10-Ring Handgun Academy

07/08/2025

Quick Shot: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Whatever happened to the notion that a bad idea, no matter how well it is presented, no matter how many people sign on to the idea, and no matter how many polar bears It will save; is still a bad idea. We have a guy running for Mayor of New York City who wants to replace the police force with social workers…..WCPGW? He wants to make grocery stores non-profit and operated by the government…..WCPGW? He wants to take all the single housing in New York City and turn it into communal housing complexes such as you would see in most socialist countries….WCPGW? He won’t condemn the term “global intifada” and, if he wins, he will be presiding over the most concentrated population of Jewish people outside of Israel….WCPGW? Through taxation he wants to eliminate the rich for a better economical equity outcome and tax the business industry right out of business; and probably right out of New York state….WCPGW? I hope the people of New York City wake up in time to smell the exhaust of the people’s cars who will be leaving the city, before it is too late. I am reminded of the Kurt Russell movie “Escape from New York” and if this guy wins the election, I’m afraid we will see some form of that movie take shape, but on the other hand…..What Could Possibly Go Wrong??!!
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06/05/2025

What a Great Day!
Last Saturday (5/31/25) I was honored to present a very good friend with a special rifle. My friend is a Marine through and through. He is the very definition of a patriot, is involved in two different organizations providing help to Viet Nam veterans suffering from PTSD and provides a service to the shooting community that is immeasurable. The rifle is the Henry Commemorative rifle for the 250-year anniversary of the Marine Corps. It is a beauty, and I want to thank my gun class students who donated to this project. Semper FI to all!!!

05/11/2025

The Chances We Take and Accept:
Numerus people that have taken my gun classes have been scared to touch the gun at first. When we discuss the daily encounters of life, it does put guns in a different light. You drive down a two-lane road at 40-55 mph and meet another car going in the opposite at the same speed; do you stop?, drive into the ditch?, no, you stay on your side of the road and avoid a head-on collision by about 3 feet. We accept this level of danger when driving. We must also accept a certain level of danger when dealing with fi****ms. Handle a firearm long enough and you will experience an accidental discharge (AD). Mine came with an old shotgun (I'll tell you that story later). Follow the four safety rules and disaster can be avoided; ignore them at your peril. We handle knives almost every day working on stuff, preparing food etc. We've all been cut, burned and banged on our head, arms or legs with som**hing, but most of us have never been shot. I'm not suggesting that we all go out and "take a round" just for the experience of it, but I do think it does make a difference. Just keep a level head about you, follow the four safety rules and we all go home in good shape.
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05/06/2025

Quick Shot: Universal Concealed Carry Law
Congress needs to pass the budget then get on with passing the nation-wide Concealed Carry bill. There is no reason that your state's concealed carry license doesn't work the same as the license you have to drive your car. Both should be recognized nation-wide and finally bring these rouge coastal states (and of course Illinois) in line with the rest of this country. I know that some of the states will go crazy and that all of this will have to go through the Supreme Court, but let's get on with it!
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04/20/2025

Quick Shot: Men vs Women
As I'm entering year seven of retirement and teaching gun classes, I have learned one thing; most wives will out-shoot their husbands during the shooting qualification. The reason is that the women will do exactly what I tell them to do as far as hand position, sight-alignment, etc, goes. Men were born with three traits; knowing how to drive, shoot a gun and never needing directions. Sorry guys, the ladies have you beat in this area (and it's kind of fun to watch).
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03/30/2025

Quick Shot: Center Mass
Center mass is the place most instructors will tell their classes to shoot if they find themselves in a self-defense situation. It's a great term (center mass) but not exactly the correct location. The place you want to aim is found by drawing a line across the upper human body right at the bottom of the arm pits. That is where the most vital of the vital organs are, except for a head shot. Study some anatomy charts so you will know exactly where to aim to stop the attack as soon as possible.
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03/05/2025

Quick Shot: Concealed Carry and Being Comfortable
To be sure, carrying a concealed handgun can be uncomfortable, to say the least. Most men make it even more uncomfortable because they cheap-out on the holster and belt. I have found my comfort zone by trial-and-error and have a box of holsters to prove it. Maybe that is what it takes to not sacrifice life-saving access for comfort. Myself, I love leather holsters. Kydex is fine and I have a great FOBUS holster I’ve used in training classes for decades; but for me, nothing feels as good as leather. One big choice is where you carry. To name just a few; Inside-the–waistband (ITW), outside-the-waistband (OTW), Appendix-carry (AC), small-of-the-back (SOB) or shoulder holster (SH), which I am going to try very soon, and this is just for the guys. Ladies, you have a lot of choices as well but I will stick with the men for this article. Problems with ITW are that you have to increase your pant waist size by two inches and when drawing, it is difficult to get your fingers between the protective holster guard against your body and the gun to get a proper shooting grip, and how aggressive the grip material is. If it is too aggressive, it can be very uncomfortable if it rubs against your skin. Drawing from a shoulder holster means you muzzle-sweep everyone from your nine o’clock to twelve o’clock (right-handed draw) or three o’clock to twelve o’clock (left-handed draw); and women drawing from a purse have the same problem as drawing from the SH. Think it through because you have a lot of choices to make and the more you think about it, the more money you might save by not buying needless equipment.
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02/02/2025

TSA Airport Story:
As a professional trumpet player turned fi****ms instructor, I had a crazy experience in a Florida airport. I live in Missouri and a friend hired me to play an Easter gig in south Florida. I travel with three trumpets in a triple case that I always take on the plane. The trumpet bag usually draws a bit of attention at the TSA station, but nothing more than a comment or two. On the trip to Florida, no problem, but on the return trip I put my bag through the x-ray machine and when the bag came out there were three TSA people standing there. I walked up and they asked me if this was my bag and I said “Yes.”, and then they asked me to step to another table. My mind starts to race! This is my big chance because I just know they are going to ask me to play one of the trumpets to make sure they are real. What “airport excerpt” would be the best? The opening to “Pictures At An Exhibition”, Mahler’s Fifth Symphony? The best part is I have a captured audience right here to do my thing. Then my heart sank, they said there was a bullet in my bag………. A BULLET!?? The lady dug the cartridge out and It was a .22 LR cartridge at the very bottom of the padding in the case. To get that far down in the case, that cartridge must have been in there for a very long time. Then this little LEO wanna-be starts interrogating me on if I had ever been charged with a crime, arrested, convicted of a felony, jay-walked or been mean to my mother; the list went on and on. Of course, I answered “No” to all the questions and he obviously didn’t believe me. He took my I.D. and left to check me out and I told him numerous times I didn’t have a criminal record. About 45 minutes later he returned, he gave me my information back like he was giving up his lunch money and reluctantly said he didn’t find anything. They took the cartridge, gave me my trumpet case and sent me on my way. Well, the moral of this story is, stay out of trouble and keep your record clean. It just might come in handy someday.
Marc
Cape Girardeau, MO
TSA Airport Story:
I have also had a similar experience as “Brad” concerning the TSA (Letters To The Editor: Nov/Dec issue 2024). As a professional trumpet player turned fi****ms instructor, I had a crazy experience in a Florida airport. I live in Missouri and a friend hired me to play an Easter gig in south Florida. I travel with three trumpets in a triple case that I always take on the plane. The trumpet bag usually draws a bit of attention at the TSA station, but nothing more than a comment or two. On the trip to Florida, no problem, but on the return trip I put my bag through the x-ray machine and when the bag came out there were three TSA people standing there. I walked up and they asked me if this was my bag and I said “Yes.”, and then they asked me to step to another table. My mind starts to race! This is my big chance because I just know they are going to ask me to play one of the trumpets to make sure they are real. What “airport excerpt” would be the best? The opening to “Pictures At An Exhibition”, Mahler’s Fifth Symphony? The best part is I have a captured audience right here to do my thing. Then my heart sank, they said there was a bullet in my bag………. A BULLET!?? The lady dug the cartridge out and It was a .22 LR cartridge at the very bottom of the padding in the case. To get that far down in the case, that cartridge must have been in there for a very long time. Then this little LEO wanna-be starts interrogating me on if I had ever been charged with a crime, arrested, convicted of a felony, jay-walked or been mean to my mother; the list went on and on. Of course, I answered “No” to all the questions and he obviously didn’t believe me. He took my I.D. and left to check me out and I told him numerous times I didn’t have a criminal record. About 45 minutes later he returned, he gave me my information back like he was giving up his lunch money and reluctantly said he didn’t find anything. They took the cartridge, gave me my trumpet case and sent me on my way. Well, the moral of this story is, stay out of trouble and keep your record clean. It just might come in handy someday.
Marc
Cape Girardeau, MO

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01/13/2025

QUICK SHOT: Body Language
There are two types of attacks, overt and covert.
Overt attacks are the easiest to see coming because they are full-on, in-your-face situations with plenty of tell-tale signs if you know what to look for. This involves the "monkey-side" of the human brain, meaning there is a lot of yelling, finger-pointing, jumping and pacing around, wild hand gestures and posturing. All the while you are trying to figure out what your next move might need to be or at least try to de-escalate the situation to a non-violent end.
Covert attacks are the worst because they are intended to be a surprise to the victim. First and most important: you must always be able to see your adversaries' hands. If they shift their position from a full-frontal stance to a bladed (boxers' stance) position, then begin to put distance between you and them and start looking for a weapon or get ready to block a punch. Approaching you with their head or upper torso bobbing up and down or their head lowered (protecting the neck and throat area), clenched fist(s) or hands held near the mid-section (instead of hanging down to the side) and shoulders hunched up or "coiled", eyes shifting from side to side as if checking to see if anyone is watching; these are just a few of the signs you need to be aware of. For more good stuff like this, take my classes!!! I can't give you all of this stuff for free!!!!
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12/02/2024

Quick Shot: Justice For All?
Well, well, well; if you didn’t believe there was a two-tiered justice system in this country, there’s no denying it now. Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter (and basically took the heat off of himself) when he granted Hunter a full pardon on December 2nd. Biden has been saying since June that a pardon would not happen for Hunter, but here it is. The Biden’s and Clinton’s have been allowed to live under a completely different justice system than the rest of us for the last 40 years; and that bulls%*t must stop on January 20, 2025. A decision like that for purely personal gain and protection should be criminal. There is not a shred of humanity or forgiveness in this pardon; it is purely CYA through and through. If a Republican president had done this, the fanatical-left would have burned down Washington D.C. A person must have the ability to feel remorse or shame when they know they are doing som**hing that is wrong, but Biden obviously doesn’t have that gene. So Joe, please go away, stay away and never return so this country can repair all the damage you, the Clinton’s and Obama’s have inflicted on it.
GOOD RIDDANCE!

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11/22/2024

Quick Shot: Accurate Shooting vs Effective Shooting.
There is a difference. Accurate shooting is chewing the “X” out of the target and effective shooting is stopping a conflict as soon as possible by inflicting as few immobilizing, but effective, wounds as possible. Shooting an attacker center-mass three times in the same spot (accurate) will not have the same effect as shooting your attacker center-mass three times in three different places (effective). Your target(s) should be anywhere from the pelvic girdle up to, across and just below the shoulders. That is where all of the organs, lungs and major stuff is in your body. A head shot is the last spot to target for the “final solution” because the head is small and way more mobile than center-mass is. But sometimes a head shot is the only thing that will bring the attack to a close and that is why we train in all sorts of scenarios. The weapon your attacker is using will also have a lot to do with where you might want to shoot. Someone attacking you with a knife or fists; (any contact weapon) and time permitting; the pelvic girdle might be the perfect shot placement. Your shots have the chance to be non-lethal shots, and if you break up those bones, your attacker is going down no matter how high on m**h they are. If your attacker has a gun, pelvic girdle shots might bring him down but they will not stop your attacker from shooting, so center-mass would be the better choice. Drawing from concealment needs to be a part of this equation, but will not be a part of this article. I took a “Holster class” on the 17th of this month and I wanted to demonstrate what an accurate shooter I was (showing off) but one of the teachers kept wanting me to go faster to find my “breaking point” where I would start missing the target. I did go faster but not fast enough to mess up my grouping. The “X” was gone on the target with a hole about the size of the palm of your hand left in the middle (what a hot-dog!) with a few holes around the big hole. It was a great class and I learned a lot; and Andre, I promise to go faster!!!
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11/21/2024

Quick Shot: Cell Phone
Keep your cell phone handy so if you ever find yourself in a "sticky situation", you can hit the record button. This will provide you at least an audio recording of what went down, especially if the situation goes sideways. If time allows, hit the video button for the police to watch. You may not have time to do any of these things, but try to get some kind of recording to support your story of what happened. Practice, practice, practice getting your cell phone into action, but not at the expense of getting injured because you were futsing with your phone.
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