Last week I was able to assemble a brain trust of 16 of us for the annual Panel of Experts on Firearms and Deadly Force training for the ILEETA (International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association) in St. Louis recently.  Big thanks to John Farnam, Heather Eckert, Joe Ferrara, Dick Fairburn, Alex Embry, Mike Boyle, Todd Fletcher, Don Alwes, Kevin Davis, Ron Borsch, Laura Scarry, Don Gulla, Ed Santos, Michael Laughlin, and John Bostain.

A quick preliminary survey showed 434 years of experience in training police…and then I realized I had missed one of the presenters, John Farnam. He has been training cops in how and when to shoot for 49 years, two years longer than me.  That brought us up to 483 years total: nearly half a millennium of teaching peace officers in this discipline, and analyzing the real-world feedback from the street.

And that was just the first two hours.  After the break, I switched it over to the many trainers in the audience, and we went Socratic with their even greater cumulative experience for another two hours.

Half a day of that intensity can’t be duplicated in a blog post, but I can distill it into some key points for our audience here at Backwoods Home.

  • The guys and gals who do street policing where the rubber meets the road are, by and large, supportive of armed citizens who defend themselves and others against violent criminals .
  • They are more supportive than ever of armed, trained faculty in schools given that “school shootings” have become a trend crime.
  • They are as concerned as you are about you becoming a victim of friendly fire if you draw your gun to stop a mass murderer, and hate it just as much when a rescuer gets shot by mistake.  If you should be caught up in such a situation and draw your gun to protect yourself and others, realize that you are not readily identifiable as a rescuer. Don’t draw the gun until you have positively identified the threat, and as soon as you have neutralized the threat, re-holster your weapon.  It makes you a target in those circumstances.
  • They are deeply concerned about the increasing number of necessary shootings by police that get turned into causes celebre of “police brutality” by people with political agendas.  When you hear about these cases, withhold your judgment until you’ve heard both sides, and both sides often don’t come out until trial. “Fake news” is not a fantasy dreamed up by Donald Trump.

Experienced law enforcement officers and law-abiding armed citizens should be natural allies – and, for the most part, they are.

13 COMMENTS

  1. Great post Mas! As for the agenda driven media, the statistics, ACTUAL statistics disprove what the fake news pushes day in and day out. The portrayal of a certain demographic in our society being targeted and shot without cause is the exact opposite of the truth. I’ve researched just a bout every reliable statistic in print, and well, ya just can’t argue with the stats.

    As for we, the Armed Citizen, the responsibility carries great weight and with that comes great risk. To be mistaken for the active mass murderer when trying to stop that mad-man from killing or maiming innocent citizens in our immediate presence, is an unfortunate reality we face. In the face of that unfortunate reality, some may tuck tail and run, some may stay and do what is LEGALLY and morally right. The totality of the circumstances will dictate our response, and with any luck, the response will be justified.

    Stay safe.

  2. Ever notice that in every single instance of an unarmed man being shot by a cop, every single one of them is mouthing off, resisting and not following the officer’s orders?

    I’m not the brightest bulb in the circuit, but even I know enough that you treat the cop with respect, a polite attitude, and deference. If you have an issue with the way that you’re being treated, the time to deal with that is after you are away from the situation, where you can call an attorney, your city councilor, or community organizer.

    Call me crazy, but I’m not getting into it with anyone who is armed with guns, tazers, clubs, knives and a gang of fellow cops who are just a radio call away.

  3. Mas,

    I thought the panel was excellent this year and thanks again for the invite! The panel was full of civil libertarians who are certainly pro 2nd Amendment advocates. Many of us have intense interest in training private citizens as well as citizen cops! Best wishes, KD

  4. I have been reflecting upon the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (RKBA) and how it has changed since I was a child.

    One thing that has not changed. The Firearm Prohibitionists were trying to destroy the RKBA on the day I was born, and they are still trying to do it today. The methods employed by the gun-grabbers are: (1) to continuously attack with no let-up, (2) to continuously vary the method of attack in the hope that something works and (3) to massively support the attack with overwhelming propaganda from their friends in the legacy media. In addition, if anything does seem to be working, the immediately double-down on it in the hope of driving it home to success.

    Notice that this is the EXACT same way that they attack President Trump. Indeed, the motivation is the same. They have extreme hatred for President Trump and they have extreme hatred for the RKBA. What the American Left hates, they seek to destroy using the general approach listed above. They attack like a School of Piranhas. No single bite is fatal but, if the attack is successful, it will strip the victim to the bone.

    The first and third points, above, are self-explanatory. However, Number 2 can be expanded. During my life, I have seen the gun-grabbers cycle through a dizzying variety of attacks. From attacks on inexpensive handguns (Saturday Night Specials), to attacks on ammunition (Cop-Killer and “Dum-Dum” Bullets), to attacks on polymer handguns (invisible to metal detectors – Terrorist Weapon), to attacks on semi-automatic firearms (Assault Weapons – fit only for War), to attacks on magazine capacity (tools of mass-murders). To this list, one can add a host of legislative measures such as “Universal Background Checks”, Red Flag Laws, attempts to raise the age where one can legally purchase a firearm, increased taxes upon guns and ammo, plus numerous others.

    Amazingly, despite the viciousness of these constant attacks, the RKBA has (so far) survived. Like President Trump, the RKBA has stood up to the worse underhanded lies and distortions that the Left can manufacture and propagate. Supporters of the 2nd Amendment have, like President Trump, not only survived but have prevailed.

    Consider that, when I was a child, the specific Right to Bear Arms was heavily infringed. Most States would not allow citizens to carry handguns for self-defense. Maybe they would allow it for sport shooting but not for defense in urban areas. In many cases, carry permits were available but only on a “May Issue” basis. The rich and politically-connected could get them but most citizens could not.

    Today, the Right to Bear Arms has greatly expanded with the vast majority of the States going with either “Shall Issue” laws or even allowing “Constitutional Carry”. Only a few, backwards, Blue States still cling to the old “May Issue” approach. This has been a major victory of the RKBA and it was achieved in despite of the constant attacks of the Left’s Gun-grabbing Piranhas.

    As concealed carry has expanded, so has the tools and training required for it. Back in my childhood, there were only a few models of handguns available (and effective) for concealed carry. Training was equally scarce. Most Trainers concentrated on Police and Military Training. Little or none was available for the ordinary citizen. A few books were available from authors like Rex Applegate but the reading list was mighty slim.

    Thanks to Authors and Trainers like Mas, Jeff Cooper, and the people that Mas lists above, this entire situation has changed. Training for the armed citizen is available today as are a host of books and articles on the subject. This training is no longer limited to types suitable only for the police or military either. Training for the non-military, non-police, private citizen is widely available.

    In addition, the firearm and ammunition manufacturers have responded with a host of handgun models and tailored ammunition specially geared for use by the armed citizen.

    Truly, Mas, you and your colleagues are to be commended and thanked for your GREAT WORK in not only standing up to the “Piranha Attack” of the Left but in actually EXPANDING the RKBA and bringing a vast degree of professional (and necessary) training to Armed Citizens. Thank You, Mas and thanks to your colleagues!

  5. Mas,

    I agree with your comments and concern “about becoming a victim of friendly fire if you draw your gun to stop a mass murderer”. Add, I would add my concern for a detective (in plain clothes) that ends up facing an armed civilian responder. Two armed individuals both not easily identifiable facing each other with guns. Neither individual is “readily identifiable as a rescuer”.

    More and more states are allowing concealed carry and more states are allowing armed school teachers/administrators and more churches are using armed volunteers, so this is more likely to occur.

    Your advice is excellent, “as soon as you have neutralized the threat, re-holster your
    weapon…you a target in those circumstances”. However, let me go farther. The active Shooter Program being used by the FBI and Homeland Security (and most police training departments) is flawed. These Active Shooting Program do not address the possibility of an armed civilian responder. The police are not trained to think about the possibility of armed church security volunteers, or armed school personnel, or armed citizens. Nor, is there training for the armed civilians on how to best work with or respond to the arriving police officers (some of which may be dressed as civilians – undercover).

    This is an area that should be addressed in all Active Shooter Training programs. Additionally, I would encourage you to support modifying police training in this area.

    Robert Downing
    Church Security Institute

  6. The police are not trained to think about the possibility of armed church security volunteers, or armed school personnel, or armed citizens.

    Add to that list off-duty officers. Whenever an anti-gun mayor standing in front of a bunch of blue uniforms at a press conference says, “My officers are trained to treat everyone with a gun as a criminal, and shoot them,” I always wonder if the officers behind him are remembering they spend most hours of their duty years in civvies.

  8. Folks, I can assure you that the possibility of a “good guy with a gun” being present in a mass shooting is part and parcel of “active shooter” training for police. The problem is, there is no halo over the head of the plain-clothed person with the gun that is visible to responding officers. That’s why the burden has always been on the person not identifiable by uniform to not present a threatening appearance to responding officers and to instantly obey commands to drop the gun when they are issued by “the uniforms.”

    • Mas,

      I agree with all that you have said. And, I appreciate your work and service.

      However, I have been to eight Active Shooter Programs (presented by police departments or FBI trained presenters) and “armed civilian volunteers” were not addressed. I spoke with several of the presenters and they indicated that this topic was not covered in their training programs/materials. The police, FBI based training and Homeland Security programs all focused on Run, Hide, Fight. And, in all of these programs the individuals are unarmed and “fighting” means to throw a textbook or trashcan. Note: All of these presenters seemed to think armed civilian responders were not a good idea.

      Additionally, I attended three Active Shooter programs (that were not FBI/police based), and they all strongly supported armed civilian responders (based on average police response time of 6 minutes, and average active shooter event lasting 5 minutes).

      I also made a presentation to the local InfraGard chapter (FBI outreach) and suggested that the Active Shooter training program be modified to include the topic of armed civilians as the first responders. The FBI agent in charge told me I was correct and indicated that this topic was not covered in the training, but should be.

      Perhaps, some Active Shooter programs do include the topic of armed civilian volunteer responders. But I suspect this is not part of their standard training materials – rather, it is likely that individual instructors add this into their programs. What I am suggesting is that the Homeland Security, FBI and police training materials all add this topic. Armed volunteers and police need guidance in this area.

      Let me ask the following questions about current Active Shooter training programs. In a church setting, What does the armed church civilian volunteer team do, during the six minutes, before the police arrive (the concept of “engaging the attacker” or defending the parishioners)? Is the training preparing the officers (arriving on scene) to think of the “man with a gun” as their ally or the good guy? Or, is the officer likely to shoot the man with a gun. And, of course, what training is available for the civilian volunteers to reduce the likelihood that they will shoot at arriving (undercover, non-uniformed) officers.

      The Active Shooter training programs should include standard/recommended training practices for both police and for the “armed” civilian volunteers. I have yet to see any police, FBI of Homeland Security training that offers suggestions, training, or best practices for the armed civilian volunteers. This would appear to be an area that is not being adequately address by most existing Active Shooter programs

      Thank you again.

      Robert Downing

      • Robert, did you attend these seminars as a law enforcement officer, or as one of the potential victims?

  9. Mas,

    I had not thought of it that way, but more as a potential victim. I work with a group called Church Security Institute. Our “mission” is to help Houses of Worship with security issues. Part of what we do is review training programs so that we can make recommendations to church security teams.

    • I’m thinking church groups get some kind of “Security Officer” badges to distribute to appropriate persons. When responding, these can be pulled out and clipped to a shirt pocket like off duty officers are taught. It may help, but like anything else, there are no guarantees.

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