19 Jan 99

This just in from a friend in the _______ State Patrol:

“…we were instructed to blow up a balloon and send it down range (we were on an indoor range, equipped with “to and from,” motorized targets). There was actually a person (working police officer) in our group who was unable to hit the balloon, despite a deluge of shots and several reloads, until it was brought as close as the three-yard line and then held stationary for what seemed like an eternity, and this balloon was the size of a watermelon! There were many times when other officers couldn’t hit the balloon until it was as close to them as fifteen feet.”

And this, just in from the Net:

“A bicyclist, who confronted three well-dressed men walking to their hotel in Alexandria, VA, pointed what looked like an autoloading handgun at them and demanded money. The three men turned out to be off-duty federal agents. The agents promptly drew their own handguns and proceeded to fire in excess of twenty shots, hitting the would-be robber, as well as three cars, a truck, two homes and an office building. The suspect was only slightly injured.”

These are typical examples of “point shooting” at it’s best. My colleague, Ralph Mroz, just sent me an article on the “Sighted Shooting vs Point Shooting” debate, and he has introduced the term, “startle recovery.” We, for years, have referred to the same thing as, “get your head out of your ass; stop feeling sorry for yourself; hold steady; watch your front sight; press carefully” Ralph seems to have shortened it a bit! Ralph always has been pretty efficient.

The axiom remains the same: Missers are losers.

“It is fashionable to wear a sword, it is necessary to know how to use it.”

15th Centaury quotation

Victory!

/John