Teaching no classes in April 2020 gave me some time to go through the 30 year archive of pictures and video we have recorded during classes and special events. Thanks to modern video restoration tools, I was able to clean up some fairly low resolution, low quality video of an October 1998 session of Advanced Training 2 (force on force scenarios).
I posted some excerpts of the video to Instagram. The youTube link includes all the salvageable content. Back in that era we were using .38 revolvers loaded with Code Eagle marking rounds, and safety gear that was a mix of paintball, hockey, baseball and military surplus items. The class was held at the Sanborn Shooters facility in Smithville (our home base for classes during that era), with mobile barricades and other items used to build very simple structures. Graduates of AT-2 will see the Fisher Price cash register in use in the convenience store scenarios. It’s one of our oldest, most durable and favorite scenario props.
The page at this link is our official COVID status page. Following state guidelines we will be operating at 25% capacity for the first 3 weeks of May. We have added more sessions of Basic Pistol 2 and Defensive Pistol Skills 1 to accommodate rescheduled students and will be making more changes to classes in the second half of May. Dynamic First Aid has been rescheduled to August 2. We are holding off on scheduling additional classes and the summer USPSA matches until end of May.
If you have friends, family or co-workers buying their first guns, encourage them to take one or both of these online courses:
These cover the classroom and lecture material in those classes, with the NRA course focusing on technical aspects of firearms and shooting fundamentals, and the LTC class teaching Texas law. Even those only choosing to be armed at home should understand Texas laws related to deadly force. Those completing the online courses can do the range part with us this summer or via private lessons.
TRAINING OPTIONS
Karl will be available for weekday private lessons and small group instruction. Tina Maldonado and Sean Hoffman are available for weekday and weekend sessions in the NW Austin/Georgetown area, and Doug Grieg is available in the Caldwell/Bryan/College Station area. Training available is at any level, including LTC online completion. Contact us to schedule.
APRIL BLOG POSTS
If you don’t subscribe to this blog or follow us on Facebook, you may have missed these articles we posted in April:
Karl was invited by the Polite Society podcast to make a “Guns 101” video on ammunition fundamentals. Tracy Thronburg’s video on gun fit will come out in early May.
Want to know what the fastest possible times are on the different strings of the Three Seconds or Less test? We had two national match winners shoot the test. Video of one of them is linked below. Data and discussion of both runs is in a blog post. Most of the strings can be shot by a Grand Master level shooter in 2 seconds or less, some quite a bit less.
We encourage everyone to follow the KR Training business page on Facebook, because that’s where we post interesting links and articles several times a week. If you are a Facebook user and you have not been seeing our posts, please remember to look at the KR Training page once in awhile. You can also follow my personal page, where I will start posting weekly reminders to people to go check the KR Training page. It appears that the Facebook “algorithm” is now hiding updated posts from businesses and only shows paid ads and updates on personal page.
Even if you don’t want to follow us on social media, browse the posts on this blog. We’ve posted more than just the gear survey in the past 60 days.
When we were developing the “Three Seconds or Less” test, one of the concerns was making each of the strings of the test roughly equal in difficulty. We enlisted the help of a couple of very fast shooters, K. Clark (multi-time winner of the Rangemaster Tactical Conference shooting match), and national champion Ben Stoeger, to shoot each string of the test so we could set the upper boundary of speed for each string. We captured video of Clark’s runs, compiled together in this video. (The video was originally shot in Feb 2018, and it sat on my hard drive until the COVID-caused shutdown gave me free time to dive into the archives and catch up on some stalled projects.)
Analysis & Discussion
Clark shot the drill using a Glock 34 drawn from a concealed appendix carry holster. Stoeger shot the drill using his normal USPSA Production competition gear.
One aspect of this test that is different from many standard tests is that some strings start from a ready position, and others start at “position 1” of the draw, after the cover garment has been cleared. This was done to avoid over-weighting the skill of clearing the cover garment.
String 1: 3 yards, step left, draw and fire 3 shots. Clark’s time: 1.29, Stoeger’s time: 1.21. Assuming these are “120%” times a GM standard would be around 1.50 seconds, with 3.00 seconds at 50%. So far, so good.
String 2: 3 yards, ready position, one head shot. Clark’s time: 0.76. When Stoeger ran it we changed the drill to two head shots from ready. His time was 1.06. In the end, we changed the start position to position 1 of the draw, to add a little more work to be done and balance this string against the others.
String 3: 3 yards, step right, draw and fire 3 shots. Clark’s time: 1.52, Stoeger’s time: 1.32. Similar to string #1 although both slowed down stepping right. Clark also shot a miss on his first shot on this string.
String 4: 2 yards, two rounds as you retreat. Clark’s time: 1.05, Stoeger’s time: 0.97. Were we to make more changes in the test, modifying the start position to “hands at sides” might raise the difficulty level of this string.
String 5: 7 yards, gun at slide lock, load, rack, shoot. Clark’s time: 1.51. Stoeger’s time, 1.10. My observation of students shooting the test over the past few years is that quick reloads and quick malfunction clearing skills often lag behind draw speed. In a typical class this is where we begin to have students fail to make the par time and/or start dropping points.
String 6: 7 yards, ready position, one head shot. Clark’s time: 0.86, Stoeger’s time, 1.04. We changed this string to include two head shots in the final version of the test.
String 7: 7 yards, facing left, position 1 of the draw (hand on gun), turn, draw shoot 3. Clark’s time: 2.07, Stoeger’s time: 1.31 Turning draws are common in USPSA matches, but much less common in defensive pistol classes. This string might benefit from a change reducing the round count to 2 shots instead of 3, although we have plenty of students in DPS-2 and DPS-3 that are able to get all 3 hits on this string.
String 8: 7 yards, facing target, position 1 of the draw. Draw and fire 2, strong hand only. Clark’s time: 1.86. Stoeger’s time: 1.57. Changing this start position to “ready” from holstered might provide more balance in the difficulty level of this string.
String 9: 7 yards, gun in support (non dominant) hand, aimed at target. 2 shots. Clark’s time: 1.64. Stoeger’s time: 1.35 Speed is usually not the challenge on this string for students; trigger manipulation is.
Clark shot 18 of 20 on the HCT-1A target; Stoeger shot 20/20.
Adding one additional string that simulates a malfunction is still something we may add to the test, or incorporate into an add-on test that has 10/15/25 yard shooting in it. We didn’t have Stoeger shoot the malfunction test but you can see Clark’s run on two versions of that drill in the video.
Many thanks to K Clark and Ben Stoeger for letting us use them as pacesetters. The scores we recorded were their first runs on the drill, and neither had seen the course of fire in advance.
As discussed in a previous blog post, I recently purchased some vintage copies of the 1959 NRA basic pistol instructor and student books, and received permission from NRA to scan and share them freely. The 1959 student book download link is in this blog post.
The 1959 Basic Pistol instructor book can be downloaded here. The NRA owns the copyright to this NRA book. The content is over sixty years old, and should be used for historical purposes. The content does not reflect the NRA’s current position on any matter, and should be not be used in lieu of modern training materials.
1959 NRA Pistol Instructor book cover
The focus of the book is on instructing students in one handed bullseye shooting with .22 and .38 caliber guns.
Some training techniques recommended in this book would not be acceptable under modern safety standards.
Test questions 1
Perhaps the most interesting part of the book is the 3 page list of testing questions. Download the book to see the entire list.
While I was attending an NRA course at the National Protective Services Institute, NRA Training Counselor Ken Lewis showed me his copies of the 1959 NRA Basic Pistol student and instructor books. After class, I found some copies for sale on eBay and purchased some for myself, which I scanned into PDF form. I was able to get permission from the NRA to share them. The archiving is related to my ongoing work writing a book on the history of handgun training. (Other posts on that topic can be explored by looking at any of the Historical Handgun tagged posts on this blog.)
The 1959 Basic Pistol student book can be downloaded here. The NRA owns the copyright to this NRA book. The content is over sixty years old, and should be used for historical purposes. The content does not reflect the NRA’s current position on any matter, and should be not be used in lieu of modern training materials.
NRA 1959 Basic Pistol book cover
The focus of the book is on one handed bullseye shooting with .22 and .38 caliber guns.
Semiauto pistol drawing from NRA 1959 book
All the uses of the handgun shown in the book use the bullseye shooting technique.
1959 NRA pistol examples
Here’s the example of proper stance from the book. The skeletal line drawing approach to teaching stance was commonly used in shooting books into the 1970’s.
1959 NRA pistol shooting stance
This 1946 NRA film was one of the two films that instructors could show. The other one “Pistol Bullseyes”,
The 1959 NRA basic pistol book was 18 pages. The 2020 edition is over 200 pages, including significantly more information. The 1959 instructor manual was only 28 pages. I’ll post a scan of the instructor manual, with discussion of the contents, in a future blog post.
Lee Weems of First Person Safety recently shared the current Georgia state police qualification course of fire, and sent me a few of the SQT A-1 targets to use. The course of fire was designed for both semiauto and revolver, so all mags are loaded to 6 rounds, and the reload times are quite generous. I’m a fan of lower round count courses of fire. In 30 rounds, this course covers a lot of skills. It is split into blocks at 25, 15, 7 and 3 yards. To shoot the course, you will need two targets and a barricade (two 55 gal drums, or even a vertical 4×4 post or the divider between lanes at an indoor range could be used – anything to give you something to shoot around.
Not only the timing, but the context and start positions for each string vary, incorporating moving to cover, stepping off line, ready and holstered starts, and other elements. Compared to many state and local courses of fire I’ve looked at, the Georgia course includes more realistic elements and context. The only elements it might need to make it more complete would be a tap-rack malfunction clearance and a few rounds fired one handed.
The SQT A-1 Target
As shown in the pictures, it’s an anatomically correct target with scoring zones in the right places and generally in the right sizes. I made some overlays, showing the 4″ and 8″ zero-down rings of the IDPA target, and the torso area of the KRT-2 target, to give you an idea of relative scale. I only had two SQT A-1’s and I wanted to keep one unshot, for my collection, so I used an IDPA target, a KRT-2 overlay and a magic marker to make a bootleg SQT A-1 to use as my 2nd target for my demo run of the course of fire.
General Instructions:
Firearm: Standard Service large caliber Semiautomatic Pistol/Revolver Ammunition: 30 rounds Target: SQT A-1 (two targets per shooter) Clothing: Range attire & police service leather General: Magazines may be loaded with 6 rounds each or as ordered Equipment: Shooter will need a barricade for both the 25 and 15 yard strings.
All reloads are shooter’s responsibility. Malfunctions must be cleared and no alibis, with the exception of defective ammunition. The shooter will be given an opportunity to shoot defective rounds only. Any subsequent rounds are the responsibility of the shooter. Rounds may be made up at the stage where problems or malfunctions occur, but only within the allotted time limits for that stage. Leftover rounds at any stage are to be given to a line instructor.
Scoring targets: Inside the center mass line – 10 points Outside the center mass line – 8 points
Maximum Raw Score – 300 points Minimum Qualifying Score – 240 points – 80%
25 yards (4 rounds)
Using the angular search technique, on command shooter assumes left side cover pointing weapon at right target. Avoid contact with the cover object. 1 round – 4 seconds right target & return to cover 1 round – 4 seconds left target & return to cover Holster 25 yard line using the angular search technique, on command shooter assumes right side cover pointing weapon at left target. 1 round – 4 seconds left target & return to cover 1 round – 4 seconds right target & return to cover Holster
15 yards (4 rounds)
Shooter stands outside cover facing targets weapon holstered & snapped in, (with a total of 2 rounds in the pistol or revolver.) On command shooter draws the weapon moves to cover & fires 4 rounds in 12 seconds 1 round – right target 1 round – left target Drop to a kneeling position (RELOAD) 1 round – right target 1 round – left target Holster
After viewing my video, Lee Weems commented: On “cover” the shooter draws and moves to cover. On “search” the shooter searches for and aims in on the target. The four seconds for the shot begins with the shooter aimed-in.
So when I shot the test I made it harder than the actual test. Based on Lee’s explanation, on “shooter ready” the shooter should be “searching” and sometime between standby and the beep, should be aimed at the target.
7 yards (14 rounds)
On command shooter draws and fires 4 rounds in 5 seconds 2 rounds – right target 2 rounds – left target
(Reload 2 Magazines 6 rounds) Standing in front of the right target, on command shooter draws and fires 2 rounds right target, then moves one step left and fires 2 rounds right target in 6 seconds Stand facing right target 2 rounds – right target Step left 2 rounds – right target Holster Standing in front of the left target, on command shooter draws and fires 2 rounds left target, then moves one step right, reloads and fires 2 rounds left target in 12 seconds. Stand facing left target 2 rounds – left target Step right, reload 2 rounds – left target Holster On command shooter (from a low ready position) fires a failure drill, 2 rounds in 3 seconds into the cranial vault. 1 round – right target (Head shot) 1 round – left target (Head shot) Holster
3 yards (8 rounds)
On command shooter draws while taking one step back and giving verbal commands, fires 2 rounds in 3 seconds. 1 round – right target 1 round – left target Reload and holster On command shooter draws while taking one step back and giving verbal commands, fires 4 rounds in 5 seconds. 2 round – right target 2 round – left target Come to the High ready position, evaluating the targets On command shooter will fire 2 rounds in two seconds. 1 round – right target 1 round – left target Come to the low ready with an empty weapon. Once the weapon has been cleared by a line instructor, holster a safe and empty weapon.
After viewing this video, Lee points out: On the movement stages at the seven, on one string they are all in the right target. On the other string, they are all in the left target.It’s draw and shoot two right, step left, shoot two more right in six seconds. Then it’s draw and shoot two left, step right and reload, shoot two more left in 12 seconds.
In the video I shoot 2 rounds on each target, changing targets after I move. It ends up either being “two wrongs make a right”, as I end up with the correct number of rounds on each target at the end, or 40 points that don’t count, because I didn’t follow the directions exactly. To quote Lee: it’s a convoluted course of fire.
My score
I ended up with a 298/300, or 98%. I dropped two points at the 3 yard line because I attempted head shots, instead of body shots, for the very last string. If I re-shoot the test following all the directions correctly, I should be able to shoot a 300/300 on it.
My performance
If you watch the videos carefully you’ll see me ducking my head (moving my eye-target line) as I move and draw. This is something I wasn’t aware that I was doing, until I recorded myself on video and watched it. Fixing that problem is my #1 dryfire training goal. The “lesson learned” from this is that regardless of skill level it’s useful to record video (slow motion/high frame rate video if you have that capability) and study it to make sure you are doing what you think you are doing.
The page at this link is our official COVID status page. We are scaling back to smaller classes, cancelling and rescheduling some classes in March and April. Tom Givens’ classes have been rescheduled to June. We will be doing additional cleaning of the facility before/after each class. We are holding off on scheduling additional June-August events until later this spring.
If you do not already have the ammo you need for upcoming classes, it may be very hard to find (both online and at retail stores). We are likely to offer some beginner pistol and long gun courses this summer so those that are buying their first firearm(s) can get trained on safe handling and operation.
If you have friends, family or co-workers buying their first guns, encourage them to take one or both of these online courses:
These cover the classroom and lecture material in those classes, with the NRA course focusing on technical aspects of firearms and shooting fundamentals, and the LTC class teaching Texas law. Even those only choosing to be armed at home should understand Texas laws related to deadly force. Those completing the online courses can do the range part with us this summer or as part of the Basic 2 class scheduled May 2.
We have put nearly 7 hours of material (14 videos) from our 2018 Preparedness Conference online for download or streaming. These videos cover a wide variety of preparedness topics.
Paul Martin is renovating his preparedness communication strategy. Moving forward, he is putting his preparedness meetings and other preparedness training activities on hiatus. He has consolidated his online content to a single website (www.paultmartin.com) and his book Pivot Points. A decision regarding the status of our annual January preparedness conference will be made this fall.
Finally, he won’t be posting news or preparedness info on Facebook moving forward. Anything in that genre will be placed on paultmartin.com.
STAFF GEAR SURVEY
Here are lists of the guns, holsters, belts, medical gear, pepper spray, and other items 15 instructors on the KR Training team use.
John and Karl recently updated some of the material in their Strategies and Standards for Defensive Handgun Training book, including adding a new appendix discussing red dot sights. Those that bought the e-book automatically got the update. If you bought a print copy, you can download a PDF with the updated Top 10 Drills and red dot appendix by clicking this link.
NOT SEEING KR TRAINING POSTS ON FACEBOOK?
We encourage everyone to follow the KR Training business page on Facebook, because that’s where we post interesting links and articles several times a week. If you are a Facebook user and you have not been seeing our posts, please remember to look at the KR Training page once in awhile. You can also follow my personal page, where I will start posting weekly reminders to people to go check the KR Training page. It appears that the Facebook “algorithm” is now hiding updated posts from businesses and only shows paid ads and updates on personal page.
Even if you don’t want to follow us on social media, browse the posts on this blog. We’ve posted more than just the gear survey in the past 60 days.
PRE IGNITION PUSH SHOOTING TIP
We recently posted a slow motion video to our Instagram page showing pre-ignition push. That occurs when the shooter pulls the down gun just prior to the shot breaking. The shooter is typically not aware this is happening, because of blinking in anticipation of the shot firing.
The cure for pre-ignition push is a few minutes of dry fire each day, being careful to make sure the gun and sights don’t move as you press the trigger. Another way to cure it (or verify it’s not occurring) is to mix live and dummy rounds in your magazines when doing live fire practice.
KR Training now sells 8 round packages of 9mm dummy rounds, available for $10 at the A-Zone, or $15 shipped to you.
Click the “pay now” button below to order.
MUSIC
Here’s a playlist of videos recorded at recent performances, Dec 2019-March 2020, for those curious about the other half of my life as a performing musician. I look forward to returning to live performance when clubs and restaurants re-open. Here’s our trio version of the Rockin’ Pnuemonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu.
In January 2018 KR Training presented two days of preparedness training, mostly taught by Paul Martin, and we recorded video for all the lectures. During this time when people are interested in preparedness, and many are stuck at home, we pulled those archival recordings off the shelf, edited in the slides, and organized the content into 14 videos available for download or streaming.
We are hosting them on Vimeo, asking for a few dollars for each video to help offset the financial cost of hosting them on that site so we could present them free of embedded ads for products and services we may or may not recommend. Here’s the trailer for the video series:
By far the most common questions I answer online and in person are about what gun(s), holsters and gear to buy. Recently I sent all the assistant instructors of KR Training a gear survey form. The lists below are the flashlights, pepper spray and medical gear we carry. In part 1, I listed the guns, sights and gun modifications we use. In part 2, I listed holsters, mag carriers and belts. Follow up posts will list home defense guns, training and competition-specific gear.
FLASHLIGHTS
Wide variety in models, but mostly SureFire and Streamlight products.
SureFire Stiletto (4 people)
Streamlight Microstream USB (4 people)
Streamlight Protac-2L-x
Surefire 6P variants (3 people)
SureFire Backup
Surefire “Sidekick” Streamlight Nano
Fenix PD-35 TAC
Four Sevens / Prometheus Quark QT2L Tactical
Ultrafire
MEDICAL GEAR
Everyone that responded carries a tourniquet, some carry additional gear on them, everyone had additional gear in their vehicle.
SOFTT-W in pocket (8 people)
SOFTT-W in ankle pouch or purse/bag (4 people)
SOFTT-W in PHLster flatpack in pocket (3 people)
CAT in rear pocket or ankle (5 people)
TacMed Solutions ankle wrap
Dark Angel med kit
Safer Faster Defense SFD Responder ankle rig
Immediate Casualty Care Min-E-Med Flat
Raven Concealment Pocket Shield
Chest seal, quik clot bandage
PEPPER SPRAY
Some reported multiple products, carried at different times depending on clothing or situation.
By far the most common questions I answer online and in person are about what gun(s), holsters and gear to buy. Recently I sent all the assistant instructors of KR Training a gear survey form. The lists below are the holsters, mag carriers and ammunition we carry. In part 1, I listed the guns, sights and gun modifications we use. Follow up posts will list home defense guns (pistols and long guns), medical gear and more.
AMMUNITION
What ammo do we carry? Some people listed more than one (for primary and secondary guns)
By far the most common questions I answer online and in person are about what gun(s), holsters and gear to buy. Recently I sent all the assistant instructors of KR Training a gear survey form. The lists below are the guns, sights and modifications we use. Follow up posts will list holsters, ammo, medical gear and other items.
CARRY GUNS (PRIMARY)
The preferred (larger) carry gun. Some people had two different “primary” carry guns in their responses.
Glock 19, 9mm (4 people)
Glock 48 9mm (4 people)
S&W M&P 9mm 1.0 4.25″or 2.0 compact (3 people)
S&W M&P Shield 9mm (2 people)
CZ P01 9mm
SIG 320 X Carry 9mm
STI Staccato P DUO 2011 9mm
Glock 17, 9mm
Springfield XD 1.0 4″ 9mm
Springfield XD mod 2 9mm
CARRY GUNS (SECONDARY)
Smaller guns, carried in non-permissive environments and/or as backup guns with the primary. Some did not list a secondary gun model.
S&W M&P Shield 9mm (3 people)
S&W airweight j-frame .38 sp (3 people)
Glock 43 9mm (2 people)
Sig P365 9mm (2 people)
SIG 938 9mm
Glock 48
Glock 26
SIGHTS
Dawson Precision “Charger” solid black rear, narrow fiber optic front (6 people)
XS F8 night sights (2 people)
S&W M&P Shield factory (2 people)
10-8 Performance (solid black)
Dawson “Charger” solid black rear, Trijicon HD tritium front
Factory rear, Dawson Precision fiber optic front
Ameriglo ProGlo tritium set, orange front
SIG factory night sights
OPTICS
Some of us are now carrying red dot sights or lasers on our carry guns
Professor David Klinger, currently teaching at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, served as a patrol officer in the Los Angeles and Redmond, Washington police departments, later earning degrees in sociology, justice and history. During his time in uniform he shot a knife-wielding criminal that was attaching his partner. His 2004 book “Into the Kill Zone: A Cop’s Eye View of Deadly Force” compiles excerpts from interviews with law enforcement deadly force incident survivors with commentary and observations about the ways using deadly force can affect an officer’s life.
Into the Kill Zone back cover cropped
The book is divided up into five sections: Choosing the Badge and Gun, Basic Training, Holding Fire, Pulling the Trigger, and When the Smoke Clears. Choosing the Badge and Gun discusses the decision to become a police officer and accepting the responsibility to use deadly force, if needed, as part of that job. Basic Training covers the ways officers are trained, particularly with regard to survival mindset.
Holding Fire is the most interesting chapter, because it details situations where officers could have shot, but chose not to – in cases where not shooting was appropriate, and some in which it could be argued that firing was the best solution. The “draw but don’t shoot” problem is one that’s far more common, both for law enforcement and armed citizens, and sometimes gets forgotten in discussion of the more exciting details of incidents where shots are fired.
The Pulling the Trigger section focuses on what officers were thinking and experiencing during the incident itself: the decision to fire, reaction to being shot at (and/or shot and hit), and what they perceived as the shooting was happening. As with the other sections, the focus is more on officer interviews and individual stories and less on lists and data, as would be expected from a sociologist & historian. When the Smoke Clears explores the aftermath, from a personal perspective.
Overall Into the Kill Zone is a well organized, interesting read. For students of defensive shooting, most of the content will confirm what they’ve been taught in classes about mindset and psychology of individual armed combat. The book is available in Kindle and print editions from Amazon and other sources. While I wouldn’t list it as “essential” reading on this topic, (Deadly Force Encounters by Artwohl and Christensen and In the Gravest Extreme by Ayoob would be my top two), it’s certainly worth reading by any law enforcement officer or armed citizen interested in the personal side of the topics it covers.
The video below is a brief interview with Klinger on local television.
Per current guidance from the governor of Texas, attendance at KR Training courses does not require a mask or vaccination. However: students will be also be required to sign an additional COVID-specific liability release. We encourage everyone to continue to take precautions to minimize their potential exposureto the SARS-COV2 virus, and to protect others, minimize their potential exposure, we highly recommend vaccination. The majority of new COVID-related deaths in Texas are occurring to un-vaccinated individuals.
We encourage students to talk to their personal physicians to get qualified advice. We are professionals in the field of defensive shooting and self-defense tactics. It’s our full time job to do our homework, evaluate and test all possibilities, ideas and technology, and provide you trustworthy information about critical life-safety situations. We suggest you take the same approach to your assessment of options related to the virus that causes COVID-19. Our guidance is based on consultation with the medical professionals, medical researchers and biology/genetics professionals on our own staff, in our guest instructor pool, and among our alumni.
If you believe you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 anytime within 2-10 days of your class date, or have COVID symptoms, we strongly encourage you to get tested as close to class day as possible. If you have COVID symptoms or test positive for COVID-19, please do NOT attend class. Contact us for a full refund.
The video of officer Kyle Dinkheller being killed during a traffic stop became a widely used training film. The independent video producer behind the “Officer Involved” documentary has produced a documentary specifically about the Dinkheller incident. I recently ordered a copy and watched it.
The film is very personal, with interviews with Dinkheller’s family and co-workers. Particular attention was given to an incident that occurred prior to the fatal traffic stop, in which Dinkheller was (allegedly) forced to write and hand-deliver an apology letter to a big donor to his sheriff’s campaign, because Dinkheller pulled over (and chewed out) the donor for failing to get out of the way of multiple emergency vehicles heading to a high priority call with lights and sirens. Some of Dinkheller’s co-workers believe that his hesitation to escalate during the traffic stop was influenced by that disciplinary action, which does not appear in his permanent record.
The film includes minimal information about Dinkheller’s killer, and minimal analysis of the incident itself from a tactics or marksmanship perspective. Recommended only for those interested in learning more personal information about the officer and how the aftermath affected his family, friends and co-workers.
It appears that at the current time, the film is not available on streaming services, only as a DVD that can be purchased from the official website.
“We do not react to a situation, we respond appropriately.” That was the phrase that burned itself into my memory as John Murphy of FPF Training said it with a loud and booming voice while discussing the topic when to use force. You *must* think and be able to articulate why you took the actions you did during the course of a fight. And his class was all about that.
We gathered at the A-Zone Range owned by Karl Rehn of KR Training in Manheim TX. Mr. Murphy did a quick role call and we got started.
First item of the day was watching a few short videos and having a class discussion afterwards. We then transitioned into a Stop The Bleed course, OC (pepper spray) skills and Mr. Murphy’s take on Managing Unknown Contacts (MUC first coined by Craig Douglas of Shivworks).
We had a short break for lunch and then we headed to the range. The range portion was extremely informational. All the videos we had watched, MUC skills and discussions about accuracy under stress came together. Shooting drills were often very short, extremely fast paced, timed and some data or metric was being collected. My personal favorite part was when we got to draw, fire 2 shots at a 4 inch group at 3 yards. Using a timer, you were told exactly what your draw to first shot, your split time and then final shot was and if needed, critique on your drawing or shooting technique. I was pleased to learn how to control split times down to the quarter second, it wasn’t easy, but I learned how.
It all came together seamlessly. I doubt anyone questioned why we were shooting small groups at fast paces under stress, because that’s how most gun fights for armed citizens go. Another key point is Mr. Murphy knew when to tell spicy jokes and when to be completely serious.
An unexpected but welcome training technique was, at random times (when guns were in holsters and no one was on the firing line), he would start yelling “RIGHT LEG TOURNIQUET! RIGHT LEG TOURNIQUET!” until everyone clued in and put a TQ on their leg. It was timed. Not everyone completed the task successfully but it was homework.
Overall I highly recommend this course to anyone who is thinking of getting training. If you are competent at drawing from concealment and can hit a 5 inch group at 5 yards in 5 seconds, then take this course. It will be an overview of all the street skills you need for EDC and it will help you find what you are good at, if you can articulate your actions and what you can improve upon.
10/10 will train with John again.
(KR Training will be hosting FPF Training again in 2021, details to be announced later this year. FPF Training is hosting KR Training’s Advanced Handgun course June 13, 2020. FPF Training hosts their own classes and traveling trainers at their Culpepper, VA facility and teaches many road courses at locations all over the US. Visit their site for more information.
On February 26th, I joined about 100 other Texas gun owners and testified before the Texas Senate committee on State Affairs. They were soliciting input from citizens on what changes we would like them to consider in the next session. The top two issues most brought up were constitutional (no permit, no training) carry, and eliminating or reducing the number of gun-free zones.
We were originally limited to 3 minutes (or about 300 words), but due to the large number of people present, our time was cut to 2 minutes per speaker. I wrote out what I was going to say, and submitted a written copy of it as part of my testimony.
My name is Karl Rehn. I represent myself and my company, KR Training. I have been a firearms trainer since 1991, certified by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, the Department of Public Safety, NRA, Rangemaster and the Force Science Institute.
In response to the passage of Senate Bill 1857, DPS created a 2 day training course to teach armed teachers the skills they need to protect students. I teach several sessions of this course each year to church security teams and school personnel. There are several hundred instructors certified by DPS to teach this class, but adoption of this program is severely limited by school district policies prohibiting permit holders and graduates of this higher level course from carrying on school property.
Active shooter incidents in White Settlement, Sutherland Springs, and Tyler all provide examples of armed individuals taking immediate action and saving lives. Statistics show an average of 6 people are shot, per minute, in active shooter situations. Police response times are measured in minutes. An armed person present when the attack begins can act in seconds, as the defenders in White Settlement did. Data from schools in which permit holders are allowed to carry report no problems, and none have been shot in error by responding police.
When the carry permit law was passed back in 1995, cities were not allowed to make their own rules adding new restrictions on permit holders, because our state constitution clearly states that regulation of the wearing of arms is a state power. Despite this, school districts have been allowed to make their own policies and override the judgment of the legislature and the experts at DPS that created the armed teacher course.
School district administrators are not experts in firearms training. The trainers at DPS that designed the course and set the standards are the best qualified to assess whether an individual has the ability to carry safely at a school. The Legislature needs to amend SB 1857 to mandate that any graduate of the DPS-developed School Safety course, school employee or visitor, be allowed to carry on K-12 school grounds, including at sporting events and other functions.
Here is a link to the entire 9+ hours of testimony. My part is around 7:05-7:09.
The course was originally developed specifically for armed teachers. I’ve found that the course has wider appeal, particularly for church security personnel, and I’ve enhanced the course by incorporating the slides from the ALERRT Civilian Response to Active Shooter course, the DHS Stop the Bleed course, training in how to draw from concealment (taken from the NRA CCW curriculum), and two additional shooting tests: the officer shooting test from a major metro Texas city police department, and the FBI agent qualification shooting test.
Each time I teach the School Safety course, I submit paperwork to DPS. They have records on everyone that has attended the course. DPS currently prints “instructor” on carry licenses held by instructors. It would be simple for them to also print “school” on the license for those that have passed the School Safety course, indicating that person has had a higher level of training. The law could be modified to allow holders of that enhanced license to carry places regular permit holders are currently prohibited, such as schools.
Most of those testifying really wanted the restrictions on carry in prohibited locations removed, and the training requirement eliminated. What I’m proposing is a much smaller step forward than they wanted, but one I think has a better chance of passing. And just like the original carry permit program, with its 10-15 hour training course and restriction only to concealed carry has led to the 4-6 hour course, the blended online/in person course, and open carry, getting the law changed to allow some permit holders to carry on school property would be a small step forward that could lead to improvements in the future.
The reason there were 100+ gun owners testifying at that committee hearing was because Rachel Malone, the Gun Owners of America Texas lobbyist, organized them. She sent out info on how to structure a 3 minute talk, ran a practice session the night prior to the hearing, rented an AirBNB so 15 people that came in from out of town to testify had a place to stay, ordered pizzas for people to snack on when it became apparent that none of us would get to speak before 3 p.m., and ran a Facebook Messenger chat keeping everyone updated. As a result of the collective effort, gun owners outnumbered the “Moms Demand Action” folks, and the gun owners that spoke did a good job speaking for the cause.
I’ll be returning to the Capitol March 11th to give the same testimony to a committee specifically discussing school safety.
Welcome to the KR Training February 2020 newsletter!
We’re continuing to add some new classes to the training schedule. Register in advance to hold your spot; some classes in March and April are already sold out!
Courses marked with an asterisk (*) are Defensive Pistol Skills challenge coin program core courses. All the courses taught by KR Training staff can be counted toward the “elective” hours needed to earn your coin.
KR Training instructors John Daub and Tracy Thronburg attended and passed the Force Science certification course held at DPS HQ in Austin in February. Also shown in the picture are Andrew Branca and Marty Hayes, who traveled to Texas to attend the course. John and Tracy join Karl and Sean Hoffman as graduates of this 40 hour course on KR Training staff.
INSTRUCTOR AND COACH DEVELOPMENT
Classes of interest to instructors and coaches coming up this spring include:
*To attend the NRA CCW Instructor course, you must be an NRA Basic Pistol instructor and have taken the NRA CCW student class. Sign up for the Apr 17 NRA CCW student course to meet the CCW student class requirement.
STRATEGIES AND STANDARDS BOOK UPDATE
John and Karl recently updated some of the material in their Strategies and Standards for Defensive Handgun Training book, including adding a new appendix discussing red dot sights. Those that bought the e-book automatically got the update. If you bought a print copy, you can download a PDF with the updated Top 10 Drills and red dot appendix by clicking this link.
DISABLED PARKING AT THE A-ZONE
KR Training can accommodate physically handicapped people in most of our classes. Our training building is single story and has wide doors so wheelchairs can easily maneuver in and out of our classroom. Our range is flat. We have had a Wounded Warrior in a wheelchair in some of our classes and currently train a person that has to use a cane. Please don’t think being mobility impaired will prevent you from learning in our classes. Contact us for additional information.
If you base the top 10 on total number of guns found, Texas has 3 airports on the list, tying Florida’s 3, but with more guns found.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL): 323 – an increase of 25 firearms compared to 2018
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW): 217
Denver International Airport (DEN): 140
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH): 138
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX): 132
Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL): 103
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL): 100
Nashville International Airport (BNA): 97
Orlando International Airport (MCO): 96
Tampa International Airport (TPA): 87
This analysis from The Firearm Blog (in the video), uses a “percentage of guns found per passenger” rate calculation that produces a different list, with Dallas’ Love Field, San Antonio and Austin airports making that list. Either way, Texans continue to do a bad job remembering to take guns out of bags before heading to the airport.
I hate the way that TSA defines “loaded” as having ammunition in the gun but an empty chamber. At least they report on how many of the guns were actually loaded, vs. empty-chamber “loaded”.
By TSA’s count, 4,432 firearms were found at airport security checkpoints in 2019. 3,863 of the firearms they found (87%) were “loaded”. 1,507 (34%) of the firearms discovered had a round chambered. That indicates there are still way too many people carrying with an empty chamber.
In last weekend’s Handgun Coach Development class, one of the exercises was for each student in the class to explain, demonstrate and run the class through a drill. One student designed an “empty chamber” drill that required shooters to perform the worst-case scenario of an empty chamber defensive gun use. They were to bring the gun up, attempt to fire, then rack the slide and engage the target with 3 rounds. They were given a par time of 4 seconds to hit the zero-ring of an IDPA target at 5 yards, and those on the line had times from 3.2 to 4.2 seconds for that drill. Re-running the drill starting with a loaded chamber dropped that range of times by more than full second, with everyone completing the drill in under 3 seconds and many under 2 seconds.
There are several examples of failures or near-failures resulting from empty chamber carry on the Active Self Protection youTube channel. Here’s one video showing yet another example of how much slower and complex empty chamber carry is.
For every serious gun owner/concealed carrier that carries with a loaded chamber, in a decent holster or in a way that covers the trigger guard of the pistol, and practices getting the gun out and on target quickly, there are 99 that toss a semiauto, magazine inserted but with a empty chamber, in the pocket of a bag, who never practice, and sometimes forget that their gun is in that bag when they get to the airport. If you know someone in that 99%, please share this post with them and encourage them to do better. My advice to them:
ADVICE
All modern handguns were designed and intended to be carried with a round chambered. Many are only drop safe or safe to carry chambered if a thumb safety is on, or the gun is decocked. Either via formal training or simply reading the user manual, learn enough about your gun to understand how to put your gun in a loaded chamber, drop safe, safe to carry mode. Spend some time in dryfire practice retrieving your gun from the place you carry it, bringing it on target and getting a good first shot hit. Go to a range and (within their operating guidelines), practice that same skill live fire. If you insist on carrying “off body” in a bag, make sure that bag has an actual holster embedded in it, like the Crossbreed modular holsters that can be velcro’ed to just about anything.
Even better, look for opportunities when you can carry (chambered) in a proper belt holster, because getting the gun out and on target is much faster, and you don’t risk leaving the gun bag out of reach, and you don’t risk someone unauthorized getting access to your gun.
Purchase a locking box for your vehicle or find some way to store that is more than “loose in a bag in a locked car”, which is not really secure. When you go to the airport, transfer the gun from wherever you normally carry it, to that locking box, before you leave the parking lot. Then (1) you won’t get busted for having a gun your carry on bag and (2) you’ll be able to re-arm yourself as soon as you get back to your car on your return.
Gun owners that fail to store and transport their guns responsibly, and fail to be adequately prepared for self-defense risk legal problems (getting busted for a gun in a carry on bag at the airport), and risk injury or death in self-defense incidents (failing to be able to get hits on target, or simply access the gun to use as a deterrent, fast enough). In both cases the effort and cost required to do better and reduce those risks is small compared to the consequences of failure.
General advice on magazines and magazine springs: at least once a
year, take your magazines apart. (Those that shoot competition or drop
magazines on the ground during defensive handgun skills training should
do this much more often.) Clean the insides of the tubes with a brush or
a rag, wipe off the followers and other plastic parts, and check the
magazine spring length against a new spring. You should keep at least
one new magazine spring in your range bag. Brownells.com
is a great source for buying magazine springs for most handgun models.
The photo below shows an example of a worn out mag spring – it’s shorter
than a new spring by several coils. Time to replace that spring.
Number your magazines. One easy way to do this is to buy pre-cut, numbered grip tape from Dawson Precision and stick them on your base pads. If you number your magazines, when you have a malfunction, you will know what magazine it occured with, and you should run that magazine some more and watch for that same error, and/or take it apart and clean it and check the spring. We recommend having 5-6 magazines for your gun, so you can use some for practice and some for carry (and match day). If you own a lot of magazines, you can pre-load them all at home, so when you get to the range, you just get out of the car and get right to practicing without spending a bunch of time standing around loading magazines. That’s particularly useful when you are paying by the hour for range time!
One more tip on magazines: the more ammo the magazine holds, the
more pressure the spring is under. Downloading your high capacity
magazines (by 1 round, for mags that hold 11-20 rounds, by 2 or more
rounds, for mags that hold more than 20 rounds) can really make a
difference in reliability. The #1 problem that occurs with an overloaded
magazine is difficulty seating the magazine when you have a round in
the chamber (as in a “speed reload”).
Next time you are on the range, try this: with a round already in
the chamber, eject the mag. Load it to 100% capacity and try to seat the
mag. Eject the mag. Take one round out, and try to seat the mag. The
difference in seating pressure should be very noticeable. Under time
pressure, the odds that you’ll fail to seat the 100% full mag hard
enough increase. I’ve seen quite a few shooters flub a “speed reload” to
a full mag this way. What happens is the mag goes on but does not lock
in. They fire one round (the one in the chamber), and the mag drops out.
Also, it can sometimes be difficult to strip that first round out of
the 100% full mag, and that can cause feeding problems. Since I started
running my high capacity magazines downloaded by 1, I haven’t had a mag
drop out on a reload or have a 1st round feeding problem – none in the
past 10+ years.
