Paladin Training, Inc.

Please forward this to anyone that might be interested.

Craig Bellmon beat an intruder to death with a baseball bat in his Dillon home last month.  39 year old James McLellan came to Bellmon’s home uninvited, Bellmon told him to leave, and McLellan ‘began fighting’ him.  Bellmon has been arrested and charged with murder.

My opinion:  Assuming Bellmon could legally possess a firearm, he wouldn’t have been charged had he shot McLellan.

Problem 1:  Prejudice

Not racial, but weapon related.  Deadly force is deadly force whether it’s delivered with a gun or a knife or a baseball bat.  But, people just look at the user of a knife or blunt instrument differently than the user of a gun.  It’s as if shooting Charles Manson with a handgun is clean and acceptable but caving his head in with a rock is brutal and wrong.

I think it’s wrong, but there it is.

Lesson:  Perception can be more important than reality. If you use a primitive weapon, be prepared to deal with ignorance and prejudice.

Problem 2:  Physics

One account indicated Bellmon continued to hit McLellan even after the latter had gone to his knees.  That can be a problem for Bellmon if the state can make it appear he ruthlessly killed a man who was no longer capable of attacking, in other words, he hit him after it was no longer necessary for self-defense.

Practially speaking, this illustrates another problem for the person using a contact weapon for self-defense.  It’s easy to press the trigger on a firearm.  It can take just a few pounds of pressure and can be accomplished in about a quarter of a second.  Recent research using time-motion studies can justify a late shot or two as  unavoidable.  It’s much harder to claim that your late hits or cuts on your adversary couldn’t be avoided because of the speed at which you were operating.

Lesson:  Use whatever you’ve got at hand, but control your aggression.

I hope Bellmon gets a good lawyer and beats this.

Last edition I wrote about studying under Paul Howe ofCSAT and noted we’d probably be making some mods to the BDC curriculum.  Last weekend we conducted a Basic Defensive Carbine class that included some of those changes and the feedback was universally  positive.  Consequently I’ve decided to go ahead with plans to introduce a brand new carbine training class in 2013:  Basic Carbine Operator (BCO).

A little history

The BDC curriculum was designed to meet the needs of the average student.  Most people who buy a carbine (any gun) for protection never get any formal training at all.  Of the small segment that decide to get trained by a professional, most who attend a basic class never go beyond that by attending an intermediate level class.  Interestingly, of those that do go beyond basic, the percentages are higher that they will go on to advanced training.

Fact:  The more training you get, the more you want.

Still, most stop at the beginner’s level, not appreciating  that ‘training’ is a never ending, ever advancing PROCESS.

With the realization that, training-wise, this was probably going to be my only opportunity to equip this person, the intention of BDC was to give that typical student enough training to keep the carbine running against the most common stoppages, hit a man sized target inside the average self-defense distance, and have a basic understanding of defensive tactics.  BDC is as much of the mix of gun-handling, marksmanship and tactics that we could fit into a two-day class.

The same rationale applies to the curriculum of our Basic Defensive Handgun class.

Enter BCO

The new class, Basic Carbine Operator, is designed for the person who wants to gain the most familiarity with the carbine and be the best shooter he can be in two day’s training.  While BDC is a mix of technical and tactical, BCO is almost entirely technical.   The intent of BCO is to thoroughly train the student how to operate the gun, keep it running, and hit a target out to 100 yards using the standard positions; prone, kneeling and standing.

A comparison of BCO & BDC

Envelope

BDC:  1 to 25 yards

BCO:  7 to 100 yards

Low-light considerations

BDC:  Threat recognition, decision making, movement and clearing malfunctions

BCO:  Marksmanship and clearing malfunctions

Standard firing positions

BDC:  Primarily standing with much emphasis on movement

BCO:  Standing, kneeling and prone

Use of cover

BDC:  Yes, plus unconventional firing positions

BCO:  Yes, as it relates to the standard firing positions

Transition to handgun

BDC:  Yes

BCO:  No

Optics / Red Dot Sights

BDC:  Yes

BCO:  Day 2 only (irons on D1)

Weapon lube and maintenance

BDC:  No

BCO:  Yes

Still undecided is whether or not to make BCO a prerequisite for BDC.   There are many good reasons to do so.

There’s enough good material in this class to make attendance worthwhile for even graduates of our higher level carbine classes.  It never hurts to revisit the basics.

I’ll keep you posted.

Last Saturday we conducted a ‘UBC Standards’ Day.  The DSCO range at Lake Darpo was set up as for an Urban Break-contact Carbine class and several two person teams comprised of past UBC students made multiple runs to help us establish a standard time.

Why a standard?

First, determining a standard is NOT to create a PASS v. FAIL situation for the student.  A standard simply allows you to compare your performance against others so that you can decide what areas you need to concentrate on in your personal training program.

Team effort

The COF required a two person team to alternately engage targets:  Team member B couldn’t begin to engage his target until team member A had gotten the required number of hits on his.  Some teams attempted to use verbal signals to facilitate movement and target engagement.

The COF also required two engagements per shooter at each yard line; 25, 50, 75 and 100.  One target was shot from left side of cover and the other from the right side of cover.

Multiple firing positions

The COF dictated which of the standard firing positions the shooter would use at each position or yard line:  Standing at the 25 and 50, kneeling at the 75 and prone at the 100.

Marksmanship v Speed

There were a couple of perfect runs (meaning no more than 28 rifle rounds and 5 pistol rounds were necessary to get the required number of hits), but at the expense of time.

Average time:  154.8 seconds.

Best time of the day:  125 seconds.

I’ve got two Yugo AK-47’s  for sale.  One has a stamped receiver and the other milled.  Call me for details:  843-618-1381

ARMS #59M SIR free floating rail and handguards for AR-15 (carbine-length gas system):  $250 firm

For a pic:

#59MSIR

ARMS #40 rear BUIS.  This is a ‘same plane’ stand alone sight but can be used in conjunction with the #59 rail system above:  $50 firm

ARMS #40

“First of all, Mxxxx and I really enjoyed your class the other night.  Neither one of us had a clue about what to consider in purchasing a firearm.  I had done some online research, but that only goes so far.  In fact, were it not for your class, I would have purchased the wrong gun for Mxxxx.  Your class definitely saved us a lot of money!  Also, thank you for the manner in which you lead the class.  I have been taught by many “experts” in various fields of study.  Many of them have a disconnect with an audience of a novice.  Mxxxx and I appreciated your patience and manner of instruction that allowed us the freedom to ask the questions that we had.” 

We really appreciate it when a student takes the time to give us feedback, good or bad.  Thank you, K&M!

The IDH is usually scheduled the Tuesday evening before every CWP class.   In fact, we’re having one tonight!

Time:  6pm to 10 pm

Location:  Varies (call 843-618-1381)

Cost:  $50 (taking the IDH qualifies the student to take $25 off their CWP tuition)