Cruel Hand Luke

Pennsylvania is the same way.

I usually fly with a Tuff Writer Click Pen and several Zebra 701s. NO one looks twice at a pen that looks like a pen... especially if it goes through the magnetometer clipped into in the spiral binding of your notebook....EVERYONE knows what your "tactical pen" with needles , razor blades, and para cord clipped in your pocket is ..... The big thing is to just look and act normal. If you roll to the mall looking like a displaced Blackwater contractor then guess what? You got what you probably secretly wanted. ALL the tough guys (and security) see you and are taking a mental inventory of you.....on the other hand the REAL smart tough guys don't draw any attention to themselves because they dress normal and act normal and don't do things to draw attention....same thing at the TSA checkpoint. If you look like you are pining for the good old days in the green zone then you're gonna get a lot more scrutiny than the "normal" clean cut looking dude in the clean polo shirt and normal "non tactical" pants without a mountain of tattoos showing . That's just reality. As to using them, the Zebra and Tuff Writer pens are unlikely to break and used as "hammerfist helper" they can be very effective and so can the metal bodied "magnum" markers as can a light like a Surefire G2 or P6. But for pete's sake don't show up with some crenelated bezel monstrosity that looks like something out of Game of Thrones. One , it is gonna get confiscated, and Two, it just isn't needed. I guarantee I can open up a cut on ANYONE with a smash to the face with a standard bezel surefire 6p, G2 , Streamlight Scorpion, or any other "standard light". And besides, blunt trauma does all the heavy lifting. If they seriously NEED to be hit then I'd much rather give them a depressed skull fracture than a superficial cut.......or "collect their DNA" or other such silliness....

5 spots gone already......

Coming up in just a little over a week!!!

Congrats. You just did far more to further the cause than any of the people buying another case of .223 and yelling at the TV news......

Ancestry.com and just a lot of digging. Sometimes you get lucky and someone else already has your person in their tree and has info on them. Sometimes that info might be listed in pension applications and things like that .

Thought I might mention that this Saturday I'll be going to SW Virginia to attend a grave marking by the Sons of the American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution for my 5th great grandfather on my mom's side Robert "Robin" Vicars. He served in Lord Dunmore's War in 1774 against the Shawnee and Mingo and then in the Revolution. He came to America from England as an indentured servant and made the most of opportunities in the new world. He is buried on his farm in Russel County VA. His daughter Molly married Joseph H Gilbert - the son of another Revolutionary War veteran from Virginia (Joseph Hiram Gilbert) and after much "begetting" down through the Gilbert line to my mom, I was the product. So if any of you happen to be Sons of the American Revolution headed for a grave marking ceremony in SW VA on Saturday I will see you there....

Haenel MP40 .....

On Sunday June 3 we will be offering a special 1 day training event in the Knoxville area. The class is an expanded version of the block of instruction that I presented last month at the 2018 Rangemaster Tactical Conference in Little Rock Arkansas. http://rangemaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Tac-Con-18-Brochure.pdf CLASS DESCRIPTION Point Blank Pistol Skills is a study in the deployment and effective use of the pistol in the 9 feet and closer distance envelope. This is the distance where time (and timing) are paramount. In this critical space there is little time to react and no time to be wasted with misses or ineffective marksmanship. At touching distance empty hand combative skills are often needed to help facilitate a clean unfouled draw stroke and decisive hits. We will focus on improving drawstroke, gaining better position, in fight weapons access, and making fight stopping hits from full extension all the way in to shooting in physical contact with the target. REQUIRED EQUIPMENT Students will need their pistol, holster, and a minimum of 2 spare magazines, or 3 speed loaders for their revolver if they plan to party like it is 1899. They will need 150-200 rounds of ammo, eye and ear protection. Also a "non live firing" replica (blue gun, red gun, Cert pistol, Sims gun or airsoft gun) that will fit in their holster. We will do some interactive dry work and will use those non firing replicas for that. A few loaners are available if you don't have a blue gun or an airsoft gun. This class focuses on shooting solutions 10 feet and closer but as opposed to most "shooting classes" this one has an interactive component so that each technique is also drilled against a live opponent so that there is no question as to the viability and applicability of the techniques and when and where to use each one. The use of Tac Man targets allows the ability to fire in very close proximity to the targets including allowing us to shoot in contact with them unlike paper targets which tend to blow apart. Also the 3 dimensional Tac Man targets provide a much more realistic looking target including it wearing clothing. Instructor Bio - With over 18 Years of experience in the shooting and training industry, Randy is a staff instructor for Suarez International, an NRA certified Instructor, Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit Instructor, Rangemaster certified Instructor (1st in his class) , and Rangemaster Advanced Instructor (1st in his class). Randy has shot in both the IDPA Nationals and IDPA World Championships where in 2015 he finished in the top 20 overall in the Stock Service Pistol division. With a focus on integrating skill sets and interdisciplinary problem solving , his training influences include Suarez International, Rangemaster (Tom Givens) , Shivworks (Craig Douglas) , AMOK (Tom Sotis) , Massad Ayoob, Dave Spaulding , the Rogers Shooting School and many others. Date: Sunday June 3, 2018 Time: 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Subject: Point Blank Pistol Skills Price : $100 ( $50 deposit holds your spot ) Contact me through private message here to sign up. Class size is limited so don't wait ! Equipment needed : Pistol and 3 magazines (or 3 speed loaders if you use a revolver) Location: 1818 Tarklin Valley Rd Knoxville Tn 37920 Looking forward to seeing you there!

PRAG and GTG check your PM !

Nikolas Kruz used 10 rd mags at Parkland..........

REMINDER!!!!! This is coming up this SUNDAY !!!!

Crap...yeah I missed that....trying to post fast from work leads to typos....fixed the mathematical issues.....

The majority of "anti gun people" actually know as much about guns as I do about how to crochet. If your guess is "next to nothing" then you win the prize. They simply are repeating the code speak they have heard or read and cannot carry on an informed intelligent discussion.....because they largely do not care to be educated or to have an exchange of ideas. They want to push a political agenda that they really have not thought through to the logical progression of where these actions will lead. Does the typical American believe that disarming young single women so they cannot effectively protect themselves from home invasion is a good idea? Most would not. Yet that is exactly the unintended REAL consequence of raising the age to buy a gun to 21. Does the typical American believe that the elderly and the weak should have the most effective means of defending themselves against home invasion stripped from them? Most would not yet banning semi auto .223 rifles would do just that. While we can argue the relative merits of shotguns vs carbines, we cannot argue that the .223 carbine is much easier to control buy the small statured, aged, or infirm than a shotgun. For any kind of "universal background" check to work ALL guns would have to be in the registry so that ALL transactions could be monitored. Otherwise it is essentially "honor system". Seriously...if you want background checks on ALL transactions you have to know where ALL the guns are much like the NFA registry. Do you REALLY think that the Average american thinks that is a good idea ? Justice Stevens aside, does the typical American REALLY want a repeal of the 2A ? Good luck getting 38 states to ratify that. And even if they do..... Are they going to then send the police to confiscate those semi auto firearms? What happens when a significant # of people simply say "NO"? What is a significant amount? There are 100 million + gun owners in the USA. What if just 10% said "no". You would have a 10 million man armed force which would be the largest guerrilla army in the world. As it stands now the cops just have to worry about garden variety criminals and BLM kooks taking a potshot at them ....if "all out war on gun ownership" is implemented those same cops will have to worry about the largest army of "snipers" in the world. They will also have to worry that while they are at work seizing guns (which will be EXTREMELY costly in police lives ) they will come home to burned down houses since they live in the same communities they will be oppressing. I have a feeling you'll see a lot of cops simply refuse to do their job. Does ANYONE really want to see a return to the days of Missouri and Kansas during the civil war or South Carolina during the Revolution? For those not clear on the history it was a time of extreme violence between neighbors over political affiliation/allegiance . Does anyone think that is impossible today? You think the peace you have enjoyed your whole life can't spiral into something else? Look at Yugoslavia between 1984 and 1990. They went from a vibrant country where the 84 Olympics were held to a war zone with mass killing at a genocidal level...... And what if those 10% (or even 1% would be a 1 million man and woman guerrilla force) take it a step farther and actively seek to eliminate those who brought this about?.....The level of unrest and lawlessness is simply mind boggling. Would Political assassination be on the table? If every time Feinstein or Schumer leaves their house they would SERIOUSLY have to worry about who is waiting for them would they still be "true believers"? Would "ideological genocide" be on the table? While genocides tend to be along racial or tribal lines this could end up being ideological. Do we ever really want to find out? I'd say that some doors are best left closed and never opened. But with each new call for "something to be done" that door gets knocked on......so the other side really needs to take an inventory of how important disarming 1/3 of the population is to them. Would they trade that for the potentially bloodiest time in American history? If this proceeds along the path that they now seem to be pushing that may be exactly what we see...and if it is then God help us all.

Still in planning...we were looking for suggestions and gauging interest. Seriously considering Prag's suggestion about a replay of my block from Tac Con.

I really just fake it...I don't know that much.... As mentioned before it takes some work to get used to getting the gun up in your eye line like you are making a a precise shot at distance. That is the key to getting on the dot quicker. That way you essentially find the sights and switch focus to the dot because if the dot is sitting on top of the front sight it is pretty easy to find. Is it slower to use the dot at 3 to 5 yards? Yes... but so is using the sights in a picture perfect sight picture too. I use Alternative Indexing Methods at that distance with either irons or dots (or rifles pistols shotguns or subguns). I don't need to see a dot to shoot a palm sized target at 3 to 5 yards. I can use the frame of the RMR or the corner of the slide (or several other super secret ninja techniques) to get the gun aligned without having to find the dot in the window. Can the environment cause issues like rain on the window ? Yes. I have not yet had one fog up from temp variance so that is an interesting thing to ponder. I guess if my Oakleys can fog up walking out of the air conditioned house on a scorching hot day then a RMR theoretically could ....so hopefully I won't get in a gunfight first thing in the morning in my driveway...... If the likely engagement distance is going to be 5 yards and closer then the red dot does little to nothing for you....unless you use them like I do to snipe flies.... If you plan to be useful on the back side of 15 yards with precision bullet placement then the red dot makes that way easier. Everything is a compromise. Irons are faster up close red dot is faster at distance. You just have to get used to finding the dot....or used to working around it.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR.....

Reminder that this one is coming up soon!

Hey Aqil, I seriously considered calling you guys about catching dinner in Nashville on Sunday night but I ended up deciding on driving all the way back to Chattanooga that night and if I'd stopped for dinner I'd have stayed in Nashville......

The April meeting of the TN/GA/AL Suarez Int training group will be held on Sunday April 8 ! We will be looking at escaping from common restraints and then shooting several drills that we have not shot previously and conducting a man on man (or woman?) shoot off . Instructor: Randy Harris Subject : Zip Ties, Duct Tape, and Pistols........Escaping Common Restraints and Shooting Skills Test Date : Sun April 8 2018 Time: 10AM-3PM CENTRAL TIME .....NOTE THE LATER THAN USUAL START TIME !!!! Location: The usual place- Phillips/Edwards Farm 763 County Rd 332 Pisgah Alabama (about 35 minutes SW of Chattanooga) Price : $60 PAY BY CASH OR CHECK AT CLASS. What you need to bring: Pistol (revolvers are welcome too), at least 2 spare pistol magazines (or speedloaders if you plan to party like it is 1899) and 150 to 200 rounds of ammo..... Hope to see you there !

Everyone straighten up and behave Tiffany’s coming....... Just kidding . Tiffany was the hardest working woman in the tactical world last week and she deserves all the thanks in the world for making the Tac Con run smoothly. She’s my logistical hero.

A pic of the crew that worked my block.....L-R Mike Swisher, Me, Scott Stewart, Lee Weems, Adam Gochenaur. Lee was NOT going to get shot because of not being seen.....

I’m not gonna lie..... I’m absolutely guilty as charged.... in fact I muzzle punched him with my Glock ....it just happened to be a non firing 17R to see if I could knock it out of battery as a demo showing why you don’t want to thrust the gun into your opponent when in a clinch. In all seriousness though, Lee was a HUGE help by risking life and limb as a safety officer working the line during my block of instruction on Sunday morning at the Rangemaster Tactical Conference at DARC (Direct Action Resource Center) in Little Rock Arkansas. I taught a block on close quarters shooting called Point Blank Pistol Skills that involved a lot of fast close shooting much of which was done while in physical contact with the plastic TAC MAN targets we used. I can’t thank him enough for volunteering to come over and help make sure we had plenty of experienced safety officers watching the line. And in his own right Lee is a talented multi time instructor at Tac Con doing blocks this year in Social Levergun and a block called Defensive Pistol Skills Builder . So if you get a chance to catch a class with him take it ! Thanks again Lee, hopefully we’ll get a chance to work together again some time !

The last practical day to sign up is the Wednesday the week of the class so that they have time to send me a certificate for you. (April 25?) .

Hey guys , sorry for the late response. I just got back from teaching at the Rangemaster Tactical Conference in Little Rock. Just let me know what you want and we’ll make something happen.