New Weekend Knowledge Dump From Active Response Training

Greg Ellifritz has posted another of his Weekend Knowledge Dumps where he has collected links relevant to self-defense, firearms, prepping and more. Some of the items that jumped out at me:

• Greg links to part 2 of an interview with attorney Marty Hayes, which part focuses on making statements to the police after a defensive shooting. This is a subject on which there is a fair amount of disagreement, with people I respect suggesting that you say nothing without a lawyer, other than identifying yourself, and other people I respect suggesting that you probably should give some explanation, point out witnesses or evidence, etc. Hayes recommends that you provide at least the basic facts (basic, not detailed) to at least indicate why you thought you needed to shoot the criminal. However, he also said that as soon as the handcuffs come out--even if it is supposedly to take you down to the station to give a statement--not to say anything more without your lawyer.
• He includes a link to a somewhat humorous post from Revolverguy of an imaginary (yet too real) conversation between the revolver guru and the male relative who bought a lightweight, snub-nosed .357 revolver for his girlfriend to carry and use.
• Another article discussing de-escalation notes that while the phrase "just calm down" may irritate some people, it still has its uses.
• A detailed article on "move, shoot, communicate". 
• And a cautionary tale of a high school student facing murder charges after using a knife in self-defense when receiving a vicious beat down. I had actually referenced an article about this incident recently, but from the few details given in the article, it appeared to be just another gang fight in a heavily minority school. But, in fact, the student--a 14 year old--was sucker punched and thrown to the floor where the attackers proceeded to engage in the usual tactic of such people by stomping on him and kicking him. Being attacked like that--laying on an unyielding surface like that while people stomp on you--has always been considered justification for using lethal force. But in this case, the kid is being charged with murder. 

    I had watched a brief video of the incident and the charge might be because the student appeared to be able to get up from under the blows before employing his knife (although the cited article from Concealed Carry says that it was because he used the knife that he was able to get up). More likely it is because the authorities want to discourage kids from defending themselves: even when I was in high school, long ago before dirt was invented, the attitude from school officials was that if two kids were in a fight they were both at fault no matter the actual facts. It has only gotten worse. 

    In any event,  Greg comments:

     A 14- year old boy was attacked at his high school.  He was sucker punched, knocked to the floor, and being stomped and kicked by multiple attackers.  He drew a knife, cut some of his attackers and escaped.  The boy is being charged with murder.  See what I mean when I say “the rules have changed?”  This was a completely justified and legal use of force.  Why do you think your self defense situation is going to turn out any differently? 

    I wonder what would have happened had the boy used pepper spray?  He certainly wouldn’t have caught a murder charge.

    I bet 75% of the audience reading this page has a pocket knife on their person right now.  I bet fewer than 5% have some POM Pepper Spray.  If that describes you, fix your shit.

     While you are over at Greg's blog, you might also want to check out his article on "Stupid Active Killer Advice," where he critiques someone whose knowledge of self-defense appears to have been based on the Home Alone movies.