Tips from the FBI

[FrankH]

The FBI’s conclusions about gang members and guns after a five year study.
Meant for US Law Enforcement , nevertheless can be applied here.


Weapon Choice

1. Handguns, obtained illegally in street transactions or thefts.
2. In contrast to media myth, none of the firearms in the study was obtained from gun shows.
3. What was available "was the overriding factor in weapon choice".
4. None of the attackers interviewed was "hindered by any law–federal, state or local–that has ever been established to prevent gun ownership.
5. The gangsta’s in the study "just laughed at gun laws".

Familiarity

1. The average age was 17 when they first started packing "most of the time."
2. Nearly 40% of the gangstas had some type of formal firearms training, primarily from the military.
3. More than 80% "regularly practiced with handguns, averaging 23 practice sessions a year,"
4. Practice was usually in informal settings like trash dumps, rural woods, back yards and "street corners in known drug-trafficking areas."
5. One spoke of being motivated to improve his gun skills by his belief that officers "go to the range two, three times a week [and] practice arms so they can hit anything."
6. Officers in the study averaged 2.5 qualifications per year. Only 6 of the 50 officers reported practicing regularly with handguns apart from what their department required.
7. The gangstas practiced more often than the officers they assaulted, and this "may have helped increase [their] marksmanship skills,"
8. The gangsta quoted above about his practice motivation, for example, fired 12 rounds at an officer, striking him 3 times. The officer fired 7 rounds, all misses.
9. More than 40% of the gangstas had been involved in actual shooting confrontations before they feloniously assaulted an officer.
10. Ten of these "street combat veterans," all from "inner-city, drug-trafficking environments," had taken part in 5 or more "criminal firefight experiences" in their lifetime.
11. One reported that he was 14 when he was first shot on the street, "about 18 before a cop shot me."
12. Another said getting shot was a pivotal experience "because I made up my mind no one was gonna shoot me again."
13. Only eight of the 50 LEO victims had participated in a prior shooting; 1 had been involved in 2 previously, another in 3. Seven of the 8 had killed gangstas.

Concealment

1. The gangstas said they most often hid guns on their person in the front waistband, with the groin area and the small of the back nearly tied for second place.
2. Some occasionally gave their weapons to another person to carry, "most often a female companion."
3. None regularly used a holster, and about 40% at least sometimes carried a backup weapon.
4. In motor vehicles, they most often kept their firearm readily available on their person, or, less often, under the seat.
5. In residences, most stashed their weapon under a pillow, on a nightstand, under the mattress–somewhere within immediate reach while in bed.
6. Almost all carried when on the move and strong majorities did so when socializing, committing crimes or being at home.
7. About one-third brought weapons with them to work.
8. Interestingly, the gangstas in this study more commonly admitted having guns under all these circumstances than did gangstas interviewed in the researchers’ earlier 2 surveys, conducted in the 1980s and ’90s.
9. Male gangstas said time and time again that female officers tend to search them more thoroughly than male officers.
10. In prison, most of the gangstas were more afraid to carry contraband or weapons when a female CO was on duty.
11. On the street, however, both male and female officers too often regard female subjects "as less of a threat, assuming that they are not going to have a gun.
12. In truth, the researchers concluded that more female gangstas are armed today than 20 years ago–"not just female gang associates, but female gangstas generally."

Shooting Style

1. Twenty-six of the gangstas [about 60%], including all of the street combat veterans, "claimed to be instinctive shooters, pointing and firing the weapon without consciously aligning the sights".
2. Gangstas frequently "Practice getting the gun out and using it".
3. Gangstas "Shoot for effect." Or as one of the gangstas put it: "We’re not working with no marksmanship….We just putting it in your direction, you know….It don’t matter…as long as it’s gonna hit you…if it’s up at your head or your chest, down at your legs, whatever….Once I squeeze and you fall, then…if I want to execute you, then I could go from there."

Hit Rate

1. More often than the officers they attacked, gangstas delivered at least some rounds on target in their encounters.
2. Nearly 70% of gangstas were successful (In getting rounds on target) with handguns, compared to about 40% of the victim officers, the study found. (Efforts of gangstas and officers to get on target were considered successful if any rounds struck, regardless of the number fired).
3. Gangstas "Might have had an advantage because in all but 3 cases they fired first, usually catching the officer by surprise".
4. "10 of the total victim officers had been wounded [and thus impaired] before they returned gunfire at their attackers."

Missed Cues

1. Officers would less likely be caught off guard by attackers if they were more observant of indicators of concealed weapons, the study concludes.
2. These particularly include manners of dress, ways of moving and unconscious gestures often related to carrying.
3. "Officers should look for unnatural protrusions or bulges in the waist, back and crotch areas," the study says, and watch for "shirts that appear rippled or wavy on one side of the body while the fabric on the other side appears smooth."
4. In warm weather, multilayered clothing inappropriate to the temperature may be a giveaway.
5. On cold or rainy days, a subject’s jacket hood may not be covering his head because it is being used to conceal a handgun.
6. Because they eschew holsters, gangstas reported frequently touching a concealed gun with hands or arms "to assure themselves that it is still hidden, secure and accessible" and hasn’t shifted".
7. Such gestures are especially noticeable "whenever individuals change body positions, such as standing, sitting or exiting a vehicle".
8. If they run, they may need to keep a constant grip on a hidden gun to control it.
9. Just as cops generally blade their body to make their sidearm less accessible, armed criminals "do the same in encounters with LEOs to ensure concealment and easy access."
10. Officers who are assigned to look for concealed weapons, while working off-duty security at night clubs for instance, are often highly proficient at detecting them. "But then when they go back to the street without that specific assignment, they seem to ‘turn off’ that skill," and thus are startled–sometimes fatally–when a suspect suddenly produces a weapon and attacks.

Mind-Set

1. Thirty-six of the 50 officers in the study had "experienced hazardous situations where they had the legal authority" to use deadly force "but chose not to shoot." They averaged 4 such prior incidents before the encounters that the researchers investigated.
2. "It appeared clear that none of these officers were willing to use deadly force against an gangsta if other options were available".
3. The gangstas were of a different mind-set entirely. In fact, the study team "did not realize how cold blooded the younger generation of gangsta is. They have been exposed to killing after killing, they fully expect to get killed and they don’t hesitate to shoot anybody, including a police officer.
4. They can go from riding down the street saying what a beautiful day it is to killing in the next instant.
5. "gangstas typically displayed no moral or ethical restraints in using firearms".
6. The street combat veterans (Gangstas) survived by developing a shoot-first mentality.

[BigT]

Some important lessons here many of which I'm sure apply here too.

Sadly these badguys probably practise a lot more than many of the guys reading this!

[VVIII]

If I'm not mistaken this is part of a document called "violent encounters" I don't have the URL on hand but its available online and a very interestin read on criminal "SOP".

My favorite part is the report on a suspect that took 3 .45 hollowpoints to the chest and still attacked and stabbed 2 officers, a SERIOUSE eye opener.

[ikor]

If I'm not mistaken this is part of a document called "violent encounters" I don't have the URL on hand but its available online and a very interestin read on criminal "SOP".

My favorite part is the report on a suspect that took 3 .45 hollowpoints to the chest and still attacked and stabbed 2 officers, a SERIOUSE eye opener.

Here ya go...

http://www.pdsdc.org/Resources/SLD/V...20by%20DOJ.pdf

And nothing hand-held except, just maybe, a .50 BMG caliber Barret, loaded with Hornady TAP 750gr. AMAX, is going to put a man down every time, even with multiple shots in vital areas. Handguns are the least effective of all small arms we have and the most difficult to use effectively in most cases...'piss-ant' guns in the overall scheme of things. One more reason to train headshots on failure drills.

[BigT]

It concerns me how little activity this thread has seen. There are far more important points here than whether your gun is loaded with Black Dots or Golden Talons. But that sort of thread would have a whole lot more views and replys.

Worrying.

[Scuba Steve]

Thanks for that frank, very informative read.

Yet again cementing the fact that proper and regular training combined with a winning mindset is of the utmost importance. We get comfortable in our own lives thinking we have trained enough for defense, there is nothing defensive about shooting someone, have the right mindset and once committed to shoot, do it and do it well. I didn't realize these bg's trained at this level.

[HoggerNaut]

Very, very informative read. Yet again another eye opener.
Its actually scary to find out how blind Ive been for such a large part of my life up to date.
I plan to do a training course once every 3 months and get to the range as much as possible (wich is difficult as we dont have one in Mdb yet)

[HoggerNaut]

Just wondered and it aint mentioned... If they dont wear holsters, do they carry 1up? thats seems a bit risky, even for a gangsta!

[Revolver]

Nice thread, T you have a good point there, its just like the hunting debates the guys get into, caliber, bullet & scope are given far more preference than stalking, shot placement or even skinning. Thanks Frank & co. for an interesting read.

[ikor]

Just wondered and it aint mentioned... If they dont wear holsters, do they carry 1up? thats seems a bit risky, even for a gangsta!

Some do and some don't. Don't mistake the thugs' so-called 'training' for the kinds of courses offered by first line trainers or good LE agencies. They do 'train' however, and as fcuked up as their training can be, some do understand basics like 'action beats reaction' etc. They are also unconstrained by thoughts of legal or moral issues as good cops and citizens are, so they do possess a few advantages and will exploit them when they think they can.