Federal Firearms Licensee FFL - Gun Shop Owners

This is Part Two of a series of articles on Firearm issues.  

Like most legislation and laws, they are never easy to understand and laws bump into each other and laws on firearms are very much the example of a web of laws.

Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL):  All firearms sold in a business in any state, must be transferred by a business owner who is licensed by the Federal Government.  The shop owners must keep records of all firearms,  and if applicable, suppressors, machine guns, or destructive devices that come in and go out of their shop.  FFL's are subject to a surprise audit every year or so to be sure they are keeping accurate records.  If the audit shows violations, depending on the severity, the FFL can be reprimanded by being put on probation or even have their license revoked temporarily or permanently 

During a sale to an individual, the FFL records the sale by documenting the firearm's manufacturer, model number, and serial number,  Information about the buyer is also collected:  name, weight, height, gender, date and place of birth, current address, citizenship and the buyer can provide his or her social security number to speed up the process.  All this information goes on an ATF form 4473.  The FFL then contacts the Federal Firearms Licensing Center by phone to do a background check on the person purchasing the firearm.  Click here to read what the regulations are for approval or reject.

This is important.  There is no federally held record of sales and transfers from FFL's.  The 4473 never leaves the shop where it was generated while the owner is in business.  4473's destroyed by flood or fire are just gone.  Instant check information is destroyed 24 hrs after it is called into the FBI and the only existing records of gun sales and purchases are with the FFL shop, the wholesale distributor/importer, or the manufacturer.  When a firearm is found in a crime, it can be a huge job to find who the last owner was.

This is where television lets facts go astray.  You see a crime scene, the law enforcement officer with a too low blouse, in heels, partnered with this hunk put the serial number in a computer and.....Dah Da! Come up with a match.  This is not real life.  Coming up with a match is like winning the lottery

Where the Feds come in:  Before an FFL can sell a gun he needs to contact the feds to get it cleared with a quick background check.  There are many reasons why the feds will deny a sale of a firearm to an individual and they never elaborate on the reason for doing so.   Just one of life's mysteries like where is the match to your bright red stripped sock.  When the FFL calls and gives the required information about the buyer, he can get a proceed, a further review, a delay, or a deny from the federal agent.  The deny sometimes comes with a request for further information on the whereabouts of the attempted buyer.  A deny is not a good situation for the FFL as he tries and figure out what to do with the buyer in front of him until law enforcement gets there..

For example the beginning of an investigation of  an abandoned firearm at a crime scene starts with a call to the manufacturer.   From the serial number of the firearm, the manufacturer will then give the wholesaler distributor's contact information, and they in turn refer law enforcement to the FFL who they sold the firearm to.  Law enforcement will then contact the FFL shop. Using the FFL's  records  law enforcement will contact the owner of the gun. If the FFL cannot provide that information, they will be under investigation, out of business quickly or  may even be prosecuted.  Television leads one to believe there is a computerized  accessible database of the whereabouts of all guns.  There is none.

Now that the gun is in the hands of an individual., he or she can sell or give the gun to another person without documenting it through an FFL.  This is where an individual makes a personal decision on how they want to transfer ownership.  She can take the gun to an FFL and ask him or her  to transfer the gun to the new owner.  That gives a permanent record of who the seller or giver transfers the gun to.   It also forever clears the individual from the gun if it is used in a crime.  Law enforcement can then trace the firearm to the next owner.  I always move firearms through FFL's to keep a complete record of my transfers including gifts.  I'm a pretty damn smart cookie.

The other choice is that the individual can not transfer ownership through an FFL.  If that gun turns up at a crime scene, the last documented owner, whether or not they participated in the crime, can be held liable.

Where the states come in:  States can add more regulations to federal law,  individuals and other issues such as concealed carry licenses.  Regulations vary from state to state.  To find out what your state restrictions are, you need to Google:  Gun laws, and then put in your state.  We will be going into this more on another post.

As a summary:

• All firearm dealers in all states must have an FFL, a Federal Firearms License, and are audited yearly with unannounced records audits by ATF agents..
• States can  add to regulations and restrictions for firearm purchases and sales..
• All firearms have serial numbers that are traceable from manufacturer/importer to FFL and from FFL to individual owner.
• The only permanent records of gun transactions  are those of the FFL shop owner or manufacturer; there is no common or permanent database..
• Individuals, once they purchase a gun through the system, can sell or gift it  to a new owner through an FFL or with no record whatsoever.
• The responsibility of a firearm found at a crime scene rests with the last  individual who is documented through a FFL.  

Considerations
Because of interpretations of the Second Amendment, Federal laws and record keeping are restricted.  They can do background checks within a 60 day period; most are done within a few minutes.  Once a firearm leaves the FFL shop and becomes the property of an individual, it is up to the individual to choose one of two process when they sell it or gift it:

1. Documented:  They can choose to transfer it with proper record keeping through an FF releasing themselves o the responsibility of the firearm.  It also keeps a paper trail of owners.
2. Paperless Gun:  The owner can do the transaction privately without any documentation.  The responsibility of the firearm remains with the last owner that documented the firearm with a FFL.  

Since the Federal Laws are consistent from state to state, the  place to start looking for solutions is to investigate what individual states are doing and the results of the steps they have taken.  States have more ability to regulate firearm sales then federal agencies.

If you thought this was hard to follow, you should have tried writing it!!   My last advanced course in genetics was way easier and logical to learn, figure out and explain than firearm laws. As with firearms,  television and movies amplifies the misrepresentation of the ease of accessibility of common data bases.  However there is a relationship of  the affects of privacy laws that makes investigations of  DNA evidence and firearms ownership difficult for law enforcement.  ..

What is an Assault Firearm? Part One of Understanding Current Gun Laws

This is a first in a series of posts informing folks about what is so much in the press, how to deter the mass murders we have been experiencing in the U.S.  It is not an argument for or against gun control; just explanations of terms we hear in the press that are not clearly defined.

There is lots of talk about eliminating assault firearms.  In President Obama's speech after the Colorado and the Connecticut shootings he questioned the validity of people owning an assault firearm.  "What would a person  want with an assault weapon?"

In this post we are using the term,  assault firearm, as the press is using it to describe guns used by mass murders   The two guns that carry this popular press term are the AK 47 and the AR 15, two popular types of firearms that can be privately owned in the U.S.  Assault firearm is not how they are defined technically.

Before we answer the question of what is an assault firearm, lets first go through the difference between what has been popularized as an assault firearm versus a regular firearm most commonly known as a carbine, rifle or shotgun.  Then why these firearms are commonly used in the mass shootings.  Pardon me for those who are experts,  but we are going to work with my definitions here in more common language for those not familiar with firearms.

The difference?  For our discussion here, what the press is calling an assault firearm is one that can shoot large numbers of rounds (bullets) quickly without the shooter having to reload.  The image at the left is a magazine, the holder that automatically feeds ammunition into  an AK rifle, probably the best known of the "assault rifles".

The magazine pictured here allows the shooter to shoot thirty  rounds before they have to reload another magazine.  The reason these firearms are commonly used in mass shootings is because of the large ammunition capacity.  Other types of rifles or shotguns only commonly shoot five to ten rounds before they have to be reloaded.

The time it takes to reload a magazine is a key factor why these firearms are the choice for mass shooters.  Reloading takes time and skill.  Although mass shooters can spend months preparing, it usually takes more practice time then that to be able to load and reload any firearm quickly.  Therefore, they prefer firearms that have the capability of thirty round magazines.

At the end of this post you will see some videos on reloading guns.  What you will see are experts who have spent countless hours practicing reloading for competitive shooting.  Even competitive shooters would like to go this fast.

When the shooter has to reload, he is open to attack from by standers.  The empty mag needs to be discharged, the new mag set in, the gun cocked, and aimed again.  To someone who has never handled a firearm before, this may not sound like much, but it is.  The shooter has to stop what he is doing, use both hands and give all his attention to this task.  This down time would give someone enough time to tackle the shooter, people enough time to escape and, if there were a professional with a gun, time to get in a good shot.

Outside of mass shootings, these types of firearms are not commonly used in crime.  They are large, bulky, heavy and cannot be concealed easily.  For most crimes like robbery or revenge killing, a 30 round magazine would not be useful.

Are there other firearms that have the capacity to have large magazines?  Yes, there are many.  However they do not find themselves in the press like the AK and AR. Eliminating the AK and AR will not solve the situation of shooters being able to fire thirty rounds or more without reloading.

What about machine guns?  With the AK and AR, the shooter has to pull the trigger for each shot.  With a machine gun, the shooter only needs to pull once for multiple shots.  They are not part of this discussion.  Machine guns have very strict laws:  cannot be purchased from a Federally licensed dealer without a special permit, have a waiting period while the user is investigated, and requires notification to local law enforcement.  States can also make their laws even more strict or even prohibit them.

Why would someone want an assault firearm?

The AK 47 and AR 14 are the most popularized firearms mentioned in the press.  What are they used for by owners?  Competition and target shooting with organizations like IDPA,  USPSA, and thousands of local gun clubs and leagues throughout the U.S.  They are used for hunting, however 30 round magazines are not necessary for hunting since the prey is usually out of there after the first round or two is fired.  More rounds then that is just shooting air, trees and leaves.

Compromise 

A compromise to prevent these mass shootings by firearm regulation is to limit the size of the magazine not the firearms themselves.   The AR and AK would be just fine for all sport users with a 10 round magazine.  It would be one way to make them less destructive for mass shooters.  Mass murders want to do as much destruction as possible.  As with most firearms, the number of rounds that a magazine can hold is up to the manufacturer.

I didn't know it was loaded!

All guns.  All the time.   Should be treated as if they were loaded.  This is the first rule of gun handling   However, how many times have we read in the press, "I didn't know it was loaded."

I took the magazine out!  Ejecting the magazine only takes out the bullets that are nestled in the mag.  There can, and most often is, a round in the chamber, ready to fire.  Taking the magazine out is not enough.  You have to check and recheck to see if there is a round in the chamber.  Don't get the idea that glancing in the direction of the chamber means you checked.  Check.  When you do think about the damage a round can do if you don't check carefully.

It was unloaded when I put it away.  Maybe not.  When you are done shooting there are tons of distractions that are fighting for your thoughts.  How well you shot, or not.  Where is your cell phone?  You, of course, are late!  You have to rush to be the first to wash your so you can get to the restaurant.  You are tired.  Check your firearm every time you pick it up.  Check any firearm you touch or is handed to you even if you saw them check.  Did they really check or just glance?

I don't know how it went off!  Your finger was on the trigger.  The only time your finger should be in the trigger guard is when you are ready to fire.  If you have developed a habit of putting your finger on the trigger, you will not even notice when your finger is there.  That is why we spend so much time in the beginning of training to get folks into the habit of keeping their finger off the trigger.

The safety was on!  Safety mechanisms fail.  You forget to put it on safety - "Humm is the safety up or down?" "Hum, which thingie is the safety?"   That is why training tells you to follow the rules, keep your finger off the trigger, check and recheck if you have a round in the chamber. If you have a gun in your hand you treat it as loaded. If you  have the safety on that you treat it like it will fail.

I wasn't pointing at anyone.  Rounds easily go through walls, floors and, with enough power to hit someone on the other side.  Rounds and shrapnel bounce everywhere when they hit hard objects.  One of the rules we have with IDPA is that when someone yells "STOP" you halt, do not move a muscle.  The reason is that when people are distracted, they turn around to face the distraction.  In the case of IDPA you have a loaded firearm in your hand.  This is also true when you are holding a gun in your living room.

Locking the gun away gives you false security that no one you love will be shot by you.  Guns are safe in a safe.  People handling guns, without safety education, are the danger.

As Divas, we need to work hard to get gun safety into the process of owning a gun.  We can't make everyone take a gun safety course, but Divas as a group can advocate gun safety.  We can make it cool to for people to proudly earn a gun safety badge, pin, or certificate.  We also need loud words through our clubs and organizations that everyone needs to take a gun safety course.  Even those that do not own a gun but have them in the home or homes they visit.

Divas unite!  We need a women advocate for gun safety to be on the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Stop: Do this BEFORE you choose a partner

The last couple weeks I have been working at Larry Massey's Shooting Range.  I actually hung around so much, started cleaning up on the range after shooting, helped some folks, pitched in when they were busy and now everyone thinks I work there.  It is more like an internship with benefits.

As customers come in and I go out and help them on the range, it is becoming very clear that before any women chooses a partner, she needs to take him on a range date.  This is where you see the real person come out.  Men can behave like the perfect man anyplace but the range.

 OK, here is the Number One Clue he is the wrong person.  Guns are like wine; you love what you like.  No matter where I go or who I talk to the gun that the person has is the best in the world.....bar none.  If someone buys you a gun, they are buying what they like.  You have to find your own gun.  Before you buy, try lots of guns.  You decide; not him.

Number Two Clue.  You have to learn to shoot by yourself.  If he does everything for you it is because he wants to shoot; he doesn't want you to shoot.  You can read a mountain of books and take lots of advice, but learning how to shoot is like life.  It is up to you.  You have to do it and practice.  You have to make mistakes and learn by them. If he does it, he learns.  If you do it, you learn.

Number Three Clue.  If he doesn't tell you to get your finger off the trigger, he doesn't know what he is doing.  He should be able to tell you all the safety rules first.  Picking up a gun and shooting is easy.  Picking up a gun and being safe is not.

Number Four Clue.  If he is overbearing and treats you like a five year old rather then letting you alone to work with the gun he is out of line.  Leaning is by doing with guns.  You need to futz with getting the mag in, clearing a jam, and cocking the gun.  It takes time.

If he doesn't pass these tests, while you are at the range, look around for a great guy who loves the sport, is knowledgeable, and his ego is in check.  The big sign he is the right one is that he treats you like an equal
.

Women Role Models

The role model for women in my mother's generation was Lucy Ball's most memorable character, Lucy Ricardo in I Love Lucy,  She was a role model for the average housewife in the 1950's.  Her husband was boss, she could not balance a budget, she was suppose to stay at home,  a career was out of the question, her house was immaculate, she was only interested in clothes, she was a dingbat and she had breakfast on the table otherwise the man would starve. She could not handle a gun.

I Love Lucy defined the role for women in the 1950's.  This was the same time that my mother had a scholarship to the Chicago Art Institute.  When the war ended, she was brought in and told that the scholarship was to be taken away.  The boys were coming home and they were going to give it to a man.  After all, she would not need the education because she would soon be married and a man would provide for her.  As it turned out, my Dad, the eccentric character that he was, was a great dad, but not a reliable provider.  A wise women, she went to college, got a job, and  eventually flipped houses to retire in Florida - by herself.

What does this have to do about divas?  Women have crashed the glass ceiling in many areas.  Now women are the new market for firearms and firearm sports.  Girls and women need role models as firearms users, business people, firearms and accessories manufacturers, hobbyists, organization leaders and educators.  They need role models better than the one pictured here.  This is not what a mother would want her daughter to think was a role model.  This is the role model for a male dominated industry.

Women need to become active in providing realistic role models.  That means: learning about guns, how to  handle guns safely, how to keep them safe in the house, what type of gun to purchase, how to teach children to be safe around guns, participating in firearm sports and be informed about issues that come up in legislation.

This means that more women need to be involved as learners and then trainers, business people and role models.  We need women in the industry.

Resources:
A Girl and A Gun
Women's Outdoor News
The Women's Outdoor Media Association

You Cannot Shoot Fast Enough to Win

So, the last month I have been working on going faster.  While analyzing scores, it is obvious that you can sacrifice some accuracy and still win by going faster.  It is interesting to look at scores and see that the most accurate is not always the winner.  But it makes sense if you shoot slow you can spend more time setting up your shots.

What happened?  By going faster somehow my fingers forgot how to hold the gun!  I am grabbing the grip too low, my thumbs change places and my trigger finger is embedded all the way into the finger guard.  The result is that I started getting jams, my shooting buddies are exchanging cash and betting when I will cut off my thumb and my shooting is sloppy.  The errant trigger finger is causing me to smash the trigger, pushing the gun down so my shots hit too low.

Back to the drawing board.  The important aspect of shooting is that you cannot shoot fast enough to win.  Getting faster certainly helps, but if your accuracy goes way out of line, you are not going to get yourself off the bottom.   I had not developed enough muscle memory to hold the gun correctly if I am not concentrating on it.  Sigh.  Practice makes perfect.

As a side note, shooting requires the intelligence of an athlete.  It is a misconception that physicists are smart and athletes are not.  Intelligence has many forms.  An athlete's brain has to work super fast, analyze instantly, be obvious of many different factors at one time, determine what is important for focus and react in a split second.  You can take this quiz to learn if you are as smart as an athlete.

Now, I plan on forgetting everything I learned about physics and concentrate on my body intelligence. At The Ohio State University I was voted as the graduate student in our Physic Education Group who looked the least like Einstein.  (Lucky me! I don't know how I would have ever found a date if I looked like him.)

It's Thursday!

What is great about Thursday?  That is the day the Rio Grande Valley Shooters have our IDPA meets at American Firing Range.  In February I will have been shooting for one year.  During that time I have learned many things.  How much fun it is to be around people that have an interesting hobby, are concerned about gun safety, are kind to newbies, and volunteer to provide safe, fun matches for the community.


The big thing I learned:  How important it is to follow safety rules.  Notice Dirty Harry.  Besides the fluffy haircut and too big cuffs being oh, so wrong, he is holding the gun wrong.

The way he is holding the gun looks dramatic because he is shooting a huge gun, in fact the "world's most powerful gun in its day" and the stance is probably one way to dramatize to the audience that the gun is super heavy.  But he is not safe and with that hold, a wobbly shooter because that baby is heavy!   The way he is shooting it, the recoil would push the gun back to his fluffy front locks.

The movies make guns so romantic.  It looks as if it is easy to shoot, even a frightened women crouching in a corner with her legs delightfully extended, chest breathing hard, lips quivering, can pick up a gun and shoot, dead, aliens, cowboys, Russians, hippies, robbers, drug smugglers, terrorists, and roaring animals.  She can even shoot ten times with a revolver.  Not a bad feat since most only hold six rounds.  I love to count rounds as the actors bravely shoot their way out of a tough situation.

The first safety rule you learn when you start shooting competitions is to get your finger off the trigger.  Then see the pic of Angelia Jolie?  Her fingers are dead on the trigger.  We know that the guns were probably not loaded for the photo shoot, but if they were, the photographers assistants would probably be dead by now.

This article "Do I Look Bigger with My Finger on the Trigger?  Yes, Says a Study"  is interesting and why movies have stars with their fingers wrapped tightly around the trigger.  People look bigger with their finger on the trigger.  However when you see someone at a match with their finger planted firmly on the trigger when they are not shooting  you don't think they look big, they look and feel small as they walk away, disqualified from the match.

The most dangerous thing is Miss Boob Job here and her outfit.  She is going to catch a boat load down her little shell trap outfit there.  She will dance around for sure. For those of you who have caught an ejected shell  flying out of your handgun you know how it burns.  For matches you need a shirt that won't catch ejected shells. Kidding aside, it is very dangerous dancing around to get the shell out before it burns a nasty hole.  In Pamela's case this might deflate what she is famous for!

Here are some resources for proper clothing:
What to Wear to the Shooting Range: An Article for New Female 
Shooters
Women and shotguns

Pocket Mags

Trying to compete with yourself is the best way to get better.  So, last night after the shoot, a three hour drive back to Brownsville and a couple glasses of wine (after I returned) I dusted off my statistical skills and started analyzing my scores.  The data is scarce because I have only competed in two carbine matches, one yesterday and one last June both at Texas Carbine in Corpus Christi.

June was my first carbine shoot and I had with me my new-to-me AK.  Because the firearm was new and shooting in a carbine match was new, I purposefully went slow.  The second match yesterday I went faster.  Viewing the statistics, I was faster this time but less accurate and still at the bottom of the heap.  But not way below the bottom but in the bottom.

Sigh, shoot more accurately and faster. That is what the stats told me.

However my point spread was narrowing where it was a couple points difference, not a huge difference between me and the rest of the shooters.

During the match I also learned some important ways in which to minimize losses by being smart not fast or accurate. There are tricks to IDPA matches that you have to learn and here is one of them:

When to call it quits:  In one stage, I ran out of ammo at the very last target.  Rather than take out the empty magazine and put in a full mag I told the Safety Office (SO) I was finished.  My penalty was 10.  However it would have taken  me many more than 10 seconds to change mags, aim and hit the target so I may have saved some precious seconds.

My lesson here is to practice putting in mags faster. I also realized I had no idea of how long it takes me to change mags.  The other realization is that I was using my back pockets to hold my mags.

I need to find a mag holder I like or wear the same jeans every time so that I can be sure of my timing.

I'm Sooo Cool!

Last weekend the RGV Shooters and the Brownsville Police Department sponsored a fund raiser for the BPD Christmas for Kids  event they put on during the holidays to be sure every kid gets a gift at Christmas.  We had 43 shooters.  I came in 29th!  scores

That doesn't sound like anything to brag about but read on.

This was one of the experiences that you suddenly realize how you are doing in perspective.  I started shooting  IDPA last February.  My son had given me my first handgun, a Walther PK380 . When I arrived back to the Valley I went  target shooting at American Firing Range.  That was fun, but it didn't take long to carve out a hole in a  standing still target  hanging 15 feet away.  B o r i n g.

When I saw they had tournaments on Thursday I showed up to learn what they were.  The RGV Shooters sponsored the tournaments, which they now call practice for tournaments since there are no trophies.   The kind people that they are let me join.    Anyway three handguns later, I'm still coming in last with great consistency.

What I had not understood is that I am coming in last competing against a small group of serious shooters with years of experience against my months of experience.  This weekend I shot against others that don't practice every Thursday night.  I did good.  Not as good as I know I can do, but good enough to boost my confidence.

So, just wait.  Soon I will be a contender.

I Hate it when People Say Women Do This, Men Do That

However occasionally there is a tendency for women to be more likely to do something than men. When I talk with CCW trainers I always get this statement:  "Women listen, men don't."  They are referring to when they conduct classes with both men and women present, men have a tendency to macho it though because they know all about guns.  Women listen and ask questions.

It was interesting to watch the carbine match last week.  This was my first one and, of course, I was nervous and not too sure about anything.  My strategy was to go for accuracy and not speed, understand the courses of fire and remember to take the damn safety off (guns fire better that way!).

After every stage, I rushed out to see as many of the targets as I could before the tape went on.  I wanted to see where I was hitting.  The gun is new enough, that we are still getting to know each other.  Afterward, I haunted anyone who would give advice to learn what I was doing wrong, what they would suggest and how they were going to take the shots.

I was watching some of the men and when they finished they had a million excuses why they didn't hit a target and seemed annoyed if anyone made a suggestion.

You learn better if you listen.

There was one exception where I was not wrong.  I lost my concentration shooting through a window and had to re-position my AK and mistakenly shot a non-threat target with a police badge.  It was clear to me that that was an evil policeman and I should have been rewarded, not given extra points! Humph!

Let the Force be With You

We are still on this Zen stuff with shooting for shooting faster and more accurately.

The video below, How to Shoot a Double Tap by Brian R Wardell, is how to shoot two shots quickly, one after another.  This is important skill to compete in IDPA when you have to quickly take two shots at a target and move on to the next.

(The video is starting where we will be discussion.  You can click later to watch all of it.)

What to watch and learn is how he describes handling the recoil.  Bottom line - don't.  The gun will return naturally to your original shooting position.  In order to do that you have to "let the force be with you."

This is something learned by me about 10 sports ago and many hospital visits.  The sport tool you are using is designed to do most of the work. It is our job to allow it to work naturally.  But sometimes that is not easy. For example when learning how to ski, your brain wants to stay as close to the top of the hill as possible, you lean back on the skis and you fall.  Ouch!

You are fighting your tool.  In order to keep on the skis, you need to trust them and learn forward, down the hill.  "Gravity is your friend," is what my ski instructor kept yelling.  Once you learn that pose, your bottom, head, elbows, ankles, fingers, nose, and legs won't hurt as much.  Trust me.



The gun wants to return to its natural position after the recoil.  Below is a good explanation of this:

Handgun Recoil Control Tips

"At the start, lets define the problem. The concept of recoil control is based on automatic returning of pistol's sights to the target after a shot. It happens by a fast muscle twitch occurring 0,04-0,07 seconds after firing. The key word here is "automatic." This means that it is a reflex and not a deliberate action. You should not think about it, just let it happen."

See, let the force be with you!

The next video goes one step further and show you have to let the gun guide you to the next target. Ya still gotta keep that force thing going.




Part of my shooting homework for this week is to learn how to not think.  Should not be that hard for me!

Zen and Shooting

I absolutely love Thursday nights when I get to shoot with my pals from the RGV Shooters and others at American Firing Range.  They are billed as tournaments, but since we have no prizes we call it practice.  Although, we do keep scores and, at the end of the match, the guys look at their scores in detail.  I don't.

And, I wondered why I was just not getting better.

Thursday night, the guys ganged up on me and started pushing me to be more conscious of all that happens on the range, how I held the gun and what to look for in my sights.  At the end of the match, after all their help,  I had shot like  Don Knotts and was completely frustrated.

To make matters worse, I wore a shirt that was loose on the top and in the middle of a scenario an errant hot case dove down my blouse, halted at my belt and proceeded to burn a hole in my tummy while I finished missing the targets.  Needless to say I was feeling a lot down.

At dinner afterward they would not give up and I was feeling picked on and, don't you hate this Divas?, holding back tears.  (We gotta fix this tearing up thing!)  At the insistence of Don I handed over my iPad and he opened up  Ben Stoger Dry Fire Training web page and downloaded one book, Practical Shooting.  Those were my homework.

I know I am a reasonably good shot and I blamed the boys for getting me flustered Thursday.  But, I listened, because no matter how hard it is, listening always makes you think and thinking makes you better.

The next morning I went to the outdoor range and, all by myself fired some rounds from my new carbine my favorite gun smith and human being, Alan Fomorin at Metal X Works,  built for me,  I shot perfectly!  What did THEY know?!  Pooie on them.

That evening, just to make sure I could tell Don he was wrong, I started reading Practical Shooting.  Don, the last man on earth who you would ever think the words Zen and Yoga would exit from his mouth warned me to not to be set back by the zen type writing.  "Read until it speaks to you and you will get it," he said.  Cool, just like being back in the 60's.  Well, the book did say something to me.  And, I was shooting badly.  And it was my fault.  If I had been concentrating and focusing, what the boys were saying and doing would not have interfered with my shooting.

I was also not reflecting before and after a match.  By not checking my scores, I was not getting the information needed to  practice the things I was doing wrong and set goals for the next match.  The next morning I went to the Texas Carbine pistol match and knew exactly what I needed to work on: concentration and focusing.

After getting home from the Sunday Texas Carbine match, I compared my scores from the first match I did in May to the match yesterday.  Great strides were made in my time but my accuracy was off.  So  this week I will practice using the dry fire technique on speed and accuracy. I also know that one or two better shots on one target could have put me further from the bottom.  I can do that.

I wasn't watching scores because I was consistently coming in last.  What I need to do is keep track of my scores, work on issues that are preventing me from getting better and then I won't consistently come in last.

Well that is enough of learning lessons and touchie feelie zen kinda stuff.  But I would recommend the book, Practical Shooting even if you are a conservative.

Oh, yeah.  the best way to get the boys off the dinner discussion of your poor shooting  is is to tell them how much better liberals are than conservatives and you have umpteen advanced degrees.  It works.  The poor shooting is forgotten as they work on another area they perceive as a weakness I might have.

What Happens After Police Shoot?

I was reading a news article on In Concealed Carry Weapon's class we spend most of the time talking about what to after you shoot.  Basically, the relaying of the CCW laws and regulations comes down to this:  Don't shoot.  If you do, get a really, really good lawyer really, really fast.

Knowing what happens when police shoot is a Camelot version of what might happen when a Concealed Carry Shooter shots.  That is because there is a back up support system for police people, but not always true for CCW shooters. Although at no point is this event physically,  mentally and economically easy for anyone.

While reading through a document that explains what happens I began to see some very disturbing differences between what happens to a police person and what happens to a CCW person.

The police will be called - Yes for both Police and CCW more police will be called in to investigate the scene.  The problem is, the police will come as support for their fellow co-worker but may not be as nurturing to a civilian carrying a gun.

Your gun will be taken away - Yes for both Police and CCW holders.  The difference is for how long.  Police may get it returned after forensics evidence is collected.  A CCW holder may have his/hers confiscated as evidence until after the investigation or trial is over.

You will be told to contact a lawyer - Yes for both Police and CCW holders. However the expense of the lawyer will be the burden of the CCW holder.

The press will have your name on the air in minutes after their arrival - This will happen for both, however the Police will have a spokesperson there who is trained public relations person to handle the press.  The CCW person is on his or her own. Best to keep very quiet.

A mental health team will be put in place - Police get support from professionals trained in these situations free.  The CCW person is on his/her own.    

The responsibility of the CCW holder is a very serious one.  The idea that one can purchase a gun, shoot in a range, and get a license will not prepare them physically, mentally and economically for what might happen if you are to shoot.

Last night at IDPA, I was getting lots of advice on how to shot, stand and even hold my tongue at the correct angle and got flustered.  Shot like hell.  As I watched this news report I wondered.  Would I be able to calmly handle a situation like the officers found themselves in a crowded city sidewalk with a gun man pointing a gun directly at them.  What would I really do immediately and then an hour later?

Nine Bystanders Shot

Nine bystanders shot.  As a person who is serious about learning about guns and competes in IDPA competitions I was appalled that nine people were wounded when two police officers shot a murder suspect. These were the things that immediately went through my head:

Were these police people trained correctly?  I know from my training at IDPA that it is damn hard to hit a paper or steel target when you are under pressure and required to react quickly.  It has to be even harder to hit a live target.

What type of continual practice are the NYC policeman required to do?  For two months I was in Ohio and Michigan visiting my wonderful and perfect grandchildren, I had shot my gun, but it was recreational shooting with them.  When I came back to the competition that RGV Shooters host every Thursday, I shot really badly.  I was off my game after two months of enjoying grandkids.

Practice is expensive.  After that embarrassing competition, I went to the outdoor range and, with my  Smith and Wesson M&P 22 which is my practice version of my competition 9MM S&W M&P.  For an hour and almost $15.00 in ammo, practiced target shooting to get my timing and quick sight back.  I then practiced with my 9mm and $25.00 in ammo practiced holding the gun steady after the recoil to make sure my sights did not leave the target.  It is very easy to allow the recoil to push your hand up forcing you to chop the next shot which makes you have to aim again and risk a jam as well as eat up precious seconds.

OK, I am going to stop here.  More and more information is coming in from the press about what happened and I am finding more information  about the training and re-certifications of NYPD police persons.

During a faculty training today two of the faculty persons were from Criminal Justice.  I asked both what they thought about the stray rounds that hit the bystanders.  One fudged around with politically correct non committal comments.  The other said, "I always first side with the police and then wait for the information to come in before I form an opinion."

What I learned from a shooting here in my town is that  in a case of a police person shooting a middle school student carrying a gun in school and threatening others is that not all the facts are known by the press or civilians nor are the police going to give them out.  The police keep the facts confidential until the investigation is complete.

In this case two policeman shot a gun toting student.  Immediately after they shot dead the student they found that he had a toy gun.  This was the only thing the press had to play with.  When the report came out, it was found that the student had aimed the toy gun at another student.  The student told everyone it was a real gun and from this distance, there was no way the police could see it was a toy.  In the report it was revealed that the gun toting student aimed the gun at another student and the police fired.  The police did what they had to do.

So, two things to learn from this:

1.  Wait for your judgement until the police report comes out.  This type of thing is just too juicy for the press to let go.  Every Nancy Grace and sensationalists like her are going to have an emotional heyday playing this up to boost ratings.  Everyone will have an opinion on this even if she or others have no facts in hand.

2.  If you think that a concealed handgun is going to make you a hero that is bad thinking.  What if it had been a civilian with no advanced or tactical training who fired on the NYC gunman and had shot innocent bystanders?   The legal fees alone would make one shutter.

Carrying a gun comes with more responsibility than one can imagine as they pay for their first gun.

Help Support the Boy Scouts - Have fun all day shooting!

What could be more fun than shooting your favorite shotgun all day and supporting the boy scouts at the same time?  Nada!

If you happen to be in the neighborhood, the neighborhood being Brownsville, Texas, I need a couple more team members for my team of 5.  The shoot will be at Loma Alta Trap and Skeet Club Range, in Brownsville Texas.

Contact me if you would like to be on my team (obviously the winning team) at betsy.price@utb.edu.   Or if you would like to organize your own team, call 956-423-0250 or go to The Rio Grande Council webpages.

What Makes You Safe - Knowing About Guns

As a gun owner and competitive shooter, I am getting increasingly concerned about the people who purchase a gun, load it up and tuck  it under their bed to protect themselves.  No training, no experience with a gun, no hunting, no practice and no training beyond a concealed carry license.

The purchase of a gun alone to fraught away a team of bad guys and gals is often pure theatrics! (Or a poor political campaign.)

Bad people don't come into your house, give you time to fumble around for the gun (where did you "safely" hide it?), turn on the lights, position them in a full Monty while you take 3 to 5 seconds to shoot,  find out the gun is on safety, find the safety, and then shoot.  Bang!  You missed.  Another Bang! and he/she is still coming.

There are stories in the news of people who have, with no experience, protected themselves with a gun.  They are lucky.  I would rather not rely on luck alone.

This is what I have learned shooting IDPA competitions:

1.  You need to know where your gun is, be able to get position-ready, and evaluate what you are going to do in seconds.  Like 3 or 4 seconds, not 60 or 120 seconds.

• It has taken months of competitive shooting and practice to develop muscle memory to take the gun out of the holster, load, keep the finger off the trigger until ready to shoot and, at the same time, not sweep the good guys.  There is more!   Keep the pistol downrange, evaluate  target strategy, keep behind cover and shoot.  After three months, I'm still minutes behind my fellow shooters.  If you want a gun to protect you, join IDPA or take a tactical defense class otherwise you could bea danger to yourself rather than a savior to others.  

2.  The bad people are going to surprise you:  

• Your best defense is to be aware of your surroundings.  Your best advantage is to surprise them that you are ready and able.  This means your house has to be locked and alarmed, you have to know how bad people will come in, and you need to know how you can use your house layout and structures to protect yourself until the police come.  Secure doors and windows and  an alarm system  is often more effective than a gun.  Oh, is your cell or phone just as easy to find as your gun?

3.  Knowing how to use a gun to protect yourself is a family matter:

• If you keep guns in your house your greatest danger is ignorance of gun safety procedures for you, your family and visitors.  In IDPA you are taught if you pick up a gun, you first check to see if it is loaded, if you can do so safely, point down and shoot just to check.   Last week while at practice I was loading up to go home and picked up my gun.  I was sure it was not loaded, but followed the rules.  Guess what I found Divas?   No magazine but there was a round in the chamber ready to fire.  

4.  Good chance that, unless trained, the bad people are equally bad shots but have the element of surprise,  realize it is a good chance people are ignorant about guns, and they will get off the first round of shots before you can even respond. 

• Shooting at a still target in a range gives you false confidence.  After I got my first handgun from my son, I went to the range and shot targets.  It didn't take long to "tear a hole out of the center".  I felt as if I was a great shot.  After three months at IDPA I realize that I need to learn  a lot more in order to protect myself in a gun fight.  Aiming at something and pulling the trigger is only one out of 1,465, 832 things you need to know to protect yourself. 

5.  Bad people will  have to reload.  If they are not trained, this can be your best bet to get the upper hand.

• In IDPA shooters have belts with loaded magazines that, with one quick sweep of the hand, they can reload a gun.  It takes months of practice to get up to a turtle's pace.  Bad guys with guns in their pockets are counting on doing their damage with a couple shots or the threat of a shot.  If they have to reload, it can take a long time to fumble around for a fresh magazine and even longer if they have loose rounds in their pocket.  This is your best time to run or get yourself together.  Frankly, unless really have proven you are a crack shot,  I advise running like the devil.  

Texas Carbine Shotgun Match.......So fun!

Today I did my first shotgun match with the Texas Carbine shooting club in Corpus Christi, Texas.  What fun!

I was suppose to ride up with Bill Connor from the RGV Shooters, He called on Saturday to arrange rides, but I didn't see the call. It was now Sunday a.m. I was up at 4:30 a.m., too excited to sleep and rushed around the house for an hour, jumped in the car only forgetting half of what I was suppose to bring, and headed to Corpus Christi.  When I got into the car, I saw Bill's voice mail and called him as I was aiming down the road; he was still sleeping.  This was not his first match. Despite my almost hour lead, he pulled in with his  Porsche 911  not too long after I got there.  Gotta get the ole Pilot tuned up.  (If he ever breaks down I can fit his car and gun buggie in the back end of my car.)

For those of you who do not live in Texas you don't understand distance.  Brownsville is the south most tip of Texas, four and a half hours from the nearest  major U.S. city.  Monterrey, Mexico is only two and a half hours away.   Corpus is our neighbor, just up the road, three hours drive, past the King Ranch which is about the size of Rhode Island.  You also pass the famous Dick Cheney Whoops! My bad. Shooting Range.  People still duck driving past that ranch.  So much for geography, back to Spider, Maytag and Nightmare.

Now this picture shows what normal shooters haul all their equipment around with.  No, they are not baby buggies.  They are modified baby buggies to carry all your gear.  As I was packing all my stuff up Saturday and Sunday morning, it felt like when I first took my newborn son out to do some errands.  It is probable that it might be easier to get a baby along with bottles, diapers, binkies, extra clothes, towels, wipes, socks, shoes, toys, books and buggy in the car than all the gear you need for a shooting match.  This was just shotgun, can't wait to pack for a three gun.

Anyway, back to Spider, Maytag and Nightmare again.  These guys ride around in golf carts that are all equipped to haul everything and anything one might need in a shooting competition.  I'm thinking I will stick to my backpack rather than adding to the list of things not to forget, hitching up a trailer with a golf gun cart.

The club members were fun.  New shooters take a lot of time fumbling with shells, shooting 10 feet above and under the targets, un-jamming ammo, and reminding you that it is much easier to shoot with the safety off.  No one yelled.  They went out of their way to make me feel welcome and they gave lots of good advice.

Anyway, back to Spider, Maytag and Nightmare again.  Everyone has a nick name.  Club members cannot choose their own nickname; a nickname must be earned.  At the traditional feast after the shoot, Bill entertained everyone by making someone tell how another person earned his nickname.  Made if more interesting, and we got a truthful story.

Anyone who has a chance needs to check out these competitions.  Corpus Christi has the largest undeveloped barrier island in the world.  Great place for a getaway weekend.  So if you are a gun lover and tree hugger this is the place.

Concealed Goes High Fashion

Finally the fashion police have gotten the clue about what gun owners need.  This is good news because not everyone wants to wear Extra Extra Extra EXTRA large Hawaiian shirts or try to spell the word in a browser to look for them.

For an example look at this picture of Alan wearing a Hawaiian shirt.  (Alan is the gun smith who painted my shotgun.) You see the big gun.  Cool.  Then your eye follows it down the path, and .....fashion letdown, blue flowers.

There has to be some changes here.

This designer has some good ideas here, but he still says “They (being CCW folks) should dress for the gun,” he said he advised his customers. “Not for the fashion.”  Humph.


Anyway it looks as if there will be interesting fashion coming out, however all this article talks about is men's clothing.  Humph.


Click on the image to read the full article.  If you have the time, the comments give the most interesting reading as readers comment on the article.  Some very thoughtful comments.

Great Shooting Night

There is nothing more fun than walking out of an IDPA Tournament with good scores.  See, this is the first time I did this.  So I'm a very happy shooter!

I didn't get a prize like at the county fair, but that is OK.  People will have to listen to me brag rather than admiring a stuffed animal trophy.

We usually have one of the RGV Shooters who comes with a computer and the IDPA software.  After the match he loads up the scores on the  RGV Shooters website for the world to see.

Guess what?  I shot very well and he didn't show!  We had to document the scores on paper.  Now I am very worried that my first good scores won't get up on the website for all to see.

So, readers, here is what you need to do. Go to the Rio Grande Valley Shooters website by clicking here.  Then click on scores.  Go to March 15th and look at my score.  I cut that by way more than half!  (Actually I forgot what my actual score was but, trust me, it was good.

Now, the time.  I am still sloooooooow.  On one scenario I had a 0, 1, 0, 0, 1 (the lower the score the better you are).  That round I had a whopping 70.+ seconds.  You know why?  Limp wrist!  I have a new holster and am getting use to it.  I was not able to get my hand on the gun correctly and was holding it too far down on the handle.  This causes the gun to recoil up slightly.  Guns don't like that.

M&P 9mm Smith and Wessons are completely unforgiving if your wrist goes limp.  The punishment is that the gun jams.  That eats up a lot of time.  Sigh.  This week I will practice on grabbing the gun correctly and keeping the wrist taunt.

Here is a link to what the IDPA score sheets.  Just imagine a  0, 1, 0, 0, 1.

The NRA Just Shot Themselves in Their Foot

The anti-women, conservative agenda is not working so well for the NRA.  Looks as if it doesn't have to worry about a "left wing" agenda to bring them down.  The NRA is on a fast track to take itself down.  

I do not want the NRA to make political decision for me. I don't want to be embarrassed that people would think that NRA political agenda is mine.  I want them to do what they are suppose to do, advocate for second amendment rights and promote gun safety.

Now we have some critical discussions, the Zimmerman/Neighborhood Watch/concealed carry case, goes wild bringing gun laws into a court of media lawyers. Florida, one of the states with the most easy to get concealed carry laws is now going to review their laws and every state is getting pressure to review gun laws.    

Meanwhile, the NRA, our hero agency to advocate for second amendment rights, is hobbling around on one foot, cleverly alienating both presidential candidates.  Great shot.

And, this alienation is not on gun legislation, but on its alternative agenda of conservative issues that have nothing to do with the second amendment or gun safety.  Over the years, the NRA has become more and more political, openly funding ALEC and ILA for a conservative agenda, overstepping its mission by a long shot.  It is also flirting with disaster threatening its 501C3 license as a non profit organization by becoming politically active.  

This is the NRA Foundation's mission statement:


Established in 1990, the NRA Foundation, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that raises tax-deductible contributions in support of a wide range of firearms-related public interest activities of the National Rifle Association of America and other organizations that defend and foster the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Americans.  These activities are designed to promote firearms and hunting safety, to enhance marksmanship skills of those participating in the shooting sports, and to educate the general public about firearms in their historic, technological and artistic context.

I am going to send them a copy of their mission statement.  They may want to read it.

The editorial opinion is mine and not the opinion of Metal X Works.