Cruel Hand Luke

Hey Aqil, check your private messages.

No, I'm sure we'll probably offer another in the fall.....let me look at my schedule and see what we can do. It would be good to see you again !

Only TWO weeks to go!

Just about 5 weeks to go on this one!

Getting in here way late, but I do have more than just a tiny bit of experience with Red Dot pistols.... There is a learning curve to it. It is not magic. You can't just buy one and it make you an awesome shooter. In fact if you are a GOOD shooter it might in fact make you a worse shooter for a while as you acclimate to the RDS. The first weekend after I got mine I shot a GSSF match and did better (demonstrably better) with my iron sighted gun than I did with my red dot gun. But that was comparing a gun I had less than 3 days with to a type of gun I'd been shooting for 20 years. Not a fair comparison at all. Part of that learning curve is finding the dot on the draw. If your draw is a random harem scarem "grip it, rip it and thrust it at the target and then try to find the sights" then you will be much slower finding the dot inside the little window. On the other hand if you smoothly draw the gun up into your eye line as you extend it while looking for the iron sights the dot will be there. This sounds simple (and is simple) but some people have a hard time with it until they actually PRACTICE doing it. The dot is not going to do anything for you at 3 to 5 yards that your irons will not do . The dot simply adds (and multiplies) your ability at distance. In fact once you cross the 15 yard line the dot is like cheating due to the much smaller aiming point . BUT....it takes some getting used to. One other added benefit to the red dot is it is an on board dry fire tool. You can use it for dry fire practice to see via the dot's movement just how much trigger finger finesse you have. If the dot pretty well stays on the front sight as you press the trigger then your trigger manipulation is solid. If it jumps all over the place as you press the trigger then you need to work a bit more to smooth out your trigger control. Here's one of mine......

On the evening of Saturday July 29 we will be offering a LOW LIGHT Training Day. Come out and work those pistol and flashlight skills you learned in CRG 2 or in the Low Light class or Low Light FOF classes. We will do a little refresher dry work and then spend the majority of the time working on live fire drills in diminishing and low light. This is the perfect opportunity to get some reps of live fire both with and without your flashlight in diminishing and low light. If you've never shot in the dark then you have a serious hole in your skill set. The first time you shoot in low light should not be in a real confrontation. Come out and work these skills and have some fun!SUAREZ INTERNATIONAL TN / GA / AL Training Group When: SATURDAY July 29 Instructor: Tier 1 Suarez Int Staff Instructor Randy HarrisLocation: The usual place- Phillips/Edwards Farm 763 County Rd 332 Pisgah AL 35765 Time: 5PM CENTRAL time - 11PM CENTRAL timePrice: $100 - pay at class cash or check. Notice the price is a little higher than usual because the material is a bit more advanced due to the low light environment. What you need to bring: Pistol, pistol magazines, FLASHLIGHT and at least 200 rounds of ammo. Revolvers are welcome if you want to party like it is 1899. WEAPON MOUNTED LIGHTS ARE FINE BUT MAKE SURE YOU BRING A HANDHELD LIGHT ALSO. Also if you want to bring a rifle or shotgun or pistol caliber carbine or your Stakeout to see how the muzzle flash really is in low light then bring them. We can shoot some drills with weapons other than pistols too. I'd like to get a head count on this for who is planning to attend so please either respond in this thread or PM me if you plan to attend. Instead of breaking for dinner we might just cook out at the range but I will need a solid count on how many we have coming to make that happen. Hope to see you (or not see you ) there.

Two weeks to go on this one and we still have spots available. Hope to see you there!

When making decisions about safety and "threat vs non threat " we need to look at the whole picture in making decisions... not just clothes or skin color or tattoos....The overwhelming majority of people are good people. And no race has the monopoly on kindness... or cruelty for that matter. A black guy in a suit on the streets of Chattanooga at lunchtime is going to appear as far less of a threat than a black guy dressed in "urban street attire" in Alton Park at 11PM. And there are plenty of candy ass white kids who like to dress like gangbangers...... and not every black guy with a red shirt on is a "Blood".....But to dismiss the combination of tattoos (especially gang affiliation tats ) , race and clothing is just naive. The pasty white dude with the "88" tattoo on his shoulder and "spider web" tat on his elbow is advertising to you what his background is if you know how to read the signs. Add to that a pair of black BDU pants and combat boots and a shaved head and you have someone I will consider a threat until proven otherwise....even though I am a white guy too and have a good friend who is a pasty white guy with a shaved head....But the guy with the tattoos and the "uniform" is a potential threat simply due to how he is advertising himself. Just like I'd see the totality of circumstances and big picture with a black guy with pants hanging down , tattoos of a 6 pointed star and a pitchfork (Crip Gang symbols) and a North Carolina "NC" hat (Northside Crips) turned to one side. Or a brown guy with tattoos of the Virgin Mary and " MS13" tattoo....they all are telling a story if you just read the page.... And looking at the whole picture is how we make better decisions on whether something is dangerous or not. It is not just race...or just clothing ...or just tattoos....or just body language... it is the totality of circumstances. And if that makes you feel bad then I suggest you spend less time watching Oprah and listening to NPR.

SPECIAL 3 DAY EVENT WITH MORE MATERIAL INCLUDING TREATING TRAUMATIC INJURIES !!! More material, more reps, more force on force, and a block of instruction on treating traumatic injuries! SUAREZ INTERNATIONAL HRO-5: TERRORIST / ACTIVE SHOOTER INTERDICTION AUGUST 11-13, 2017 Price: $500 DAYTON, TENNESSEE INSTRUCTOR: RANDY HARRISINSTRUCTOR BIOEXTRA THIRD DAY!This special 3 Day version of this class also includes blocks of instruction on trauma care in the field. Trey Hudson will be guest lecturer on topics of history of terrorism, personal security measures and counter terrorism! Trey currently works as a Security Specialist with a government agency and in 2009 he returned from an assignment as a Force Protection/Anti-terrorism Officer in Afghanistan. Jamie Jackson will be guest lecturer on trauma care. Jamie has 44 years Health Care experience, former EMT, former Corpsman (73-82) RN, BSN, CCRN 35 years. 25 years Critical Care and ER mostly in New Orleans, full time ER 11 years. TNCC (Trauma Nursing Core Course) PHTLS (Pre Hospital Trauma Life Support) BLS, ACLS, PALS, NALS Louisiana State version of CONTOMS. This specialized class deals with solutions to the Active Shooter or the Armed Terrorist on a suicide mission. Originally designed as a class to deal solely with the armed terrorist, in answer to student's requests, we have expanded it to also include the active shooter situation as well.On the terrorism issue, government and local law enforcement are training for the inevitable wave of terror attacks. Historically the terrorists have not relied solely on explosives, and may just as likely utilize the tactic of an active shooter. Such situations have already occurred here in the USA as seen by the Beltway Snipers, and the shootings outside CIA headquarters several years ago. Similarly, we hear more and more daily about non-terrorist incidents like the Tacoma Mall Shooting where an individual decided to get noticed by killing innocent people in a large public place. Although the authorities may be prepared to respond to such events, history tells us that the first line of defense is the armed citizen. It is the man or woman who finds themselves suddenly and unexpectedly in such an event that will end the killing. Will you be ready?These events, whether begun by a terrorist, or a deranged criminal bent on killing innocents call for new tactics and a new mindset. In the Terrorism/Active Shooter Interdiction Course© you will learn extremely aggressive CQB Interdiction Techniques utilized successfully against terrorists by armed citizens overseas. You will study the possible role of the CCW Armed Citizen in stopping such an event in its tracks. You will learn to use whatever you have at your disposal (pistol, knives, impact weapons and even your bare hands) to deanimate and neutralize a terrorist, or active shooter and stop him from killing innocents.We will also be doing a module of instruction for familiarization with the AK-47 series of rifles and the SKS series of rifles. If you have one, bring it.This course uses live fire, and non-live fire force on force training along with other modalities to develop the necessary aggressive fighting skills and then test them in scenarios replicating actual events. Armed Citizens are the first line of defense and the true Homeland Security. In the Al Queda video tape (which all students will view as a part of the class) the jihadists are training to attack and kill Americans at home. They are ready. Are you?? CLASS AND RANGE DETAILS DURATION: 3 days TIME: 8:30AM to 4:30PM AMMUNITION: Approximately 500 rounds (Minimum) RANGE & GEAR REQUIREMENTS: Pistol, carry holster, at least two magazines, and the usual range safety gear (ear and eye protection). Bring an airsoft pistol with the necessary gear (pellets, facemask, etc - all of it is available at www.onesourcetactical.com. NOTE: Bring an adequate supply of CO2 for the airsoft. An extra magazine is important in case there is a problem with the primary. Also Helpful Bring spare clothing appropriate for the weather, including a hat, sunscreen, and bug repellent. Plan to bring lunch, snacks, and water (min 1 gallon per person) for the entire day unless driving to lunch is a viable option from the range location. Bring allergy medication (if needed), a chair (if you prefer), note taking supplies, and a boo boo kit (band aids, gauze pads, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment and tape). You may wish to bring pads such as knee pads, elbow pads, and gloves if the class lends itself to that. For more info and to register...https://suarezinternational.com/hro-...017-dayton-tn/

From Greg Ellifritz of Active Response Training....... http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/the-philando-castile-shooting-and-some-advice-for-my-cop-readers?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ActiveResponseTraining+(Active+Response+Training) The Philando Castile Shooting and Some Advice for My Cop Readers Posted on June 22, 2017 by Greg Ellifritz in News and Tactical Advice Tweet EmailShare SUMO Written by Greg Ellifritz This week, a Minnesota jury acquitted officer Jeronimo Yanez in the shooting death of motorist Philando Castile. This was a controversial police shooting that probably didn’t have to happen. I would encourage all of you to watch the recently released dash cam footage of the shooting if you have not done so. Watch the whole incident. It’s tragic. My take on the shooting is that both the officer and the motorist made some mistakes. Having researched the case, I don’t believe that Philando Castile was actually reaching for his concealed carry pistol. He did, however, tell the officer he was armed and make a hand movement consistent with drawing a concealed firearm. Those of you with CCW permits should know to be extra careful and avoid making any motions that a poorly-trained officer could construe as being threatening. Mr. Castile, failed to exercise this type of caution and was shot by the cop as a result. He made a mistake, but in my mind that mistake should not carry a death penalty as the consequence. The bigger mistake, in my opinion, was made by Officer Yanez. He appeared to panic when confronted by the fact that the driver he stopped was armed and didn’t seem to be paying proper attention to his verbal commands. He probably didn’t need to shoot Mr. Castile, but I feel reasonably certain that the officer felt that he had no other option. That is the predictable result of poor training, possibly combined with poor hiring practices on the part of Officer Yanez’ agency. People prone to panic should not be hired as cops. All cops should be given quality force on force training so that they know how to handle incidents like this without reflexively firing their weapons in abject fear. Unfortunately, both problems are likely to persist in the face of ever-shrinking government budgets. What can you and I do to prevent innocent folks from being killed by poorly trained cops? It’s a difficult problem to solve. I have a couple words of advice for my readers who are CCW carriers and even more advice for my cop readers to follow. First, if you are lawfully armed and encounter a cop, you should follow your state’s laws with regards to notification. Some states require that you notify the cop you are carrying and some don’t. Make sure you state your notification calmly. In all honesty, Mr. Castile’s notification to Officer Yanez was virtually textbook. When you make this notification, your hands should be visible on the steering wheel and you should not be moving at all. Don’t try to get your wallet out or reach into your glove compartment for your insurance card. Remain perfectly still! Listen to what the officer tells you to do and obey his commands. If there is any doubt at all what the cop wants you to do, simply freeze. Don’t move at all until you are sure what the cop wants you to do. Always err on the side of remaining motionless rather than doing something when there is any doubt about the cop’s commands. It’s sad, but it’s probably safest for the armed citizen to assume that the cop will be poorly trained and might get scared at your notification. Do everything possible to keep things calm and avoid making any potentially threatening motions or statements. There’s no guarantee that this will keep you safe, but it’s the best advice I can provide. For my police readers, how would you like to be in Officer Yanez’ shoes right now? Clearly, he is better off than Mr. Castile because he is still alive, but his career and life are ruined. You don’t want to kill an innocent citizen. You also don’t want to go to jail, lose a lawsuit, or get fired. The onus is on YOU to prevent these things from happening. It isn’t your agency’s job to keep you alive, out of jail, and employed. Your agency will neglect to give you the training you need and fire you in a heartbeat when you screw anything up. It’s YOUR job to keep yourself out of the trick bag. My cop readers need to focus on two issues: 1) Ensuring the validity of the initial transaction- The first thing that comes up in any police shooting investigation or any lawsuit filed against the cops is “Why did the cops contact the person they shot.” If the reason for the contact is bogus, then everything that transpires later is viewed with suspicion. The media works this angle to the cop’s detriment. They blame the shooting on the reason for the stop, not what the suspect did afterwards. Right now we are hearing every media outlet talk about Mr. Castile being shot “for having a couple of burnt out brake lights.” That’s not why he was shot, but it doesn’t matter in the court of public opinion. Your contact with any citizen in an enforcement capacity needs to be rock-solid. Not only rock-solid in a legal sense, but rock-solid in the court of public opinion. Look at this shooting. The reason for contact (only one functioning brake light) is valid legally, but what do people think about cops pulling people over for minor infractions like that? They don’t like it. Following the logic, they will like it even less when someone gets shot as a result of a “bull####” stop. I know what the cop was doing, he was likely hunting for criminals and people who have warrants. I see it pretty regularly. Cops pull over crappy cars for equipment violations, hunting for an arrest. Poor people who can’t afford to fix busted tail lights often can’t afford to pay their tickets, their child support, or their court fees. Their driver’s licenses are frequently suspended and they regularly have warrants. So, aggressive cop looking to arrest “bad guys” pulls over a beater car and runs everyone inside for warrants. About 25% of the time he gets lucky and gets an arrest or a bunch of tickets. Every once in awhile, bad #### happens, innocent people die and the cop ends up in the national media spotlight. Is it worth it to take the chance of such a negative outcome to enforce a relatively inconsequential traffic violation ? The problem is that a large portion of society thinks that your hard work and “aggressive and proactive” policing style looks an awful lot like “screwing with poor people” instead of hunting criminals. STOP HASSLING PEOPLE! The fact that some dude has a suspended license or hasn’t paid a speeding ticket is not negatively affecting the real safety of the community you patrol. I know you want to do good things and make lots of arrests, but every stop you make has the potential to go REALLY bad. Don’t stop people for bogus violations. Don’t hunt minor scofflaws. The public doesn’t respect you for doing so and occasionally you will get thrown under the bus when you screw something up, or your stop ends up in a shooting that you didn’t intend. Put yourself in the position of Officer Yanez. Would you have made that traffic stop if you had known it would turn out like it did? My guess is the answer is “no“. Think about that the next time you feel like making a stop for a cracked windshield or some other trifling infraction. I know this opinion will be criticized by hard working, aggressive police officers; and perhaps rightfully so. Most cops want to do a good job and lock up bad guys. A problem is created when the very public we serve does not approve of the manner in which we do this. The public’s disapproval of pretextual traffic stops and enforcement of petty traffic violations is at a historic high. They don’t like it. And they like it even less when you get involved in a controversial shooting because you finally caught one of those really bad guys that you were trying to put in jail. In today’s world it becomes more a matter of individual and career survival than an issue of getting one more arrest. In my mind, that balance is pretty clear. I don’t make pretextual traffic stops. I don’t stop vehicles for minor equipment violations that don’t endanger the motoring public. I don’t run the plate on every car I see looking for the dude who has a suspended license because he didn’t pay his child support. Most of the people you catch by making these kind of stops aren’t truly criminals. They’re broke! Yes, they have likely made numerous poor decisions that have resulted in their warrants/suspensions, but most of these folks aren’t a real danger to your community. Don’t make it a habit to focus your attention on these “small fish.” Your community would probably prefer that you spend your time doing something more productive to enhance your residents’ safety. My hard charging rookie self would have scoffed at this advice 20+ years ago when I was leading my police department in total numbers of arrests and traffic tickets. You cops reading this may scoff right now as well. Do what you think is best, but I promise that your perspective will change after a couple decades in the game. I want you to make it to your retirement healthy, happy, and outside the confines of a correctional institution. The best way to do that in today’s world is not by stopping every car that moves. 2) You need more and better training. I don’t know a single department in the country that gives its officers all the training they need. Initial recruit training in most states is abysmal. In Ohio, barbers get three times more training than cops do before being licensed. In-service training is even worse. I know some departments that provide NO in service training other than watching a couple videos each year. If you are scared of legally armed citizens with CCW permits and you freak out because someone has a gun, you simply aren’t confident in your own abilities. That’s a huge problem. When you aren’t skilled and confident, you get scared and you over react. Freaked out cops don’t make good decisions. When cops don’t make good decisions, they end up on the national news. Your department won’t give you the training you need. You have two options. You can seek out the training on your own or you can hope you never get into a bad spot where your lack of skills gets you killed or put in jail. There has never been a greater variety of top notch weapon and martial arts training available for cops and private citizens. You need to start taking classes. You will be amazed at what you don’t know. I was already a state-certified police firearms instructor before I took my first professional shooting class. I learned more in that first day of professional gun training than I did in the two-week police “instructor” school. If you haven’t done any training outside the academy or your agency’s in-service classes, quite honestly your skills are likely to be subpar. You don’t know what you are doing. You are prone to being killed or doing something stupid that will get you fired or jailed. Even worse, you may mistakenly kill an innocent citizen who makes a minor error of judgement in your presence. Even though I’ve been teaching gun skills professionally for almost my entire career, I still take lots of outside training classes to keep my skills sharp. I make it my goal to seek out at least 80 hours a year of professional training over and above the training my agency provides. And I pay for those classes (and travel costs and ammo) out of my own pocket. I shoot my guns in practice at least weekly and pay for 5,000-10,000 rounds of practice ammo out of my own pocket every year. If you aren’t doing something similar, you are not ready to fight real bad guys on the street. The same is true with police defensive tactics training. If your only training is from the academy, you don’t know how to fight. You owe it to yourself to get at least a year or two of quality training (at least two sessions a week) at an outside martial arts studio that focuses on a realistic fighting art. And it better be a fighting art where you regularly train against other people who are trying to punch, kick, or choke you. Doing fancy katas in your dojo’s mirror isn’t adequate. Look at wrestling, Judo, Jujitsu, boxing, Muay Thai, MMA, or Krav Maga. It doesn’t have to be a lifetime passion. You just need to do the work necessary to beat most criminals. You’ll be amazed at how differently you look at situations on the street when you know how to fight. Your confidence will be a game changer and the criminals won’t even try you. If some guy high on marijuana doesn’t follow your commands instantaneously, you’ll have options other than shooting him. OR, of course, you can ignore my advice, roll the dice and hope nothing bad happens. I wish you luck if you choose that route. It hasn’t worked out so well for some other folks lately. If you’ve read this far, I thank you for your time. If you are a cop, I hope it prompts some positive change. As always, the views I express here are the rambling thoughts of a single curmudgeonly police trainer. They do not reflect the views of my fellow officers, supervisors, or agency.

I pretty much agreed with the Zimmerman verdict....Like it or not Trayvon Martin was not a "child" and he was the same height and weight as Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard. He would still be alive if he hadn't doubled back around and attacked Zimmerman. Zimmerman may be a douchebag but he has a right to defend himself from unlawful violence. I agreed with the Michael Brown investigation not leading to charges being filed. The whole "hands up don't shoot" has been proven to be fantasy and the coroners report shows a pretty clear picture of what happened. I even can see how Betty Shelby was acquitted (the officer who shot Terence Crutcher in Oklahoma). But I was truly surprised (and a bit dumbfounded) at the Yanez/Castile decision. When asked why he shot Castile , Yanez said "I don't know" . Really? You DON'T know? I get it that Castile matched the description of a robbery suspect in that area. That is enough to amp up any officer about to interact with someone. And you hate to Monday morning quarterback in these situations but it just seemed that Yanez was a little TOO amped up and maybe out of his depth. Was this the first time he'd ever encountered a legally armed citizen ? In the audio he seemed like someone who just realized he had really screwed up. I'll be the first to tell you that there is very little time to make a measured decision when human reaction time can mean the difference in life and death.....but this case just seems like a cop who was maybe a little too ready to shoot saw a black guy and a gun and fear of the two together lead to a shooting that should never have happened. I'm normally going to come down on the side of "if you don't fight the police you are not likely to get shot"....but Castile by all accounts was not fighting them and it is pretty unlikely he was initiating a gunfight with his girlfriend and her 4 year old daughter in the car. This is just a sad situation all the way around. And while I feel there are far too many families of criminals protesting their hoodlum family members finally falling victim to the law of averages (and not every "gentle giant" is in fact gentle), this one seems to be a case of at a bare minimum an officer being a little too quick on the trigger and that cost a man his life. .

SUAREZ INTERNATIONAL RGF-2: RIFLE GUNFIGHTING II JULY 15-16, 2017 CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE price : $350 INSTRUCTOR: RANDY HARRISRifle confrontations worldwide rarely exceed 25 yards. Rather than a long range marksman's weapon, our research shows the rifle will most likely be used just outside the reach of more conventional weapons, as well as within these closer intervals of confrontation.This course will take the student quickly through the basics and impart the techniques necessary to deploy the Tactical Rifle, Civilian Carbine, or Submachine gun in a close interval emergency.This course is highly recommended for civilian defenders, military personnel, or police operators (we make no distinction in the material presented). CLASS AND RANGE DETAILS DURATION: 2 days TIME: 9:00AM to 5:00PM AMMUNITION: Approximately 500 rounds (Minimum) and 50 rounds of pistol ammunition. RANGE & GEAR REQUIREMENTS: Rifle (any action or caliber suitable for use within 50 yards), all weapons must be equipped with a sling, also bring a pistol with at least (2) magazines, a belt, holster, magazine pouches, rifle ammo pouches, and ear & eye protection (knee and elbow pads are strongly suggested). Also Helpful Bring spare clothing appropriate for the weather, including a hat, sunscreen, and bug repellent. Plan to bring lunch, snacks, and water (min 1 gallon per person) for the entire day unless driving to lunch is a viable option from the range location. Bring allergy medication (if needed), a chair (if you prefer), note taking supplies, and a boo boo kit (band aids, gauze pads, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment and tape). You may wish to bring pads such as knee pads, elbow pads, and gloves if the class lends itself to that. For more info and to sign up............https://suarezinternational.com/rgf-...hattanooga-tn/

Welcome from another Ooltewah resident....maybe I'll see you at the Cleveland IDPA match or at a class sometime.

Just a week to go!

As to how early, 9am central. We will meet in the back yard and head up to the range after we do waivers and meet and greet. I plan to get there about 830 to 845