Cop-killer Bullets?

Hollow-point (expanding) bullets have been around for years, yet many people still think of these as a bad thing, intended to kill cops or penetrate body armor. Much of this misinformation is fostered by the media, which collectively hates guns and gun owners, and typically can't even get the terminology right (how often do you hear them refer to clips instead of magazines?).

First, let's understand a concept in basic ballistics.  Force = Mass X Energy
Smaller bullets generate less force, and slower bullets generate less force. There is a bell curve here, so a smaller, faster bullet could have greater penetration than a larger, slower one.  Larger bullets are also heavier, requiring more powder to achieve even a comparable velocity.  There is a law of diminishing returns involved, so there is a practical limit to how much velocity you can get from a larger bullet.  That is one reason many police departments prefer the .40 cal or .357 Sig chamberings over the .45.  I have a pistol that fires a .30 cal bullet (smaller than a 9mm), which has more penetration than a .357 Magnum.  Why?  Because the bullet goes very, very fast.  It will penetrate body armor, as will almost all rifle cartridges.  Speed kills.

The problem, from a defensive standpoint, is that many larger caliber handguns will over-penetrate a human body, come out the other side, and potentially injure or kill some innocent person.  After all, the hole it makes is only slightly larger than a pencil, and unless the bullet strikes bone, it goes right through.  This became both a public safety and a liability issue for police, as well as efficacy: it might not hurt an enraged criminal enough to slow him down.

Thus, the hollow-point design was born.  It expands in flight, and expands more on contact, to create a piece of schrapnel as much as double the size of the original bullet.  Over-penetration is virtually impossible, and the increased surface damage and resultant pain greatly magnifies the stopping power of the bullet. It has no chance of going through body armor, but that was never the point, anyway.  The point was to stop the criminal, and protect the public.

Hollow-points (HP) cost a little more than standard Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) bullets, so I always recommend people use FMJ at the range, and HPs in a defensive gun.  There is not a significant difference in the way they shoot, but people will sometimes finish a range session by shooting maybe 6 rounds of HP, to stay in touch with it.  In a defense situation, they will not notice any difference.

Open Carry in Texas

In Texas, the Open Carry debate is done.  Well, to the extent it is ever done.  If you have not been following the news, here is your summary.

The legal, open (visible) carry of a handgun in public is something that was unimaginable 20 years ago.  For that matter, legal concealed carry was a rarity.  Slowly, over those years, the public came to accept the Constitutional right of Americans to self-defense, including away from home.  Concealed carry is now legal in all 50 states, although nearly impossible in NY, NJ, CA, and IL.  For those of us in "real America", it is easier than getting a driver's license, if you don't have a criminal record.

Also slowly, and under the radar, states have started allowing Open Carry, and 44 states have passed laws in that regard.  The national media doesn't like to talk about it, so it is only carried on local news, and only while it is new.  Most states piggy-back this feature on to concealed carry licenses, so there is still some requirement to demonstrate firearm skills, but a few states actually have what is called "Constitutional Carry", where no license at all is required. 

Texas has always been a "gun-friendly" state, so it seemed odd that we were not one of the first 10 to allow this, never mind 45th.  However, the stars have now aligned, and Open Carry has passed both the House and Senate, and ill go to the Governor as soon as the Conference Committee resolves a few differences in the two versions of the bill.  There was contentious debate on whether this would be passed as "unlicensed open carry" (Constitutional) or licensed, but licensed carried the day.  As it turns out, unlicensed carry was being pushed by an activist who had lost his concealed carry license due to a criminal conviction. 

At this date, it is not known when Open Carry will become the law, but it will probably be Jan 1, 2016.  I don't actually expect a lot of people to OC, but I do expect some controversy about it, at first.  That will go away when there are no mass killings in schools.  It is an interesting paradigm, though.  I was in Virginia last year, and saw a young man come into the museum I was visiting, with his two young nieces, with a 1911 strapped to his waist.  No one paid any attention.

One issue that was debated briefly, and dismissed, was retention.  A retention holster is one that does not allow the gun to be withdrawn without releasing it.  These can have either one or two points of retention, where usually one could be a strap that has to be unsnapped, and another could be a pressure point that has to be pressed to release the gun.  The purpose is to make it difficult for someone to come up behind the wearer and grab the gun.  Police always use at least 1-point retention holsters, and sometimes 2-point, depending on department policy.  Legally speaking, that is a good practice, but in reality, it is harder than you think to grab a gun from a holster.  Any holster will have a certain amount of "grab", anyway, and many OWB ("Outside the Waistband") holsters are built with a 15 degree forward cant ("FBI cant").  This makes it easier for the wearer to access the gun, and also harder for someone behind him.  Statistics show that, in the other 44 states, this has not been an issue, so no one requires a retention holster for civilian use.

 The new Texas law will simply amend existing law to allow anyone with a Concealed Handgun License to choose whether to carry concealed, or in plain sight.

Shooting Multiple Pistols for Improvement in All

There is a popular belief across many segments of society that you should specialize in one thing, and do that thing well.  That is why pediatricians don't do spinal surgery, and plumbers don't build sun rooms.  At the same time, within any specialization, having a variety of skills can lead one to revelations that lead to improvements in the other skills in that set.  Hence, a home builder learns to build swimming pools, which leads to improvements in how he designs slab foundations. You can be over-specialized.

Shooting pistols works the same way.  If a person's experience is limited to one gun, they have not experienced the wide variety of trigger pulls, grips, and recoil that exist across the spectrum.  Learning those differences can be crucial to your development as a shooter.  Triggers are especially problematic, as there are so many variations extant, involving take-up, hard break (crisp), soft break (ramp), stacking, and over-travel.  When you have experienced several of these, you will become more sensitive to the actual role of the trigger in the process, as well as what you have to do to manage it efficiently.  That leads to greater adaptability and flexibility in shooting.  In terms of defensive shooting, it also leads to greater speed, as you will be better able to coordinate acquiring a sight-picture, hold control, and trigger control.  Each new pistol I learn to shoot makes me better with all of them.

However, while owning several pistols is nice (some would say inevitable), it is not necessary.  Most commercial gun ranges have pistols for rent (for use at the range), sometimes dozens of them.  Pick out a few different models, from different manufacturers, and rent one every two weeks.  See what effect this has on your original gun.  You may find something else that suits your style better.

Marksmanship for Self-Defense

Here is the scenario: you are at a gas station late at night, or maybe in a parking garage or downtown parking lot.  You see someone running straight for you at full speed.  He may be on the run from police, but he wants your car keys, and will club you or kill you to get them, whatever it takes.  You draw your carry gun, but have just seconds to stop the threat.

Flash back to your training.  You are standing at a range, aiming at a paper target that never moves.  You want to hit that X in the middle, about the size of a dime.  You know how the sights work: the front post needs to be in the middle of the notch, the tops level.  If you are off by a hair's width, and/or don't work the trigger smoothly, you will miss the X by 2-4 inches, more if it is a shorter gun.  You struggle to relax, clarify your vision, pause your breathing, keep the alignment, squeeze the trigger.  Something get out of sync, so you start over.  Now you've been aiming for 30 seconds, and your arm muscles start to shake.  You stop, shake it off, start over.  Finally, the stars align, you make the shot, and miss the X by one inch.  That is still very good.  Success!

Success?  Not really.  Flash forward to your crisis situation.  You don't have to hit the 3rd button on his shirt (if you can even see it) to ruin his day, and you don't have 60 seconds to do it.  This is the real world, and you may have only 2 seconds to save your life.  If you have not learned flash-sighting or point-shooting, do that now, before you need it.

The aiming described above is more suited to competitive target shooting than to self defense.  The fact is that most self defense shooting happens at 3-4 yards, the attacker doesn't have an X on his chest, and half of your skills will evaporate, anyway.  While accuracy is important, the perfect shot you don't have time to make is useless, compared to the shots you do make, that hit him anywhere.

Flash-sighting is based on simple geometry.  At a short distance (3-4 yards), if you can see the front post anywhere in the notch, you will hit a human-sized target.  Even 4 inches off is still a hit.  Start with the pistol at eye level, and push straight out.  That gives you at least 1/2 second advantage in lining up the sights just to the point that you can see the front post anywhere in the rear notch.  As soon as you can see that level of alignment, fire.  Immediately re-acquire the target and fire again.  Most ranges won't allow you to draw from a holster, so lay the gun on the bench, in the same condition it would be carried (decocked, safety on, etc.).  Using the stopwatch on your phone, or with a friend timing you, see how fast you can grab the gun, get a flash picture, and put two shots on a B-27 target at 3 yards.  Your goal is 3 seconds.

Point-shooting is even more meat-ball.  That is for even closer contact, 2 yards or less, where you don't have time to even bring the gun to eye level.  If you have a proper grip, the thumb on your shooting hand should be parallel to the ground.  Point the gun at the target using your thumb as a guide.

Both of these techniques need to be practiced extensively.  If you have them in your "toolbox", you can feel more confidant in a crisis situation.
 

Is your employer violating your rights?

It has come to my attention that several large employers in the Dallas area, including Frito-Lay, UPS, and TI, are routinely violating the rights of employees regarding the transportation and storage of firearms and ammunition.

In Texas, any private employer can independently determine their own policy for the legal carry of firearms in their workplace.  That is, someone who holds a valid CHL, or is otherwise allowed by law to carry a firearm, can still be disallowed from carrying on the premises of a private business, either by internal policy (Employee Handbook; applies only to employees) or by posting the legally required notice specified by PC 30.06.  However, said employers CANNOT include in that prohibition any public OR PRIVATE driveways, parking lots, or parking garages, even if they own them, and even if they are not open to the public.

The Texas Legislature specifically gave Concealed Handgun Licensees the ability to store handguns and ammo in their personal vehicles at work.  This applies to all private and most public employers, with limited exceptions as noted below, and is non-negotiable.  While it is true that you could be fired for some other reason, that is also illegal, and the employer could be sued for illegal termination, either by you, or Federally by the EEOC.  This is especially true if you had not been the subject of multiple warnings with documented corrective actions.

If your rights have been violated by an employer in this regard, you can report them anonymously to the EEOC, or better yet, send a copy of the Employee Handbook to the Texas State Rifle Association.  In several cases, companies have quietly changed their policies after learning that the TSRA/NRA were considering legal action against them.  You can stay in the background on this.

The relevant sections of the Texas Penal Code and Government Code are included below.  Note that "premises" as defined by PC 46.035(f)(3) does NOT include parking lots, areas, or garages.

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52.061. Restriction on Prohibiting Employee Access to or Storage of Firearm or Ammunition.
A public or private employer may not prohibit an employee who holds a license to carry a concealed handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, who otherwise lawfully possesses a firearm, or who lawfully possesses ammunition from transporting or storing a firearm or ammunition the employee is authorized by law to possess in a locked, privately owned motor vehicle in a parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area the employer provides for employees.

Sec. 52.062. EXCEPTIONS.
(a) Section 52.061 does not:
(1) authorize a person who holds a license to carry a concealed handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, who otherwise lawfully possesses a firearm, or who lawfully possesses ammunition to possess a firearm or ammunition on any property where the possession of a firearm or ammunition is prohibited by state or federal law; or
(2) apply to:
(A) a vehicle owned or leased by a public or private employer and used by an employee in the course and scope of the employee ’s employment, unless the employee is required to transport or store a firearm in the official discharge of the employee’s duties;
(B) a school district;
(C) an open-enrollment charter school, as defined by Section 5.001, Education Code;
(D) a private school, as defined by Section 22.081, Education Code;
(E) property owned or controlled by a person, other than the employer, that is subject to a valid, unexpired oil, gas, or other mineral lease that contains a provision prohibiting the possession of firearms on the property; or
(F) property owned or leased by a chemical manufacturer or oil and gas refiner with an air authorization under Chapter 382, Health and Safety Code, and on which the primary business conducted is the manufacture, use, storage, or transportation of hazardous, combustible, or explosive materials, except in regard to an employee who holds a license to carry a concealed handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, and who stores a firearm or ammunition the employee is authorized by law to possess in a locked, privately owned motor vehicle in a parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area the employer provides for employees that is outside of a secured and restricted area:
(i) that contains the physical plant;
(ii) that is not open to the public; and
(iii) the ingress into which is constantly monitored by security personnel.
(b) Section 52.061 does not prohibit an employer from prohibiting an employee who holds a license to carry a concealed handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, or who otherwise lawfully possesses a firearm, from possessing a firearm the employee is otherwise authorized by law to possess on the premises of the employer ’s business. In this subsection, "premises" has the meaning assigned by Section 46.035(f)(3), Penal Code.
Sec. 411.203. Rights of Employers. This subchapter does not prevent or otherwise limit the right of a public or private employer to prohibit persons who are licensed under this subchapter from carrying a concealed handgun on the premises of the business. In this section, "premises" has the meaning assigned by Section 46.035(f)(3), Penal Code.

Can I Use a .22 for the CHL Proficiency?

There's bad new, good news, and more bad news.

At the time of this writing, you cannot use a .22 for the Texas CHL Proficiency test. The good news for some people is that that will likely change in a few months. The Legislature is debating that as we speak (so to speak), and most people think it will pass in this session. If it does, that change would take effect next Sep 1.

The other bad news, however, has to do with whether or not you should take advantage of that. Some people, including some I respect, think this would be a good change. I disagree, but not for the expected reason. I have gone on record before, suggesting that the .22 should not be so easily dismissed as a defensive weapon, especially if it has a long barrel and a high-capacity magazine. Even the tiny Baretta Bobcat, with its 6-round magazine is better than nothing, but not much better. A target pistol, like the Ruger Mark III, would allow you to put 10 rounds in a home invader in a matter of seconds, which would likely make him rethink his career choices. However, unless you took a head shot, that would slow him down, but not stop him immediately. Keep in mind that that home invader, upon seeing the pistol, could get to you from across a large room in under 2 seconds (the well-documented Tueller Paradigm). If he has a knife, putting him in the hospital won't save your life. The .22 only works if the invader doesn't rush you.

However, I digress. My objection is not so much in using a .22, but in leading a person to think they know how to handle a firearm. There is a world of difference between the .22 and calibers like 9mm, 10mm, .40, .45, .38 Special, or the legendary .357 Magnum. Learning to shoot only a .22 is like riding a tricycle and thinking you can also ride a Harley. True, the .22 has killed many people. It is often the choice of hit men, but they surprise their victims, take head shots, or both, and the noise factor is important.

I often let beginners fire a few rounds from a .22 first, so they can get a sense of it, before we move on to something larger. The skills learned in handling a larger caliber gun will easily translate back to a smaller one, but the reverse is not necessarily true.

Whatever the point might be in allowing the .22 for the CHL Proficiency, it can't be making it easier to get the license. It is already easy enough for someone with a week's experience. The result would be people scoring 245 instead of 210 (175 is passing), and thinking they are now armed.

Col. Jeff Cooper once said, "Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician."

How Do I Get a Concealed Handgun License?

This is a very common question.  The process in Texas is not difficult, but it is a little confusing, without a roadmap, so here goes.  These steps need not be done in this order, but you will save some time if you do.

1. First, understand that you have to already know how to safely handle, load, and shoot a pistol, at least to a minimum level.  The standard is not high, but you can't know nothing.  You will not learn anything about shooting in this process; you will just demonstrate what you do know.
2. If you don't know how to shoot, or don't feel confidant, take some instruction first. It doesn't require a lot.  I often take someone from beginner to CHL-level in one session.
3. Determine your eligibility.  Here is a reasonably detailed summary of the requirements. Most people will be able to tell from this if they meet the standard; if you are unclear, contact the DPS for clarification.  Check here for other information.
4. Start your application at the DPS website.  It may be counter-intuitive to do the application before you have all the requirements, but that's how it works. Do this on a computer with a printer attached.  You will need to print out a checklist and a bar code. You will pay your state fees at this time, and set an appointment for fingerprinting. Don't stop before doing all these things.
5. Do the fingerprinting as above.  There are a number of places to do that, and it's quick and easy.  The important point is that this needs to be tied to your application, so they need to be part of the same process, and in that order.
6. Sign up for and attend a CHL class.  These are sometimes held at gun ranges, but also at office suites or meeting rooms.  They are always taught by DPS-Certified CHL Instructors, who are also Firearms Instructors.  Every part of that class (curriculum, written test, shooting test) is mandated by the state of Texas, so the only difference between different classes is the style of presentation and experience of the instructor. The classes are about 4 hours long, plus the shooting part. That is often done the same day, unless the class is at a commercial gun range. For logistical reasons, they usually have to schedule the shooting on another day.
7.  Upon successful completion of the class, and passing both the written and shooting proficiency tests, you will be given a form (CHL-100).  Put that form, your printed bar code from step 4, and any other documents listed on your checklist into an envelope and mail them to Austin (keep copies of everything).  Items you might have to send could include a copy of your DD-214 (if claiming veteran status), or proof of legal residency.
8. Wait.  The typical time is 3-6 weeks, but I have seen it be as little as 12 business days.