Just because the environment is non-permissive doesn't mean you're defenseless!
There is a pervasive attitude in the training world that only the gun will keep you safe, that it's so important to survival that you should never go anyplace where you can't have it by your side....
View ArticleIs Armchair Quarterbacking a bad thing to do after an incident?
There may be a handful who may have used their guns in defensive situations (as in actually firing their gun against an attacker), but there aren't any with a significant number of those incidents...
View ArticleI'm working with appendix carry, and noticed something interesting.
I've written about the advantages and disadvantages of appendix carry, and decided some months ago to give it a more thorough trial as part of a holster test (which you'll see soon!) ...I've sized...
View ArticleHow much spare ammunition is "enough"?
If you're forced to use your gun against an attack it's plausible (though in private sector self defense not likely) that you might run out of ammunition before that attack has finished, and need to...
View ArticleYou can't do (or carry) everything. The sooner you accept that, the better...
When we talk about all of the things that could happen to us, all of the things that could result in our death (or crippling injury), there is a wide range of events that are possible — in the sense...
View ArticleMassad Ayoob updates his classic work on self defense!
When it came out in 1980, it was state-of-the-art in its approach to the legal, ethical, and practical aspects of defensive shooting. ...Much has happened since Ronald Reagan was elected to his first...
View ArticleWhere has Grant been? Teaching people how to defend themselves!
If you've missed the regular blog updates (and I sure hope you have!), it's because I was on a teaching trip to the great state of Ohio. I went out to Safety Solutions Academy, the training group run...
View ArticleMaking good training decisions is important to your well-being. Here's why.
If you spend precious training and practice resources on skills that only work when you have a platoon of similarly armed and motivated protectors (as well as the presence of close air cover), those...
View ArticleOff-body carry: purses and bags. Are they really a good idea?
We usually think of OBC as being in a purse (female-centric), but that's not always the case; many men, I've found, carry their personal defensive firearm in a shoulder bag ("manpurse" or messenger...
View ArticleFlashlights you can trust.
There are lots of small machine shops that can produce the metal parts, plastics molders to do nearly everything else, and even companies that make pre-assembled circuit boards ready to be put into a...
View ArticleA rare discussion about defensive shooting education and the...
One student was a police officer whose department issues revolvers as back-up guns but provides no training in their use (he's also an instructor with whom I've worked previosly.) ...I was debuting...
View ArticleThe maddest skills in the world won't help if you can't tell when you need to...
How does someone who presumably knows how to take care of himself get into a position where he can be stabbed in the chest and stomach? ...Whether that distraction is the menu at the restaurant, an...
View ArticleAssault Analysis: The Ramos Family Home Invasion.
Even his wife said that it was out of character for him; whether the killers convinced him they were harmless or he was feeling especially charitable that morning, he opened the door so that they could...
View ArticleIllustrating the issue with off-body carry.
The issue, of course, is if you're carrying your gun in that purse (for a man, it could be a shoulder bag or briefcase) not only have you lost your belongings, you've also lost the defensive tool that...
View ArticleIs Amtrak trying to create victims?
It's come under fire from the overly gun-centric part of the self defense community, who decry that they didn't recommend shooting back; some of them even go so far as to charge that Amtrak is...
View ArticleIf you think wild animals are dangerous, take a good look at your neighbors.
Even if you don't live in the immediately affected area, the danger of unwittingly traveling close to (or into) an area with active riots is very real - as Reginald Denny can attest. ...Spokane itself...
View ArticleAre those self-defense insurance programs worth the money?
In the second half of this episode of the Law of Self Defense University, Andrew lays out — in his trademark simple language — the three different types of insurance programs and the...
View ArticleIs defensive education sexist?
I don't bring these things up because I'm picking on women or because I have a desire to control women's lives, but because everyone who carries a handgun needs to understand the realities of criminal...
View ArticleHow do you know what to prepare for?
Let's say that wildfires are common in your neck of the woods: you might take steps to reduce the fire danger by making a "defensible zone" around your house (your local fire department can give you...
View ArticleShould you carry a back-up gun?
(Yes, there are one or two specific instances involving backup guns where the victims were knowingly marked for death by violent gangs and were saved by having backup guns stashed around their places...
View ArticleDo you enjoy this blog? Then how about sharing!
As everyone gets started back to school and the routine of life, I hope you'll take a little time out to share the Personal Security Institute with friends, neighbors, and especially family. Of course...
View ArticleCan you really be convicted of defending yourself? Yes, when it's not really...
(Yes, I realize that this is an idealization which presupposes an efficient police response, and that there are many areas in this country where response to a break-in in a detached building may not...
View ArticleWhat's the best way to pick ammunition for self defense? Here's how I do it!
I like to shoot a bare minimum of 50 rounds, preferably 100, of the selected ammo to check for functioning (assuming a gun that I already have experience with, of course; if it's a new-to-me gun, I'll...
View ArticleWasp spray for self defense? This myth just won't die!
The concentration of pyrethrins in a typical wasp spray isn't all that high, but the amount of material in thei stream which hits the insect may weigh as much as it does; even in a small concentration,...
View ArticleCan you draw your gun one-handed? Should you be able to?
That's going to depend on them and their lifestyle; someone who has small children or a spouse who doesn't carry a defensive weapon will likely need to practice more often than someone who doesn't,...
View ArticleA teacher should always be ready to change his mind, even about mundane...
Andy is one of the best defensive shooting instructors in that area of the country, but it was Julie — an up-and-coming defensive tactics instructor of considerable talent and from whom you will be...
View ArticleWhat is the big deal with mindset?
I don't believe that can be done, because mindset — the pre-existing desire to prevail against an attacker and the resulting willingness to do whatever is necessary to do so — is a deep conviction, not...
View ArticleIs a rifle or carbine a good choice for home defense? Here's how to make the...
(For the purposes of this discussion, I'll use the term 'rifle' to refer to long guns chambered in traditional rifle cartridges, like the .223 Remington or .30-30 Winchester, and the term 'carbine' to...
View ArticleYour defensive firearm has to fit your hand, and that involves more than...
I've often told my students that a gun which doesn't fit their hand makes it much more difficult (if not impossible) to shoot accurately, particularly at speed and under the duress of an attack. ...Not...
View ArticleLooking for top-notch, innovative defensive training but don't live in...
You may not have known this, but arranging for me to come to your town to teach innovative and practical self defense techniques is easy and a great way for you to get training for free. ...All you...
View ArticleThis post seems off-topic, but it's really not: exciting news from the...
No matter what you have, you can get a Flipboard app for it and enjoy the unique content that only Flipboard has — and subscribe to our magazine to keep up-to-date with your personal security plans!...
View ArticleWhat if your shooting instructor asks you to do something unsafe?
There is a story heating up social media this week concerning a certain shooting school in Tulsa, OK that has its students participate in an odd drill: according to the first-hand account, the students...
View ArticleThe Law of Self Defense Webinar is coming up - and YOU get a special discount!
Over the course of 4 hours, and at a fraction of the cost of consulting one-on-one with a lawyer, you will learn how to build a legally-sound self-defense strategy by: ...Time doesn't allow every point...
View ArticleI don't care what Joe Biden says, the shotgun isn't all it's cracked up to be!
I know this goes against every Billy Bad-Boy trainer in the world and even against our own Vice President, but though I have a shotgun within reach of my bed it's not the first gun I'd grab in an...
View ArticleBook Review: DEFEND YOURSELF by Rob Pincus
Don't get me wrong, there is certainly talk about firearms and their place in home defense, but this book is more comprehensive than typical "defensive shooting in the home" books; it also talks about...
View ArticleHalloween is coming up! Will your kids be safe?
That sounds quite risky to our modern sensibilities, but a tainted apple from the house of a community leader and icon was the last thing we really needed to worry about. ...Kids and cars on Halloween...
View ArticleDVD review: Backup Guns - Selection, Carrying & Training
Again, this fits in with his philosophy of the backup as an alternate primary but it also makes sense from the standpoint of convenience: if you decide that you can’t carry or don’t need both guns,...
View ArticleIncident Analysis: the case of the Indianapolis TV Burglar
When she was at the top of the stairs trying to ascertain who was in her house, any response from below should have been met with "I'm calling 9-1-1; the police are on their way." ...Particularly in...
View ArticleDVD review: Empowered Citizen Vol. 1 - Personal Safety in the Home
Personal Safety in the Home isn’t a “how to harden your house against intruders” video; instead, it starts at the point that an intruder is on your doorstep and covers the things you can do to defend...
View ArticleTaking a larger view of situational awareness!
If your knowledge of your surroundings is complete, and those surroundings don't change, your situational awareness is high regardless of what color code you're in or how much your head is swiveling...
View ArticleDVD Review: Immediate Emergency Medicine
There are all kinds of trauma which can kill, of course, but bleeding remains the one which is most immediately threatening and the only one which can be treated in the field; anything else requires a...
View ArticleHow much training do you really need?
Now I do give away a lot of very valuable information (via this blog, the Flipboard magazine I edit, and the articles I write for places like the Personal Defense Network), but I do charge for some of...
View ArticleDVD Review: Defensive Firearms Myths and Misconceptions
If you’ve been around the defensive shooting field for any length of time and have taken the trouble to educate yourself beyond the average (which isn’t really asking all that much!), you’ve likely run...
View ArticleHow do you avoid a “friendly fire” shooting in your home?
Dad’s tremendous calm under pressure (nothing ever seemed to cause him to panic), his gun handling skills, and his decision to turn on the light to find out if he had a valid target all combined to...
View ArticleDVD Review: Knife Defense Against Multiple Attackers
Dealing with multiple attackers isn’t a matter of learning new ways to use the knife (or your empty hands), but rather how to manage your space so that you’re only dealing with one of them at any given...
View ArticleWhat's with all the infighting in the defensive shooting world?
What works for the Marine who is in a squad walking down a Middle East street is different than what works for the police officer responding to a man with a knife call at 2:am; both of those are...
View ArticleDVD Review: Dave Grossman and The Bulletproof Mind
This may seem an odd background for someone speaking to the legally armed citizen, but he presents two parallels between his study of military conflict and the needs of the private citizen to protect...
View ArticleDVD Review: Maximizing Reality-Based Training
Murray makes the point that while RBT using non-lethal marking munitions in real guns can be dangerous if safety protocols aren’t followed, the psychological damage from bad training is an unseen risk:...
View ArticleOut with the old, in with the new!
Instead, over the next few days we're going to be redoing the Personal Security Institute site and hope to have it re-launched by this time next week. The redesign is mainly to move the site to a more...
View Article