This is an incredible article that everyone should read:
As murders surge, Democrats find a new message: Fund the Police.  

Cities across the country decided to cut police budgets last summer in the wake of riots.  The article specifically mentions Washington, DC, New York, NY, Austin, TX, Oakland, CA and Atlanta, GA.  It should come as no surprise in the wake of police cuts that murder rates in these same cities are on the rise.

Today I got 3 different emails offering cases of 9mm ammo for sale.  This was great news.  After the huge gun demand in 2020, ammo became really hard to find and prices went through the roof.    Ammunition manufacturers didn't expect the rush of new gun owners and the corresponding ammo sales, but it seems that production is starting to catch-up.

Now that ammo is available again, all gun owners should celebrate Independence Day and our freedom by doing some shooting!  When you go out, take a new shooter with you!

Last June and September, I wrote about the record setting gun sales and new gun owners in 2020.  Looks like 2021 will be another banner year for gun sales.  

According to the article linked above:
"In January, more than 4 million background checks were processed, compared with the previous January's 2.7 million. And in February 2021, 3.4 million checks were reported; in February 2020, 2.8 million were completed. 
During the entire month of March 2021, the FBI completed nearly 4.7 million background checks compared with the same month the year before when the agency reported 3.7 million checks."

Looks like Americans are buying an extra 1 million guns per month compared to last year!  I love that many of these guns are being sold to first time gun owners.  As more people exercise our 2nd Amendment rights, it will be harder for them to be taken away.

​​If you know any new guns owners:
1. take them to the shooting range
2. connect them to resources for training and information
3. encourage them to join gun rights groups  

A few weeks ago, a student took a course from me using a carry gun with a custom trigger.  This particular trigger was shorter and lighter than the factory one.  This student was a very safe and accurate shooter but I recommended that he consider changing his gun back to the factory trigger.   If you are ever involved in a shooting, you may have to defend customizations to your gun in court and you definitely don't want to be accused of having a "hair trigger."

I solve this problem by carrying stock guns.  My self-defense guns (even those for home defense), are factory originals with no modifications.     

For some expert insight into this topic, read this excellent (and short) article by Massad Ayoob, for his recommendations on what not to do on your carry guns.  

I'm partnering with a group called "Powhatan Home Defense" to offer 3 introductory handgun clinics over the summer months.  These sessions will give beginners the steps needed to get started to owning a handgun for self-defense.  More details are available on the flyer below.

Officer Christopher Royer, a police officer in Nashville, shot and killed a man who attacked him with two butcher knives during a traffic stop on Saturday night.   If you are a private citizen who owns a gun for self-protection, do yourself a favor and read this article (and watch the video).   Officer Christopher Royer

In my opinion, this was an excellent example of using a handgun for self-defense.  Some observations:
1. Officer Royer didn't use his gun to protect property - the bad guy got into the police car without any resistance. 
2. He gave the bad guy every chance to stop the attack.  Officer Royer retreated 25 yards from the man with the knives.  In the video, you can see the bad guy to run at the cop.  At that point, it is clear the bad guy is an imminent threat - this is life or death.
3. He shot the bad guy in the chest to stop the threat.  When the adrenaline dump of the life or death situation occurs, you will fall back on your training and practice.  Officer Royer had likely practiced making shots to the torso to stop the threat.  Once the threat stopped, he stopped shooting.

President Biden has recently been discussing bans on AR-15s and other standard semi-automatic rifles.  

This recent article on the CDC's 2018 report on deaths in America puts an interesting spin on the need to ban rifles: falling kills a lot more people than rifles do.  Here are some of the facts shown in the report, in 2018 there were: ​

• 297 intentional deaths by rifle
• 443 intentional deaths by hammers, clubs and blunt objects
• 37,455 deaths by accidental falls

126 times more people died by accidentally falling than those killed by rifles.   Seems like we could save more lives by banning hammers or ladders!  

Something that isn't mentioned by those trying to ban guns, of course, is how many lives are saved by rifles (and other guns)  each year.  Studies have shown that guns are used between 16 and 100 more times each year to save lives than to take lives.  That's between 500,000 and 3 million times each year to save lives!!!

Today I'm reposting an article from the NRA's website, 4 best concealed carry positions.  The author includes some pros and cons for each of four options for carrying a firearm on your body.   

If you want to begin carrying a gun, it is a good idea to do some research and learn what some of the common options are.   What works for you will depend on the gun you will be carrying, your body shape and size and the types of clothing you wear.  My #1 piece of advice is to get a good holster with stiff sides that completely covers the trigger guard.  A holster like this will protect the trigger to ensure the gun isn't shot accidentally while you are carrying it (this means no guns stuck in your waistband or in your jacket pocket). 

My second recommendation is to get training on how to safely draw a gun from a holster AND reholster it and then practice with an unloaded gun.

I saw this recent story on the President Biden calling on Congress to enact "common sense" gun laws.  By calling it common sense, they are hoping to make this gun control sound non-controversial.  Don't fall for it.  He's asking for universal background checks, assault weapon (standard semi-auto rifles) bans, "high" capacity magazine bans and ending immunity for gun manufacturers. 

These proposed laws will not make Americans any safer.  Common sense should tell us that criminals don't obey the law.  Gun laws only make it harder for law abiding citizens to protect ourselves. 

The final line in the article was also interesting to me:  "I've always believed that we should get background checks done because it's probably the most popular measure," Murphy said. "And once Republicans see the sky doesn't fall, we can work on other things."

Senator Murphy is basically referring to what is sometimes called the "snowball effect."  Just like a snowball rolling down a hill will get larger, once one law gets passed it is easier to pass more.  Gun owners should stand strong together in opposition to ALL forms of gun control.   Check out my gun rights page for more information on how you can get involved.

In my defensive shooting courses, I recommend that my students start following news on shootings and other circumstances where they might need a gun for self-protection, this is training for your mind.  An excellent way to do this is to sign-up for VCDL's VA-ALERT e-mail list.  Another way is to read good books on self-defense.  

I just finished reading "Surviving a Mass Killer Rampage" by Chris Bird and I highly recommend it.  The author describes in-detail many mass shootings, some that were stopped by citizens or law enforcement and some that were not.  Reading about these killings gave me a glimpse into what a situation like this might look like and some of the options when fighting back.  A majority of these shootings are over before law enforcement arrives and is able to confront the shooter.  His overall point is that allowing private citizens to carry guns and eliminating gun-free zones will significantly reduce the carnage that these killers can cause.   

In addition, the author attended several multi-day courses meant to train private citizens to stop mass shootings.  The book describes the content of these courses in detail.  This section includes lots of basic tactical information and some things concealed carriers could use to practice on the range.   For instance, one of the courses talked about the importance of scoring your first hit and had the students take their first shots each day at 50 feet.  That is well beyond the average distance of a gunfight but I see the wisdom of regular practice at longer distances and I plan to work that into my future sessions.