John, The Head

So… I have upgraded to the latest stable release of WordPress. Why? So I can use the WordPress iPhone app… Experimentation shall ensue…

After hearing about it from my Chief for some time now, I finally decided to pick up a Smith & Wesson 442 .38 Spl +P 5 shot revolver.

This particular weapon features an unloaded weight of 15 ounces, a 1 7/8″ barrel, rubber grips made by Uncle Mikes, with an alloy frame. The front sight is the standard blade type, and the rear sight is milled into the frame. The weapon is also “hammerless”.

My initial impression when I first looked at it was that it was very light yet still had a solid feel. Fit and finish was pretty good as well. The only “problem” is that the rear sight is pretty small, though if it were any bigger I would be complaining about the snag issues. Let’s face it, you don’t pull out a snub nose to make a 50 yard head shot.

My two most carried pistols tend to be a Sig P229 in .40 S&W and a Kimber TLE/RLII .45 ACP, neither of which are exactly light or compact. A year or so ago I picked up a Kel-Tec P3AT .380 ACP pistol for a “pocket gun”. Though it is a decent weapon, every time I put it in my pocket I think about the failures to feed that I had with it. Though few, it is a constant specter in my mind.

Though this revolver is significantly larger than the P3AT, it is also presumably more reliable. The muzzle energy on the revolver is a bit higher, with my current carry ammo being Speer Gold Dot .38 Spl +P 125gr. Despite the increase in size, it is still a comfortable weapon to carry, and fits well in my side or back pockets. I have ordered a ClipDraw to give me a few more carry options.

Another issue that I had with my P3AT was the injurious level of recoil that I experienced. I am, by no means, a “recoil sensitive” shooter. That being said, the P3AT with combat loads really kind of hurts. I mentioned this to a friend of mine, who concurred with my observation, which made me feel a lot less effeminate. When I first bought the P3AT I fired sixty rounds through it. Thirty from the right, and thirty from the left. I immediately observed bruising of my hand and swelling of the first and second metacarpal bones of both hands. The following day, my hands were tingling.

Granted, it is a “last ditch” weapon, and as such, I could really care less how much it hurts me to shoot, as long as it hurts the other guy at least a little bit more.

When I went to the range today to give this weapon a whirl, I decided to pick up some carry ammo (enter the above mentioned Speer Gold Dot) and some range reloads. I also had a box of Winchester .38 Spl +P 125gr Personal Defense that I picked up.

I began by running the target out to three yards and squeezing off five rounds as fast as I could with minimal attention (if any) paid to the sights. The +P ammo definitely let me know it was there, but the recoil was primarily into the center of my hand and well distributed. Muzzle flip was there, but wasn’t too bad. All five shots were in a nice little group of about four inches, all of which were handily kill shots. I then did a speed reload using an HKS 36 speed loader, which I am not entirely impressed with, firing the next five shots. The weapon is small, and while doing speed reloads I had the occasional cartridge that didn’t fall free of the cylinder, and I found it a bit harder to manipulate than my Smith & Wesson 686-4, which is an entirely unfair comparison, but I felt like throwing it in there to give fair warning–There is, after all, nearly 1/2″ difference in ejector rod stroke between the two weapons.

While working through various drills, I found the trigger pull to be acceptable, recoil to be controllable (your mileage may vary if you are recoil sensitive). Accuracy was to be expected. My 15 yard group was about 6.5 inches and was about five inches or so high. After firing 105 rounds my hands still felt okay, and I felt that the weapon was very controllable. The weapon also functioned flawlessly.

For the $429 I paid for this weapon, I am very happy. Revolvers tend to be highly reliable and I feel a lot better throwing this in my pocket to run to the corner store than my Kel-Tec. This will definately go on my weapon list during the next departmental qualification.

-Head

Okay, on multiple occasions now Bryan has inquired as to blog updates. It has been a long time, both in lineal time and the events in life that we often relate to more easily.

Since my last post I have taken a new job (and a big pay cut) to go into full time law enforcement. I work for a small town, which I like. We do not have detectives, crime-scene investigators, supervisors, spokespersons, maintenance personnel, supply specialists, et cetera. We have police officers and a chief. That means that when you get a big case on your shift, you work that case. So far I’ve worked a pretty big fraud case, a few burglaries, a case involving child sexual abuse, and a homicide. Not bad for about a year as a police officer (combining both reserve and full time).

Since I took a different full-time job, that means that I have gone down to part-time at the family business. I am teaching semi-regular CHL classes for a retail establishment, and I am looking for the time, interest, and training venue to do more advanced tactical classes. CHL Classes are fun, but I miss teaching classes that are mostly about sending rounds down range. Standing on the firing line and hearing/watching five to ten people send rounds down range quickly, rapidly, and accurately, employing good marksmanship and precise techniques, well… I really miss that.

In other news, I’ve been dating Adrienne since August. She is a school teacher, 1/4 Panamanian, from Ohio (though she was actually born in Houston), and comes from a family of teachers (primarily Spanish teachers, which might help with a personal training goal…). Things are going well with Adrienne. More on that later… Or not… As you may have noticed, I typically leave a lot of the personal element out of my blog. I’ve got my reasons for that, so bear with me folks.

In other news, I am moving. I found a company who is leasing me a house free of rent in exchange for providing security on their adjacent commercial installation. I picked up some new appliances and finally finished up installation today.

Putting the water line in for the ice maker/water dispenser was a strangely painful experience. I wanted all changes to be easily reversed. Of course, the house is a bit old, so the plumbing is a bit old. Some of the fittings weren’t the current standard, so coming up with a simple solution was a bit difficult. Combining the non-standard plumbing with my lack of plumbing knowledge made for an interesting experience. The end result, though, was relatively neat, tidy, and very effective. In addition, I can remove the modification to the household plumbing in about five or ten minutes without closing the water main valve… Beat that!!!

The stove I bought is pretty interesting. I’ve always hated electric stoves, as I have found them to be inferior to gas stoves. I ended up getting a KitchenAid brand smooth topped electric range. I am apprehensive to get into a smooth top, but we’ll give it a shot. The oven is really high-speed/low-drag, though. It is a convection oven with several convection modes. It has a pre-heat time of exactly 10 minutes to 325 degrees F, which isn’t all that impressive except for the extremely stable temperature. The oven in my apartment has a nearly 50 degree swing. It is difficult to accurately roast, bake, broil, et cetera with my apartment oven. And the apartments are only a few years old.

I moved the appliances in myself, and was planning on doing the entire move myself and with some assistance from Adrienne. She really threw down on it. She kicked me in the rear to get the couch, love seat, and coffee table on the trailer and into the new house. Her assistance was both invaluable and impressive. I had no idea she could really help me move a couch. She’s not a tomboy, but she can help move furniture. That’s pretty cool…

I digress. After spending a couple hours working the couch and love seat into the house, I came to a decision: “SCREW THIS!!!”. Friday I called and got pricing for moving. The one place I got a quote comes out to about $255.00. That’s friggin worth it. I’m going to box everything up, call these folks, give them some money, then sit back and watch. Life is just too freaking short.

Okay, I have rambled on senselessly long enough for one day. It’s time to prepare for work. Hopefully tonight won’t be overly slow.

Oorah
-Head

July 23, 2007, 6:42AM
Houston man killed after ‘pummeling’ police car
Mother, activist say man’s mental illness known; HPD says he was brandishing a pipe

By MIKE GLENN

Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

The mother of a pipe-wielding man killed by Houston police said she
pleaded with officers not to fire at her son because he had a history
of mental health problems.

“I said, ‘My son is schizophrenic, don’t shoot him. He’s bipolar,’ “
said a grieving Joyce Guillory on Sunday, on the front lawn of her home
in the 6600 block of Foster near Yellowstone. “They didn’t listen to
me. They shot him anyway.”

Houston police have not discussed in detail the incident Saturday night that led to the death of Steven Guillory, 39.

In a statement released Sunday evening, Houston Police Department
officials said the incident “did not offer an opportunity” for sending
members of the police departments’ Crisis Intervention Team to the
scene. The statement also said the shooting serves to “highlight the
increasing need for more mental health professionals and earlier
intervention prior to police involvement.” Entire Story

While it is true that police receive training to deal with these situations, the fact that someone is mentally ill does not negate the use of deadly force.  While it is unfortunate that the individual mentioned in this article is theoretically incapable of criminal culpability (a fact that ultimately would be determined by a matter of fact finding by a judge or jury), that does not negate the officer’s right to continue living.

One of the enlightened individuals who left a comment regarding the officer who was accidentally shot said words to the effect of, “That officer would probably have rather gotten a broken nose instead of a gunshot.”  While it is less than ideal, (him being shot), and he could have died from said gunshot (I am not aware of the extent of his injuries, but I do know that at this time he is still alive), I think it might be worthwhile to examine how severely he could have been injured by the mentally ill subject.

It is a commonly known fact that individuals who are suffering from mental retardation and mental illness are often possessed of “super-human” strength.  This is because in a normal, healthy, functioning human being, our standards of limitation for our muscular strength are based, mainly, on pain.  The brain knows that exerting more than a certain amount of force will result in injury.  It is similar to our reflex action when we reach into scalding water.

To simplify things a bit, when someone is mentally ill or mentally retarded, especially in cases where their mental illness is a result of a massive neuro-chemical issue, such as schizophrenia is presumed to be, their pain receptors are often, in essence, ignored by the conscious mind.  This is the basic explanation for the “super-human” strength.

Now, let us add to the equation a blunt object.  While I do not have the technical specifications of the weapon used by the subject, let us assume for the moment that he was armed with a 3/4″ steel pipe.  Let us say that it was approximately 36″ in length.  While he was violently destroying a patrol vehicle he broke his pipe.  Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that said pipe was broken in half, to a length of 18″.

So.  We now have a mentally ill, violent subject, with no real concept of reality, with an 18″ steel pipe.  We also have the factors of time and distance.  An assailant within about 20 or so feet can close with and attack an officer before said officer can draw his service weapon and engage him.

Let us examine how much damage can be done by a steel pipe.  When striking someone about the head, neck, or face, with a steel pipe, there is a likelihood of immediate central nervous system damage.  Permanent central nervous system damage.  Let us now factor in the “super-human” strength of the assailant.  I do not pretend to know the specific forces that would be present in this case, and the variables, such as exact location of the strike, bone tensile of the individual (which can change based upon the amount of calcium in his diet), actual maximum strength of the assailant, hardness of the steel pipe, et cetera.

Let us, in place of actual, hard (no pun intended), scientific data, insert common sense and reason.  I would hope that all could agree on that…

It is absolutely reasonable and logical to assume that a blow to the head, neck, or face would immediately result in serious bodily injury.  There will be a severe concussion, at an absolute minimum.  In all likelihood, the victim will have massive damage to the skull and/or spine.  There will be DIRECT trauma to the brain and/or spinal cord.  Possible results:  Quadriplegia, coma, death.

Were I given the choices above, versus a superficial gunshot wound, I will happily take the gunshot wound.

As for the involvement of Ralph Evans (the man who calls himself “Quanel X”), I would respectfully submit that he should get back in his $100,000 sport utility vehicle (or whatever he chooses to drive now), and leave.  His opinion is that the police could have done something to stop this, and did not.  His opinion is that the police were negligent.

To put it quite simply, they were not negligent.  Negotiations with mentally ill subjects take time.  Getting members of the Crisis Intervention Team on scene takes time.  At a certain point, one must weigh the risk to one’s self, the mentally ill subject, and the innocent bystanders.  You must weigh these risks in a split second.  You must decide what is best in seconds, and then stand by while lawyers, internal affairs investigators, criminal investigators, the press, “community leaders” such as Mr. Evans, the public, a grand jury, and possibly a trial jury, and a civil jury pick apart your decision and actions for months, possibly even years to come.

The job of a Police Officer in this country is not an easy one, but it is not an impossible one.  The first step to doing this job is to be willing to deal with situations, and do things that are not popular, to take action that others are not willing or not able to take.  You must subject yourself to sustained abuse from the public, constant ridicule and conflict.  Then, in the end, you must live with every action you have taken, good or bad, right or wrong.

Certainly, the officer who fired the shots could have injured an innocent third party.  If he had not fired those shots, though, the assailant could also have injured an innocent third party.

My message to law enforcement is this–When you are faced with the possibility of injuring me in the process of protecting me, do what you must.  To be accidentally shot by you, in my view, is preferable to being purposefully shot/stabbed/beaten by another.

Given the facts, as I know them now, I commend the officer who made the decision to shoot, I sympathize with the officer who was accidentally shot, and my most sincere condolences go to the bereaved family of the mentally ill subject who was killed.  Above all else, though, I extend my deepest sympathy and express the utmost regret to that officer who made the decision to shoot.  He has a long and difficult journey ahead of him, for doing no worse than doing his job, and we would all do well to keep that in mind…

While I am generally disheartened by stories of law enforcement officers getting the short end of the stick from the judiciary, I believe that in some cases, justice must be served.

While it is true that law enforcement officers in general have a tough job to do, it is also true that they are held to a high standard of ethics and morals.  To not hold these people to a high standard, would be to disregard the Constitution, and would be another step towards the complete and total moral bankruptcy of our society.

When I first read this commentary I was indeed upset.  It sounds like a couple of Border Patrol Agents, just trying to do their job, got caught up in someone’s political agenda.  Further investigation, however, revealed that this was not the case.  The congressional testimony given by Johnny Sutton indicates otherwise.

There are a few things here that raise big red flags with me.  Thing number one:  They didn’t report the use of force, as is required by Border Patrol policies and procedures.  Thing number two:  They took great care to ensure that the empty brass from the shooting was disposed of.

These two factors indicate to me that these men cannot be trusted.  This further indicates to me that they are probably lying about the subject being armed.

According to the laws in this country, you cannot shoot a fleeing felon in the back.  This violates his rights against unlawful search and seizure, and violates his right to due process of the law.

There are those who state that these men are “soldiers”, deployed to a “war zone”, where the “war on drugs” is fought.  Those things, for lack of a better term, are bullshit.  They are not soldiers.  They are LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENTS.  Their job, generally, is to enforce the laws of the United States of America.  In doing so, they must also RESPECT said laws.  The “war against drugs” is not a war.  It is a massive societal problem, but not an actual war.  The “combatants” in this alleged “war” are not bound by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or by the Laws of War, the Geneva Convention, nor even the Articles of the Code of Conduct.  They are bound by the Constitution of the United States of America and by the laws of this country.

In an actual war, you can shoot the enemy in the back as they flee.  This is called the exploitation phase of offensive combat.  But, as I have previously stated, the “war on drugs” is not a war.  It is a bullshit term coined by a politician.

These agents lied about the events of that day.  These agents destroyed evidence.  These agents INTENTIONALLY disturbed a crime scene.  These agents EFFECTIVELY destroyed any possible criminal case against the drug smuggler.

The US Attorney for the Western District of Texas did not go on a witch hunt and find these men.  The evidence was set before him, and he did his job by prosecuting these men.

There is some conjecture as to whether it is appropriate for their sentences being enhanced by the fact that they used guns in a violent crime.  I am rather neutral on this point.  If they had been arrested and charged by the justice system of the State of Texas, under the laws of this great state, they would have been tried for aggravated assault, an offense which carries a punishment of five to 99 years, or life, and a fine of up to $10,000.00.  (Note that aggravated assault is a second degree felony, unless committed by a public servant acting under the color of his office, in which case it is a felony of the first degree.)  They further could have been convicted for destroying evidence, aggravated perjury, et cetera.

In my opinion, these guys got a pretty sweet deal.  They should sit in jail and do their 11 to 12 years, and be pretty damned happy about it.

As far as the US Attorney for the Western District of Texas?  Well, I can find no evidence that he is on a witch hunt.  I can find no evidence that he has negatively affected the Border Patrol organization.  The message he sent was not, “Don’t use your weapons to defend lives,” but, “Don’t destroy evidence and violate procedure, and RESPECT THE LAWS you are SWORN to uphold!”

If that is a problem for Border Patrol, perhaps the problems within that agency run much deeper than it appears.

To the prospective Border Patrol recruit that said that, “Your outfit eats their own,” do your homework before you try to condemn an organization.

One of the problems I always have is trying to remember which computer goes to which primary user.  It’s not uncommon for people to turn over faster than computers here, so I elected a naming scheme that did not involve user names.

This morning I put in a CNAME entry for all of the users in my DNS.  With the alias entries, things are a lot easier

John,

Hate to bother you.  I took your CHL class back in October 2006 and I have a few questions regarding ammo.

How long should you keep ammo in a clip?  Should it be rotated every so often?

When storing ammo is it acceptable to store in the original boxes it came in or is there a better method?  About how long is a good shelf life for ammo?

Again, sorry to bother and thanks for any information you can provide.

L**** G*****

Mr. G*****,

It’s absolutely no bother at all.

I generally rotate my magazines depending on their manufacture.  If I remember correctly, you purchased a Glock model 23.  Glocks tend to be insanely reliable.  Though I would not recommend it, I have had Glock magazines that were loaded in excess of 18 months and performed flawlessly.

I would say it is wise, with a Glock, to rotate magazines monthly.  I recommend rotating your carry load every six months.  When you rotate your magazines you should also inspect your rounds.  Check to make sure that the cases are in good condition and that the opening cavity of the hollow point is round, and not deformed.  Other weapons will vary slightly in when you need to rotate the magazines.

As far as the shelf life of ammunition and it’s storage, as long as it is stored in a cool, dry place, I would say that it will reliably store for several years.  When I was in the Marine Corps I fired a great deal of ammunition from the Viet Nam era.  Also, our primary rifle training ammunition was manufactured in 1986, by the lowest bidder, (this was from the period of 1998-2002) and I never experienced a misfire with that ammunition.

Storing ammunition in the original factory boxes is quite acceptable.  There are lots of sporting goods stores that sell nice plastic boxes that you can put ammunition into.  These are generally used by people who reload.  I, personally, have never found a need for this, especially since I go through, on average, 250 rounds per range session.

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask!

Thank You,
John

“The Marines I have seen around the world have, the cleanest bodies,
the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any
group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States
Marine Corps.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt, 1945

So, while at lunch today, actually when I was just leaving home, I noticed the power went out.  No big deal, I thought.  It happens.  So back to work I went.  As I was driving back to the office, I made the realization that my neighbor’s A/C unit was running, which meant the power outage was localized.  Odd, I thought…

So, I called the apartment complex, and talked to them.  I asked that they send someone over to check the main breaker, et cetera.  I get a call back stating that my breakers are fine, but there’s a red tag on my electric meter.  “What does that mean?” I asked.  “It means you were cut off…”

Uhm… Oooohh kaaay….

So, I begin to rack my brain…  Was it, like, two months ago that I paid my bill last or something?  Of course, I assumed, that the error was mine.  Indeed, I had erred, but my error was not in my accounts payable, but in assuming that I had erred.

A review of my account online showed that I DID have a past due balance of $0.09, and that my electric bill is due in two days.  Very well.  I was a little behind the power curve.  I refused to believe that I was cut off for a past due balance of $0.09…  So, I called them, not quite sure how I was off by $0.09.  It was less than 30 days past due anyway.  And it was less than a friggin dime!

So, I call, hold, select options, et cetera, until I get a live body.  I told them that it appears that I had been cut off.  I asked if I had been cut off somehow for a $0.09 past due balance that was less than 30 days old.  They pulled up my account and looked.  Indeed, I was 28 days past due on $0.09, but they showed no disconnect order.  “Would you like to take care of your past due balance today sir?”  I grinned.  “Sure, I’ll put it on my visa.”  I hope that they pay a per-transaction fee in excess of $0.09.  I digress.  I wanted to know why I had been cut off.  They had no answer because, in fact, they didn’t show an order to cut me off.  “We wouldn’t cut off for that small a balance, sir…”

After a bunch of screwing around, they insisted that my power hadn’t been cut off, that there was an electrical problem.  I explained that there was a red tag on my meter, which confused them.  Why would there be a red tag if I hadn’t been cut off?  EXACTLY!

So, after one thing and another, calling reiant, center point, reliant, center point, reliant, center point, et cetera, it was determined by center point that I needed to have reliant issue a reconnect order.  Reliant didn’t want to do it because I wasn’t disconnected.  I finally got some supervisor type person to force the system to take the order.  Then I was informed that I would be connected by 11:59 PM tomorrow evening.  To which I responded:  WTF?!?!  Why do I have to wait that long to get my power back on when it wasn’t supposed to be shut off in the first place?

“That’s just the policy, sir, I’m sure it won’t take that long.”

Yeah.  Right…  So, I waited a few hours, called Center Point, and they hadn’t received the work order.  Reliant.  Center Point.  Reliant again.  Center Point again.  Center Point informed me that work orders they receive after 2:00 p.m. are not likely to be filled the same day.  Great.  So, reliant is telling me they have submitted the work order, center point is telling me they haven’t received it, that it can take several hours.

Back and forth, back and forth, ice cream melting, cat panting, me taking my xanax (not yet, but probably soon)…

Anyone know much about poping open a meter to reconnect manually?  I would think that it wouldn’t quite be theft of service, as nobody can show intent to defraud or not pay.  I mean…  I gave those morons nine cents just today!  I guess I should call the D.A. or something, ask them. 

I think I’m going to pay next month’s bill $1.00 at a time.  Just to rack up their transaction fees.  They probably don’t pay any though, so it’s probably not really worth it…

In the end, I realized that there really are only two options.  1)  Sit back and wait/sweat/spend the night at the office, or 2) go find their call center and go postal.  Having the respect for the law that I do, I guess I’m going to be sweating tonight.

*sigh*