CCW Safe Podcast – Maintain Situational Awareness
My latest podcast appearance is with CCW Safe https://ccwsafe.com/series/ . The topic is The Armed Defender’s Dilemma Lesson 9: Maintain Situational Awareness. It is available for both reading on their website https://ccwsafe.com/series/lesson-9-maintain-situational-awareness/article/lesson9-podcast/ and listening on various podcast sites, including YouTube.
A topic I brought up was about Decision Points. They are often overlooked in the community, especially the concept of forcing the Decision Point.
“[I]t’s called a Decision Point, and that was always very important to me to look at that. And I think about it now in our context of ‘[H]ow do we force the Decision Point on the situation where it’s to our advantage as opposed to the predator’s[?]’”
Whenever possible, we want to avoid becoming decisively engaged https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2014/06/25/situational-awareness-and-positioning-part-i/ and having to fight the engagement to a conclusion by ourselves. Forcing the Decision Point makes the predator react to us rather than us react to them. We can put Boyd’s Process https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2025/02/16/more-again-about-boyd-and-ooda/ to work for ourselves this way.
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https://www.patreon.com/TacticalProfessor
Rock Hill SC Assassination Attempt
You don’t have to be President Trump to be ‘Targeted for Termination.’ Bad Decisions lead to Negative Outcomes; one Justifiable Killing and one 10 year prison sentence.
“This was basically an assassination attempt,” Judge Bill McKinnon said. “It’s pre-planned. I mean, they intercepted him in traffic to block his car in and then tried to kill him.”
Many thanks to Good Guy With A Gun for reporting on this case.
Executive Summary of the Crime
- Woman (aka WBM ‘would-be murderer’) gets into argument with a male co-worker (MCW).
- Texts girlfriend (GF) to bring her a ‘tool’ (aka pistol) and sends picture of the male’s car.
- GF picks up WBM and they follow MCW in car when he leaves work.
- MCW tries multiple times to escape the confrontation.
- GF and WBM finally box MCW in at a stoplight.
- WBM exits GF’s car with pistol concealed in a grocery bag and confronts MCW.
- MCW retrieves his own pistol from his vehicle and then shoots and kills WBM.
- GF gets out of her car and punches MCW in the face.
- MCW indicates to GF with pistol to back off.
- GF is arrested by POlice.
- GF charged with Assault and Battery and Felony Murder because of WBM’s death.
- POlice say MCW acted in self-defense https://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/crime/article289406968.html and no charges are filed against him.
- GF pleads Guilty to Aggravated Assault and Battery.
- Judge is unsympathetic to her plea for leniency due to pregnancy and sentences GF to 10 years imprisonment.
- Prosecutors drop Felony Murder and other charges after 10 year sentence for A & B.
There is no shortage of wackadoos who will try to kill you for nonsensical reasons.
If you would like to read more in-depth articles about self-defense and personal protection, please consider subscribing to my Patreon page.
Surviving Edged Weapons
There is plenty of commentary, both informed and uninformed, available about the legalities and moralities of Austin Metcalfe’s murder, so I’m not going to go into those aspects of the incident. What has been focused on less is the actual mechanics of the incident. What’s most important for us and our loved ones to know is how to avoid becoming a casualty or fatality in such an incident.
“Yes, Karmelo put his hand in the bag and said five times, ‘touch me and see what happens,’ the witness testified.”
Note that the weapon used was a camping multitool available at WalMart. It has a knife blade, which is 3.5 inches long. This was more than sufficient to pierce Austin Metcalfe’s heart and kill him. Since Anthony had his hand in the bag long enough to repeat his threat five times, the knife was probably already open when it came out. Being within arm’s length in that situation is very dangerous.
Contrary to the pronouncements of some foolish common taters, knives are definitely deadly weapons. While many edged weapon attacks involve multiple slashes or stabs, just one can be sufficient to cause death. Austin Metcalfe’s demise is a sad example of how quickly that can happen.
The video Surviving Edged Weapons is available on YouTube. Made in 1988, it’s still well worth watching, either for the first time or as a review. It contains multiple actual incidents and re-enactments of edged weapon attacks and their aftermaths.
As noted in one comment to the video, the example at 7:15 of an officer being stabbed with a sword through the opening of a door recently occurred IRL in Boston. https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/boston-police-northeastern-university-sword-stabbing/
If you would like to read more in-depth articles about self-defense and personal protection, please consider subscribing to my Patreon page. https://www.patreon.com/TacticalProfessor
Defense of a Third Party – Double Trouble
“What’s the difference between truth and fiction? Fiction has to make sense.” Variously attributed to Mark Twain, Tom Clancy, and other notable authors of fiction.
A recent incident was summarized in a news release by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation because it involved a GBI Agent’s interaction with an Armed Citizen. It is an example of why I don’t bother making up ‘Worst Possible Cases.’ I just follow the news. I’m not clever enough to dream up something as weird as this.
Incident Summary
While driving with his daughter, a man was blocked in by an unhinged driver. The attacker exited his vehicle and approached the victim. The victim put a revolver in his pocket and got out of his vehicle. A fight ensued and the attacker got control of the victim’s revolver. The victim regained control of the revolver and shot the attacker.
A Georgia Bureau of Investigation Agent passing by saw the confrontation. Upon seeing the victim shoot the attacker, the GBI Agent opened fire on the victim. Fortunately, no hits were scored. The victim dropped his revolver and complied with the Agent’s commands.
The attacker drove off. He went to an adjacent county and called for medical assistance. After being treated, he was arrested and charged with multiple felonies.
This incident contains at least three, possibly all four, elements of the Avoid, Escape, Confront, Resist paradigm. https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2016/07/24/the-cost-of-killing/ The underlying causes of all this weirdness have not yet been revealed.
A few of the elements involved in the incident for consideration
- Road rage
- Perils of Intervention
- Don’t Go Outside
- Car carry
- Entangled fight
- Defense of 3d party
- Mistaken identity shooting
This incident is worthy of an entire series on my Patreon page.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/complicated-of-i-156362758
Tactical Conference 2026 – I
The 2026 Rangemaster Tactical Conference, aka TacCon https://taccon.info/, wrapped up last Sunday evening. It was three full days of training focused on personal development for self-defense and personal protection. A wide variety of subjects were presented in a buffet format. The classes ranged from live fire with pistols and shotguns to hands-on encounters without firearms to theoretical and philosophical seminars. Friday’s schedule gives a glimpse of the classes that are available.
I gave my presentation A Deep Dive into Boyd’s Process aka the O-O-D-A Loop twice. It seemed to be fairly well received. My object was to dispel some myths and give a more detailed analysis of what Colonel John Boyd actually said.
In Memory of Chuck Norris concluded my presentation.
Good Guys Wear Black Airport fight
Although I spent much of the Conference in discussions with my colleagues, I attended two classes; Concealment Workshop by Jon and Sarah Hauptman and Target, Bullets, and Body Parts by Chuck Haggard. With a lineup of dozens of classes, it’s not possible to take them all in. I also observed or sat in for a bit on several others. What You Should Know About Defensive Shooting by John Farnam, Hardest State Carry Quals by Karl Rehn, Low Round Count Evaluations by Lee Weems, and Defensive Knife for Concealed Carriers by Greg Ellifritz were worthwhile additions to my schedule.
An important part of the Conference to me is the Pistol Match because it is a rare opportunity to shoot at turning targets. Visual cues are rather different than an audio cue such as a shot timer. The staff graciously consented to allow me to shoot it twice, once for record with my Glock 19 and a second time the next day with my LCP II .380 for comparison. The results will be in my next post.
Principles of Personal Defense
The Jeff Cooper Legacy Foundation https://jeffcooperfoundation.org/ has made available, as a free PDF download, Jeff Cooper’s short book, Principles of Personal Defense https://jeffcooperfoundation.org/?page_id=1546 The download link is at the bottom of the page.
You now have no excuse for not reading it. It is a short book and well worth an hour or so of your time.
Many thanks to Greg Moats for the heads-up.
Defense of a Third Person Incident
Two years ago today, an Atlanta mother shot her daughter’s ex-boyfriend when he showed up at their home, threatened them, and fired a pistol in the air.
https://www.goodguywithagun.online/p/good-guy-with-a-gun-120-atlanta-ga
Often, Defensive Gun Uses can be described as ‘Defense of a Third Person/Party,’ rather than Defense of Self, per se. That’s why I generally use the term ‘Personal Protection’ rather than ‘Self Defense.’
“A person is justified in threatening or using force against another when and to the extent that he or she reasonably believes that such threat or force is necessary to defend himself or herself or a third person [emphasis mine] against such other’s imminent use of unlawful force”
–Official Code of Georgia Annotated Section 16-3-21 https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-16/chapter-3/article-2/section-16-3-21/
Defenders need to be aware of the fact that innocent parties may be downrange in addition to the assailant. Whether that was the case in this incident is unclear but it is a possibility. Defense of a third person by an armed citizen often does not involve the classic hostage rescue shot.
Nonetheless, when others are downrange, spraying and praying isn’t a good tactic. This was a counter-point article I wrote about the subject years ago.
Being a successful defender doesn’t mean you have to be a Delta Force sniper but you do need to know where your bullets are likely to go. Meghan Brown’s incident is a good example of having patience and making a good decision.
If you would like to read more in-depth information about shooting and personal protection, consider subscribing to my Patreon page.
He Saved My Life!
#mousegunmonday #win
The victim of the robbery wouldn’t go on camera but said, “He saved my life!” Customer’s mousegun comes to the rescue. The surveillance video of this incident shows a customer in a Michigan convenience store react to an armed robbery of the store clerk.
The customer draws a pocket carried, probably laser equipped, mousegun from his pocket, activate the laser, and fire seven shots in three volleys at the robber. His initial volley of three shots is taken at the closer end of the Near Phase of Public Space, probably about 12-15 feet. He made at least three hits for the seven shots; a minimum of a 43% hit rate. The firing solution required him to shoot past the clerk who is downrange and in close proximity to the robber. He was able to do this despite shooting with his Primary Hand Only.
The robber was neutralized by the customer’s bullets and the clerk was unharmed. #WIN It wasn’t a 25 yard headshot but it was beyond “arm’s length.”
Legal post-mortem: The District Attorney ruled that the shooting was Justified as a Defense of Another Individual.
SELF-DEFENSE ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 309 of 2006
780.972 Use of deadly force by individual not engaged in commission of crime; conditions.
Sec. 2.
(1) An individual who has not or is not engaged in the commission of a crime at the time he or she uses deadly force may use deadly force against another individual anywhere he or she has the legal right to be with no duty to retreat if either of the following applies:
(a) The individual honestly and reasonably believes that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent the imminent death of or imminent great bodily harm to himself or herself or to another individual.
Note that some common taters to the video were outraged that charges would even be considered. In any use of deadly force against someone, a decision will have to be made about the legality of the use of force. The news story was published three weeks after the shooting and the decision had not yet been made, pending the completion of the POlice investigation. Anyone who shoots at someone else for any reason is going to have a period of sweating it out waiting for the decision about prosecution. Be ready for that.
The robber was arraigned for three charges including armed robbery. He could face up to life imprisonment because he’s a three-time loser.
I’ll do a more in-depth analysis of this incident on the Incidents and Walkbacks Tier of my Patreon page in a day or two.
Underestimating Your Opponent
A picture is circulating on Facebook that many people are mocking because the only AR platform rifles they know are in caliber 5.56mm. The picture is of two youths in Minneapolis sitting on a car. One of them is holding a rifle. He’s muzzling his friend but that’s for another time.
“What do you notice about his magazine?”
What I noticed about his magazine is that it’s an M&P 15-22 .22 rifle with a partially loaded magazine. This fact seems to escape some ‘cognoscenti’ who aren’t as cognizant as they think. The follower isn’t all the way down but it’s not obscured by the magazine well either. There are definitely some ammos in it. It might be a magazine blocked to 10 rounds.
Within their performance envelope, which covers many urban situations, .22 rifles are incredibly lethal. One of my colleagues calls them ‘three step guns.’ After being shot with one, the shootee takes three steps and falls down dead as a hammer. Underestimating their lethality is a grave mistake. I have many incidents in my database of people killed by a single round to the chest from a .22 rifle.
“There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.”
― Lao Tzu
If you would like to read more in-depth information about shooting and personal protection, including making good decisions, consider subscribing to my Patreon page.
Facebook Marketplace Robbery Foiled
#throwbackthursday
A friend sent me the Good Guy With A Gun desk calendar https://goodguywithagun.store/ as a Christmas present. There’s a story of self-defense or personal protection each day on the calendar.
It’s an excellent resource to rebut the contentions of anti-gunners that guns are never used for self-defense. It’s also useful for updating your own mindset about personal protection. Here is today’s story.
Good Guy with a Gun #76: Peoria, IL
https://www.goodguywithagun.online/p/good-guy-with-a-gun-76-peoria-il
This incident occurred on January 15, 2024. The Substack provides numerous links about the incident and follow-ups but here’s a few for synopsis and easy reference.
Fourth Defendant Pleads Guilty in Fatal Facebook Marketplace Robbery
State’s Attorney News Posted on December 15, 2025
On the evening of January 15, 2024, two individuals traveled to Peoria to purchase a vehicle arranged through Facebook Marketplace. They were directed to an alley in the south end, where several individuals, including Williams, attempted to rob them at gunpoint.
One of the purchasers, who possessed a lawfully owned firearm, exchanged gunfire with the robbers, and one of the robbers was killed. The purchaser was not charged, as the shooting was determined to be self-defense.
https://www.peoriacounty.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/1250
Two men charged in deadly Facebook Marketplace robbery attempt
The victim is a legal gunowner with an out-of-state carry permit.
Fourth person pleads guilty to 2024 Facebook Marketplace robbery in Peoria
The person who shot and killed one of the robbers was not charged, as [Peoria County States Attorney spokeswoman Anna Perales] said that he acted in self-defense.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/aggravated-robbery-sentencing-hearings/
Note: I don’t receive any compensation for mentioning the calendar. It’s a good resource worth looking at.
If you would like to read more in-depth information about shooting and personal protection, including making good decisions, consider subscribing to my Patreon page.
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