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Class Review
Sentinel Concepts Critical Handgun Employment Instructor: Steve Fisher Oct. 20-21 2017 Background I have been a firearms instructor for 15 years and taken classes from many big name instructors in the tactical and competition world. When I take a shooting class, it is as much to learn how to get better at shooting as it is about how to be a better teacher. I’m happy to report that Steve is an even better teacher than he is a shooter and he is a pretty damn good shooter. The class was well paced and kept all the students’ attention without making anyone “drink from a firehose.” The short version:
Your issue with trigger control is really an issue with grip: Steve talked about and demonstrated that when pressing the trigger, the things we normally think of as trigger jerk or anticipation is actually sympathetic contraction of the hand. The drill he had us shoot to drive the point home was shooting at 2” circles while only gripping the gun with our thumb and trigger finger. The students all shot tight groups in the center of the circle. The drill eliminates the bottom three fingers from the equation, thus eliminating their ability for them to throw the shot off. Steve’s solution for this issue is to grip the gun harder and focus pressure on the pinky finger of the firing hand. Hold yourself to a higher standard: It is easy to delude ourselves into believing because the average shooting happens at close range, our lack of ability to make fast accurate shots at distance is acceptable. Steve stresses shooting very strict standards at 25-50 yards. If you can make those shots, 7-10 yards becomes much easier. I consider myself a good shot and regularly shoot at 25-100 yards with a handgun. Steve’s standards shined a bright light on my inconsistency at these ranges, especially at speed. Since the class I have been focused on shooting at distance under time standards and it has really improved my ability to make fast hits at distance. This came in handy when I had to make a 50 yard shot on two targets during a recent USPSA competition. It seemed almost natural and I was able to achieve solid hits. Conclusion: If you are a serious student of the gun, this class is worth your time. It was equally applicable to LE/Mil, CCW and competition. You will find very few instructors as competent and dedicated. I hear people say, "What can one person with a pistol do against multiple attackers with rifles?" Well, this should give you a good idea. Skill, Training, and Mindset, trump equipment every day.
Here is the story of one man who did make a difference: "The passenger was Elton Simpson, one of two radicalized American citizens who had come to attack the crowd at the Culwell Center, shortly before 1900 on May 3, 2015, in the name of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Wearing soft body armor and load-bearing equipment (LBE), and carrying a pistol and an ominous backpack, Simpson exited the car with a smile and began firing the rifle, which fed from a 100 round drum magazine. Witnesses said the rifle was fired so quickly it sounded as if Stevens and nearby Garland Independent School District Security Officer Bruce Joiner were taking automatic fire. The smile on Simpson’s face gave Joiner the impression it was all a joke, but when Stevens saw the rifle barrel poke out of the car, he immediately recognized the threat for what it was, and also recognized that his tactical position was poor. Stevens was standing in the open, with no hope of reaching any kind of cover, when Simpson tracked the rifle toward him and the unarmed security officer to his left rear. Stevens instantly recognized that the only way he was going to prevail in the coming fight was to aggressively engage Simpson and the driver, who was now exiting the vehicle on the far side with a drum-fed, AK-pattern rifle of his own." Read More...  Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll and St. Paul Police Federation President Dave Titus recently returned from a law enforcement conference in Las Vegas.
Both union leaders said it was a surreal experience to be in Las Vegas the week after a deadly mass shooting, and both said they are well aware that the incident has rejuvenated debate over stricter gun laws in the state and across the country. Neither longtime law enforcement officer, who between them represent more than 1,000 street cops, think stronger gun control laws are viable solutions to reverse a spike in gun violence in their respective cities. Read More...  MILWAUKEE -- FBI officials announced on Tuesday, January 26th that Milwaukee resident Samy Mohammed Hamzeh, 23, has been charged with possessing machine guns and a silencer. According to the criminal complaint, Hamzeh had been under investigation since September 2015. The investigation revealed that, in October 2015, Hamzeh planned to travel to Jordan, enter the West Bank, and conduct an attack on Israeli soldiers and citizens living in the West Bank. Hamzeh later abandoned those plans and began to focus on conducting an attack in the United States. According to the criminal complaint, Hamzeh has engaged in extensive conversations with two confidential sources (referred to here as CS-1 and CS-2). Those conversations, which were in Arabic, were monitored, recorded, and translated by the FBI beginning in October 2015. During those recorded conversations, Hamzeh explained that he wanted to commit a domestic act of violence and, earlier this month, he settled on a Masonic temple in Milwaukee as his target. Hamzeh also explained what his objectives were in committing the attack:
READ MORE HERE  According to USA Today: The surge of criminal background checks required of new gun purchasers has been so unrelenting in recent months that the FBI had been forced to temporarily halt the processing of thousands of appeals from prospective buyers whose firearm purchase attempts have been denied. The NRA posted this about the topic: "As much as the Brady Campaign, Bloomberg’s Everytown, and the Obama administration contend that submitting oneself to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is a fast and simple process that does not significantly burden lawful firearms transferees, the fact is that for many of Americans that simply isn’t true. Each year thousands of Americans are wrongfully denied their Second Amendment rights when NICS incorrectly determines that they are prohibited from firearm ownership. Compounding this grave injustice, this week the FBI made public that they have stopped processing NICS denial appeals. News of this personnel shift comes on the heels of Barack Obama’s much-publicized executive actions on gun control. Included in these actions was an intent to “hire more than 230 additional examiners and other staff to help process [NICS] checks.” When asked about this action in a January 20hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, Attorney General Loretta Lynch made clear that this plan would require some Congressional cooperation for funding, noting, “With respect to the 230, we do hope to begin hiring of that with using this fiscal year's appropriation. And then the 2017 request would allow us to maintain that.” Given the circumstances surrounding the public disclosure of the suspension of processing denial appeals, the personnel maneuver has the appearance of being a cynical bargaining chip in the pursuit of more resources. It is important to understand the severe scope of the problem of erroneous denials, and thus the need for a well-functioning denial appeals process. FBI’s own informational materials provide evidence of the system’s potential for mistakes. The agency’s 2014 NICS operations report, for example, explains that a denial merely “indicates the prospective firearms transferee or another individual with a similar name and/or similar descriptive features was matched with either federally prohibiting criteria or state-prohibiting criteria.” In 2014, 90,895 federal NICS checks resulted in a denial. That same year, 4,411 NICS denials were later overturned through the appeals process, or close to 5 percent of total denials that year." This is a major problem as the Constitution guarantees that an individual cannot be deprived of liberty without the due process of law. When the FBI, or any other arm of the state, deprives a citizen of their rights without due process it should be of great concern and the government should correct the error. While there has been a large increase in NICS checks in recent years, suspending the NICS appeals process is not an acceptable means of meeting new demand.
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