WKD Resonations – November 13, 2026
#fridayfundamentals
This is a different kind of Fundamentals; no marksmanship or skills with arms is involved. Synchronicity happened several times when I read this week’s Weekend Knowledge Dump. https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/weekend-knowledge-dump-november-13-2026
Earlier in the week, I become aware of the incident in which Amanda Colley and her friend, Lindy Dobbins were murdered. https://www.news4jax.com/news/2018/07/13/medical-examiner-testimony-james-colleys-wife-shot-9-times/ I’ve tried to find a link where their loathsome killer isn’t mentioned first with no luck.
Two links in WKD resonated with me about this incident. The first link was about getting shot.
What it’s like to get shot
https://www.survivalsullivan.com/how-it-feels-to-be-shot/
Three women were present during the murders. One was wounded and not killed.
“Hendricks said a shot fired through the closet door grazed her arm and felt ‘like a rug burn.’”
I found that to be an interesting analogy.
The second link concerned skills not taught.
Never Get Taken To A Second Location | Active Self Protection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho-VyzyiouE
Although the Colley incident didn’t involve being taken to a second crime scene, Greg’s comment “Over the years I’ve seen fewer and fewer instructors teaching the skill sets to avoid being taken to the second crime scene” made me think of something related.
When the Colley killer incident began his rampage, there were four innocent people in the house, one man and three women. When the killer started shooting from outside, the man immediately said “Run” and he ran. According to court testimony:
“He ran into the garage, rolled under the garage door and ran from the home. He wasn’t hurt and found someone a few streets away to call 911.”
In contrast, all three women hid in the house. Amanda hid in a bathroom. Lindy, the other fatality, and Rachel Hendricks, who survived, hid in a walk in closet.
“Colley put the handgun he was carrying up to [Lindy] Dobbins’ head, and that’s when Hendricks ran out of the closet and through the front door, looking for help.”
Both of the survivors RAN. One at the outset and the other when she had the opportunity to. Since most of our training is structured as ‘firing squad practice,’ running is not a survival skill we include. Years ago, when I taught my Advanced Concealed Carry Skills Course, one of the exercises was to run away to a specified safe point when the clients ran out of ammo during an extended decisional shooting exercise. They would run out of ammo at different times in the exercise and had to make a personal judgement call about when to run. Running away as an individual judgement call isn’t a skill often seen in firearms or self defense training.
The third resonant to me was Significant Advantages to the Revolver in Deep Concealment https://reflexhandgun.com/2021/11/02/a-significant-advantage-to-the-revolver-in-deep-concealment/
This article had a personal implication. As fond as I am of my Walther PPS, I have largely gone back to my 640-3 as my EDC. My reasons mostly align with the themes of the article.
I admit I have a probably excessive interest in deep concealment because of the amount of time I’ve spent in NPEs. Another aspect I’m influenced by is my desire to avoid a ‘Hindi Incident.’ Las Vegas Police officer Bob Hindi had occasion to quickly run out to the store late in the evening. Because it was so time sensitive, he didn’t take any of his personal protection equipment. Naturally, a robbery occurred while he was there. As he was struggling with the robber, he thought “I wish I’d brought my gun.” Fortunately, Bob fought the guy enough to force a Break In Contact https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2021/04/10/breaking-contact-part-i/, https://ccwsafe.com/resources/breaking-contact-pt-1/ and he wasn’t injured. Bob is a very squared away officer and ordinarily will never leave home without his gear but it took a few minutes to put on. He simply didn’t have time in this case.
The concept of having a tool I can quickly slip in my pants is very appealing to me as a result. I wouldn’t do a Clip Draw with a striker fired gun but I’m very comfortable using one with a double action revolver. Although I used a Barami Hip-Grip for decades, I became uncomfortable with it when I had my revolver slip out after a fall on ice. The Clip Draw seems a little more secure. How much so, I haven’t measured.
Another aspect of the 640-3 that I like is that it’s stainless and very visible when drawn. A Chicargo cop told me something a long time ago about stainless steel revolvers that I had never considered.
“Most of these nitwits are in a fog or can’t see very well. I want them to know I’m pointing a gun at them.”
I doubt optometry is high on the list of health care services considered essential by low-lifes and other undesirables.
A friend and I were discussing a few days ago what the most useful survival skill was. A point of agreement is that one of the most valuable skills is ‘emotional control.’ Within that broad category, I place ‘fear control’ as key. It’s another skill we don’t train on very well.
Fear Illusions: How Your Brain Gets Hacked Every Day
https://www.neilstrauss.com/neil/fear-illusions-and-the-brain/
Note that some of best literature about controlling fear comes from the swimming community. Fear of drowning is pretty high on everyone’s list.
In the past I’ve referenced many Army and other Service Field Manuals in my writing. Unfortunately, most of the official digital copies have now been removed from public access. No CAC card, no access. The Field Manual Vault is a good substitute resource.
Military Field Manuals
https://www.trex-arms.com/field-manual-vault
Colonel Max Radl spoke about Carl Jung and synchronicity.
“A very great thinker. A rational man And yet he speaks of something called synchronicity, events having a coincidence in time, creating the feeling that a deeper motivation is involved.”
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Serious Mistakes Gunowners Make Link Updates
Some of the links to Serious Mistakes Gunowners Make have become unworkable over the years. The buttons have the current link and take my readers directly to the sources.
For those who aren’t familiar with it, here are some reviews.
Reviews
GAT Daily https://gatdaily.com/articles/claude-werner-serious-mistakes-gun-owners-make/
Pistol Training dot com https://pistol-training.com/serious-mistakes-gunowners-make/
KR Training https://blog.krtraining.com/book-review-serious-mistakes-gunowners-make-werner-2019/
CCW Safe Podcasts Discussing concepts in the book
AI tells me:
The most common ‘complaint’ from reviewers is actually a compliment to the content: several prominent reviewers expressed disappointment that it is strictly sold as a digital file (PDF/eBook).
I’m working on a print edition but it may take a little time.
Thanks for all the support my readers have given me over the years, it means a lot.
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
The Wal-Mart Parking Lot Killing Legal Outcome
The State Attorney of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of Florida has ruled that there will be no prosecution of the woman who shot a man to death following a dispute over a parking space at a Wal-Mart in June. https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/north-lauderdale-self-defense-walmart-shooting-stand-your-ground/
A lengthy and detailed STAND YOUR GROUND IMMUNITY MEMO was released to explain the legal reasons for this decision. https://browardsao.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Homicide-Unit-Memo-re-June-30-2026.pdf
In summary,
“The video does not demonstrate that MP was in the right, rather it demonstrates that the State of Florida cannot overcome her claim that she was in reasonable fear of great bodily harm by clear and convincing evidence. Florida is a Stand Your Ground State. MP did not have to wait to be attacked before resorting to deadly force. She did not have to retreat as long as her fear was reasonable and no evidence has been presented to disprove that.”
A video timeline has also been posted by the State Attorney. https://browardsao.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Timeline-6-30-26.mp4
Reading the Memo and watching the video gave me a much different opinion of her retreat around the vehicles than I had previously. There was a much greater distance covered than just moving to the back of her vehicle. Given that she was neither a spring chicken nor a petite flower, she may well have retreated as much as she was physically capable of.
Prior to the release of the Memo, several persons had opined that because she exited her car with her pistol in hand she had committed an Aggravated Assault on DG (Dead Guy) and therefore had a Duty to Retreat. This issue is specifically addressed by a footnote in the Memo.
“If one argues that when MP exited her vehicle she committed the crime of Aggravated Assault with a Firearm, the State would point to §776.031 of the Florida Statutes which allows non-deadly force to be used in defense of property. As MP was clearly concerned about BD’s threats to damage her vehicle, this conduct was not unlawful. See, Little v. State, 302 So. 3d 396, (Fla. 4th DCA 2020).”
Note that displaying a weapon is non-deadly force as a matter of law in the State of Florida. This is not true everywhere so concealed carriers should be aware of the law wherever they happen to be. Legal nuances can be complicated, as this case clearly shows.
I still believe that the situation could have been handled differently in the context of CAN-MAY-MUST-SHOULD https://modernserviceweapons.com/?p=19028. However, my opinion has been tempered greatly by the depth of information in the Close Out Memo by the State Attorney. As is sometimes the case, the SHOULD in an incident can be decided differently, as defined by a person’s personal beliefs and capabilities.
For those who are interested, I will have more commentary on my Patreon page in the next few days.
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.
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
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
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
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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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