initial
practice with a new holster or carry
position is best done with a dummy
pistol.
To safely reholster, tuck the cover
garment firmly into the armpit and pin
it there with your upper arm. Be cautiously
aware that a loose-fitting shirt
may get stuffed into the holster during
reholstering, and work its way through
the trigger guard to cause a negligent
discharge. Keep the non-dominant
palm anchored to the belly button to
avoid the natural temptation to move
it in front of the holster (and the gun’s
muzzle). Maintain a firing grip on the
gun, but keep the trigger finger far outside
the trigger guard area. Placing the
thumb on the back of the slide may
hold a Glock-type firearm firmly in battery
while the gun enters a stiff holster;
in other firearms types, similar thumb
placement may allow the shooter to
sense or prevent hammer movement.
38
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

FANNY PACK - DRAWING
The primary danger when drawing from a fanny pack involves muzzling the
non-dominant hand and forearm during the drawstroke.
1) The dominant hand anchors to the
pack while the non-dominant hand rips
the pack open. Note that the dominant
hand is also helping to steady the pack,
creating a faster draw.
2) As soon as the pack is open, the
non-dominant hand slaps the shooter’s
back pocket, hiding safely behind the
hip, while the dominant hand acquires
a solid grip on the gun.
3) Dominant hand begins to pivot
the gun toward the target, while the
non-dominant hand obtains flat contact
with the body and begins to move
toward the midline.
4) As the gun finishes its pivot toward
target and begins to thrust forward, the
support hand slithers along abdomen
to meet the gun hand near the midline.
5) Hands join at the midline as the
muzzle aligns with the target. If the trigger
were pulled at this point, the bullet
would hit near the target’s center.
6) The decision to fire has been made,
so the finger moves to the trigger as the
sights align. If the decision to fire has
not yet been made, the finger would remain
alongside the frame.
FANNY PACK -
REHOLSTERING
The primary danger of reholstering
in a fanny pack is muzzling the nondominant
hand while holding the
holster mouth open.
Sometimes a good pinch leaves the
holster mouth open enough that you
can insert the gun one-handed. If this
is possible, anchor the non-dominant
hand to keep it out of the way while
reholstering.
If using two hands is necessary, you
can “pop” the holster mouth open by
making a rounded c-clamp with the
No photographers or authors were
endangered during the creation of this
article. The yellow plastic training barrel
shown in the photos, which rendered
the firearm inert and unable to fire, cost
approximately $15 and was purchased
from Blade-Tech Industries.
non-dominant hand, keeping the palm
and fingers as far away from the muzzle
of the gun as possible.
The safe reholstering process for
a purse is very similar to the fanny
pack method shown. Be cautiously
aware of muzzle direction at
all times to avoid muzzling the fingers
of the non-dominant hand. n
Blade-Tech Industries
2506 104th Street Court South
Building H
Lakewood, WA 98499
Phone: (877) 331-5793
www.blade-tech.com
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
39

Shot Show
[ B Y D U A N E A . D A I K E R ]
This year’s Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show
was held on February 2-5 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The industry’s annual trade show, this event enables all of the major players to
showcase their wares for the press, dealers, and other industry insiders. This
year’s show broke all previous attendance records, with nearly 2,000 exhibitors
and over 58,000 attendees. The SHOT Show has become the traditional time
for launching new products, and gives us a look at many of the new items coming
to the market in 2008. (www.shotshow.com)
Covering the SHOT Show for CCM, I spent two
full days digging through the exhibits for great new
concealed carry products. Truly comprehensive
coverage of the show would take far more space
than we can devote to it here, so what follows is
an overview of the things I found most interesting.
SHOT Show pictures aren’t always the best,
so my apologies in advance! However, web links
have been provided for all products mentioned, so
you can see better photos and obtain more information.
Watch for a lot of these products in forthcoming
issues of CCM.
Benchmade displayed several
new tactical products including the 950
Rift, a large reverse-tanto folding knife
with very attractive milled G-10 handles
and Benchmade’s excellent AXIS lock.
Benchmade also debuted their new
1100 tactical pen. CNC machined out of
40
Benchmade 950 Rift.
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

heavy duty aluminum, this low profile
writing instrument doubles as a weapon/control
device, and will fit into even
the most secure environments. www.
benchmade.com or (800) 800-7427.
Industry favorite SureFire
showed several new models of their
tactical flashlights, including the E1B
Backup, an ultra compact dual-output
LED that cranks out as little as 5 lumens
or up to 80 lumens on a single 123A lithium
battery. This will be a great pocket
light for concealed carry. SureFire
also announced their new X400 LED
Weaponlight with integrated laser aiming
device–-sure to be an instant hit.
www.surefire.com or (800) 828-8809.
Taurus displayed several innovative
new models at their booth. One
that I found most interesting was the
Model 856 revolver, which is built on a
small frame like their Model 85 revolver,
but with a slightly larger diameter cylinder
to accommodate a full six rounds of
.38 Special ammunition. Also on display
2008
Para PDA.
9mm version packs 8+1 rounds of serious
firepower into a very small pistol.
www.paraord.com or (416) 297-7855.
Crimson Trace has recently
introduced numerous new models of
their grip mounted laser aiming devices,
including Lasergrips for the Smith &
Wesson M&P Compact, Walther PPK/S,
and Springfield XD. CT has also introduced
a new laser module for the tiny
Kel-Tec P-3AT that mounts just forward
of the trigger guard. www.crimsontrace.
com or (800) 442-2406.
Sig Sauer, famous for “to Hell
and back reliability,” promoted their
new modular polymer pistol, the P250.
The modularity of this gun allows the
user to swap the actual frame and firing
mechanism of the pistol into a variety of
sizes of polymer grip frames, and also to
swap calibers and slide lengths at will.
This is a very innovative design that will
offer a lot of flexibility with a single serial
numbered frame. www.sigsauer.com
or (603) 772-2302.
Smith & Wesson introduced
a range of new revolvers designated as
the “Night Guard” series. These guns
feature an alloy frame and stainless
steel cylinder with matte black finish, XS
Sight 24/7 tritium front sights, Cylinder
Taurus 709SS
“Slim.”
was the Taurus Model 709SS “slim” 9mm
compact pistol, with nicely smoothed
contours for carry. www.taurususa.com
or (305) 624-1115.
Para USA demonstrated their
new Personal Defense Assistant (PDA)
pistol, a 1911 style sub-compact with
Para’s light double action (LDA) trigger,
available in either .45 ACP or 9mm. The
SigSauer ‘s new modular P250.
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
41

Colt is offering its “New Agent” compact
1911 style pistol in standard 1911
single action format or in double action
only—something Colt has not offered
for quite some time. In the name of ultimate
concealability, the New Agent has
no sights, just a sighting trench milled
into the slide. I am not sure what traditionalists
will say. www.coltsmfg.com
or (800) 962-COLT.
The tiny Ruger LCP.
Ruger SR-9.
& Slide Extreme Duty fixed rear sights,
and Pachmayr Compac grips. These are
offered in K, L and N frames in a variety
of calibers. S&W is also introducing a
compact, 10 round version of the popular
M&P Pistol in .45 ACP. www.smithwesson.com
or (800) 331-0852.
Walther showed their new PPS, a
very slim 9mm semi-automatic with a
variety of magazine options (and corresponding
grip lengths) of 6, 7 or 8
rounds. Walther was also talking about
the planned release of the PPS in .40
S&W in April 2008. www.waltheramerica.com
or (800) 372-6454.
in .380 ACP. The LCP is sure to be a hit
for deep concealment needs. It is great
to see Ruger back with new developments
for the concealed carry market.
www.ruger.com or 888-220-1173.
Tactonix has introduced a new
digital “evidence collection recorder”
that records audio on a continuous
loop and locks in the preceding time
interval as soon as it senses your firearm
has been removed from its holster.
The benefits of this technology are sure
to be debated, but the technology has
clearly arrived. www.tactonix.com or
888-eWitnss.
LED Lenser, an up and coming
flashlight company, has developed
a high quality line of tactical flashlights
of all sizes using high-output LEDs and
conventional alkaline batteries like AA
and D. These lights offer incredible
output and run times, and most offer
an advanced focusing system to adjust
from spot to flood without the rings or
dark spots common in previous focusing
flashlights. www.ledlenserhp.com
or (800) 426-5858.
Rohrbaugh Firearms
showed their R-380 chambered in .380
ACP which was recently brought to market,
as well as new Alumagrips for their
pocket pistol line. www.rohrbaughfirearms.com
or 800-803-2233.
LaserMax showed off their green
rail mount laser aiming unit that will
attach to most any gun with an equipment
rail. The laser unit has a rail on
the bottom, so that weapon lights can
still be mounted. The green lasers seem
Industry veteran Ruger has been
hard at work catering to the concealed
carry market with their new SR-9 and
LCP. The SR-9 is a full-size striker-fired
polymer pistol that sports a very thin
profile for a double-stack, 17+1 round
9mm pistol. The LCP is a small, flat
Double Action Only (DAO) pocket pistol
42
Rohrbaugh R-380.
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

to have some advantage in visibility over
red lasers in certain conditions and may
represent a trend in the market. www.
lasermax.com or 800.527.3703.
Leatherman showed off a new
lightweight multi-tool appropriately
named the Skeletool, that packs a ton
of functionality into just a five ounce
package. It looks pretty cool too! www.
leatherman.com or 800.527.3703.
North American Arms
displayed its new mini-revolver variation,
the Pug. The Pug is a snubby minirevolver
in the style of the Black Widow,
with real sights. Night sights are also
available. This tiny gun also features
the slightly oversized NAA rubber grips.
This package makes a great mini-revolver
even better. www.naaminis.com
or 800-821-5783.
Leatherman Skeletool.
cylinder to the muzzle A clearly visible
red “safe” indicator protrudes from the
barrel to confirm the firearm’s safe condition,
but is removable in a matter of
seconds. www.visualock.com or (510)
651-2227.
Fisher Space Pen, one of
my personal favorites, was at the show
with their remarkable writing instruments
that write under almost any
conditions. Fisher’s new Trekker Space
Pen attaches to your keys or gear with a
carabiner or a breakaway neck lanyard.
These pens seem like a natural for those
who like quality gear. Fisher also makes
the refills for the new Benchmade tactical
pen. www.spacepen.com or 800-
634-3494. n
[ Duane A. Daiker is a Contributing
Editor for CCM, but is otherwise a regular
guy—not much different from you.
Duane has been a life-long shooter
and goes about his life as an armed,
responsible, and somewhat opinionated
citizen. Duane can be reached at
Daiker@RealWorldCarryGear.com.
Additional articles and Real World Carry
Gear columns can be viewed at www.
RealWorldCarryGear.com. ]
VisuaLock demonstrated an innovative
firearm locking device that
locks the gun from the chamber or
NAA Pug.
The Ultimate
Resource for
the Armed
Citizen
usconcealedcarry.com
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
43

FORCE-ON-FORCE NOTEBOOK
A very large volume of information arrives in my e-mail inbox every month and an article
by Bob Irwin titled, Rethinking the 21-Foot Rule caught my eye.
I
agree with much that Mr. Irwin states
in his article, but as we’ll see later on,
I reach a far different conclusion.
The 21-foot rule is also known as
the Tueller Drill, named after Dennis
Tueller, a police officer with the Salt
Lake City Police Department who
asked the question: “How close is too
close?” He essentially quantified the
distance that an attacker can cover in
the same time that a defender can draw
his pistol and fire a shot on target. He
found that the distance of 21 feet can
be covered in 1.5 seconds. This is the
standard by which many defensive
shootings have been measured. Shoot
too soon, you are criminally liable.
Shoot too late, you risk injury or death.
There is very little margin for error.
In reading the article by Mr. Irwin, he
finds that the 21-foot rule is fundamentally
flawed because the participants in
the drill know an attack is coming. An
unsuspecting civilian won’t have that
Revisiting the 21-Foo
[ B Y J A C K R U M B A U G H ]
You can avoid an attack at
bad breath distances and
prevail using dynamic
movement coupled with a
smooth presentation.
06 FEET
44
21 FEET 50 FEET 12 FEET
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

t Rule
30 FEET
Contact ready
means
business.
luxury. I do agree that the 21-foot rule is
limited in that it is a drill rather than a
counter to an actual assault. He comes
to the conclusion that an officer who
is caught unawares would need a little
over 3.5 seconds to recognize and react
appropriately to a deadly threat. This
equates to approximately 50 feet of distance
the assailant would cover in that
time. In fairness to Mr. Irvin, he does
mention a few tactics to delay a charging
opponent. He speaks about drawing
to low ready, giving ground to increase
distance, using cover or placing an object
between you and the attacker, as
well as shots to the pelvic girdle. He
goes on to describe a drill to simulate
a charging opponent. He has a method
to make a charging target from an IDPA
or IPSC target, some string, wood, and
a couple of cup hooks. The instructor
would pull the target towards the student
to simulate a charging opponent.
His final statement was: “After running
this drill a few times, you will rethink the
21-foot rule.”
I have a much simpler solution:
MOVE!
It does not get any more fundamental
than to get off the X to avoid an attack.
We have proved it time and time again
with Airsoft in force on force scenarios.
You can avoid an attack at bad breath
distances and prevail using dynamic
movement coupled with a smooth
presentation. It’s amazing to me how a
simple concept such as moving to the 1
o’clock or to the 11 o’clock can be dismissed
for a static drill. It’s an example
of how the mantra of stand and deliver
permeates training, even today.
To illustrate the distances that were
discussed in the article, we shot a series
of photographs from the point of view
of the defender. They represent distances
of 50, 30, 21, 12, and 6 feet. As you can
see, 50 feet looks like a mile from the defender’s
POV. We typically perform our
scenarios in the Interactive Gunfighting
class from 21 feet and in closer, so I included
those distances for comparison.
If we run simple drills at each of these
distances, it’s not difficult to see how
easily you can avoid your adversary and
get shots on target. I’d love to have 50
feet to react to every assault. It would
make me a very happy camper. But as
we know, most assaults are up close and
personal. Once we reach the inner distances
of three to four yards, we must
move with authority to avoid the attack.
As the distance becomes shorter, some
sort of preemptive hand to hand techniques
will be needed to counter the
initial attack. Once the attack is blunted
or redirected, you can employ your pistol
to maximum effect.
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
Mr. Irwin suggests presenting to low
ready during the attack. Low ready lacks
the commitment that contact ready
demonstrates to your attacker. He also
mentions that you should give ground,
seek cover, or use obstacles to your advantage.
Using obstacles to slow your
attacker is a great idea that will buy you
precious seconds. Giving ground to the
6 o’clock line has not been shown to be a
sound tactic in our Force-On-Force scenarios.
Usually the guy backing up gets
run down and bowled over. The person
running forward will always catch the
person backpedaling. Moving to the 5
or 7 o’clock lines are not always optimal,
but better choices than directly to your
six. He also mentions that you should
consider pelvic girdle shots to blunt
the attack. There are several issues with
this. The best place to shoot the pelvis
happens to be the points of the hips, a
target the size of a 50 cent piece. Targets
this size are challenging when both the
shooter and target are stationary, much
less when both are moving. The pelvis is
a ring structure, and must be broken in
two places to render it unstable. Pistol
rounds are ballistically inferior, and not
likely to do the kind of damage to the
pelvis needed to break the bone. Also, if
you have time to shoot the pelvis, would
you not also have the time to place shots
center mass or in the head? Nothing is
as final as two or three rounds in the
cranial-ocular cavity. Couple this with
dynamic movement off the X, and you
have a winning combination.
With regards to his training technique,
it is extremely difficult to have total surprise
in any training exercise. We do the
best we can to randomize the scenarios.
Sometimes an attack is launched; sometimes
the contact is completely benign.
There will always be some sort of anticipatory
reaction shown by the student.
There really isn’t a way to effectively
get around this fact. All we can do is attempt
to make all our training scenarios
and drills as real as possible.
Next month we will be looking at
another of the scenarios posted by our
members. To have your scenario considered
for publication, visit the Force-
On-Force Notebook sub-forum under
the USCCA Forums. n
45

REALITY CHECK
Learning point shooting is a good
skill to help you survive.
Point
Shooting
Versus
Aimed
Fire?
[ B Y G A B R I E L S U A R E Z ]
Now that one should stir some controversy, right?
What would you say if I told you
that they are not mutually exclusive,
and that anyone who
tells you that they are is wrong? I was
once in the “sights all the time at any
distance” camp. Then the reality of a
reactive gunfight showed me that there
are plenty of times when you will not be
prepared for the fight, and have to catch
up or die. At those times, any short cut
is worth all the money in the world.
Gunfights are either reactive or proactive.
In a pro-active gunfight, you have
the information and justification that
you need to draw your pistol and shoot.
You can call it being pro-active, or even
being preemptive to the bad guy’s actions.
Recently one of my New Mexico
students told me of a case where an estranged
husband visited his wife at the
deli counter of a local market and proceeded
to stab her multiple times with a
butcher knife. The restraining order she
got against him did nothing to protect
her, but a local CCW operator who saw
this moved into position, drew his pistol,
and reportedly using his sights, shot
the gun man to death. That is a pro-active,
preemptive gunfight: No startle, no
catch up, no problem. The only thing
needed is a pistol, marksmanship skills,
and the will to use them.
Such gunfights, or I should say, shootings,
make up the lore of sighted, marksmanship-based
shooting methods. But
such fights, while very supportive of certain
skills, are not the norm. The norm
is a gunfight where the other man, or
men, has begun the attack upon a relatively
unprepared victim. That wouldbe
victim must first realize what is happening;
when the information coming
in reaches a tipping point that indicates
he must act quickly or perish, he must
react faster than the bad guy. Does it
sound difficult? Does it sound dangerous?
Right on both counts.
What is lacking is preparation. I know
all about the Color Codes, and about
mental preparedness. I also know that
human beings are fallible. We are overworked,
preoccupied and sometimes
even physically sick. We are rushed, and
we carry the weight of the world on our
shoulders. Hardly conducive to living
in a state of relaxed alertness. Rather
than living in Condition Yellow—as my
late friend Jeff Cooper described it—
we often lapse into Condition Brown:
Often sadly inevitable, it is the situation
we may find ourselves to be in when the
fight comes to us.
Let’s analyze what happens in a gunfight.
You may see the bad guy. He appears
to be a bad guy because of his attire,
his demeanor and maybe even his
ethnicity. Something about him isn’t
right. You catch yourself “profiling”.
Unless you have cleansed your mind
from politically correct programming,
you might chastise yourself for being
judgmental. Yet you are receiving bits
of information constantly. You notice
his eyes and where he is looking. You
begin to notice that all the customers
in the store are also looking at him. You
notice that they appear scared. He is
about five feet away now and you notice
his clothing seems big for his small
frame and you begin to wonder if there
is a weapon hidden. Then you begin to
46
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

Are sights useless? Not at all.
To tell you that it’s all
about “Front Sight – Press”
here is to insult your
intelligence.
notice the outline of a pistol butt and
his hand resting on it. It is beginning to
move from the belt line and toward you.
His first words don’t even register as the
adrenaline begins to shoot through your
veins. That is how it happens.
Now let’s look at the rest of the story:
You draw your pistol. Actually, it’s more
of a grab and shove toward the bad guy
than a shooting school range draw. You
are looking right at him. Your hunter/
predator eye is drawn to the movement
of his hand and fixes on his gun.
It is small and black. Your pistol is out
by now, pointing at him one handed
as your body screams, “MOVE!” Still
transfixed by the image of him, and visually
drawn to the gun moving toward
you, you pull hard on the trigger once,
twice, three times. Not the controlled
trigger pressing you did in school, but
hard trigger smashing. Your eyes have
not left him as he begins to fall dead at
your feet.
That is a reactive gunfight and the
most likely scenario for the CCW folks.
To tell you that it’s all about “Front
Sight – Press” here is to insult your
intelligence.
So what is the answer, point shooting
or aimed fire? Are sights useless?
Should we rip them off our slides and
train only inside elevators? Not at all.
Point Shooting and Sighted Fire are two
different ends of a continuum of shooting.
This description was first coined by
a man in Federal service who posts under
the nom de guerre “7677” at Warrior
Suarez shows that sometimes the attacker is too
close for you to use your sights.
Talk, and it explains the situation quite
well:
Shooting is a physical act that does not
change. There are degrees to your visual
focus (fully on threat, fully on sights or
somewhere in between).
So, analyze your shooting system. If
all you are doing is pro-active sighted
fire at medium distance, you may not
be totally prepared for what life’s bad
guys have in store for you. n
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
47

IT’S JUST THE LAW
MILITIA LAW
“WARRIORS OF THE WORKING DAY” 1
[ B Y K . L . J A M I S O N ]
Francis Wheeler was a toll taker on Concord Bridge that day in April, 1775.
With the family musket he took a
toll of British troops sent to seize
Patriot arms. He spent the rest
of the war in the Home Guard enforcing
Patriot orders and preventing the British
from sending out so much as a firewood
detail without a strong guard, detracting
from their army’s effectiveness. The
Continental Army did not have this burden;
Wheeler’s low-level militia was their
strong guard. A British commentator
concluded that the Mother Country lost
in large part because of local militias. 2
My distinguished ancestor’s Concord
militia was designed for local defense.
For extended missions, in time or territory,
a strike force was recruited from
the militia. The militia was treated as a
mobilization system and pool of trained
manpower for National Guard type missions.
3 Militiamen were expected to appear
carrying a gun and be familiar with
its use.
Throughout the frontier period,
Ranger units were organized out of the
militia as a standing, if irregular, army.
These Rangers were described in 1820
Missouri as “men who furnished their
own horses, equipments, forage and provisions,
and received one dollar per day
for guarding the frontier settlements.” 4
Rangers were recruited for several
months at a time. The federal government
paid them, although in some places
the local community recruited companies
and bore the cost. 5 The famous
Texas Rangers began as such a private
local defense force well before the Texas
Revolution.
In all these cases, ranger-type units
were privately armed irregulars. Due
to the rapid employment of such units
following recruitment, familiarity with
firearms was essential to readiness. As
a semi-standing military force they were
the elite of the militia system.
The colonial militia system would
continue until the Dick Act of 1903 established
the modern National Guard.
Since that time some have dismissively
claimed that the militia of the Second
Amendment is obsolete rendering the
Amendment meaningless. This insults
my mother’s service in World War Two.
In 1942, Mom lived in California which
daily expected a Japanese invasion. Like
many others, she spent time in a tower
watching for unknown aircraft. When
she spotted one she picked up a telephone
and reported its type and course. 6
This was not as dramatic as defending a
bridge but in the primitive early days of
radar it was necessary. Civilian volunteers
freed the military for the battlefield.
While Mom watched for planes, her boyfriend
learned to fly planes through the
Civilian Pilot Training Program. This
program provided low-cost flying lessons
with the objective of providing pilots
to the military. 7 Militias come in all
sorts.
While mom and dad were doing their
bit, various volunteer Home Guard organizations
were formed. In many cases
these were local vigilantes who were
adopted by local or state authorities in
the fashion of the 19 th Century Volunteer
companies. 8
The Coast Guard formed a volunteer
beach patrol under the Temporary
Reserve Act of Congress passed 19
February, 1941. The system relied on
local volunteers, including a privatelyarmed
group of vigilantes from San Luis
Obispo, California. 9 The Home Guard
was used for protection of critical facilities,
guard duty, patrols, and in case of
natural disaster or riot. It also provided
pre-induction training to persons headed
for the regular army. Missouri, hardly
a front line state, had five regiments of
Home Guard, 10 which provided 225 officers
and 6,583 enlisted men to the regular
army through the war. 11 Similar organizations
appeared in all states and territories.
Many guardsmen provided their
own weapons. The federal government
provided a number of shotguns due to
availability and anticipated riot control.
Only after regular units were armed did
the government provide elderly rifles. 12
These militia organizations were
quickly given legal recognition. A
California court, cognizant that it was
sitting in a war zone, found that the
“State Guard is only a part of the militia
which consists of all able-bodied males
resident in this state.” 13 An opinion
of the California Attorney General
allowed Home Guard service to count
as state National Guard service for time
in rank purposes, thus recognizing
the unity of the organizations as one
militia. 14 Alaska’s National Guard was
federalized and replaced by units of
the Arkansas National Guard. 15 As a
great deal of fighting in Alaska involves
survival in Alaska, the “Tundra Army”
a Home Guard of native residents,
largely Eskimos, supplemented these
troops. Following the war the Eskimos
kept the organization going and used
it to implement social reforms. 16 The
organization was eventually enrolled in
the regular National Guard. 17
In the Philippines, no less a territory
than Alaska, local civilians formed guerrilla
armies without prompting or authority.
An October, 1944 executive order
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of the Philippine President gave them
official status along with the pre-war
Philippine army. A federal court ruled
that service in such a guerrilla organization
was enough to qualify for American
citizenship based on military service; no
formal enlistment was required. 18
Certain states organized and equipped
Home Guard cadres during the Korean
War. In the early 80’s, there was a flurry
of interest in reviving a Home Guard
structure. 19 However, a lack of legislation
allowing the acquisition of surplus military
equipment caused the effort to fizzle
out. 20 Following the 9-11 Terrorist War,
President Bush announced a Homeland
Defense advisor and a new Civil Defense
force. However nothing has come of it.
There is a State Guard Association of the
United States to promote Home Guard
organizations. It differs from private militia
organizations in that it only recognizes
forces affiliated with a governmental
agency. 21
Critics of the individual rights theory
of the Second Amendment claim
that the Amendment only protects the
states’ rights to maintain a National
Guard. This unique theory makes the
Amendment redundant with Article I
§8 of the Constitution, which authorizes
Congress to “provide for organizing,
arming, and disciplining the Militia
...reserving to the States respectively, the
appointment of the Officers, and the
Authority of training the Militia...” Since
the Constitution already protected the
state militia, it was not necessary to do so
again in the Second Amendment. Clearly
the Second Amendment refers to something
other than the National Guard.
There are substantial records indicating
that the Founders were concerned over
the power of the federal government to
federalize the militia and march it away
to oppress persons in other parts of the
Union. As was their caution, they recognized
the classic militia and divided the
militia power into the organized militia
armed by congress and the unorganized
militia with a “right of the people to keep
and bear arms.”
Federal law defines two classes of militia;
the “organized”, the National Guard,
and “unorganized”, everyone else. 22 This
distinction has been recognized since
the days of Francis Wheeler and Concord
Bridge. but is not a quaint antique. The
current statute was passed in 1956 and
amended in 1958. Nearly all states have
a similar definition.
The states are joined in this definition
by the Geneva Convention, which recognizes
militia organizations to include
militias, volunteer corps, organized resistance
movements, persons accompanying
the armed forces, and:
(6) Inhabitants of a nonoccupied
territory, who on the approach of the
enemy spontaneously take up arms to
resist the invading forces, without having
had time to form themselves into regular
armed units, provided they carry arms
openly and respect the laws and customs
of war. 23
This recognition allows the
unorganized militia member to be
treated as a lawful combatant for
prisoner of war status. This may seem
to be a dubious benefit but historical
treatment had been somewhat less
lenient than Guantanamo Bay, for those
not executed.
The National Guard is not a
counterbalance to federal authority. The
U. S. Supreme Court has ruled that the
use of the National Guard is completely
at the discretion of the federal
government. 24 Since the Guard can be
disarmed, disorganized and dispatched
at federal will, it is not an effective
balance to federal power; it is federal
power. Further, federal law makes it
clear that all National Guard equipment
belongs to the federal government. 25
Even equipment purchased by the state
belongs to the federal government. 26
The federal government has absolute
authority over what equipment,
organization and training the National
Guard unit shall have.
By next summer the Supreme Court
will rule on the meaning of the Second
Amendment. Two hundred years of law
and practice shout that it means that
we are all the militia and we have a right
to bear arms. n
[ Kevin L. Jamison is an attorney in the
Kansas City Missouri area concentrating
in the area of weapons and self-defense.P
lease send questions to Kevin L. Jamison
2614 NE 56 th Ter Gladstone Missouri
64119-2311 KLJamisonLaw@earthlink.
net. Individual answers are not usually
possible but may be addressed in future
columns. ]
This information is for legal information
purposes and does not constitute
legal advice. For specific questions you
should consult a quaified attorney.
1, 2. Fortescue; Sir John The War of Independence, Stackpole Books Mechanicsburg Penn
2001 at 258.
3. Stone, A Brittle Sword, The University Press of Kentucky Lexington Kentucky 1977
at 2-3 & 72. See also Dupuy The National Guard, Hawthorne Books Inc 1971 at 5, 13, &
47; Johnson Militiamen, Rangers and Redcoats, Mercer University Press Macon Georgia
1992 and Matloff Ed. American Military History, Army Historical Series, office of the
Chief of Military History, United States Army, Washington DC 1969 at 29.
4. Jordan & Kaups The American Backwoods Frontier, the Johns Hopkins University
Press, Baltimore and London 1989 at 69.
5. Colter-Frick Courageous Colter and Companions L.R. Coulter-Frick Washington Mo
1997 at 128.
6. Mom admits she did not know who was on the other end of the telephone. I pointed
out that the other end could have been in Tokyo for all she knew. She has pointed out
that I am not too old to be spanked and I have decided to drop the matter.
7. Pisano To Fill the Skies With Pilots, University of Illinois Press Chicago Ill 1993 and
conversations with Dad.
8. Historical Evaluation and Research Organization U.S. Home Defense Forces prepared
for the Office of the Ass. Secretary of Defense NOVA Publications McLean VA 1981.
9. Bishop, Footprints in the Sand Pictorial Histories Publishing Co Missoula Montana
1989 at 59.
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
10. Letter to author from Capt. Clyde B. Martin Chief, Archives Branch Mo. National
Guard.
11. U.S. Home Defense Forces op cit at 68.
12. Stentiford Barry M. The American Home Guard, Texas A & M University Press College
Station TX 2002.
13. Martin v Riley, 123 P.2d 488 (Calif 1942) at 496.
14. 2 Op Atty Gen 22 (Calif 1943).
15. This was the Army after all.
16. People were less willing to discriminate against armed Eskimos.
17. Marston, Men of the Tundra, October, House Inc N.Y. 1969 at 2.
18. Petition of Augustin, 62 F.Supp. 832 (N.D. Calif. 1945) at 836
19. “Home-front state militia is considered” K.C. Times 23 April, 1981 page A-11 and
Army Magazine April, 1978 at 66.
20. “State defense force in a ‘holding pattern’” Kansas City Star 18 December, 1983.
21. www.sgaus.org.
22. 10 U.S. Code §311.
23. Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 12 Aug, 1949 art
4(A).
24. Perpich v Department of Defense, 496 U.S. 334 (1989) at 339.
25. 32 U.S. Code §107(e).
26. 32 U.S. Code §703.
49

Mark Walters and Tim Schmidt Uncover The
Inside Secrets of Over 33 of the Most Popular
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that will end up collecting dust in your holster drawer...
Concealed Carry Basics Volume 2:
The Ultimate Concealed
Carry Holster Guide
Here are some video screen shots and sample workbook pages from Concealed Carry
Basics Volume 2: The Ultimate Concealed Carry Holster Guide. Tim demonstrates
the draw from sportcoat concealment while Mark gives his introductory talk in front of
our giant table of holsters.
One of the more fascinating aspects of our 35-page workbook is our detailed 5-point
rating system. Each holster was rated on 5 different variables. This rating was then
weighted and an average overall rating was given!
Here’s what you’ll get when you order
Concealed Carry Basics Volume 2: The Ultimate Concealed Carry Holster Guide.
2-Disc DVD Set: Over 2 hours and 20 minutes of detailed analysis and commentary
on over 33 of the most popular concealed carry holsters. Mark and Tim take turns
discussing all the ins and outs of the holsters that work and the holsters that DON’T
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35-Page PDF Workbook on CD: The workbook contains even more detailed
information and photos of each holster that is covered on the DVDs. Each workbook
page contains a review summary, a five-point ratings graph, information on the company
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Audio Interview on CD: After Mark and Tim spent three grueling days under the
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PAYMENT INFORMATION
Check or Money Order Enclosed
(Payable to USCCA)
Please charge my VISA MasterCard
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The USCCA “BulletProof” 100% money-back guarantee gives you
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LICENSED TO FEAR
THE FUTURE OF
CONCEALED CARRY
[ B Y L . N E I L S M I T H ]
Although I write many columns like this one, I am
primarily a science fiction writer.
I’ve acquired a reputation for predicting
certain kinds of things, including
the collapse of the Soviet Empire,
items like laptop computers, and the
Internet. Note that I say “predicted”,
not “invented”. I don’t use a crystal ball
or tea leaves, just common sense and
whatever knowledge I have of history
and human nature.
Now I’ve been asked about the future
of concealed weapons carry. The two
most difficult things to predict are the
acts of a madman, and those of a nation
of frightened and angry voters. At
this critical juncture in America’s history—the
most significant and scary since
the War Between the States—concealed
carry would seem to have two futures.
If Presidential, Senatorial, and Congressional
candidates from either of the
two major parties—those who passed
the Patriot Act into law without even
reading it—are elected in 2008 without
first being given a deep humiliation by
the voters, then their bipartisan campaign
against the Bill of Rights will be
continued and expanded until, in a fairly
brief time, none of us will have any
legal rights at all.
That’s a prediction I take no pleasure
in making.
If, however, they’re picked up by the
scruff of the neck and given a good
shaking, say by an energetic dark horse,
here’s what lies in store:
To judge by various surveys, especially
those carried out by the short-lived
TV quiz show Power of Ten, it’s clear
that most people—especially gun owners—don’t
like being pushed around
and spied on by the government. Not
only would this help predict an increasing
reluctance to be registered as a gun
carrier, but the long range trend may affect
such commonly registered things
as individuals—in the increasingly intrusive
Census—and the licensing and
registration of automobiles. Say whatever
else you will about it, licensed carry
is just another word for something gun
owners resisted for decades: owner registration.
In the long run, the trend will
be toward unlicensed ownership and
carry of defensive weapons, generally
known as “Vermont Carry” (an expression
I originated). Vermont has no laws
governing the carrying of weapons “for
lawful purposes” and Alaska has somewhat
recently adopted similar practices.
It’s not unreasonable, in the foreseeable
future, to predict the success of a national
Vermont Carry movement.
The next frontier for concealed carry—and
here’s a prediction that I do take
considerable pleasure making—will be
“responsible children”.
The Second Amendment establishes
no age limit for the rights it protects, and
children, being smaller and weaker than
adults, need the protection of weapons
even more than grownups do, especially
in a culture that seems to be gripped by
an epidemic of child molestation over
the last 20 years or so. This change won’t
happen all at once, and it won’t happen
all over, but restoring to children 16 and
older a human right they had and often
exercised a century ago is probably inevitable.
I’ve seen that future in many of my
own books, and it works. n
[ Four-time Prometheus Award-winner
L. Neil Smith has been writing about
guns and gun ownership for more than
30 years. He is the author of 27 books,
the most widely-published and prolific
libertarian novelist in the world, and is
considered an expert on the ethics of selfdefense.
Email L. Neil Smith at lneil@
netzero.com or visit www.JPFO.org.]
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
51

ARMED SENIOR CITIZEN
Author getting
into his truck
while absorbed
in a cell phone
conversation is a
prime example of
what not to do.
Author looking
around with a
kubotan key chain
held in a ready
position depicts the
right way to enter
a vehicle.
Entering and Exiting Your
Motor Vehicle Safely Everyday
Be aware of your surroundings.
[ B Y B R U C E N . E I M E R , P h . D ]
One of the places where we need
to be especially aware of our surroundings
is whenever we are
entering and exiting our motor vehicle.
In Florida, at least, where there are a lot
of senior citizens, crime around vehicles
and in parking lots is rampant. Be prepared.
Every day, senior citizens are attacked
(i.e., “mugged”) as they go about
their business of entering and exiting
their motor vehicles in an unaware state
of mind. Criminals are aware of, and
take advantage of, this glut of scared and
unaware elderly citizens. Opportunistic
criminals lie in wait in parking lots, and
stake out people’s driveways. This means
that you need to think about the act of
entering and exiting your vehicle as a
potential danger situation. Don’t allow
yourself to get car jacked; the results are
not pretty. Carjack victims have a greater
than one in two chance of ending up
dead or missing!
So, what are some rules for staying
safe when you are getting in and out of
your motor vehicle? First, never allow
yourself to get distracted. Always maintain
full awareness of what you are doing
and what is going on around you. Have
your personal defense tool or tools at the
ready.
Stay in “Condition Yellow”—aware
and alert. In this way, you are mentally
and physically prepared to be approached,
but not surprised. You know
beforehand what you are going to do if
you are in fact approached. This means
having your verbal tape loops and automatic
psychomotor routines ready to
roll. You must have a plan. Having several
tools such as those pictured in the
photo should be part of your plan.
The North American Arms Guardian
.380 ACP pistol is a little pocket gun that
packs a big punch. Easy to carry and conceal,
this little good luck charm will ruin
any violent criminal’s day. And NAA, the
great company that they are, will gladly
customize yours so it is not only very
pretty, but eminently controllable and
shootable. Benchmade defensive folding
knives are second to none in quality,
durability, sharpness, holding an edge,
and tactical useability. Plus, Benchmade
will sharpen your knife for free for life!
Status check. Whenever you leave
your vehicle make a mental note of its
condition. Please be sure to always lock
your doors! When you return to the vehicle,
note whether there has been any
change in its condition.
Whenever you approach your parked
vehicle, whether it is in your own driveway
or a parking lot, make sure it’s in the
same condition in which you left it. If it
is not, proceed with extreme caution and
do not enter! If something doesn’t look
right, don’t ignore your perceptions. Try
to figure out what it is that is not right,
or just move away from your vehicle immediately
and get help.
Carry small loads—even if you have
to make multiple trips to your vehicle—
keeping at least one arm free for movement.
Carry your keys at the ready. As
you approach your vehicle, observe it.
Check its 360: Look around and under
the vehicle. Look into the front and back
seats before unlocking the door. When
you open your door, keep scanning
your 360 degree environment. This is a
carjacker’s favorite time to rush you. So,
make certain that no one is approaching
before you begin to get into your vehicle.
You must be prepared to deal with a situation.
While you are partially compromised
as you are getting into your vehi-
52
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

cle, you could be rushed by an attacker.
Stay alert and keep your attention focused
on the area around your vehicle
and inside your vehicle as you get in.
As soon as you are safely in your vehicle,
lock the doors. Once you are in and
the doors are locked, do not dawdle! This
is not the time to clean, look for things,
or to become distracted talking on your
cell phone. Be deliberate. Remember,
parking lots and driveways are dangerous
places. Violent crimes occur in these
places every day.
Use light. Try to park in lighted areas.
However, if you cannot, have a powerful
flashlight, such as a SureFire. If it is dark
outside, use your flashlight to check out
the interior and underside of your vehicle.
Such a bright light can serve several
useful functions: It can help you locate
the presence of an intruder, identify an
intruder, and blind the intruder. The
particular light shown in the photo can
also serve to deliver a sharp knock to the
intruder’s noggin and buy you time to
get away. It can also help you find your
keys!
Carry pepper spray. The Spitfire pepper
spray can serve to ruin any intruder’s
day! Again, pepper spray is a less than
lethal force option that can buy you
needed time to make your exit from the
situation. Spitfire has the unique advantage
of having a dispenser that facilitates
“point shooting” or “point spraying.” In
other words, you do not have to cock
your wrist in an awkward position. You
can point and shoot in any direction.
Just point your thumb to aim, and dispense
into said bad guy’s evil face. Now
that’s easy. At 2 million Scoville Heat
Units (SHUs) it is guaranteed to give an
attacker a really bad day!
Things to do and not do:
If you are with a companion. Do not
let yourself become distracted. Someone
(probably you) should be the designated
bodyguard. Let everyone enter the vehicle
while you stand by the open door
and scan your surroundings for threats.
When everyone is safely seated inside
the vehicle, promptly get in and lock the
doors. The point is to be your own bodyguard.
Unless we are rich enough to hire
professional bodyguards (and even then
we shouldn’t let down our guard), we
have to take full responsibility for our
personal safety.
Walk with confidence. Opportunistic
criminals and violent criminal actors
(as opposed to the criminally insane)
look for easy prey. They select “victims”
and not “victors.” As such, they search
for people who appear
weak and vulnerable,
and those
who are not paying
attention. So don’t
be a victim. As noted
defensive firearms
trainer and author,
John Farnam, likes to
say, “Own your magnificence.
Walk with
confidence. Be deliberate.
Do not dawdle.
Don’t be tentative.
Look like you know
what you are doing
and know where you
are going.”
Keep your valuables out of sight.
Valuables are “dirt magnets”. Don’t attract
opportunistic criminals. Keep your
valuables out of sight and locked up if
possible.
Carry a spare key. This is essential
should you lose your keys. If you don’t
have a spare set and you lose your keys,
you will look lost and then you will become
a target. Don’t let this happen to
you.
Avoid conversations and altercations.
If at all possible, avoid engrossing
distracting conversations and altercations
when you are entering and exiting
your vehicle. Certainly you become a
mark if you are arguing with other passengers
in your vehicle. Stay focused
and alert. If someone starts up with you,
disengage promptly. Have an automatic
verbal tape loop ready to help you to disengage.
For example, in ascending order
of verbal force:
“Sorry sir, I apologize.”
“Sorry sir, I did not mean to offend you.
I am sorry.”
“Sorry sir, I cannot help you.”
“Get away from me!”
“Leave now!”
“Get out of here!”
Rattle off the verbal tape loop and then
leave. Don’t linger. The key is to avoid
antagonizing strangers or other drivers.
Also, it helps to avoid sporting on your
vehicle bumper stickers that draw attention.
Learn to live as John Farnam calls
the “stealth existence”. It is much better
not to be noticed. So, avoid wearing
bright provocative clothing. Bright red,
A pair of NAA Guardians and a pocket holster.
orange and yellow vehicles also draw
unnecessary attention. Park and travel
on main streets and in well lit, populated,
areas as much as possible. If you
feel you are being followed, drive to the
nearest police or fire station, or populated
area, and sound your horn for help.
Remember, you can learn to use that
cane or umbrella as an effective defense
tool to discourage an attack, or put distance
between yourself and an attacker
and buy time to get away.
Additional Dos and Don’ts:
• Don’t stop for disabled vehicles.
• Do not pick up strangers.
• If you are rear-ended or struck by
another vehicle, stay in your vehicle
and call 911. Keep the doors locked. If
you sense danger, drive away and head
to the nearest police or fire station after
calling 911.
Summary: Be your own bodyguard:
Seemingly innocuous driveways and
parking lots, as well as curbside parking
situations, are crime magnets.
Remember do not dawdle. Be decisive.
Go about your business aware and alert,
and then promptly leave. Remember to
watch and notice if you are being followed.
Be your own bodyguard, and
remember to carry your own personal
guardian. n
APRIL 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
53

HOT BRASS
RUGER ® INTRODUCES THE LCP .380
LIGHTWEIGHT COMPACT PISTOL
Ruger has introduced the .380 LCP (Lightweight Compact
Pistol), geared towards law-abiding armed
citizens and law enforcement looking for a pocketsized
backup gun. Each LCP comes with a soft case,
manual, external lock, and one magazine. For more
information, visit www.ruger.com/LCP/
caliber
.380 auto
capacity 6 + 1
weight
height 3.6”
width .82”
barrel 2.75”
overall length 5.16”
frame
9.4 ounces
glass-filled nylon
LJ2 LIFE JACKET
LJ2 Life Jacket is choice for law enforcement, security agencies,
and gun enthusiasts. Steel casing covers the action
and trigger guard, and when mounted properly, it becomes
a virtual gun safe without the bulky size. Yet it allows you
the quick access you need, when you need it.
LJ2 can be mounted in a car trunk and is perfect for
checking firearms for air travel. Passed the California mandated
USTL Drop Test. For more information, visit us at
www.msegrouplllc.com.
Image by Pentagon Light
PENTAGONLIGHT
K2 PORCUPINE LIGHT
With a spiked head and tail, the K2 Porcupine Light packs a
defensive punch. The bezel’s spikes protrude only when the
spike protector is lowered, and retracts when not needed. For
more information, visit pentagonlight.com.
BRIGHTNESS
RUN TIME
BATTERIES
70 lumens
BEZEL SIZE 1.25”
LENGTH 5.5”
WEIGHT
60 minutes
two CR-123A
4.8 oz.
54
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n APRIL 2008

In a stunningly vicious criminal attack you
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