Active Response Training has released a new Weekend Knowledge Dump. A few things that jumped out at me.
- First, he links to where you can download a free PDF of Stephen Wenger's 3rd Edition of Defensive Use of Firearms. There is also information on ordering a print copy of the book.
- Next up is a link to a PDF of a trauma guideline entitled "Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Injury Response Part 3: Medical Management of Radiation Exposure and Nuclear Events."
- An article from W. Hock Hochheim on "Home Invaders At My Home!" He includes a good anecdote of when he and his wife were almost the victims of a home invasion, and also goes over the three most common types or tactics of home invasion.
- An article on "Low Light Concerns – Normal Human Beings," which addresses the needs of a normal person (rather than law enforcement or military) for weapon mounted lights. As to incidents outside the home, the author notes that Tom Givens (Rangemaster Firearms Training Services), who has kept track of his students' armed force encounters, found that none of his students needed any sort of light because the incidents in which they were involved were almost all robberies--i.e., there was always some light because the criminal also needed the light to pick out and approach his targets. Turning to inside the home, the author turns to Claude Werner (The Tactical Professor) who keeps track of incidents of mistaken identity shooting; and while Werner recommends a light of some sort, he insists it should be a separate handheld light, not a weapon mounted light.
- An article entitled "Murder as measuring stick" that delves into the problem with using murder as a proxy for overall violent crime. The issue isn't over the short term, but over the long term as advances in medicine and the widespread use of cell phones to call emergency services has resulted in far fewer deaths relative to the number of incidents of violent crime. Thus, comparing murder rates between now and, say, the 1960s as a proxy of violent crime in the 1960s would be inappropriate. And it would be worse the longer the time scale. (Although he doesn't mention the book, I wonder if this is meant as a criticism of the methodology used by the author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, who used murders as proxies for violence in past centuries). The author notes, for instance (footnote omitted):
Taking this into account, I would estimate that a murder today represents 4-5 times as much crime and disorder as a murder in 1960, and probably 10 times as much as a medieval murder, with the early 20th century somewhere in between. As such, today’s murder rate being comparable to that of 1960 represents a colossal failure of justice, with overall crime and disorder being several times higher than it was two generations ago.
Using murder as a proxy for violent crime also fails when comparing between cultures. Again, by way of example, although the U.S. has a much higher murder rate than other industrialized countries (although I would note that this is only when considering the largest population counties), the article points out:
But international victim surveys with a consistent methodology show the US to have similar overall crime rates as Canada or Europe. The major reasons for the high American murder rate are probably Americans using highly-lethal guns (rather than knives or fists) and blacks (who are responsible for more than half of US murders) being more likely to commit impulsive murders rather than property crimes.
- Finally, Greg links to the "Before Mace, a Hatpin Was an Unescorted Lady’s Best Defense" article I had posted about a few days ago.
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