Divemedic

Defense Isn’t Magic

One opinion that I have had since I was in high school is this:

I don’t care what martial art you study, what color belt you have, or how skilled you are, physical defense has limits. A 6 year old with a black belt in karate can’t beat up a full grown adult. A 100 pound woman isn’t going to beat up a 250 pound man, unless that man is in poor physical condition.

That opinion wasn’t a popular one, but it’s true. Skill can only do so much, but at the end of the day, physical strength, stamina, and size are just as important. Let me show you:

That doesn’t mean that skill is to be ignored. It means that what skills you do have should be viewed through a realistic lens. A 100 pound woman still is far outclassed in strength. That 100 pound woman believing that taking some krav maga classes is going to enable her to take on and disarm a full sized man is going to give her the overconfidence to go places and get into situations that she is not equipped to handle.

She let her classes where she practices set moves against compliant adversaries give her the false confidence that she can take on grown men armed with weapons and prevail, when in reality, she can’t even take on a man when given a distinct advantage, and in this case, the man was holding back and trying not to hurt her.

The same is true of people who carry guns. Many people only carry in “bad neighborhoods” and allow that firearm to pull them into places where they wouldn’t go if they weren’t armed.

Have a realistic idea of what training and weapons do for you, what your capabilities are, and know how and where you should be. One thing that I have learned by taking BJJ is that I have flexibility as my advantage, but I don’t have the stamina and cardio of a 23 year old any longer. In many cases, a 22 year old will be stronger and will be in condition to outlast me in a protracted fight. In any hand to hand, I must endeavor to win the fight early, because I will lose a protracted battle.

Be realistic in your own assessment of your abilities.

By Divemedic, ago

There Goes the Jury Box

Florida passed a law making it illegal for illegal immigrants to enter the state. A Federal judge in Miami issued an order barring the state from enforcing the law, citing the supremacy clause, making the claim that only the Federal government can enforce immigration laws. When the Florida Attorney General told the court that law enforcement agencies weren’t subject to the order, the judge found him in contempt.

The courts are just as partisan and biased as the rest of the nation, and are becoming illegitimate as a result. The orders you get depend on the political stance of the judge in question, and not on the Constitution. I can prove it. Ask this same judge to put out an order telling the states that due to that same supremacy clause, no state can enforce any gun laws, because there are Federal gun laws. Likewise, drug laws, laws against murder, etc.

We all know what would happen.

By Divemedic, ago

“Teen”

Another “teen” has been caught with illegal weapons. The 17 year old pled guilty to possession of illegal firearms, including a machine gun. He was also placed in pre-trial diversion last year for aggravated assault with a firearm, after pointing a gun at someone ain St. Paul, MN. He served 180 days probation and community service.

I don’t think that teens who are obviously gang members should be granted pre-trial diversion for felonies involving firearms and aggravated assault. Pre-trial diversion is intended to teach kids who are accused of thinks like shoplifting and egging someone’s house that what they did was not acceptable. It isn’t, and never was, intended to allow gang bangers to get away with violent crime.

They don’t show a picture or mention a name, but I can certainly imagine what this “teen” looks like.

By Divemedic, ago

Dog

In an unusual turn, I recently had a patient that was the victim of a dog attack. The breed was, for a change, not a Pit Bull. The dog in question was actually a Cane Corso. It bit the victim’s face and hands pretty well, but the attack appears only to have been 4 or 5 bites. Still, the dog tore a piece out of the victim’s lip, and there were several puncture wounds to the face and hands. In all, it required 19 stitches to close all of the wounds.

By Divemedic, ago

Third Gen

My very first handgun was a Smith and Wesson Model 59, which I bought in 1987. A true classic, the Model 59 was the first double stack pistol manufactured in the United States. I loved that handgun, and I am sorry that I don’t own it any longer. It was lost to me during my 1997 divorce from my first wife.

When the 4506 came out, I bought one from a guy that was selling guns out of his house. That thing was a heavy brick. The issue that I had with the third generation Smiths was that sometimes you would pull the trigger and nothing would happen. The safety is off, there is a magazine in the well, but pulling the trigger doesn’t do anything- the hammer stayed back.

I never did figure out why it would occasionally do that. It was the reason why I changed my daily carry gun to the Sig Sauer 226 in 1990.

By Divemedic, ago

I Have Questions

A man was shot and killed at the leftist rally in Salt Lake City yesterday, and you practically need a program to figure out what happened. Let me explain:

Arturo Gamboa was at the rally with an AR15 in a backpack. Someone spotted the end of the stock sticking out, and figured out what it was. The man, Sam Hernandez began yelling that the man had a gun in his backpack as he was trying to wrestle it away from him.

A video posted by Jan-Michael Paul on Reddit shows Hernandez saying loudly, “This is a rifle right here,” and then flagging down nearby police: “Hey! This guy, I just grabbed this from this guy. He’s right there!”

An armed man who was part of an Antifa security team fired a handgun three times at Gamboa, striking and killing Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, a 39-year-old man who was participating in the march, as well as hitting and wounding Gamboa. (Great security there)

Gamboa was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of murder — although investigators admit that he did not fire his weapon.

Comments and Questions

If any of my readers know more, please chime in. As far as I know, open and concealed carry are both legal in Utah. If that is the case, Gamboa didn’t break the law, unless they try to say that he was brandishing or something. It seems to me that he should be able to get him a decent lawyer and beat this, even though it will cost him some bucks.

An arresting officer alleged in a probable cause statement that Gamboa acted with “a depraved indifference to human life” and his conduct led to Ah Loo’s death. Salt Lake County prosecutors ultimately will decide what charges, if any, Gamboa will face. He is currently being held in jail without bail and had not been formally charged as of Sunday afternoon.

The press is screaming that Hernandez is a hero because he wrestled the gun away from Gamboa, but even the police say that Gamboa never fired a shot. The people whose guns needed to be wrestled away were the so-called peacekeepers. In fact, it appears as though Gamboa was also part of the self-described security team and this was a “friendly fire” incident.

The more important thing to note is that there are armed Antifa members embedded in the crowds at these protests. This situation is a powder keg just waiting for a spark. The left is preparing to kill as many people as it takes to make their revolution a success.

Things are going to get messy.

By Divemedic, ago

Teens Ruin It for Everyone

It’s become a macabre tradition in Central Florida. School is out, and the ‘teens’ are engaged in criminal behavior at the area’s theme parks. Aquatica is a water park owned by, and across the street from, Sea World in Orlando. Last summer, groups of teens staged several ‘takeovers’ where hundreds of them swarm the park. While in there, they get in fights, harass legitimate tourists, and cause mayhem. This in turn causes the park to shut down for the day. This happened several times last year, for example this case from last June 12. (see if you notice anything that the ‘teens’ have in common):

These sorts of things happen at the parks on a regular basis. None of the parks are immune- it’s happened at Disney, EPCOT, and even the high priced resorts. It’s already begun to happen again this year on the one year anniversary of the incident above, with Aquatica being shut down for the day after a group of feral Amish Canadians aspiring rappers churchgoing choirboys doctoral candidates took over the park, with some of them even reportedly climbing the fence, and engaged in a large brawl.

By Divemedic, ago