Ohio Concealed Carry

Law Changes Coming

Random Shots

On December 13, 2012, the Ohio Senate passed House Bill 495 by a vote of 26 to 7. It now goes to Governor Kasich to sign into law. It was passed by the Ohio House in June by a vote of 59 to 28. The Governor is expected to sign the bill into law and it will go into effect 90 days after he signs it. When he does, it will make several changes to Ohio’s current concealed carry law. Most of them are “technical fixes” designed to clarify various ambiguities, but there are three changes that go beyond these “technical fixes”. These include:

Eliminating the requirement for Ohio concealed carry license holders to “demonstrate competency” when re-newing their license for the second and subsequent times.

Clarifying the definition of a “loaded gun” to match the commonly accepted definition.

Allowing individuals to keep a gun in their vehicle while parked in the parking garage underneath the state capitol in Columbus.

Despite the support of Ohio Attorney Gen-eral Mike DeWine, the most significant pro-vision of the bill that was passed by the House—automatic reciprocity with other states that automatically recognize Ohio concealed carry licenses—was eliminated in the Senate version over concerns about how it would be implemented. The major objec-tion came from Senators that were con-cerned that this provision would allow indi-viduals from other states that do not have as rigorous of a training requirement as Ohio does to carry concealed handguns while visiting or traveling through our state. The Ohio House concurred with the Senate’s changes by a vote of 66 to 23. With the removal of this provision, Ohio citizens will still have to seek out-of-state CCW licenses from other states like Florida, New Hamp-shire, or Pennsylvania if they want to max-imize the number of states they can carry their concealed handgun in.

As I have previously written in the Summer 2012 edition of Random Shots, I have mixed feelings about the removal of the “competency” requirement for CCW license renewals. I think it is important for people that have been issued a CCW license to maintain their proficiency and to be aware of changes in Ohio’s CCW laws. Advocates for this change say that this is an individual responsibility. However, just as when re-newing your driver’s license you have to take

an eye exam to make sure you meet the min-imum vision requirements to safely operate a motor vehicle and periodically you may be required to take a driver’s test—written, practical, or both—to demonstrate your understanding of traffic laws and your ability to safely operate a vehicle, I do not think being able to demonstrate that you can safe-ly carry a handgun in public is an unreasona-ble requirement. Although there was no definition in the original law as to what was required to “demonstrate competency”, most firearms instructors that I know had planned to offer a half-day CCW renewal training course that would consist of a dis-cussion of handgun safety, a range session where the individual would demonstrate their shooting and safe gun handling abili-ties, and a discussion of the changes that had been made to Ohio’s concealed carry law since the individual had been issued their license.

The bill that was passed clarifies what con-stitutes a “loaded gun” and applies to all Ohio gun owners, not just CCW licensees. Having a magazine with ammunition in it will no longer be considered the same as having your handgun physically loaded with ammunition. Thus, when you remove the magazine from a semi-automatic pistol it will be considered unloaded—assuming you have also removed the round that was in the chamber!

The provision to allow guns to be kept in vehicles parked in the State Capitol parking garage probably has the least impact on the majority of Ohio CCW holders. It primarily affects those members of the State Legisla-ture and visitors to the capitol that also have CCW licenses.

January/February 2013 Volume 3, Issue 1

Edited and Published by

Gary Evens, NRA Certified

Firearms Instructor & Range Safety

Officer

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to

keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in Random Shots are those of the author(s), and

do not necessarily represent the positions of any other individual or

organization.

It is expected that automatic reciprocity will be re-introduced in the next Ohio legislative session. If you support this, please let your representatives know. It would certainly make life simpler for Ohioans that travel to other states and that are concerned with their personal safety.

G.R. Evens

A New Place to Shop and Shoot

There is a new place for those of you living in the Troy area to check out. Shooter’s Paradise is located at 542 North Elm Street (County Road 25A) just a mile north of downtown Troy just before you get to the Miami County Fairgrounds. Currently it is a gun store that buys, sells, and trades fire-arms. They also sell ammunition, supplies, camping and fishing gear. Jonathan Work-man, the owner, says they have been in busi-ness for a few months and are already look-ing to expand their services. Gunsmithing services are available now, and they soon hope to begin manufacturing firearms for a foreign company.

Shooter’s Paradise teaches several levels of shooting skills. They operate the gun store out of a small part of a fairly large building. Workman hopes to have an indoor shooting range up and running soon. He is taking applications for “life-time” (unlimited shoot-ing when facility is open) which cost $1,000. Call (937) 552-5577 or check them out at www.shootersparadise.org

- D.C. Long

Self-Defense Tactics Part III: The “Flight” Option

As you complete the OODA loop, it is time

to take action. One of the “action” options that you have is to flee the situation. Fleeing (or “flight”) is a natural human reaction to danger. Flight might be the second best option when confronted with a potentially violent situation—the best option being to avoid the situation altogether. By fleeing, you are able to avoid the legal and psycho-logical aftermath that follows a violent situa-tion.

In order for flight to be a viable option, you must have one or more avenues of escape. You must be aware enough of your sur-roundings that you can identify potential “exits” that allow you to quickly remove yourself from the situation. Upon entering a building, you should identify the exits as soon as possible. As you move about the building you should remember where the nearest exits are to your current location. You should become very concerned if you find yourself in a location where there are no obvious exits.

In the case where you encounter multiple assailants, their objective will be to block as many of the avenues of escape as possible. In this situation it becomes even more im-portant to identify the threat as soon as pos-sible, hopefully before your avenues of es-cape are blocked. If this cannot be done, then the next best option might be to create a distraction that temporarily opens up one or more of your possible escape routes.

Distractions can be created by throwing something or causing a loud noise to occur away from where you are. Your goal is to draw attention away from yourself. Once your assailants are distracted, you must quickly take advantage of the situation to escape.

One means of escaping that should be con-sidered is simply finding a place to hide until your assailants give up and move on to an-other victim or leave the scene.

Whichever means of escape you use, re-member your goal is to remove yourself from the situation. Once the threat has passed you should report what occurred to the authorities so others do not become victims of your assailant.

However, fleeing the situation may not al-ways be possible. In the next edition of Random Shots we’ll look at some other op-tions.

- G.R. Evens

Concealed Carry

Options

Part VIII

I do not use ankle holsters at all—or at least I did not until I started preparing this article. I have long felt that even though this meth-od of carry offers great concealment, access-ing the gun is more awkward and the way I walk would result in me constantly brushing the ankle of my other leg against my gun if I wore the holster on the inside of my leg as recommended. In addition, the weight of the gun would probably bother me as I walked along—at least until I got use to it. However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t consider an ankle holster to meet your concealed carry needs.

As with any other method of concealing a handgun, your clothing will dictate if you can use an ankle holster or not. It will be necessary to wear long, baggy pants or a long skirt to cover the gun and holster. The pants leg will need to be slightly longer than you normally wear so it continues to cover the gun whether you are standing or seated.

The ankle holster will need to be securely attached to your leg. Many have an extra elastic band that goes around your calf to help support the weight of the holster and gun and to keep them from slipping further down. Several holster makers place extra padding on the inside to protect your leg from the hard and sharp surfaces of your gun. This makes it easier to wear for longer periods of time, but can also make it bulkier.

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You will need to decide whether you will be wearing your ankle holster on your strong-side leg or your weak-side leg and whether you will be wearing it on the inside our out-side of your leg. You will find that it is more comfortable in one location or the other.

The size of handgun that you can carry in an ankle holster will also be limited to the small ones like the S&W snubnose J-frame revolvers, the Ruger LCR/LCP/LC9, or the Glock 26. In addition to size, smaller guns weigh less and thus it will be easier to wear one around your ankle.

The greatest advantage to carrying your gun in an ankle holster is that it remains out of the normal area where people look. Howev-er, it is considerably more awkward to draw a gun from an ankle holster as you must first pull up your pants leg or skirt so you can access the grip of the gun. If you are stand-ing, it will take longer as you must drop to your knee or raise your leg up to reach your gun. Dropping to your knee will limit your ability to move quickly. Raising up your leg to draw your gun will likely put you some-what off balance and thus it will be easier for an assailant to knock you off your feet to the ground. On the other hand, if you are seated, especially when driving an automo-bile, an ankle holster may offer the quickest means of getting to your gun.

For many years ankle holsters have been the preferred method for carrying a back-up handgun or for carry a gun when maximum concealment is required—such as by under-cover police officers.

About the only handgun that I own that I would consider carrying in an ankle holster would be my Kimber Solo and that is exact-ly the gun I chose to get an ankle holster for. Anything else would be too bulky for me—but that is me. An ankle holster may be just the thing for your concealed carry needs.

- G.R. Evens

The Armed Criminal We spend a lot of time in these pages dis-cussing the various options law-abiding citi-zens have of arming themselves. In this article I am going to look at what the crimi-nals we may have to confront are using. There is not a lot of research that has been done in this area. The statistical data typical-

ly collected by the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI will indicate the type of firearm used—handgun, rifle, and/or shotgun—and sometimes the caliber, but not specific makes and models of the firearms. But thanks to Greg Elifritz, there is now some-thing for you to consider. (Greg is a 17-year veteran police officer in mid-Ohio. He is also an instructor at the Tactical Defense Institute, the President of Active Response Training, and an active contributor to nu-merous on-line firearms websites and publi-cations.)

The common belief is that criminals arm themselves with “Saturday Night Spe-cials”—small, cheap handguns—or auto-matic AK-47 assault rifles. While it may be true for your average “gang-banger” or low-level drug dealer, professional criminals tend to equip themselves with the best equipment that is available. Elifritz’s research—based on an admittedly very limited amount of data from the police department he works for in a relatively low-crime community—indicates criminals tend to prefer quality firearms. His study was originally published in Concealed Carry Magazine and on the Buck-eye Firearms Association’s website.

The guns included in Elifritz’s study were confiscated from criminals. Of those, ap-proximately 79% were handguns, 13% were rifles (none of them were automatic assault rifles), and 8% were shotguns. Handguns from Smith & Wesson and Ruger were the

most common at 22% of the total. In third place was the Austrian-made Glock (7%). Overall, the cheaply made Hi-Points, Ra-vens, Jennings, etc.—those that might be classified as “Saturday Night Specials”—combined constituted about 21% of the total. Almost 78% of the handguns were semi-automatic pistols.

With regard to the preferred caliber, the 9mm Parabellum was the most common (39%), followed by .22 caliber rimfire car-tridges (13%). Only about 7% of the hand-guns were chambered in .45 ACP caliber. Overall, about 75% were chambered in .38 Special/9mm Parabellum or larger calibers.

The types of bullets selected by criminals was also revealing. Approximately 80% of the 9mm ammunition was of the full metal jacket (FMJ) type. All of the .22 caliber am-munition was either lead round nose or bird-shot—none were hollow points. Only about 27% of the loaded firearms contained hollow point ammunition.

The condition of the firearms when seized by the police was also interesting. About 10% were broken and did not function at all. Another 20% did not function reliably (frequent jams, missing magazines, broken parts, etc.). Twenty-eight percent of the firearms seized were unloaded and another 5% were not loaded to their full capacity. Approximately 2% were loaded with the wrong caliber of ammunition. Altogether, 41% of the firearms were basically non-functional at the time they were seized. When limited reliability is factored in, about 66% of the seized firearms had the ability of firing 3 or fewer rounds before they ceased functioning. This seems to point to a lack of firearms knowledge and maintenance on the part of the criminals.

So what are the lessons learned from his study? According to Greg Elifritz they are:

1. Criminals are likely to be armed with a medium-to-large caliber handgun, most likely a 9mm semi-auto pistol. Thus, the armed citizen that is carrying any-thing in a smaller caliber will be at a significant disadvantage should a gun-fight erupt.

2. Criminals are unlikely to arm them-selves with “assault rifles” or shotguns.

3. Criminals often carry firearms more to intimidate (i.e. “for show”) than to ap-ply deadly force—but you never know so make sure your gun is in good work-

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ing order at all times.

4. Criminals are more likely to load their guns with cheap, less-than-optimal FMJ or soft point ammunition. The armed citizen should load their gun with quali-ty self-defense hollow point ammuni-tion.

I will add one more lesson learned—just because the criminal seems to have the ini-tial advantage and may be threatening you with a gun, don’t just submit to their de-mands. When the opportunity presents itself, fight back!

- G.R. Evens

Traveling with Firearms

Recently, a flight attendant for a major air-line carried a gun in her carry-on bag into the break room at the airport in New York City as she reported to duty for her next flight. Despite the fact that she had a con-cealed carry license, her action was a viola-tion of New York City, New York state and Federal laws. When discovered—it is un-clear if she went through security proce-dures or by-passed them—she was detained in a secure area and police called. The po-lice, while unloading the gun, caused it to fire unexpectedly with several people pre-sent. No one was injured. The attendant stated she forget the gun was in her bag, but that does not appear to hold a lot of weight with New York officials.

More recently another woman, at the same airport, had her carry-on bag go through the security conveyor without incident. While the plane was in flight, she remembered she had the gun in the bag. I guess she did the right thing by notifying a stewardess—not the one who had a gun, she had been previ-ously detained. Maybe she should have just kept her mouth shut. There is no security checkpoint to go through when you get OFF a plane, so she could have made it out without getting caught. However, now she is under arrest and what will happen is any-one’s guess.

A friend of mine got caught with a gun at the X-ray conveyor belt at an airport—another case of forgetting it was in there. It cost him (actually, his father) $8,000 for the

lawyer to get him out of it. No gun though. That cost another $3,000 to retrieve.

This is just the most recent example of oth-erwise law abiding citizens running afoul of New York or federal firearms laws. It cer-tainly points to the need for AWARENESS and GUN SAFETY for everyone that car-ries and uses firearms. It also points to the necessity of knowing where your firearms are at all times.

- D.C. Long

First Impressions Ruger introduced a new semi-automatic pistol chambered in .22 Long Rifle caliber at the beginning of 2012. The SR22® is a light-weight (17.5 ounces), polymer framed double-action/single-action pistol with an aluminum slide, fixed 3.5-inch steel barrel, and a 10+1 round capacity. It comes equipped with high-visibility 3-dot sights with the rear one being adjustable for wind-age and elevation, and is equipped with a magazine disconnect safety (meaning that the pistol cannot be fired when the maga-zine is removed). It comes with two inter-changeable rubber grips sleeves that slip on and off the polymer grip frame to change the size of the grip.

I recently had an opportunity to shoot an SR22 and frankly, I found it somewhat con-fusing. The first thing that I noticed was that the frame-mounted safety operates just the opposite of what you would expect. Instead of pressing it down to take it off “safe”, you have to press it up to fire the gun. The reason for this is that the safety also functions as a de-cocker to lower the exposed, external hammer from a cocked position and traditionally this means moving the de-cocker in a downward direction. For a pistol that is intended for training and recreational shooting (i.e. “plinking”), I

found this to be somewhat confusing since no other Ruger pistol safety works this way.

The double-action trigger pull was long and gritty (12 lbs.)—it was a new pistol. The single-action trigger pull was shorter and lighter (3 lbs. according to the factory speci-fications), but also felt quite gritty. I simply do not understand why Ruger has such hor-rible triggers on their light-weight semi-automatic pistols (a la the Ruger LC9 which I have previously reviewed in Random Shots). The trigger on my Ruger SR9c is perhaps the best trigger I have on any of my pistols, and the trigger on my Mark II Standard Pis-tol—the classic Ruger .22—is not bad at all. The problem seems to be limited to their newer small polymer frame semi-autos. Perhaps their product liability lawyers are involved. I do find it a shame that Ruger can’t seem to put a decent trigger on a hand-gun that is primarily intended for use in training shooters.

Despite the horrible trigger, accuracy was acceptable—at least at the short ranges I was shooting at (about 15 feet)—and my time with the pistol was limited to just 5 rounds (my “standard” for First Impressions reviews). I would not consider it to be a target pistol by any means, but it is okay for a plinker and a pistol designed for defensive training.

The Ruger SR22 looks very similar to Wal-ther’s P22, indeed so similar that it is diffi-cult to believe that there was not any collab-oration between the two companies. How-ever, Ruger claims that it is an entirely new design.

For me, the jury is still out on whether I should recommend the SR22 or not. The size and weight are good, but the trigger, the awkward safety, and being chambered in .22 Long Rifle caliber are definitely nega-tives for a self-defense handgun. Even for a

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Ruger SR22 (bottom) and the Walther P22 (top).

pistol that would primarily be used to train new shooters or to practice defensive shoot-ing with less expensive ammunition, the negatives just seem too much to ignore. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) is $399, which means you should be able to find one for a “street price” of $300-$325.

- G.R. Evens

Another Government Economic Stimulus

Early in his administration, President Obama tried a “stimulus” of $785 million to get the economy moving again. There is considerable debate about how successful that effort was, but one economic sector definitely benefited from the President’s election—the firearms industry.

Firearms manufacturers and gun shop own-ers reaped a dividend from citizens who were afraid about the rumors of the govern-ment’s anti-gun leanings following the elec-tion in 2008. Gun purchases went out of sight and have steadily grown each year since President Obama’s election. About 40% of new gun sales were reportedly to females, and National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) back-ground checks from federally licensed (i.e. FFL) dealers beat all records. Ohio back-ground checks in 2006 totaled 325,132. A steady climb upward followed and 357,945 were recorded from January to August in 2012. The last full year on record, 2011, showed 468,974 approved gun sales in Ohio.

Nationally gun sales went from 14.5 million in 2010 to 16.5 million in 2011. Smith & Wesson reported record net sales of $136 million—up 48% over the previous year. The company predicts a $45 million increase for 2013. Ruger exceeded its all time fire-arms production record—over one million guns shipped—in 2012, an increase of over

200,000 from their previous production record.

President Obama inadvertently proposed a second stimulus—for firearms manufactures and retailers—and NICS checks for firearms purchases are again going to set records. He proposed re-instating the “assault weapons ban” and re-imposing a limit on firearms magazine capacity. Right after the election it was also announced that the United States would re-engage in the UN arms treaty ne-gotiations. On the day following the 2012 presidential election, it is estimated that 5% of the inventory of firearms on retail store shelves were purchased.

So, will another firearms ban be enacted? Only if you allow your Congressman to vote for one. The best way you can prevent this is to join the NRA and tell your Congress-man that you want them to oppose any laws that would impose restrictions on your abil-ity to own or carry firearms! And you then need to hold them accountable. There are an estimated 80 million firearms owners in the U.S., but only about 4 million of them are members of the NRA. Every gun owner should be an NRA member.

- D.C. Long

Are You Prepared to Weather the Storm?

Hurricane Sandy has demonstrated once again how weather events can significantly disrupt lives across broad areas. Although not nearly as powerful a storm as Hurricane Katrina was, it was much more widespread and because of where it struck, it has affect-ed a significant number of people in the most densely populated part of the U.S.

It is not as if there was not ample warning that the storm was coming. For days in advance, weather forecasters were predicting where the storm might come ashore. There

was plenty of time for people to get ready but most did not. Instead they lived in a state of denial, not believing that a mere storm could disrupt their lives. They did not believe that widespread power outages could last for days. Without electricity, ele-vators do no run in high-rise apartment and office buildings. Heating and air condition-ing systems do not run. Water and sewage systems stop functioning. It would also mean that gasoline stations could not pump fuel into their automobiles, trucks, and bus-es. They did not comprehend that flooding would render subways and tunnels unusable for days. They failed to realize that with major transportation routes blocked grocery store shelves would soon be bare—remember most retail stores had adopted “just in time supply” meaning they depend on daily deliveries to replenish their stocks. In desperation, people turned to “dumpster diving” to find scraps of food to eat.

Now fear and panic sets in! Desperate peo-ple began hording the few supplies that re-main. Public services, fire, medical, and law enforcement become overwhelmed between looking for those injured by the storm and controlling the growing panic among the survivors. Government appears to be una-ble to help. People begin to realize they have only themselves to rely on and also how ill prepared they are.

Looting occurred and homeowners took it upon themselves to protect their lives and property following the 1974 Xenia tornado. Things took a dramatic twist in the after-math of Hurricane Katrina as police authori-ties attempted to round up all guns owned by private citizens who were using them to protect their property. Following Hurricane Ike electricity was out for several days in Ohio.

Perhaps those goofy “survivalists” with their stockpiling of one week’s supply of food and water and arming themselves have the right idea. There “whacky” ideas are sud-denly sounding sensible!

Are you prepared for the unexpected? Do

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you have an emergency generator to provide electricity to essential appliances? Do you have enough gas on hand to run the genera-tor for several days? Do you have gas to refill your automobile incase you need to evacuate the area? Do you have enough food and water for yourself and family to last for a week? Do you have enough of your prescriptions on hand to last until the crisis is over? Do you have first aid kits, flashlights, spare batteries, extra blankets, clothing, shoes, and money (i.e. cash) to get you through? Do you have firearms and ammunition that are suitable for survival situations? (A shotgun or rifle may be more applicable than your concealed carry hand-gun.) Are you prepared to defend yourself and family when someone tries to take away those supplies that you thoughtfully stock-piled ahead of time but they did not bother with? Do you periodically inspect your “survival” stocks to make sure they are still usable and that those items with expiration dates have not expired? Have you even thought about any of this? Or, are you liv-ing in a state of denial, believing it could never happen to you?

- G.R. Evens & D.C. Long

Practice What You Preach!

I always make it a practice to follow the suggestions we give to students in our CCW classes. I ALWAYS check a firearm to de-termine unloaded/loaded status every time I pick it up. I ALWAYS carry my firearm where and when it is legal—even when I sometimes don’t want to because I’m just going to run in a store to buy something quickly. I ALWAYS check my level of awareness before entering any event or area. I ALWAYS watch who is near or approach-ing me and get ready to stop them from getting too close.

I went over to Panera Bread on Miller Lane recently for an afternoon meeting. While walking in from the parking lot I saw three guys acting oddly in the lot of the nearby motel. It was kind of a “Chinese fire drill” from my youth. All three got out of their car, the passenger and driver switched places and the guy from the back seat stayed out and started walking toward Panera. Chang-

ing drivers and stoking up on coffee was my first thought, but the way the fellow was walking gave him away. I knew he would approach me—and he did. “Hey mister!” he shouts. My alertness condition changes from “yellow” to “orange” and I’m ready to go “red”.

I had my Ruger LCP in my left front pocket so I was ready for his request. He claims he was a Wright State student and would show me his ID if I want to see it. He said he need $5 for gas to get to class. Now, I have a semi-rigid rule—I don’t give money to people. I said “no” and he begged a little bit—another “NO” sent him in search of a lady getting out of her car nearby.

I noticed the threesome kept driving around although they had no gas. When I left the meeting an hour later they were still driving around and approaching everyone who walked across the lot.

One time I went to Springfield very early in the morning to do a short paperwork task at a small non-profit drug treatment agen-cy. It was still dark when I emerged and I immediately noticed a young man on bicycle headed in my general direction. As he rolled down the sidewalk somehow I just knew he would be coming into the lot to talk to me. Sure enough, he rolled closer and said the magic words “Hey, Mister!”. At a fair distance I told him we had no business and he “should just keep on going”. He came closer, I repeated my “keep going” com-ment only very sternly this time.

I was next to my open car door and now I had my hand in my pocket touching my “American Express”—I never leave home without it! Then he says, “I work here”. I didn’t believe that for a minute. Then he says, “you must be Dave Long”. Oh my God, he does belong here! He explained that he was the early morning part-time jani-tor.

For a moment I thought I had treated him roughly, but I didn’t apologize, as he had rolled up on me too quickly to suit me, and didn’t identify himself until I gave him some impolite verbals. It was food for thought, though, about being appropriately defensive, but not abusive to people who approach me.

- D.C. Long

Just for the Fun of It We spend a lot of time in these pages talking about the need for training, various shooting techniques, mental preparation, etc.—all very serious topics. However, if you take all of your shooting opportunities too seri-ous—except for the safety aspects—then it can cease being fun and soon you will find yourself putting off going to the range be-cause it has become a drudgery to do so. You need to allow time for “fun shooting” aka plinking.

I recently acquired a perfect—at least for me—plinking gun that is an absolute blast to shoot. It is a semi-automatic carbine chambered for the .22 Long Rifle cartridge that resembles the Heckler & Koch (H&K) MP5 sub-machinegun.

The gun is manufactured by Carl Walther of Germany and is imported into the US by Umarex USA. It has a collapsible buttstock, just like the original MP5s. It also has a false suppressor to cover the barrel that must be at least 16 inches long to be legal in the U.S. (The original H&K MP5 was de-veloped in the 1960s. It was chambered to fire the 9mm Parabellum cartridge and had a barrel approximately 5 inches long.)

The Walther/Umarex version of the MP5 weighs about 6 pounds, about the same as the original MP5. The .22 version comes with a 25 round magazine (10 round maga-zines are also available). The controls are the same as on the original gun with the exception that no “full auto” option is avail-able on the Walther/Umarex version—it is strictly a semi-automatic. Still, it will spit out rounds as fast as you can pull the trigger. And of course, recoil is practically non-existent.

I must say, the little .22 is accurate. It was no problem for me and my friends to re-peatedly hit a 9-inch steel plate at 25 yards with open sights, even when we were pulling the trigger as fast as we could. And, shoot-ing it fast—or slow—won’t cost you an arm and a leg like it would if you were shooting a real MP5 in 9mm.

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So, next time you go shooting, make it fun. After you get your “serious” training done, why not try a little plinking with a fun gun.

- G.R. Evens

Gun Show Etiquette One of the sub-goals of the LongMeadows Shooting School is to provide enough fire-arm familiarity so that graduates can go to any gun store or gun show and feel compe-tent and knowledgeable. No one can know everything, so when you don’t know—ASK. The following are some “rules” you should follow, especially at gun shows:

Rule #1: Don’t presume because the guns are accessible on a table, counter, or rack that you are free to handle them—always ASK—it shows your good gun manners.

Rule #2: NEVER open boxes/packages of ammunition.

Rule #3: If you don’t know how to check the firearm for unloaded condition—ASK to be shown. Sometimes you will encounter guns that have a plastic tie that locks the action or passes through the chamber/cylinder to render the gun inoperable. Some people trust this system, others like to peek into the action anyway if possible—either is acceptable.

Rule #4: NEVER pull the trigger or work the action before talking to the owner about it. (Some guns are so collectable or valuable that turning the cylinder or racking the slide will diminish the value.)

Rule #5: At gun shows you can make a game of counting the number of people who are walking around with their finger on the trigger of their guns. DON’T you be one of them!

Rule #6: Ditto: “muzzle sweeping”—it is always acceptable to take a finger and re-direct the muzzle in a safe direction—most often upward. Someone may be sighting a gun from another aisle at some distance but it is aimed right at you—raise your hands like you are giving up, or fake a ducking motion to get their attention to indicate to them that you are in their sights.

Rule #7: It is perfectly acceptable and en-couraged that “dickering the price” is part of gun show behavior. Less so at gun stores,

but most gun people try it anyway. I have a policy never to pay tag price for a gun at a gun show as it is expected that all guns are marked up slightly so the owner can dicker downward—even five bucks just to make me feel good. The only exception is when I know that the gun is worth a good bit more than the asking price. In that case I announce I won’t even attempt to dicker on such a good deal—thus recognizing the dealer for his generosity.

Rule #8: Keep in mind that the gun you bought for $300 dollars will not bring that amount when sold. Table-holders and retail stores have to pay rent or table fees, inven-tory taxes, sales taxes, profit ,etc. The same $300 gun you sold to a table holder for $230 will have a $275 price on the table when you next see it.

Rule #9: If you are selling a gun, remember that state and federal laws allow personally owned firearms to be bought, sold, traded as personal property. You should validate that all handgun buyers are 21 years old and a resident of Ohio. Long guns can be sold to 18 year olds from Ohio or states contiguous to Ohio. There is no way you can deter-mine if the buyer is a felon—they know that themselves and the onus is on them. Usually undercover police officers are present at larger shows to identify felons they know—because they aren’t even allowed to be around guns. If you don’t like the looks of a buyer who wants to look at your gun: 1) put a high, non-negotiable price on it; 2) tell them you have a potential buyer to check with before you can sell it; 3) tell them you just brought it to get it appraised; 4) tell them you don’t like their looks and you won’t sell it to them—it’s your property.

Caveat Emptor—“buyer beware”—applies for gun show sales. Politely accept infor-mation that you know to be false, don’t ar-gue with people who have erroneous infor-mation and do not believe any statements unless you know them to be true or until you validate them. SHOP, SAVE, HAVE FUN!

- D.C. Long

Page 7 Random Shots Volume 3, I ssue 1

With the new year, LongMeadows

Shooting School will continue to offer

our popular Ohio CCW course monthly.

However, increasingly students are com-

ing to recognize that they need more

skills than can be covered in the basic

course. Indeed, one of our students has

stated that they did not feel confident

enough to carry a concealed handgun

until after they had completed one of

our advanced handgun courses. Stu-

dents especially want more time shoot-

ing at the range. As a result, we will be

expanding our offering of advanced

handgun training classes—the NRA

Personal Protection in the Home and

Personal Protection Outside the Home

courses. A minimum of 4 students are

required before an advanced class will

be held. Maximum class size for ad-

vanced classes is 12 students.

All classes start at 8:30AM unless other-

wise indicated. All of our instructors are

NRA certified. See our website for the

latest information about classes and as-

sociated costs.

If you are interested in taking one of our

courses, or know someone else who is,

please let them know when our classes

will be held.

Ohio CCW Course:

Course length—12 hours, classroom

and shooting range. Ammunition re-

quired—50 rounds. Cost—$75 in ad-

vance, $85 at the door. Prerequisite—

None.

January 19

February 16

March 16

April 20

May 11

June 22

July 13

August 17

September 14

October 19

November 23

December 14

We also offer a multi-day CCW class on 3-4 consecutive Wednesday evenings and a Sundays (for the range) for those that cannot attend a Saturday class. These classes will be scheduled once a minimum of 5 students sign up to at-tend and pay in advance. No refunds are available but students that miss a particular class session can attend that portion of one of our other classes at no additional cost to receive their comple-tion certificate.

NRA Personal Protection in the

Home Course:

Course length—9 hours, classroom and

shooting range. Ammunition required—

100 rounds. Cost—$90 in advance, $110

at the door. Prerequisite—Ohio CCW,

NRA Basic Pistol or equivalent.

March 30

July 27

September 28

NRA Personal Protection Outside

the Home Course:

Course length—14 hours (Level I, 9

hours, Level II, 5 hours), classroom and

shooting range. Ammunition required—

300 rounds. Cost—$150 ($100 for Level

I and $50 for Level II) in advance, $200

at the door ($125 for Level I and $75

for Level II). Prerequisite—NRA Per-

sonal Protection in the Home. You

must complete the Level I course before

moving on to Level II.

June 1-2

November 2-3

Private Instruction:

Private instruction is available to indi-

viduals that wish to improve their

shooting skills or their use of a specific

firearm. The cost of private instruction

is $25 per hour per person with a mini-

mum of 2 hours required. This ensures

sufficient time is available to review fire-

arms safety and range rules prior to the

start of instruction at the range.

Page 8 Random Shots Volume 3, I ssue 1

LongMeadows Shooting School

2013 Schedule

We specialize in providing quality

firearms training at reasonable

prices. Our staff of instructors and

range safety officers are NRA

certified. Check out our basic and

advanced classes at

www.longmeadowsshootingshoool.com

LongMeadows Shooting

School