Massad Ayoob Group MAG 40 After Class Review

We completed the Massad Ayoob Group MAG 20 live fire and MAG 20 Classroom in March 2023. It was a great class with learning all around.

I instructed the live fire portion and Massad Ayoob taught the classroom portion. Together, these courses constitute the MAG 40 and provide the student with the tools to effectively use their pistol to defend themselves; to interact with suspects, witnesses, and responding police officers; to develop a solid mindset, recognize threats, and manage the social, psychological, and legal aftermath after having been forced to use deadly force in defense of themselves or other innocents.

We had ten students for the live fire portion and the class average for the qualification was an impressive 293 points out of a possible 300.

Students in the MAG 20 live fire shoot the Standard Speed Qualification course of fire as follows: 

From the four yard line: 

-- Starting with the pistol aimed at the bottom of the target: Six rounds with your support hand in 8 seconds 

-- Starting with the pistol holstered, hand on pistol: Six rounds with your primary hand in 8 seconds 

From the seven yard line:

-- Starting with the pistol holstered, hands at sides, using your preferred stance: Six rounds, reload, six rounds in 25 seconds

From the ten yard line: 

-- Starting with the pistol aimed at the bottom of the target: Six rounds using the cover crouch, reload, six rounds from high kneeling, reload, six rounds from low kneeling in 75 seconds. 

From the fifteen yard line: 

-- Starting with the pistol holstered, hands at sides: Six rounds using the Weaver Stance, reload, six rounds using the Chapman Modified Stance, reload, six rounds using the Isosceles Stance in 90 seconds.

The MAG tradition is that if a student or staff member ties or beats Massad’s qualification score Mas signs a one dollar or five dollar bill indicating that you have beaten him at his own game. I have eight signed five dollar bills and hope to accumulate enough of them to buy a good bottle of bourbon.

I shot my P365 for the qualification and used factory equivalent reloads. I shot a 300 and  managed a 3-1/4 inch group which was 1/8" larger than my record group of 3-1/8 inches.  Its always that one shot that causes issues and in this case that one shot added 1-1/8 inches to my group size. I would have been very happy with a 2-1/8" group.  Sigh.

This is my 10th year as a Massad Ayoob Group Staff Instructor. The MAG 20 Live Fire program continues to provide outstanding instruction in the use of the handgun under stress and the MAG 20 classroom provides the absolute best instruction on the armed citizen’s rules of engagement that you can find anywhere in the United States.

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My Performance on a Police Use of Force Training Simulator Pt 2

Virta Simulator File Photo

This article is the second in a series discussing my experiences training on a sophisticated police use of force training simulator or PTS. During the training session, I completed several law enforcement-themed scenarios including domestic disturbances, drug-related incidents, a robbery at a convenience store, and several active killer incidents. It was an interesting experience and I was satisfied with my performance overall since I did not get shot in any of the scenarios. However, in some of the scenarios I did not act quickly enough to stop the perpetrator from other harming others. 

One scenario involved a dispute between two neighbors who lived in different houses across the street from me. Since these scenarios were LEO-focused, even though I was at home, I was acting in the role of a police officer. When the scenario begins, I hear loud yelling coming from across the street and go to investigate. As I step around the blind corner of a garage leading to an area between two houses I see a man holding a shotgun at his waist and pointed at a woman. Both individuals are loudly arguing about something.

I draw my pistol, point it at the man, and command him to drop the shotgun. He immediately complies and places the shotgun on the ground, steps back, and raises his hands. I lower my pistol to low ready and that was the extent of my actions in that moment. The woman continues loudly yelling at the man and he becomes more agitated. Thirty seconds or so pass and suddenly he lunges for the shotgun, picks it up, aims at the woman, and shoots her in the chest. A soon as he aims it toward the woman, I shoot him—he goes down; however, I was not fast enough to prevent him from killing the woman.

As I completed several scenarios, I did not hesitate when the threat was directed at me. However, when I was not immediately threatened, I experienced an instant of hesitation deciding whether I should act. My hesitation resulted in several people being “killed.” As I reviewed my performance after the training, I realized I was approaching the scenarios with a private citizen mindset and not the mindset of a police officer. The last time I wore a police uniform was 1983–almost 40 years ago—so in retrospect I guess this is not surprising. Over the years I have given careful thought to what situations I will and will not get involved in and in all but extremely rare occasions, stay out of other people’s business.

Practicing reactions to deadly force scenarios or other emergencies increases our confidence, and increased confidence lowers our body's stress response when we actually face dangerous situations. Our field of vision is not as narrow as it might be otherwise, and our tendency to fixate on a "fear object" or other distraction diminishes. Because our brain is in a more relaxed state, it is more able to dedicate resources to creatively addressing new challenges (for example, incoming gunfire from an unexpected direction).

My Performance on a Police Use of Force Training Simulator Pt 1

I recently had the opportunity to train on a sophisticated police use of force training simulator and completed several law enforcement-themed scenarios. The scenarios included domestic disturbances, drug-related incidents, a robbery at a convenience store, and several active killer incidents. It was an interesting experience and I was satisfied with my performance overall since I did not get shot in any of the scenarios. However, in some of the scenarios I did not act quickly enough to stop the perpetrator from other harming others.

Police electronic training simulators or ETSs help prepare law enforcement officers for real-life incidents using realistic scenarios that demand critical decisions in tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving situations. The training scenarios in the simulations had real actors and extensive branching options that reacted to the participant’s verbal commands, decisions, movement, or other actions. The branches allowed the incident to unfold based on the instructor’s or the participant’s decisions. The ETS detected where the participant was pointing their pistol’s muzzle and required precise marksmanship.

I experienced tunnel vision in one scenario. The scenario had me walking around a blind corner toward the entrance to a convenience store. Suddenly a young man runs from the convenience store straight toward me. When he sees me, he immediately raises his empty hands in a surrender position and lays down on the ground without any command from me (since it was an LEO scenario, I presume I was in a “virtual” police uniform and that explained his actions).

An instant later another man in street clothes runs from the store with a pistol in hand pointed at the ground. I draw and challenge the individual to drop his gun whereupon the individual produces a badge and identifies himself as a police officer. As I am staring at the badge, I do not see the individual on the ground roll over and produce a pistol. It wasn’t until he pointed it at the plain clothes police officer that I first became aware of this individual’s actions—I was too late, he fired at the officer. As the individual on the ground turned his pistol to shoot me, I shot him in the head ending the scenario.

During this scenario I experienced a form of inattentional blindness — a temporary loss of peripheral vision also referred to as tunnel vision. Tunnel vision can result from a variety of factors including high adrenaline levels in the body from stress or anger. Although I was not experiencing high adrenaline levels in the scenario, I was stressed since I wanted to do well. Tunnel vision can also result from a hyper focus on something such as the badge in my case.

I do not know how long I was focused on the badge and failed to ask during the after action review; however, I do not believe it was more than a second or two. Clearly it was long enough for the perpetrator to shoot the officer. When I saw the perpetrator shoot the officer, I turned my attention to him and reacted appropriately to the deadly threat against me.

So how do we prevent tunnel vision? The first step in dealing with narrowing attention is understanding that it can happen as your stress level rises and your body does an adrenaline dump in response. Being able to control your stress is one of the best ways to combat the ill effects of the hormonal chemical dump that changes your psychological, cognitive, and physical performance. Breathing techniques can be effective if you have time.

If you find you are fixating on one sound or one task, make a conscious effort to unlock your senses from it and force yourself to scan your environment. During the scenario, the police officer and I were both focused on each other and not on the perpetrator (the officer did not defend himself either). Obviously my best response upon seeing the badge would have been immediately turning my attention on the perpetrator and commanding him not to move. Would the perpetrator have acted anyway? I do not know; however, I would have been better prepared for his attack and may have been able to prevent him from shooting the officer.

Practicing reactions to deadly force scenarios or other emergencies increases our confidence and increased confidence lowers our body's stress response when we actually face dangerous situations. Our field of vision is not as narrow as it might be otherwise, and our tendency to fixate on a "fear object" or other distraction diminishes. Because our brain is in a more relaxed state, it is more able to dedicate resources to creatively addressing new challenges (for example, incoming gunfire from an unexpected direction).

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Florida Deputy Shoots and Kills His Officer Roommate

According to Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey, Brevard County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Lawson and his close friend and roommate Deputy Austin Walsh were at home playing an online game when the two reportedly took a break. Deputy Lawson picked up a pistol he thought wasn’t loaded and reportedly in jest, pointed the pistol at Deputy Walsh and pulled the trigger, killing him instantly. Lawson called 911 immediately after the shooting. Agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement later took Deputy Lawson into custody on a no-bond warrant for manslaughter with a firearm.

Some officials called this incident a “tragic accident.” Did Lawson intend to shoot his roommate? Undoubtedly no; however, this was negligence, not an accident.

The four firearm safety rules:

1. Treat every firearm as if it is loaded at all times. Are all firearms always loaded? Of course not; however, if we always treat them as if they are loaded our actions are less likely to result in tragedy. Did Deputy Lawson know the status of the firearm he was holding? No he did not.  FAIL!

2. Always point the firearm in the safest direction — this is dependent upon the environment and circumstances. We live in a 360-degree world. A safe direction one minute may not be safe a moment later. It should go without saying, NEVER point a firearm at anyone or anything you are not willing to destroy. Did Deputy Lawson intent to destroy Deputy Walsh? Very likely he did not, yet he pointed a deadly weapon at him.  FAIL!

3. Keep your finger off the trigger and out of the trigger guard unless you are intentionally firing a shot. Discard all other variations of this rule. Intentionally firing a shot is a conscious act. Did Deputy Lawson consciously intent to shoot Deputy Walsh? Very likely he did not, yet he placed his finger on the trigger and pulled the trigger.  FAIL!

4. Be sure of your target and what is beyond it. Did Deputy Lawson consider Deputy Walsh a target? Very likely he did not.  FAIL! 

The four firearm safety rules are multilayered for a reason. You can typically violate one without catastrophic consequences. Once you begin to violate two or more you are in trouble. Deputy Lawson violated all four of the firearm safety rules.

Some may consider my comments harsh--I don't.  Firearms are dangerous tools—not toys and must be treated as such. Deputy Lawson presumably received firearms safety training at the academy.  Perhaps he was absent that day.  A moment’s buffoonery resulted in one life lost and another ruined.