Don’t Even Do This At the Post Office

Most of us believe we understand concealed carry laws fairly well. After all, we know we cannot carry concealed in a courthouse, we know we cannot carry concealed in an airport, and in the vast majority of states we’re not allowed to carry concealed inside a school.

But when it comes to the Post Office many people unknowingly violate the law and I’d be willing to bet you’ve done it once or twice or you know someone who has. And guess what? What I’m talking about has nothing to do with carrying concealed INSIDE the post office. 

Most people can agree it’s illegal to carry concealed inside a Post Office. 

I say “most,” because there are a good number of people who think it is legal. You see, the United States Code (18 U.S.C. 930) that deals with firearms in federal buildings has a section that says there are certain times you can carry concealed in a federal building… “The lawful carrying of firearms or other dangerous weapons in a Federal facility incident to hunting or other lawful purposes.”

People argue that “other lawful purposes” means we can carry for personal protection because we have a valid concealed carry permit. From what my lawyer has told me and from all of the research I have done this is NOT true. 

In fact, the Code of Federal Regulations - Title 39 – which is named “Conduct on Postal Property” says “No person while on postal property may carry firearms, other dangerous or deadly weapons, or explosives, either openly or concealed, or store the same on postal property, except for official purposes.”

So hopefully you understand that you cannot carry concealed inside the Post Office…

But that’s not my main concern and not why I wrote this today. The reason I wrote this and the big mistake people make is that you’re not even allowed to have your gun on Post Office Property. In other words, when you pull into the parking lot and toss your gun into the glove compartment while you go mail a letter, you are breaking the law.

I realize that may sound “dumb” and hard to believe, but the above Title 39 paragraph clearly states “on postal property, except for official purposes.” Now, I had a student who told me that a friend of theirs got arrested in the Post Office parking lot when a police officer watched him put his gun in his glove box…

But the biggest proof I found is what actually happened to a postal employee. A fellow named Clarence Dorosan used to store his gun in his car while he went to work each day. Somehow, one of this supervisors found out he had a gun in his car and he was arrested and fired for having a gun on the property. I’ve even attached a copy of the appellate ruling where the judges upheld his original conviction. 

So since you cannot even carry onto the Post Office parking lot, what should you do? Obviously, one option is to leave your gun at home if you know you’ve got to stop by the Post Office. But where I live there is a restaurant next to the Post Office so I always park in the restaurant parking lot and stash my gun in the glove box and then walk over when I need to send a package or mail a letter. Yes, it’s nonsense, but unfortunately, many laws are.

Why I made this portable target

For the next several months I’ll be doing training in Utah and Nevada, and lately I’ve been spending a great deal of time in Southern Utah near Bryce and Zions Canyon. The best part about being out in this “wide open” country is that the city shooting range is at the bottom of a mountain and anyone can go shoot whenever they want.

In other words, it’s a free public range. You don’t have to pay any range fees. There are no range officers around. It’s up to the public to be responsible, which is the way it should be. Quite frankly, this type of shooting range is a little slice of heaven and is a good change from the NRA shooting range that I usually go to in Northern Virginia. (It seems there’s always an hour and a half wait at the NRA range and the majority of the range officers they employ need a lesson in customer service.)

The thing is, since the range I’m now going to is a public range at the bottom of a mountain, there is literally nothing there. You have to bring your own targets and target stands.

When I found this out, I quickly went online and searched for a portable target system…

A simple enough one popped up and I decided to build it with a slight twist. So here’s the target stand that I built and here’s everything you need to build one too. It really is simple. I promise if I can build it, so can you, since I’m extremely “un-handy.”

First, go to Home Depot and buy eight pieces of black ABS pipe that are each 1.5 inches x 24 inches long. Home Depot has these already pre-cut so you can grab them and go (like I did). Or, you can buy a long piece of the pipe and cut it yourself.

Next, you need two “Tees.” These connect the pipe that holds up the target. In other words, the “Tees” connect the two pieces to the stand, which hold the furring strips (more about these in a second.) After that, you need four “Elbows” to connect the pipes to form a square. And lastly, you need two wooden furring strips that are 58 inches long. (They come longer than this so you’ll have to cut them down a bit.)

Here’s the layout of needed materials again in an easier to read format:

-8 pieces of ABS pipe that are each 1.5 inches x 24 inches

-Two connector “Tees”

-Four “Elbows”

-Two furring strips that are 58 inches long

After you have those items it takes about 30 seconds to put the target together. Once it’s together you simply staple up cardboard and a target. Since I know the directions were likely a bit confusing, see the picture at the bottom of this article to get a better idea of what the finished product should look like. It will cost you less than $40 in supplies from Home Depot and then you’ll be all set to shoot at “rural” shooting ranges should you ever find yourself out in the country.

Should he have shot this homeless man?

A close friend of mine is a police officer who recently took a second job as a security guard to earn extra money. He works for a large department store and last week was his very first day on the job. After his first shift he called me and said, “you’re never going to believe what happened to me tonight.”

Well, he proceeded to tell me that there are a lot of homeless people in the area he works. He said one of his security guard duties is to clear the homeless people off the benches in and around the store, which to me sounds like a full time job in itself.

He said that while he was attempting to clear one of the homeless people off of a bench, the guy pulled a knife on him. Before he could finish his story I interrupted him and asked, “did you draw your gun and how close did you come to shooting the guy?”

A drunken homeless man…

My friend said the guy was very drunk and slowly pulled out the knife and that he simply slapped it out of his hands and then called the police. He then told me that he didn’t feel his life was in danger at the time and he didn’t feel deadly force was necessary, which was why he hadn’t drawn his gun and used it.

In short, my friend gave the perfect answer to why he hadn’t shot the man. In a large majority of instances, if someone pulls a knife on you then using deadly force is justified. However, the key factor is that you have to believe your life is in immediate danger or that the person threatening you could cause seriously bodily injury.

Luckily…

My friend is well trained and understands the law. But imagine if he didn’t. Imagine if he had drawn his gun and shot and killed the homeless man. A few hours later, police would be watching the security surveillance tapes and they would see a drunken homeless man who slowly took out a knife and probably appeared to be no serious threat. My friend could have gone to jail for a “bad” shooting.

Of course, a good lawyer could have probably gotten him off because the homeless guy did have a knife, but my friend would have had to live with the guilt for the rest of his life knowing that he had killed someone who he knew he shouldn’t have.  

The bottom line is, every single shooting and deadly force incident is different and only you will know if you feel your life is in immediate danger. Also, if you’re walking around with a gun and you’re still not clear on your state’s deadly force laws, please look them up today. You and I know that carrying a gun is a big responsibility and knowing the deadly force laws is a major part of that.

Where to put your finger on the trigger?

Trigger control is without a doubt the toughest part of becoming an accurate shooter. Most people can easily align the sights and acquire a proper grip, but when it comes to pulling the trigger, that’s when things start to break down.

The thing is, many people don’t even start out correctly learning how to master the trigger. In other words, they don’t put their finger on the trigger in the proper place from the beginning and that obviously affects the rest of their shooting.

So where exactly should you put your finger on the trigger? Well, like most things when it comes to shooting, there is no correct answer. You see, the majority of instructors will tell you that you want to pull the trigger using the middle of the pad of your finger.

Use the crease?

And a small percentage of instructors will tell you that you want to pull the trigger using the crease of your first knuckle. So who’s right? As I just mentioned, nobody is.

Personally, I pull the trigger using the pad of my finger. However, because of the length of my fingers I don’t pull the trigger using exactly the middle of the pad. The trigger happens to be slightly off center, closer to the crease of my knuckle.

Of course, since I’m always looking for ways to improve my shooting, I have tried pulling the trigger using the crease of my first knuckle. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. I’m a good shot using where I place my finger now, but when I tried the crease it might as well have been a blind man taking target practice.

What Massad Ayoob does…

However, nationally known firearms instructor Massad Ayoob is someone who uses the crease of the first knuckle and he’s an excellent shot. So here’s what I recommend you do the next time you go to the shooting range:

I recommend placing your finger in the middle of the pad, in the knuckle crease, and even off-center of the pad. You just might surprise yourself and you might be the small percentage of people who shoot better using the crease.

You also might be someone who’s been using the crease and realize that you’re a heck of a lot more accurate when you only use the pad and don’t put so much finger on the trigger.

Just remember to always do what works best for you when it comes to shooting and the fundamentals. Don’t let any instructor or any friend of yours try and tell you to do it one way if you know your way is what makes you more accurate and a better shooter overall.

My bullet proof laptop bag

I’m always looking for the slight edge when it comes to my safety…

And for a while now I’ve been looking into bullet proof products.  Of course, I could be ultra safe and wear a bullet proof vest every day but that’s not going to happen. As any police officer will tell you, wearing a bullet proof vest is not comfortable and in 90 degree weather it’s downright miserable.

I’d say that anybody who tells you they wear a vest on a daily basis is either lying to you or they’re probably on the verge of doing something illegal and they know they’re going to need it.

So instead of sweating to death in a vest I started looking at other options such as bullet proof backpacks and laptop bags. However, they were very expensive (usually $500 or more) and I didn’t see anything I liked.

Well, I contacted a fellow I know that makes bullet proof products for the military and police. I told him that I simply wanted a bullet proof panel that I could use in my laptop bag and transfer to other bags. I also wanted to use it for dry fire practice in my house and for unloading and loading my guns in my house.

I told him it had to be level IIIA armor.  Level IIIA armor is the highest level of protection that is made for concealable armor. It’s the stuff SWAT teams use and stops up to a .44 magnum.

I decided that a 10 x 14 size panel would be ideal and my friend kindly agreed to custom make one for me.  As soon as I picked it up from him I began using it in my laptop bag, which comes pretty much everywhere with me.  

I also used it when unloading and loading my guns and dry firing in my house. Plus, it comes in real handy when I have to clean my Glock since you have to pull the trigger to clean it.

The thing is, as soon as I got it I wanted to shoot the panel and test it out. However, I couldn’t bring myself to sacrifice the panel as body armor does cost a decent amount of money. However, before a pistol course this past weekend I decided to finally put it to the test.

Let’s just say I was pleased with what I saw and feel much better about having the panel around for dry fire and other uses. Now I just need to contact my friend and get a new one.

To see the video you can go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2ZA9IMAHak&feature=youtu.be

Perhaps it will encourage you to get a panel for yourself. Even if you don’t carry it around in your laptop bag, at least you have a safe backstop to point your gun in your house.

Also, if you do want a panel send an email to lisa@concealedcarryacademy.com. My friend gave me a very good deal on the panel so I can get you one for a good price.

Learning from the NYPD Shooting

You’ve probably heard about the shooting that took place last Friday in New York City. In short, a former employee killed his co-worker and was then killed by two New York City Police Officers.  One officer fired his gun 7 times and the other officer fired his gun 9 times.

During this hail of gunfire 9 innocent bystanders were wounded all from shots fired by the NYPD. Luckily for the police, nobody was seriously injured by the stray bullets and all of the rounds ended up in a persons leg or arm.

Now, as any shooter knows, the fourth rule of firearms safety is “know your backstop,” and don’t take the shot if you may end up hitting an innocent bystander. And although the police obviously violated this rule, it appears that nothing is going to happen to the officers’ and they’ve already been raised by both the Police Commissioner and the Mayor.

But here’s the thing…

You and I know that most police departments are still a “good ole’ boy network” and the police are able to get away with things that you and I never could. After all, just imagine if you or I had stopped a crazed gunman but in the process had wounded 9 people with stray bullets?

Just imagine the TV headlines… The same Mayor Bloomberg who is praising his officers would be calling for more gun control and talking about how Americans shouldn’t be allowed to have guns. 

Also, before I forget to mention this, there are two reasons I don’t really blame the officers for what they did. First, when you’re in that type of situation you get incredible tunnel vision and they most likely didn’t see any of the bystanders and only saw the shooter.

Secondly…

Most police officers are very poorly trained when it comes to shooting, and I doubt could tell you the 4 rules of firearms safety if you asked them. I know this as a fact because I was a police officer and most officers aren’t really into shooting and only go to the range every 6 months when they are forced to qualify with their duty weapon.

So the lessons that you need to learn from this incident are that you need to be aware of your surroundings in a shooting. It’s not easy because you’ll get tunnel vision like everyone, but if you end up hitting 9 bystanders you may be looking at jail time.

Also, this incident proves once again you do not want to rely on the police when your life is on the line. If you’ve ever taken any of my training courses or any of the other schools such as Gunsite, I can promise you that you’re better trained than the majority of police officers. It may not be the most comforting thing to hear, but you’re the only one who is truly responsible for your family’s safety, which is why you should train as often as time and money will allow. 

A coming race war?

I think I’ll preface this by saying that I have zero respect for anyone that judges another person by their race or religion. (That’s putting it lightly.) The fact is, I’m Mormon and twice in my life I’ve had people tell me that they wanted to train with me but found out I was Mormon and couldn’t trust a Mormon to train them in the use of firearms.

In another instance, I was doing training when I walked up to a group of instructors from another school that I did not know. They began talking about how they could never train with a black man and they used a very ugly word.

In both cases, I wish I could say I did the Christian thing and tried to help these ignorant folks or something along those lines. But the truth is, I simply walked away because I knew if I opened my mouth I would tell them what I thought of them and a fight would likely ensue. And since guns were present, it was much better for me to not say a word, control my temper, and get away from them.

I bring all this up…

Because recently I was working for a client and I had to do some in-depth research on the KKK and the Black Panthers. I’m sure you’re familiar with them but if you spend 5 minutes searching online you’ll be amazed at how sick each of these groups really is.

And I say 5 minutes because after that short amount of time you’ll feel sick to your stomach from what you’re reading and won’t want to see anymore. In a way, I feel sorry for these people because they must have had horrible childhoods to now be spewing such hate.

But I was researching them because of the upcoming election and because each group has stated that there is going to be some outbreak of violence if their candidate doesn’t win. If Romney wins, the Black Panthers claim they’re going to go around killing white people. And if Obama wins, the KKK and skinheads claim they’re going to do the same to Black people.

I realize these groups having been saying this type of thing for years…

But lately the talk is becoming uglier and happening more often. If you don’t believe me, just read an article about Obama and then scroll down to where people can share their comments. It won’t take you long to see the hate in this world.

So what can you do about this? Well, I know that 99% of people reading this aren’t racists, but that doesn’t mean you still won’t get attacked by one of these hate groups. A stray bullet doesn’t care if you’re black or white or Asian. In other words, on the night of the election I wouldn’t be hanging out in any major cities… especially Chicago. That place is going to have an all out war any day now.

I’d also be extra vigilant in the days leading up to the election. If you want to see how quickly a city can collapse you should watch some of the videos of the Rodney King riots. In a matter of minutes society broke down and innocent victims were being pulled from their cars and beaten.

I know this week I didn’t share my usual firearms tips, but sometimes I just want to make you think. And a lot of people think the economy is the biggest danger this nation faces, but it’s looking more and more like a race war, which is just another reason why you need to carry a firearm to protect yourself and you need to have good situational awareness and not do anything foolish like hang out at a skinhead biker bar on the night of the election (or ever).