2007 NTI

04 June 07

Vicki and I just completed the 2007 NTI (National Tactical Invitational) in Harrisburg, PA. Once more, Vicki was "Sheriff" of ASTA Village all week. I shot the entire Course on Thursday. In addition to shooting challenges at the range, there were numerous lectures by noted luminaries such as Tom Givens, Marty Topper, John Holschen, Mike Warsocki, Skip Gochenour, and others, as well as a panel discussion among experts.

This year, I used my SIG/229/DAK in 40S&W, carried, as always, in my Comp-Tac/C-Tac IWB. My backup pistol was my Detonics/CM in my wonderful Lou Alessi shoulder holster. My second backup was my Kel-Tec/380 in a Comp-Tac neck holster. In addition, I carried my Cold Steel Vaquero Grande in a pocket,a Cold Steel Culloden neck knife, and a Blackhawk/HT automatic knife, also in a pocket. Finally, I carried a Blackhawk/Gladius flashlight, a Photon neck light, Fox OC, and a Boston Leather flat sap. Covering it all was my Concealed Carry Clothiers vest.

In all pistols I carried and shot Cor-Bon DPX ammunition, 140gr 40S&W, 180gr 45ACP, and 100 gr 380 Auto.

My equipment all functioned normally, that is to say, superbly!

The theme this year was air travel and getting along in places where you don't have your normal complement of equipment. In ASTA Village, you arrive at the local airport and proceed to your hotel. Participants and actors are armed with Simmunitions revolvers.

The local DA is prosecuting a violent, criminal case, and you've been retained by him as an expert. The day's activities include a lunchmeeting with a female assistant-prosecutor, a stop at the local clinic, another stop at the local strip mall, and an appearance at the local school and at the courthouse. At the school, courthouse, and local bar/restaurant, you are not allowed to be armed, as you normally would be.

Upon arriving at my hotel room, I armed myself with a five-shot Simmunitions revolver in a concealment holster. The revolver, ammunition, and holster were in my checked baggage. I had to opportunity to arm myself in the airport restroom, but decided instead to get away from the airport and to my hotelas quickly as possible.

My first stop was at a clinic to have a skin rash examined. As the nurse was examining it, a gun-wielding thug came into the front door. We made eye contact, and he motioned to me to be quiet and then volunteered that he was looking for drugs, all the while waving his pistol in my direction. His view of my right side was blocked by a wall, so I slowly drew my gun so that he could not see what I was doing. The nurse was petrified but said nothing. As the suspect diverted his attention from me to bottles of pills he was assembling, I quickly came on target and shot him three times in the torso. I needed a two-second window, and, as soon as he gave it to me, I acted without hesitation. He collapsed immediately.

I advanced and picked up his dropped gun in an effort to get it away from him. As I did, a local deputy confronted me at gunpoint, ordering me to drop my pistol, which I did. I announced that I was a police officer and that my ID was in my rear pocket. He still searched me but upon seeing my ID, allowed me to converse with him normally. I explained that the deceased threatened me, and the nurse, with a gun. The sheriff soon arrived and began asking detailed questions. I repeated my brief version of events and then explained that I was not well, needed to go to a hospital, and wanted my lawyer personally present before answering any more questions.

It was than off to the local school where I was to listen to a lecture by another expert who had been retained on the same case. I had to leave my pistol with the Sheriff before entering, as did everyone else. In attendance were a dozen locals. As we listened, two people entered the room. One started dumping liquid on the floor from a gasoline can. The other had a cigarette lighter in his hand. They said nothing. Facing forward, I didn't see them until I saw others looking backward fearfully. Sensing great danger, I leapt to my feet and made my way to the exit without delay. I thought about assisting others and even confronting the suspects, but I decided instead that there was only time to do one thing and, if I dithered, there would not be time even for that. Once out of the room and in relative safety, I assisted others in exiting.

Afterward, I retrieved my revolver from the Sheriff, but I noticed that, while in her care, it had been unloaded! Forty percent of participants never checked the condition of their guns as they were reclaimed, but instead glibly holstered an empty gun, unaware! They embarrassingly learned theirlesson, minutes later.

At the busy strip mall, I was confronted by a thug who stuck a pistol in my face. I quickly disarmed him, but he stayed in the problem anyway, just to provide me with additional challenge! A second thug then confronted me from the rear, and I found myself backed into a corner. What to do?

The second thug turned away momentarily. As he did, I drew on the first one. He turned and ran. I then charged the second one. He fled down a corridor, gun still in hand, amid the screams of frightened shoppers. As he did , I shot him three times in the back. As he fell, I re-confronted the first thug, who had come around to intercept me, and we shot it out at five meters. I was hit at least once in the right elbow. I hit him twice in the chest with my remaining two rounds.

During a conversation with a female, assistant DA in a bar, I again was required to be unarmed. Suddenly, the criminal suspect who was the subject of the case, along with several members of his family, angrily entered the bar, confronted me, and accused me of trying to ruin his life. I looked for a quick exit, attempted to verbally disengage by saying "I'm sorry. I don't think I can help you." He pressed his assault, so, still moving, I verbally escalated, yelling at him to get away from me. He and his entourage were momentarily confused, and I took advantage of their disarray to make good my escape.

At the courthouse, again disarmed, I was providing testimony when a thug burst in, shot the bailiff and threatened to shoot the judge. As he extended his revolver in the direction of the judge, I successfully disarmed him. Once again, when I reclaimed my pistol afterward from the Sheriff, it had been unloaded while in her custody.

Important lessons, learned and reinforced:

Ammunition management. Most of us carry thirteen-shooters, even eighteen-shooters, as our main gun, and, as a result, we often wax nonchalant with regard to the number of rounds we expend, calculating that a reload will not be necessary until after the fight is over. When carrying a five-shot revolver, one must shift his thinking! One is well advised to keep track of his reserve, as reloading one of these is slow, tedious, and has an irritatinghabit of becoming acutely necessary at inconvenient moments!

Exigent acquisition! Even when unarmed, you may have access to weapons or objects that can be pressed into service as weapons. You need to always be observant of walking sticks, guns carried by others, baseball bats, and other potential defensive instrumentalities, and you need to unapologetically get access to them, without delay, when necessary.

Watch your back! Never forget that you're on your own. On one occasion, a VCA snuck up behind me, and I never saw him. I had been depending upon the person I was sitting across the table from to warn me. She didn't. Shameon me!

Information gathering and threat assessment must be continuous. In ASTA Village, much valuable information is available for one who listens and observes. Don't bumble and blunder. Keep your options open. Watch your step!

Your first shot must be a killer! Whether confronting angry Cape Buffalo or VCAs, take the time to insure a first-round, fatal hit. Use your sights. Aim your shots, even when using a snubby revolver. It is critical. Anything less, and you're handing your opponent a pivotal advantage.

Get while the getting is good! When sensing danger, don't paint yourself into a corner. Exercise your options while they are still available. They tend to dry up quickly. Don't be too polite for your own good!

Don't relax too soon! Just when you conclude danger has passed, you might discover, to your dismay, it has not!

Learn legitimate disarming techniques. When confronting VCAs armed with guns, an aggressive disarm is often the only viable option.

Practice verbal disengagement regularly. Most disengagements can be successfully accomplished through movement, posture, and verbalization, but, like shooting, techniques and tape loops must be practiced on a regular basis.

Verbal challenges, like the one we use: "Police, don't move," are appropriate when confronting threats of unknown potential, such as a personat distance holding and gesturing with a bludgeon in a threatening manner. Verbal challenges are NOT appropriate, indeed are contra-indicated, when confronted with an immediate, deadly threat, such as a person threatening you with a gun. In the latter case, verbal challenges only squander valuable time and initiative.

In addition to ASTA Village, there were six live-fire exercises. In some, you were permitted to use your own weapon(s). In others, you were compelled to use found weapons, which included walking canes, baseball bats, a double-barrel shotgun, a K-frame revolver, a Ruger P85 pistol, and a left-handed STAG Arms AR-15. Some guns were loaded when found. Some were not. Ammunition was usually scattered on the floor and had to be recovered manually. Tactical movement through buildings, some in low-light, was necessary in all but one station.

As in the past, targets were all mannequins that were dressed and looked real. When engaging them with gunfire, your are required to shoot accurately and continue shooting until they either fall or run away. When you shoot poorly, they do neither!

Interestingly, on the subject of ammunition management, nearly all 1911 shooters reloaded long before running to slide-lock. On the contrary, most shooting high-capacity pistols ran to slide-lock and only then discovered they had to reload. There is little doubt that 1911 shooters do a better job of ammunition management than do high-cap guys. High-capacity pistols do have drawbacks!

Additional lessons:

Movement and security are always mutually antagonistic. Move too fast, bypassing areas of potential danger, and it might come out behind you. Move too slow and methodically, and there is no point, as you will not be able to accomplish your mission in time for it to matter. As with all tactics, itis a balance. When you have all the time in the world, take it! When in a hurry, keep on the move and don't allow yourself to be distracted by things that are not important. "Pre-navigate" when possible. In any event, don't dither!

Hesitation is an assassin! You have to learn to act decisively, even when you don't have all the information you want. Applying deadly force always involves the risk that you could be mistaken with regard to the actual threat presented. It is a risk we all have to acknowledge and accept. " Fire-initiative," hitting fatally, fast, and first carries with itan incalculable advantage, one from which most VCAs never recover.

Not all shots are easy! Eight, even fifteen-meter pistol shots are now common. Without adequate skills, you will not be up to the task.

Tom Givens confirmed that a substantial percentage of VCAs (1) are members of violent gangs, (2) are functionally mentally ill (criminally insane), (3) dropped out of school at an early age and thus do not possess any of our cultural values, (4) have been involved in criminal violence since they were pre-teens, (5) have long-term drug and alcohol problems, (6) are likely under the influence of drugs when they confront you, (7) have been shot before and are thus afraid of neither you nor your gun, (8) have been incarcerated for a significant portion of their short lives, (9) don't expect to live long, (9) are illegal aliens and are thus not concerned with domestic prosecution as they can simply slip back into Mexico from which they have little fear of extradition, and (10) don't confine themselves to the "bad part" of town.

For them, violent death and mayhem and not "options." Theyare a way of life, the only one they know and will ever know. Expect neither mercy, nor common decency, nor any species of rational behavior from them. And, whenyou run into them, you'll likely be on your own.

I know of no other place where one can learn to be prepared for such unhappy encounters than the NTI! We thank, Skip, Jim, Hersh, and the entire ASTA Crew for, once again, putting on such a superb clinic.

/John