On Sept 26, 2018 I attended the How To Testify seminar taught by Rachel Malone, the Texas Director for Gun Owners of America. The seminar was intended to teach local gun owners how to prepare for, and effectively testify before the state legislature on firearms bills. The content was relevant for any type of public …
Continue reading ‘How to Testify – Gun Owners of America event AAR’ »
Sept 20-21, 2018 I attended the Texas Bar CLE (continuing legal education) course held in San Antonio, Texas. They put a course on this topic on each year, at different locations around the state, and I’ve attended the past few years. They always have top tier national speakers covering recent content. By attending I picked …
Continue reading ‘Texas Bar Firearms Law course 2018 AAR part 2’ »
Sept 20-21, 2018 I attended the Texas Bar CLE (continuing legal education) course held in San Antonio, Texas. They put a course on this topic on each year, at different locations around the state, and I’ve attended the past few years. They always have top tier national speakers covering recent content. By attending I picked …
Continue reading ‘Texas Bar Firearms Law course 2018 AAR part 1’ »
Earlier this year, Michael Bane, who produces Shooting Gallery and other shows for the Outdoor Channel, invited me to meet with him and his production crew during the NRA Annual Meeting in Dallas, to discuss the idea of doing an episode of that show that covered the material I’ve been presenting in my Historical Handgun …
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As part of the KR Training Historical Handgun project that teaches the history & evolution of defensive handgun skills, I’ve been purchasing specific guns and holsters associated with specific times in handgun history. The guns will be used in demoing the drills shot in the Historical Handgun course. The S&W 459 According to Ed Mireles’ book, …
COOLFIRE & WALTHER PRODUCT DEMO & EVALUATION KR Training, in collaboration with Dvorak Instruments, Walther Arms, and Paulus Consulting, offered students an opportunity to evaluate the Walther PPQ M2 pistol and the CoolFire Trainer simulated recoil system. The event held August 4th, from 9-12, was a beta test for a possible new research study, evaluating …
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MAG-180 AFTER ACTION REVIEW by Tracy Becker Thronburg The Massad Ayoob Group’s MAG-180 was held Sunday June 24 through Saturday June 30, 2018, in Ripon, Wisconsin. MAG senior staff instructor, David Maglio, hosted the event. This was the first time the MAG-180 (formerly known as LFI-4) had been held in eleven years. The MAG-180/LFI-4 is …
The Rangemaster Northwest Regional Tactical Conference was put on by Tom Givens and the Rangemaster crew, in collaboration with Marty Hayes and the Firearms Academy of Seattle, July 27-29, 2018. I’ve been a part of the Rangemaster conferences since the early 2000’s, and Tom invited me to present both the 4 hour classroom and 4 …
Continue reading ‘Rangemaster NorthWest Regional Tactical Conference 2018 – Day 3 AAR’ »
The Rangemaster Northwest Regional Tactical Conference was put on by Tom Givens and the Rangemaster crew, in collaboration with Marty Hayes and the Firearms Academy of Seattle, July 27-29, 2018. I’ve been a part of the Rangemaster conferences since the early 2000’s, and Tom invited me to present both the 4 hour classroom and 4 …
Continue reading ‘Rangemaster NorthWest Regional Tactical Conference 2018 – Day 2 AAR’ »
The Rangemaster Northwest Regional Tactical Conference was put on by Tom Givens and the Rangemaster crew, in collaboration with Marty Hayes and the Firearms Academy of Seattle, July 27-29, 2018. I’ve been a part of the Rangemaster conferences since the early 2000’s, and Tom invited me to present both the 4 hour classroom and 4 …
Continue reading ‘Rangemaster NorthWest Regional Tactical Conference 2018 – Day 1 AAR’ »
In early July I offered a summer session of the Beyond the Basics: Pistol class that sold out so quickly that I added a second session, scheduled for Sunday July 22. 11 students undeterred by heat advisories and predictions of triple digit temperatures attended the course. BEYOND THE BASICS: PISTOL The Beyond the Basics: Pistol …
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I recently purchased an S&W SD9VE to test and evaluate. I’ve gotten questions from students about this gun model, and other shooters and trainers have mentioned it as a decent option for defensive handgun buyers on a limited budget. Some early observations: 1) It fits in my daily carry holster (Raven “Morrigan“) made for an …
Back on July 4th, 1988, two Austin-area USPSA competitive shooters, Randy Johnson and Don Davis, took a relative novice/ target shooter out to the Hill Country Rifle Range and introduced him to the 1911 .45 ACP pistol, and the fundamentals of practical shooting. Over the next few months they coached me, as I learned skills …
Each year at the start of summer I offer a small gun oriented defensive pistol class. The intent of the course is to provide an opportunity for people to practice with the smaller gun that is more convenient to carry in the hot weather. Use of pocket holsters, purses, fanny packs, and any other mode …
Continue reading ‘Defensive Pistol Skills Small Gun class AAR – May 2018’ »
Found some pictures I took from the Rangemaster instructor class that we hosted back in April 2018. Shooting the Casino Drill Awards to top shooters in class Post-class Coaching A few people didn’t pass the instructor course due to falling short of the course required on the shooting tests after 2 attempts. Tom allowed me …
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Blunt Force Trauma Lethality The following is derived from a presentation to the January 2018 MAG Deadly Force Instructor class by Ed Vinyard, based on the December 2015 ACLDN article Understanding Blunt Force Trauma Lethality, An Interview with Dr. Robert Margulies by Gila Hayes and input from Dr. H. Anthony Semone and Dr. Ben Weger. …
I recently purchased two of the new Smith and Wesson EZ380 pistols. I reviewed them in this recent blog post. Since that review I’ve used the EZ380 in several private lessons, working with shooters that had small hands or limited grip strength. My appreciation of this gun continues to grow as I work with it. …
Continue reading ‘Smith and Wesson EZ 380 Gun Review part 2’ »
I recently purchased two of the new Smith and Wesson EZ380 pistols. Historically I have discouraged students from carrying or purchasing pistols in .380, because the caliber’s generally poor performance in actual shootings, and its failure to meet FBI minimum test guidelines for defensive ammo. Greg Ellifritz has a good summary of those issues on …
In a previous post I gave an after-action writeup from the 2018 A Girl and a Gun Conference. There were a lot of great pics that I didn’t get to use in that AAR, so here they are. Range Safety Officer Course General Conference Pics This pic is one of those “you had to be …
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I made a quick trip to the NRA Annual Meeting in Dallas. The NRAAM has basically become a copy of the SHOT show that’s accessible to the general public, combined with a lot of seminars and meetings related to various NRA programs. The event usually draws more than 80,000 attendees over the multiple days. Admission …
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