Hernan Cortes was a Spaniard that earned his reputation as a merciless, greedy religious fanatic. He began his career as a Conquistador when In 1519, at the age of 34, he lead an expedition to Mexico. He had 11 ships, 100 sailors, 508 soldiers, and 16 horses. These plus a few muskets, crossbows, pikes, and swords were the instruments with which Cortes defeated thousands of native warriors. The tale of how he conquered the Mexican Empire is only equaled by the depths of cruelty practiced by the sophisticated and cosmopolitan Aztecs.

In 1519 Montezuma was the head of the vast empire and the chief priest. He oversaw and participated in the thousands of human sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli the chief deity of the Mexican people (the term Mexican now identifies a citizen of Mexico but the “Aztecs” were distinguished from hundreds of other tribes by the designation “Mexicas”. Montezuma lead a large, well organized army, the chief objective of which was to capture sacrificial victims in battle. The Aztecs also forced the subjugated nations under Aztec control to pay tribute in the form of humans for sacrifice.

“…the Aztecs claim to be descended from the Toltec nobility, and their gods- Huitzilopochtli in particular-are raised to the same level as the ancient creative gods Tezcadipoca, and Quetzalcoatl. But most important of all is the exalted praise given to what can only be called a mystical conception of warfare, dedicating the Aztec people, the “people of the sun,” to the conquest of all other nations. In part the motive was simply to extend the rule of Tenochtitlan, but the major purpose was to capture victims for sacrifice, because the source of all life, the sun, would die unless it were fed with human blood…”

The sacrifices included skinning children alive that had spent their whole life in cages being fattened for the tables of their captors. Every civilization has some cannibalism somewhere in its past but the extent to which the religious practice of human sacrifice was practiced in Tenochtitlan in 1519 (present day Mexico City) has never occurred before or since.

Keep in mind that Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities in the world (as many as 25 million people, according to some estimates) and one of the most developed cities in the western world, comparable to Constantinople in size and cultural achievements. Sacrifices accompanied by cannibalistic feasts and psychedelic drugs occurred almost every minute for weeks on end during certain religious seasons.

Cortes started with five hundred men, commandeered about 500 more and also had allies from neighboring tribes that wished to throw off the yoke of Aztec bondage. He landed at Cozumel Island off the coast of present day Yucatan, then continued North up the coast and made allies of Indian peoples who hated the Aztecs. Upon reaching present day Vera Cruz, he burned his ships so his men would not think about turning back and buried some of the timbers.

After reaching present day Mexico City and being given the keys to the city by the indecisive and vacillating Montezuma, Cortes kidnapped Montezuma and threatened to kill him if he did not follow Cortes’ wishes.

Montezuma was killed either by his own people or the Spanish. The Spanish were trapped in the island city after they had killed the upper echelon of the Aztec military during an Aztec display of dancing. It is difficult to know whether the Spanish killed the warriors because they sensed an attack was imminent or whether they were surrounded by warriors after the massacre of the Aztec soldiers:

” They ran in among the dancers, forcing their way to the place where the drums were played. They attacked the man who was drumming and cut off his arms. Then they cut off his head, and it rolled across the floor.

They attacked all the celebrants, stabbing them, spearing them, striking them with their swords. They attacked some of them from behind, and these fell instantly to the ground with their entrails hanging out. Others they beheaded: they cut off their heads, or split their heads to pieces.

They struck others in the shoulders, and their arms were torn from their bodies. They wounded some in the thigh and some in the calf. They slashed others in the abdomen, and their entrails all spilled to the ground. Some attempted to run away, but their intestines dragged as they ran; they seemed to tangle their feet in their own entrails. No matter how they tried to save themselves, they could find no escape.”

Cortes, absent to recruit more fighting men, fought his way back into the city while his men within the city fought to save their own lives. After reaching his men and helping to defend them within the city, Cortes and his men tried to sneak across the Tlacopan causeway at night. They were spotted and Aztecs in boats converged on the Spanish from across the water.

“La Noche Triste” or the Night of Tears is still celebrated in Mexico. When Cortes finally reached Tlaxcala five days after fleeing Tenochtitlan by way of the Tlacopan causeway, he had lost over 860 Spanish soldiers. Other sources estimate that nearly half of the Spanish and almost all of this native allies were killed or wounded. His eyes teared up but the first person about whom he inquired was the ship builder, Lopez. Already he was planning the next step in his plan to subjugate the Aztec civilization!

Cortez, however kept the core of his army intact and pushed on to achieve an amazing military victory that ranks along with the conquests of Alexander. The Aztecs army which may have numbered 300,000 failed because holding prisoners took up the Aztec force’s manpower and when they took Spanish prisoners the incurably religious Aztecs could not say “no” to a barbeque accompanied by the buzz from strong psychedelic mushrooms and the screams of their victims.

Thus, the superstitious Aztecs never followed up their victories, while Cortez never waivered from his purpose. It is difficult to say whether Cortes was motivated most by the revulsion he felt when witnessing the depravity of the Aztec’s perverted religious system or by his lust for power and gold. He was highly motivated to extract the beating heart of the Aztec culture.

Cortes and his men traveled about eight hundred miles back to Vera Cruz with sick and wounded men across volcanic plateaus and up to elevations near glacial peaks, then down to steaming rain forests. After hundreds of miles of difficult mountain travel, Cortez reached Vera Cruz and instructed the ship builder, who had survived the Night of Tears, to build thirteen ships from the remnants saved when he burned his fleet and timber harvested in the forests. Some were forty feet long. The armada was built, disassembled and then portaged back across the mountain passes to the shores of Lake Texcoco.

Now the urban combat was to begin in earnest as Cortes’ men launched a naval invasion across the lake, went into the city and fought street by street and house to house.

He had already engineered a system of alliances with surrounding tribes, many of which had been allied to the Aztecs. The cadre of Spanish and their native allies soon subjugated and controlled the whole area, helping themselves to its wealth and enslaving the people. But within twenty years, the Spanish authorities responded to calls for reform from the church and the worst aspects of Spanish rule were ameliorated.

Why do many of us condemn the holocaust but feel sentimental romanticism for lost Aztec culture?

It is common to bemoan the lack of cultural sensitivity exhibited by Conquistadors like Cortes. It is problematic, however, to cast the Aztec civilization in the mantle of victimhood when beholding the image of a fattened child raised in an Aztec cage. Like the pagan civilizations destroyed by the ancient Israelites, such practices as slowly peeling off the skin of a living victim and then removing the beating heart before the victim’s eyes needed to be stopped. Cortes and his men were the instrument that stopped the Aztec evil from spreading.

This is the challenge that President-elect Obama now faces. He has a war in Afghanistan on his hands that he has promised to prosecute and the battle space has already spread into Pakistan and Mumbai. Pakistan is teetering between elements in its government that are affiliated with Al Qaeda and the official Pakistani policy of working with the United States. During his campaign, Mr. Obama raised the issue of invading Pakistan, but it seems evident that there is no viable strategy by which a city or cities can be invaded and subjugated in a manner that destroys enthusiasm for jihad.

Destroying the morale of the extremists, of course was the Neo-Conservative rationale behind invading Iraq. The theory was that sufficient humiliation within the seat of the ancient Caliphate would make way for Democracy to replace Islamic totalitarianism. Obama’s antiwar supporters are already put off by the hawkish appointments he is announcing.

This is a gun blog and not a blog for foreign policy wonks. Nevertheless, our U.S. intelligence and foreign agencies will investigate whether Pakistan intelligence really had a hand in the attack on Mumbai, as the Indian authorities are alleging. Then the new Secretary of State should submit the evidence with a list of names of the guilty Pakistani officials, if any. And demand that they be hung by their necks in front of the world or we will come and get them.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

“For Pakistan’s fledgling civilian government, however, the more immediate concern may be its own uneasy dealings with the ISI, over which it has been trying to assert greater control. Until 2001, the spy agency was the chief patron of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a now-banned militant group created in the 1980s to foment unrest in Kashmir. Some analysts have said the carefully choreographed Mumbai attacks bore some of the group’s hallmarks, though no conclusive evidence has emerged.

“It’s very likely this group has an involvement at some level, but it’s difficult to characterize because of the murky nature of how they operate,” said Kamran Bokhari, an analyst at Stratfor, a private intelligence company.

In another break from the past, the Mumbai attacks generated a near-constant stream of high-level communication between the two countries. On Friday, Zardari reminded Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of his own wife’s assassination by suspected Islamic militants, appealing to the Indian leader not to let insurgents set the regional agenda.

“We should not fall into the militants’ trap,” he said.”

If the jihadists come to our public places with AK-47s, we the people will kill them. We will not let them gun down our children and wives. Our police officers will not go against them alone. We will not spend critical minutes waiting for a SWAT team to deploy.

We prefer the culture of gentle Christian warriors to a culture that buries young women alive as a form of “honor” killing and throws acid in their faces because they choose to get educated. This is not the time to wring our hands and discuss moral quandaries. Mumbai will be the future for America if we are indecisive as a nation.

Americans are strong and smart and ready to deal with our enemies ruthlessly. Our compassion and tolerance should not be mistaken for weakness.

See Heritage of Marksmanship.

By invading Iraq and Afghanistan, President Bush demonstrated that it is a mistake to threaten and terrorize the people of the United States. History demonstrates the futility of attempting to occupy the Arabic homeland. But,ironically, the President-elect may have to become more like Cortes than President Bush to untie the knot that appears to exist in the government of Pakistan.

Does President-elect Obama have the iron resolve and singleness of purpose to face down America’s enemies, enemies that have set their faces to accomplish nothing less than to subjugate the West? If you think extremists are unrealistic fanatics, stop and read your history books again. The story of Cortes’ exploits should convince you that a few men can quickly accomplish the impossible if they are set in their purposes. Look at the American Revolution in which ragged colonists challenged the mightiest army and navy on earth.

In conclusion, though he may be tempted to try, Mr. Obama, cannot solve the problem of terrorism by restricting our ability to defend ourselves with guns against such attacks. The face of Islamic extremism is the modern equivalent of Aztec bloodletting; i.e., the Face of Evil.

See video of testimony from Senate hearing related to mass shooting in Texas.

Churches have been coming under attack for many years from many quarters. Now well armed individuals, often with a grievance or just hatred for Christianity have been literally invading churches to kill the worshippers within:

Killer’s rant filled with profanity, hate
By The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 12/11/2007 09:24:12 AM MST

A message posted between the Youth With a Mission shooting in Arvada on Sunday, Dec. 9 and the New Life Church shooting in Colorado Springs is believed to be Matthew Murray’s last posting. It contains language which many may find objectionable:

“You christians brought this on yourselves!”

—————————————————————————–

“I’m coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth and I WILL shoot to kill. ….God, I can’t wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don’t care if I live or die in the shoot-out. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you … as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world.

Well all you people out there can just kiss my ass and die. From now on I don’t give a @#%$ about what all you mutha fuckers have to say, unless I respect you which is highly unlikely, but for those of you who do happen to know me and know that I respect you, may peace be with you and don’t be in my line of fire, for the rest of you, you all better @#%$ hide in your houses because I’m coming for EVERYONE soon, and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth, and I WILL shoot to kill and I WILL @#%$ KILL EVERYTHING! No I am not crazy, crazy is just a word, to me it has no meaning, everyone is different, but most of you @#%$ heads out there in society, going to your everyday @#%$ jobs and doing your everyday routine shitty things, I say @#%$ you and die, if you got a problem with my thoughts, come to me and I’ll kill you, because……..God damnit, DEAD PEOPLE DON’T ARGUE! My belief is that if I say something, it goes. I am the law. If you don’t like it, you die. If I don’t like you or I don’t like what you want me to do, then you die. If I do something incorrect, oh @#%$ well, you die. Dead people can’t do many things, like argue, whine, @#%$, complain, name, rat out, criticize, or even @#%$ talk. So that’s the only way to solve arguments with all you fuckheads out there, I just kill. God I can’t wait till I can kill you people, I’ll just go to some downtown area in some big city and blow up and shoot everything I can.

You break my back but you won’t break me…..all is black but I still see…shut me down, knock me to the floor…..shoot me up, @#%$ me like a whore….trapped under ice, comfortably cold, I’ve gone as low as you can go….. feel no remorse, no sorrow or shame……time’s gonna wash away all pain I made a God out of blood not superiority I killed the king of deceit and now I sleep in anarchy…”

We pieced together the following account of what happened next from various websites:

In Denver, a woman, fresh from a three day fast, in which she prayed to God for guidance in choosing a career path, was thrown right into the path of this mad-dog killer:

Amid deafening cracks of gunfire, smoke-spewing canisters and the flight of thousands of New Life Church members, Jeanne Assam said she suddenly saw the hallways clear and a gunman come through the door.

“I took cover. I identified myself. I engaged him. I took him down,” the 42-year-old former law officer and volunteer church security guard said Monday at a news conference in the Colorado Springs police station.
Murray was carrying two handguns, an assault rifle and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, said Sgt. Jeff Johnson of the Colorado Springs Police Department.

“It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God,” she said.

Assam worked as a police officer in downtown Minneapolis during the 1990s and is licensed to carry a weapon. She attends one of the morning services and then volunteers as a guard during another service.

New Life’s Senior Pastor Brady Boyd called Assam “a real hero” because Murray “had enough ammunition on him to cause a lot of damage.”

Boyd said Assam was the one who suggested the church beef up its security Sunday following the Arvada shooting, which it did. The pastor credited the security plan and the extra security for preventing further bloodshed.

Boyd said there are 15 to 20 security people at the church. All are volunteers but the only ones armed are those who are licensed to carry weapons.

The security guards are members of the church who are screened and not “mercenaries that we hire to walk around our campus to provide security,” Boyd said.

About 7,000 people were on the church campus at the time of the shooting, said Boyd….

“I just said, ‘Holy Spirit, be with me.’ I wasn’t even shaking,” Assam said. “I give the credit to God. I say this very humbly. God was with me.”

The female security guard who shot and stopped a gunman at a Colorado Springs church yesterday is crediting God for helping her to resolve the threat by killing the assailant…

“This has got to be God, because of the firepower that [the gunman] had vs. what I had was God. I did not run away and I didn’t think for a minute to run away, I just knew that I was given the assignment to end this before it got too much worse. I just prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me.” …
“I heard shots fired. It was chaos. There were a lot of people in the church,” she described.

“The halls cleared out and I saw him coming through the doors. I took cover, waited for him to get closer, came out of cover and identified myself, engaged him, took him down,” she said.

Church officials said they have a contingent of volunteer security officers because of the high profile of the church.

“Obviously if we had not had an armed person on our campus, 50 or 100 people could have lost their lives,” the pastor said. …

…victims Stephanie Works, 18, and her sister Rachael, 16, adorned the program for services Sunday.

The two were killed when gunman Matthew Murray, armed with an assault rifle, a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun and a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, opened fire in the parking lot as a service was letting out. The girls’ father and two other people were wounded.

A volunteer security guard shot and wounded Murray, 24, before he turned the gun on himself. Twelve hours earlier and about 65 miles away, police said, Murray killed two staff members of the Youth With a Mission missionary training center in Arvada and wounded two others….

A Vietnam vet’s eyewitness account:

Larry Bourbonnais, a combat-tested Vietnam veteran, said it was the bravest thing he’s ever seen.

Bourbonnais, who was among those shot by a gunman Sunday at New Life Church, watched as a security guard, a woman later identified as Jeanne Assam, calmly returned fire and killed the shooter.

“She just started walking toward the gunman firing the whole way,” said Bourbonnais, who was shot in the arm. “She was just yelling ‘Surrender,’ walking and shooting the whole time.”

Bourbonnais, 59, was chowing down in the chuch cafeteria when he heard the shots. He headed in the direction of the gunfire, asking “where’s the shooter?”, as people ran past him.

Near an entryway in the church, Bourbonnais came upon the gunman and an armed male church security guard who was there with his gun drawn but not firing, he said.

“Give me your handgun. I’ve been in combat, and I’m going to take this guy out,” Bourbonnais recalled telling the guard. “He kept yelling, ‘Get behind me! Get behind me!’ He wouldn’t hand me his weapon, but he wouldn’t do anything.”

There was an additional armed security guard there, another man, who also didn’t fire, Bourbonnais said.

…Bourbonnais yelled at the gunman to draw his attention, he said.

“First, I called him ‘Coward’ then I called him ‘S—head’ ” Bourbonnais said. “I probably shouldn’t have been saying that in church.”

No, indeed, it only attracted the shooter’s attention:

That’s when the shooter pointed one of his guns at Bourbonnais and fired, he said.

Bourbonnais ducked behind a hollow, decorative pillar and was hit in the arm by a bullet and fragments of the pillar.

Enter our heroine:

Assam turned a corner with a drawn handgun, walked toward the gunman and yelled “Surrender!” Bourbonnais said.

The gunman pointed a handgun at Assam and fired three shots, Bourbonnais said. She returned fire and just kept walking toward the gunman pressing off round after round.

After the gunman went down, Bourbonnais asked Assam, a volunteer security guard with the church, how she remained so calm and focused.

Bourbonnais said she replied:

“I was asking the Holy Spirit to guide me the entire time.”

WHICH WEAPON IS BEST FOR PERSONAL DEFENSE?

A weapon has to fit your personal defense strategy. For example, a young man that has spent years studying martial arts may not feel the need to carry a pistol. On the other hand, a single mom or a grandfather that lives out in Grays Harbor County may wish to have a shotgun or pistol to protect the home.

The choice of strategies and weapons is personal; you need to look at your environment, training, life philosophy and personal budgetary issues. And you owe it to those that love and depend on you to strategize. To avoid planning for and dealing with potential violence is also a choice called denial.

People sometimes say to me, “Yes, I will protect my family if I have to!” Do you have a CPL? Access to a weapon? Have you taken the time to learn to shoot? It doesn’t take years and years and years but you don’t want to learn to shoot while you are being assaulted! Every homestead, sheep camp and ranch in America had a shotgun near to hand- truly the weapon that won the West. Your wife can use a 20-gauge, however, more effectively than a 12-gauge because there is less recoil and the stopping power is about equal to the 12-gauge if you choose the right ammunition.

Most shotguns and rifles are too long to utilize within the confines of your home during an emergency. Stay in a safe place, usually the bedroom, behind cover and call the police. If you have to leave your safe room to help others in your family, a short tactical shotgun will work. If you decide on a 12-gauge, a Remington 870 is quite suitable and the price is about $300.00.

If you want to protect your family away from home then you probably need to carry a pistol. Even if you do not own or carry a pistol, you should obtain a Concealed Pistol License. The CPL will normally permit purchasing a pistol without the mandatory five-day waiting period.

If you are like the majority of gun owners that don’t practice much, get a small .38 revolver. Revolvers go bang every time you pull the trigger. Revolvers normally have only five or six shots, however. The semi-automatic GLOCK is popular because of its price and quick deployment when concealed. But look at the SPRINGFIELD XD. It has a well-engineered trigger, cycles well and has features that are not available with most pistols in the $500.00 range.

If you have not shot a great deal, you may learn faster with a smaller caliber. Many law officers are using .40 caliber pistols. The recoil is manageable and your hits stop the bad guy(s) immediately. Go to a range, rent guns and see how each weapon feels in your hand before you buy. More than ever before, seniors, women and minorities that are targets of hate crimes are beginning to realize why pistols are still called equalizers in the New West.

See Triggernometry Taurus Blue Steel PT1911.

LE Targets’ DST-5 is very effective for live-fire drills. (Photos Dave Spaulding)

2008 Oct 23
Law Officer Magazine Volume 4 Issue 10
What Should I Practice?
Dry & live fire options

Dave Spaulding

One of the most common questions I receive from readers or students is, “What should I practice?” It’s a legitimate question, especially with skyrocketing ammunition prices. Recently, I was at the local Wal-Mart buying some Winchester White Box 9mm ammo (the cheapest I can find) and paid $19.23 for 100 rounds. I noticed that .40 S&W of the same brand was $28.12 and .45 ACP was just under $30!

This no doubt affects law enforcement agencies in how much ammunition they can purchase, but also the individual officer who might want to keep his skills sharp while paying the mortgage, car payment, buying groceries, clothing and all the other things necessary for daily life. Since blowing up ammo needlessly is certainly recognized as expensive, we need to shoot our limited ammo supply wisely.

I’m a firm believer in fundamentals, and while many officers get bored practicing basics, these basic skills are necessary to prevail in a fight. I don’t know who said, “Advanced skills are the basics mastered,” (many have laid claim to it), but it’s true. Thus, practicing basics is a great place to start.

A Dry Run
Fortunately, many fundamental skills are mastered without firing a shot. Dry fire is the best way to improve draw, reload, malfunction clearances (using dummy rounds), shooting around cover (with a mirror at the opposing side to see how much you expose of yourself), one-hand manipulation, unconventional shooting positions (kneeling, prone, on the side, “roll back", etc.) and any other skill that doesn’t require actual trigger manipulation. The purchase of a dry fire training aid such as the Beamhit) can give first shot feedback via a laser fit into the barrel of your carry gun.

Before beginning any dry fire training program, make double, triple and quadruple sure that your gun is empty and that no live ammo is in the room with you. A capable dry fire pad, such as the one manufactured by Safe Direction, is a very good idea. That way, if you suffer a “brain fart,” the round will be captured harmlessly and a valuable lesson learned.

The Real Deal
Now that we’ve narrowed the skills needed for live fire practice, let’s look at when we do need live ammo.

The two skills that must be practiced live fire are trigger and recoil control. Trigger control is the most important skill required for accurate shooting and the most difficult to master. In a nutshell, the index finger on the shooting hand presses the trigger to the rear, working independently of the rest of the hand, without interrupting muzzle to target alignment.

Think about how many times a day you open and close your hand, using the thumb and fingers in concert with one another. Then you can get some idea of how complex this action really is! Taking this into consideration, is it really hard to understand why shooters squeeze their whole hand when they shoot, something I call “milking the grip?”

Independent trigger control requires intense concentration and needs to be mastered before all other skills. It must be practiced regularly, as it’s the most perishable of a skill set that’s already very perishable. Luckily, recoil control isn’t quite as difficult and is really a function of upper body position and applying forward force to a pistol.

To the Range
With the previous thoughts in mind as I head to the range, I start out with a few timed drills to see where I’m at. I like to do these drills “cold,” as I believe they are a better indicator of performance than after I have shot for a while. Remember, it’s unlikely you’ll have just come from a practice session at the range when your gunfight occurs. You’ll more than likely be “cold” as well.

I shoot these drills at 20 feet on the Law Enforcement Targets’ DST-5 target. Only hits in the 8″ Primary Neutralization Zone in the high chest count. I consider live fire a confirmation of the dry practice drills. I do each drill twice—anyone can get lucky and perform a single session well. One after another is more telling.

These are the drills I perform:

One shot from ready in 1 second;
One shot from the holster in 1.5 seconds;
One shot, reload, one shot in 3 seconds;
Draw, two shots, reload, two shots on two targets in 4 seconds;
“Bill Drill” of draw and shoot six shots looking for a consistent time between each shot in 3 seconds or less;
El Presidente’ Drill (10 yards on three targets, turn 180 degrees, shoot two shots on each target, reload, shoot two shots on each target again in 10 seconds or less; and
John Farnum’s “DTI Dance” (see January 2008 issue of Law Officer).

These drills take 15–20 minutes and consume 70 rounds. You may decide to shorten this test to conserve ammo. To me, they give an idea of where I am lacking and what to work on. But don’t shoot any faster than you can hit! A “lucky run” isn’t educational, only deceiving. These drills should be learning points, not ego gratifiers. Also, you have just spent around $20—make it worthwhile.

Trigger Focus
I then shoot several magazines focusing on trigger control, which, as previously stated, is one area where dry fire does not suffice. I start at 10 feet, shooting the small dots on the bottom of the DST-5 target, going agonizingly slow, trying to shoot one jagged hole. I focus completely on what my hands are doing, making them control the trigger and not milking the entire grip, find the reset point and then smoothly pressing through the trigger action.

I also take note of my body position, making sure my shoulders are over my toes. I move back 5 feet at a time, shooting 5 to 6 rounds at each distance, trying to stay on the 3″-dot, concentrating on “sight, press.” Somewhere around 30–35 feet, I start to miss the 3″-dot and move to the larger, 5″-dots and work my way back to 50 feet or so. By this time, I have fired 100 rounds, give or take, so if the ammo supply is low, I stop.

More Practice
If I have additional ammo available, I then work on delivering the gun to the target from one of several “ready” positions, ensuring the delivery is consistent and feels right. The felt aspects of shooting are grossly under-rated. I then move to the draw stroke, making sure it’s consistent and direct to the target. Think of the draw stroke as an upside-down L with the gun coming up and out from the holster, directly to the target.

Lateral movement should be part of this drill. I also work on picking up the front sight in my field of vision as quickly as possible. Make sure you practice with the same carry gear that you use daily, including a concealing garment. Add a few drills, which simulate combat conditions, while kneeling or from extreme close quarters, and you will have a reasonable 200-round practice session.

No, these drills do not account for all of what might happen in a gunfight, but understand there’s no way to prepare for any conflict. History has shown that the person who prevails in armed conflict is the one who can keep his head and decide which of their practiced skills will solve the problem at hand. The officer that never practices is the one who will fail to decide. Stay safe, stay alert and practice your skills often.

Dave Spaulding is a 28-year law-enforcement veteran, retiring at the rank of lieutenant. He currently works for a federal security contractor. He’s worked in all facets of law enforcement—corrections, communications, patrol, evidence collection, investigations, undercover operations, training and SWAT—and has authored more than 800 articles for various firearm and law enforcement periodicals. He is also the author of the best-selling books Defensive Living and Handgun Combatives.

Why the U.S. needs a space-based missile defense against an EMP attack.

By Brian T. Kennedy, Wall Street Journal

As severe as the global financial crisis now is, it does not pose an existential threat to the U.S. Through fits and starts we will sort out the best way to revive the country’s economic engine. Mistakes can be tolerated, however painful. The same may not be true with matters of national security.

Although President George W. Bush has accomplished more in the way of missile defense than his predecessors – including Ronald Reagan – he will leave office with only a rudimentary system designed to stop a handful of North Korean missiles launched at our West Coast. Barack Obama will become commander in chief of a country essentially undefended against Russian, Chinese, Iranian or ship-launched terrorist missiles. This is not acceptable.

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have proven how vulnerable we are. On that day, Islamic terrorists flew planes into our buildings. It is not unreasonable to believe that if they obtain nuclear weapons, they might use them to destroy us. And yet too many policy makers have rejected three basic facts about our position in the world today:

First, as the defender of the Free World, the U.S. will be the target of destruction or, more likely, strategic marginalization by Russia, China and the radical Islamic world.

Second, this marginalization and threat of destruction is possible because the U.S. is not so powerful that it can dictate military and political affairs to the world whenever it wants. The U.S. has the nuclear capability to vanquish any foe, but is not likely to use it except as a last resort.

Third, America will remain in a condition of strategic vulnerability as long as it fails to build defenses against the most powerful political and military weapons arrayed against us: ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads. Such missiles can be used to destroy our country, blackmail or paralyze us.

Any consideration of how best to provide for the common defense must begin by acknowledging these facts.

Consider Iran. For the past decade, Iran – with the assistance of Russia, China and North Korea – has been developing missile technology. Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani announced in 2004 their ability to mass produce the Shahab-3 missile capable of carrying a lethal payload to Israel or – if launched from a ship – to an American city.

The current controversy over Iran’s nuclear production is really about whether it is capable of producing nuclear warheads. This possibility is made more urgent by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s statement in 2005: “Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism? But you had best know that this slogan and this goal are attainable, and surely can be achieved.”

Mr. Ahmadinejad takes seriously, even if the average Iranian does not, radical Islam’s goal of converting, subjugating or destroying the infidel peoples – first and foremost the citizens of the U.S. and Israel. Even after 9/11, we appear not to take that threat seriously. We should.

Think about this scenario: An ordinary-looking freighter ship heading toward New York or Los Angeles launches a missile from its hull or from a canister lowered into the sea. It hits a densely populated area. A million people are incinerated. The ship is then sunk. No one claims responsibility. There is no firm evidence as to who sponsored the attack, and thus no one against whom to launch a counterstrike.

But as terrible as that scenario sounds, there is one that is worse. Let us say the freighter ship launches a nuclear-armed Shahab-3 missile off the coast of the U.S. and the missile explodes 300 miles over Chicago. The nuclear detonation in space creates an electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

Gamma rays from the explosion, through the Compton Effect, generate three classes of disruptive electromagnetic pulses, which permanently destroy consumer electronics, the electronics in some automobiles and, most importantly, the hundreds of large transformers that distribute power throughout the U.S. All of our lights, refrigerators, water-pumping stations, TVs and radios stop running. We have no communication and no ability to provide food and water to 300 million Americans.

This is what is referred to as an EMP attack, and such an attack would effectively throw America back technologically into the early 19th century. It would require the Iranians to be able to produce a warhead as sophisticated as we expect the Russians or the Chinese to possess. But that is certainly attainable. Common sense would suggest that, absent food and water, the number of people who could die of deprivation and as a result of social breakdown might run well into the millions.

Let us be clear. A successful EMP attack on the U.S. would have a dramatic effect on the country, to say the least. Even one that only affected part of the country would cripple the economy for years. Dropping nuclear weapons on or retaliating against whoever caused the attack would not help. And an EMP attack is not far-fetched.
Twice in the last eight years, in the Caspian Sea, the Iranians have tested their ability to launch ballistic missiles in a way to set off an EMP. The congressionally mandated EMP Commission, with some of America’s finest scientists, has released its findings and issued two separate reports, the most recent in April, describing the devastating effects of such an attack on the U.S.

The only solution to this problem is a robust, multilayered missile-defense system. The most effective layer in this system is in space, using space-based interceptors that destroy an enemy warhead in its ascent phase when it is easily identifiable, slower, and has not yet deployed decoys. We know it can work from tests conducted in the early 1990s. We have the technology. What we lack is the political will to make it a reality.

An EMP attack is not one from which America could recover as we did after Pearl Harbor. Such an attack might mean the end of the United States and most likely the Free World. It is of the highest priority to have a president and policy makers not merely acknowledge the problem, but also make comprehensive missile defense a reality as soon as possible.

Mr. Kennedy is president of the Claremont Institute and a member of the Independent Working Group on Missile Defense.

I just completed three days in a Surveillance Detection Training class. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provides some very valuable training in many areas related to protecting your home, community and critical infrastructure such as utilities and industrial facilities.

The class was primarily attended by folks that supervise security personnel. You may wonder why a firearms lawyer participated in surveillance exercises with professional operators responsible for guarding some of the most critical resources all over our state.

One of the more enjoyable features of practicing employment law and the law of armed self-defense is that I occasionally have the opportunity to advise security professionals and law enforcement in my law practice. Many Federal Way residents are small business owners and probably cannot afford the time off to attend a Surveillance Detection (SD) class or to employ any security, let alone armed security. I have been politely told that if I publish my class notes, I could be aiding and abetting the enemy. Nevertheless, by identifying a few issues you may be able to recognize the need to be aware of how important it is to be aware!

Every facility has a potential red zone. The red zone is the area that hostiles watch in order to size up security procedures and determine vulnerabilities that may be exploited. If initial surveillance activity informs the hostiles that your facility is well guarded then it is very likely that no attack will be attempted.

Thus, the time to interrupt the cycle is prior to the point at which a terrorist attack occurs. At this point, you may be wondering why a terrorist would target your small business, church or other facility. We know that the high value targets lie in dams, bridges, national icons (like the WTC), etc. Keep in mind that in Iraq, Israel and many Asian, South American and other countries, schools, daycares, apartment buildings and churches are routinely targeted. We have not seen this in the U.S. but did we ever see jet liners fly into buildings before Sept. 11?

By getting into the mindset of a professional “operator” now you can be prepared in the event that we are headed for change in the future. Incidentally, many of the security professionals to which I talk indicate that they would like to employ at least some armed personnel but risk-management and the legal department think there is too much liability. It is not the lawyer who advises management that may confront the Manchurian candidate as he puts riacin in the water you and I use for our coffee tomorrow morning. The loss of a human asset or two is cost-effective compared to all the money that it costs to employ armed guards.

The SD class was a joint production between Federal Way Emergency Management, Department of Homeland Security and Washington Military Department, Emergency Management Division. Students spent much of all three days in the field and if employees at Crossings wonder why so many people in “cover” spent so much time taking notes and talking on cell phones it is because we were busy developing plans for detecting surveillance. If you detected us we need to improve.

Interestingly enough, the DHS trainers work for International Training, Inc. (ITI). If you look at their website, you will discover that they train operators and “civilians” in all kinds of skills up to and including advanced sniper training, explosives, and protecting virtually any kind of asset.

ITI is a subsidiary of Wackenhut so if you want them to come and guard your facility they are among the largest security companies in the world.

For training closer to home see Training.

See Cyber-Terrorists Use Online Network Surveillance.

Cape Girardeau woman kills man who returned to rape her second time
By Heather Ratcliffe

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Friday, Oct. 31 2008
An intended rape victim shot and killed her attacker this morning in Cape Girardeau when he broke into her home to rape her a second time, police said.

The 57-year-old woman shot Ronnie W. Preyer, 47, a registered sex offender, in the chest with a shotgun when he broke through her locked basement door. The woman told police he was the same man who raped her several days earlier.

Officials do not intend to seek charges against her.

In the first incident, the woman heard glass reaking in her basement about midnight on Saturday. She went to leave the house, and the man attacked when she opened the front door. He punched her in the face and then forced her into a bedroom, where he raped her, said H. Morley Swingle, prosecuting attorney in Cape Girardeau County.

The victim reported the crime to police, and her landlord repaired the broken window.

She was home alone again Friday about 2:15 a.m. when Preyer broke the same basement window. The victim was awake watching television, when Preyer switched off the electricity to her house.

She tried to call 911, but couldn’t because the power was off. She got a shotgun and waited as the man began banging on the basement door. She fired when Preyer came crashing through the door. When Breyer collapsed, the woman escaped and went to a neighbor’s home, where she called police. Officers, who arrived within a minute, found a bleeding Preyer stumbling away from the house.

He was taken to St. Francis Medical Center, where he died several hours later.

Swingle said the victim identified Preyer as the attacker in both incidents. Preyer, of Jackson, Mo., had wet caulking from the recently repaired basement window on his clothing when he was shot.

“I will not be filing any sort of charge against this 57-year-old woman, who was clearly justified under the law in shooting this intruder in her home,” Swingle said.

See Slain Mom Needed Home Defense Plan.

“Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief with a law?” -Psalms 94:20

“A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and casts down the strength of the confidence thereof.” Proverbs 21:22

“They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.” Proverbs 28:4

Josiah was king of Judah when he was eight years old. 2 Kings 22. The kingdom was governed via guardians in a trustee capacity and Josiah was educated by men who had lost the Books of the Law so many generations back that they had no recollection of the Holy Decrees, Memorials and Feasts of the Lord (kind of like those that hold the reins of power in many of our modern academic institutions and government-media complex- and churches!

His elders worshipped Baal and condoned or actually practiced false religion wherein parents sacrificed their children to Baal and other idols. Hearing the screams of their children while they burned in furnaces fashioned into statues of evil deities, apostate Israelite parents had sex with temple prostitutes that were kept in the high places. These practices went back to Solomon’s time when his wives brought in their false worship from other countries.

How did Josiah know what was right in the sight of the Lord in order to destroy the high places and depose the priests that presided at the high places?

What inspired him to do this at approximately the age of twenty-six? He was administering repairs on the Temple of Solomon when the Books of the Law were found in the Temple and brought to him. After he read the Pentateuch (five Books of Moses) he went into grief, tore his clothes and then did not stop until he made all the people take an oath to serve God. Josiah instituted the Feast of Passover that had been commanded by God in the Books of the Law as a memorial to Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. 2 Kings 23: 21-25.

Today young men and women are looking for values to which they can commit. How many of we older citizens have declared the glory of God and his eternal values “from one generation to another"? We grew up differently than kids today (but not that differently, in many cases). Nevertheless, our culture was steeped in cultural messages that were accretions from past generations that had fought and died to serve the God of the Bible. Much of that traditional culture has now been erased and we wonder why our children go into the schools and start shooting each other. We need to start pulling down some idols and send the prophets of Baal packing. We need judges and professors and journalists that will wake up and smell the coffee before it is too late.

Stop smoking the heroin pipe that secular-humanism offers us and start seeking after righteousness. If you think culture and righteousness are not important because one culture is as good as another then look at the mass shootings of defenseless people occurring around the United States The professional bureaucrats intone the usual mantras involving “response times” and predictive factors. They promise to get to the bottom of the problem.

The Biblical answer is in the Book of Esther. Surprisingly, Esther is a Second Amendment treatise. The enemies of the Jews had obtained a decree permitting genocidal annihilation of the Jews within the Persia-Median Empire. The Emperor, by Persian tradition unable to reverse his own decree, issued a new decree permitting the Jews to defend themselves and permitting their neighbors to come to their aid. This is exactly the concept of the Second Amendment. The difference is that for the Jews it was on an ad hoc basis. In other words, only for a few specifically designated days until the Jews had overcome their persecutors. The Second Amendment permanently institutionalizes the means of self-defense on a de jure basis; i.e., by permanent enactment of law.

The reason humanists want so badly to erase the Knowledge of the Holy from our society is because such knowledge is more powerful than guns, bombs, political action committees, money and sex, political deception or all the books in the world. Think about it.

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Rev. 3:21).