Modcast appreciation thread

[Brendog1776]

The cops in that town are in the CYA mode. They had screwed up big time again, for this isn't the first time they ran away or stood by while the shooter kills people. They did arrest and tasered a parent, so they have no problem attacking unarmed people.

In the modcast, I found it hilarious that Matt again is wrong on that scott peterson being charged. As he joked "how is he being charged if there is no duty to protect?". As there is no legal duty (wait for the it is a civil case guys to chime in) for cops to protect, and scott is being charged under as a caregiver in the capacity of being a SRO, not an LE who ran away and let kids die. Again the bias is showing and he is trying to make police look good despite their actions or lack of actions.

I am thinking the cops are lying about an item, but there will be no way to prove it. They are claiming they thought the shooter was "barricaded" in and no kids were in that room. I believe, after the shooter firing all of the shots he did, they thought all of the kids were dead and no need to move in.

This is a tragedy, I feel so sad for those families who were held back by police.

 

[Smith]

Maybe I'm misremembering, but I thought everybody on the Modcast was pretty harsh on the SRO who ran instead of running toward the shooter?

 

[Brendog1776]

I don't recall them being harsh in the duty to protect, but that may have been in a different modcast, if they were.

 

[Smith]

Might as well post this here..

About the "The Over Reliance on SMEs" post on the front page. I see this in every domain of life or expertise.

First, people need to get up to speed on the basics. For pistols, that's "hold it like so" and "this is the bad end, don't point it at yourself or people you like" and "get a holster." For cars, it might be the basic rules and how to drive it safely. This level is usually the same for almost anybody, and as such best taught cheaply to the masses in a sort of repeatable package deal (e.g. NRA instructor).

Then, interested people might want to learn more. They might want to become proficient enough to gain confidence so they can carry. They might enjoy going to the range once a month. They'll read a book or seek more specialized instruction, e.g. a 1-on-1 class or a weekend course (over the 1 hour intro at the gun range). They'll learn about some grip style, how to avoid jerking the trigger, that speed and accuracy are a trade-off. That there's technique to all of this, e.g. the draw. This will be taught by maybe the same instructors but in a smaller (1-on-1 or small group) setting, with individual instruction given, although the instruction is probably still pretty mass-market (i.e. everyone learns the instructor's favorite grip, draw, and so on).

Then you get people even more interested. They might sign up for a community, or read a lot of books. They might start watching the 1 hour long podcast covering grip instead of the 5 minute slick video containing 3 minutes of slow-motion drone footage and dubstep. They might learn there are different opinions on grip and draw, that these have historically changed, that what their instructor said was just one opinion out there, although it was probably the mainstream opinion. Now they start realizing this is a toolkit and you have to customize it for your own use.

Eventually, some people reach the level where they invent new techniques that they teach and eventually those filter down.

But each step of this pyramid you lose what, 90% of the people? I'd wager than 90% of gun owners discharge their weapon less than 1x per year. I'd wager that of the people who go to small-group or 1-on-1 classes, 90% don't know that USPSA exists, that there are more than 1 draw or grip technique, and so on. I was lucky to get a great instructor (because his website looked cool) that put on small group sessions weekly for like $20, where 3-5 people would show up and he'd just give us tips and feedback as we practiced. These were the 10% that signed up, so already a select group in a sense, and there were lots of self-flagging and safety issues still. People would be impressed if you could do a headshot at 3 yards consistently. Just by virtue of blasting ~5k rounds in my first year of gun ownership, I outgrew these classes quickly.

Now I feel like I'm at that level where I need to start assembling a toolbox. But 99% of people (90% x 90%) don't care that much and never go that far. They'll never put any sight or light on their weapon, they won't ever buy a dedicated holster belt, they think that the gun going random directions after they fire is just what it is.

As you ascend this pyramid of knowledge, you need less mass-market, cheap material at scale, and go more and more into the specifics and individual needs and missions.

Personally I enjoy climbing the pyramid in many fields I get into. I think that's the definition of a nerd. Most people aren't nerds, they just want to buy a gun, and shoot it ok, and thus they don't care for the individual instruction or the toolbox approach.

And honestly that's already pretty effective with handguns. If you picked ANY modern pistol from a drawer and I gave you 1h of instruction, you'd probably be as well-trained and armed as the average criminal, and thus in a good position to defend yourself. If just 10% of people carried like that, that would be amazing.

 

[Smith]

Quick addendum: I think this reality is a source of frustration for many gun guys in this community (P&S).

I remember Chuck (?) wondering aloud in one old ModCast why his videos weren't as popular as Gardand Thumb's. Duh, Chuck is on level 10 of this pyramid and he teaches skills that people below level 8 won't even recognize exist. It's the same when I got into motorcycles. 90% of people want to take a class from a former professional racer because they can then tell their friend they took classes from a professional racer. They don't actually want to learn any of the techniques, because they aren't going to try and be fast themselves. Chuck is equivalent to a professional MotoGP racer, and the average motorcyclist wouldn't understand or ever use any of the nuance that comes with that level of proficiency.

Garand Thumb is actually one of the better "slick" channels out there, although I can rarely finish a video of his. Most gun videos don't serve instruction, they serve the bottom 90% of gun owners who want to watch an MTV music video of a good-looking guy shooting a gun looking cool. They live vicariously through those guys. And we on P&S live vicariously through Chuck