With 80 rapes reported in the last three years, it appears that students and athletes from the University of Missoula have been involved, which has lead to the dismissal of the football coach and the school’s athletic director.

Although the article referenced here says that the rate of rapes in Missoula is on par with other college towns, it appears that the Feds are getting involved because of the way the cases have been handled in the past.

Typically, locking the bolt open means you have to reach under the mag well with your right hand to push the small portion of the bolt catch while simultaneously pulling the charging handle to the rear with your left hand. Unlocking the bolt is easier, but entails pushing or slapping the bolt catch paddle with your left hand.  Lefties have an easier time of it, but you still have to take your hands out of firing position to accomplish it.

The B.A.D. Lever is a simple metal lever that installs right on top of your existing bolt catch. It is designed so you can manipulate the bolt catch with just one finger on the right side instead of the complicated movement which takes one or both hands off of your shooting position.  With the lever extending through the trigger guard to the right side, you can manipulate the bolt stop with just your trigger finger.

It comes with literally four pieces in a small bag:

1. main lever
2. backplate
3. screw
4. the Allen wrench for the screw.

To install the B.A.D. Lever

1. Tilt the existing bolt catch paddle forward allowing room to slide the backplate behind it.
2. Take the large lever and position it with the long part of it down through the trigger guard and the flat part over the paddle. The screw hole should line up with the hole in the backplate.
3. Insert the supplied screw and tighten with the supplied Allen wrench.

I added a drop of lock-tite onto the screw before installing.

That’s it. It takes longer to describe the installation here than it does to actually do it.

This device does not change the function of your carbine at all and is not permanent. You can still manipulate the bolt catch in the traditional method, but I watched an operator use one in an earlier class a month ago and it looked very fast and easy.

I purchased the device at Dillion Precision for $29.99.  I’ve seen them range in price from $26 on Cheaper Than Dirt to $39.99 at Bass Pro Shops.I’m looking forward to trying it out this weekend at the PFC Progressive Carbine course.

UPDATE:

I used the B.A.D. lever during the Progressive Carbine course in Las Vegas with Brian Hartman, Mike Barnhart and Dustin Kingsberry from PFC.

It’s simple and it works. In fact, it might work a little too well at first. I found that my trigger finger would inadvertently send the bolt forward if I didn’t concentrate on keeping it straight along the frame when not engaging targets.

This became a little distracting when I had a long string of difficulties during the segment on “re-functioning” the carbine when we set up malfunctions. We originally thought I was tripping the lever sending the bolt carrier forward during one of the drills causing me to have to charge the carbine when ordinarily the bolt would be latched to the rear. After some frustration, it turns out that a faulty magazine was not locking the bolt open after the last shot. So I’m blaming the procedure on the B.A.D. lever and found out it was the magazine…

I found that manipulating the lever to catch the bolt open with just my trigger finger took a little work and caused some soreness on the tip after multiple repetitions. I did, however, love the way the new lever made it significantly easier to hold the bolt open when reaching under the magazine well. Instead of having to hit the tiny button on the bottom of the paddle I could depress the lever anywhere along its length to activate the bolt catch.  Nice.

I’ve got the “slap the paddle” motion to send the bolt forward ingrained in my reloading procedure after years of practice. Have you ever gotten into a vehicle with an automatic transmission after years of driving a standard and finding yourself reaching for a phantom shifter and starting to depress the imaginary clutch? Seems like the same thing for me to change to a new procedure for reloading.

Using the simpler motion is going to be substantially faster and more efficient once I get used to it.

Here’s how I grade it:

Function = A

Delivery on promise = A

Ease of installation = A

You can find other sources that use 1 in 5 or even 1 in 4. You can argue for or against the difference in the numbers. Whatever they are, they are still outrageous. In Steve and my experience, we are constantly amazed that, in our typical class, every women there has either been attacked or directly knows a woman who has.

Sexual assault and sexual abuse is an epidemic that has historically plagued women.  Even in our own “modern” society, we face daunting numbers knowing that every female dear to us is a potential target.

Please help spread the word about Defend University and the Women’s Self-Defense Institute‘s work to prevent sexual assault. We will continue our mission to inform, educate and train women and instructors to tackle this problem head on.

Your courage, commitment and involvement are integral parts of our efforts.

Thank you.

Her participation in the course and her spirit and enthusiasm serves as a great reminder — no matter what your limitations are, you can fight back.

This student had a walking boot on one foot and a wrist brace on.  But we found ways for her to perform the techniques with good results despite not having all her weapons available.

You can — and need — to find a way around whatever you feel might be a shortcoming. The chilling reason is that predators will look at them as opportunities, avenues they can exploit in their attack.

Work around those limitations. Get training. Keep fighting. Never give up.

The phone is 602-867-9204 and the location is 13647 N. 32nd Street, Phoenix.  Cost is $40 or $35 each if you bring a friend.

The Fight Like a Girl module from the Women’s Empowerment Series teaches the “stay with people” principle.

They tell me of all the money that can made from selling franchises or on-line courses; by charging more for instructor certifications, or by charging instructors licensing fees or association dues. These are legitimate money-making activities — none of which we do. When I run into these people, I’ve learned that they are NOT the people we want involved in our efforts. Over the last two decades I’ve found the most troublesome and least effective instructors are the ones who are only in it for the money.

The goal of the institute is to provide self-defense training and education to as many women as possible.  The method I’ve chosen to do that is to create a network of instructors — a tribe — which continually grows and spreads the message while still staying connected to the principles and concepts we use.

Tribes have connections. Tribes support each member. And they create an organic movement which can outlast the original tribal leadership. On the other hand, the kinds of relationships that are built on monetary transactions are less personal and have less commitment on either side of the equation. You pay for the item or service and the seller provides it. The transaction complete, the buyer either looks for another service or product and the seller looks for another buyer.

Success for the tribe is measured by the strength of the group. Success for the transactional relationship is determined by how many transactions can be successfully completed. Now to be fair, I want to make very clear that I am a complete advocate of the free enterprise system, and that a transactional relationship  can only succeed when the buyer feels they have received value from the product or service. The more value, the more that can be charged for the transaction. Or, if the transactional fee is low, but the product has value, then the numbers of buyers can be more.

However, when you are dealing with the very complicated and sensitive elements surrounding self-defense, sexual assault, pain, fear, shame, and violence the transactional model doesn’t work well. There is a huge amount of empathy, support and sensitivity involved when you walk down the path of being a women’s self-defense instructor.  The best and most successful instructors are those who are making these connections. They worry about their students. They take the time to understand and help them through their fears, instilling confidence.  Their students sense their commitment and develop a trusting relationship. These are the instructors who are making a difference.

Now here’s the paradox — you should teach for the love of it, but you should charge for your courses.

First of all, you have expenses to cover. Secondly, there is a very real phenomenon that attaches a perceived worth of a product to it’s price tag.  Martha Stewart tells a famous story about selling her homemade pies, finding out that she sold substantially more when she increased the price. When your courses are free, you’ll find that you literally cannot give them away. Strange isn’t it?

Charging a nominal fee for your classes engenders a level of commitment for your students as well. Paying for a course provides an incentive for them to show up and participate enthusiastically. The key for you to increase your network is to provide more value to your students than the $40 or $50 they might have paid for their course.

Follow up with the students, keep in touch with them.  Hold follow up classes. Providing value is easy when you do it for the love of it.

And go out there and make a difference in the world.

Tampa

Fight Like a Girl and Girls on Guard

March 3 and 4

New York

Fight Like a Girl and Girls on Guard

April 21 and 22

Both courses are being taught by Steve Kardian.  Contact him for registration at kardian@optonline.netx (just remove the ‘x’ at the end of the address before sending).

Interwoven into the story of Kyle’s deployments overseas and his brief times back at home are short sections supplied by Taya Kyle documenting her feelings and her side of the story. The combination serves to provide a poignant contrast between the brutalities faced by warriors in battle and the worry and emotions ripping through their families at home.

I get the feeling that Chris Kyle is a man of few words because his descriptions of events and memories tend to be on the spare side. But the author’s (Jim DeFelice) ability to capture the tone and meaning of Kyle’s stories is excellent. You can pick up the cadence and rhythm of Kyle’s speech with the one-liners leaving you chuckling. With a few haunting exceptions, there is almost always a comical or humorous side aspect to Kyle’s stories.

For those who want to pick up a lot of detail about being a SEAL or a sniper, you’re not going to get much. There are some nuggets in the stories that you can probably only mine if you have some knowledge of combat and shooting. For example, you won’t find a reference to a Mil-Dot anywhere. But, Kyle talks about using a tree behind some insurgents to help him on an extremely long-distance shot. Shooters will know what he is talking about. Others probably won’t get the significance of the tree. (His longest shot, by the way, was 2,100 yards taken to kill a bad guy getting ready to launch a rocket at an Army convoy). He fairly brushes over his experiences during BUD/S and Hell Week, telling the reader that the process is well documented in other sources.

There is a bit of treasure on p. 126 (Geared Up) where he does give some good descriptions of his gear and the reasoning behind his likes and dislikes on each piece. Likes? .45 over the 9mm; belt holster over the drop-leg holster. Depending on the mission he would carry an M-4, a Mk-11 (Knight’s Armament SR-25 in 7.62), a .300 Win Mag and, later, a .338 Lapua (which he used to the make 2,100 yard shot).

I found the book extremely fast-paced and I found the addition of Taya’s sections valuable in making this a very memorable account of their lives. I easily read it in a few sessions.

God bless Texas if the Lone Star State keeps producing heroes like Chris Kyle (and his buddy Marcus Luttrell). He doesn’t mince words and calls the situation like he sees it. His experience gives him some very simple, yet insightful, answers to situations that seem to perplex politicians. He is a bad-ass and he hands out copious amounts of kudos for others who are bad-asses. Not surprisingly, he has few nice things to say about cowards and those unwilling to commit.

Great book. Entertaining and worth the read.

Don Mann, Inside SEAL Team 6, p. 100

Mann is referring to the San Ysidro McDonald’s massacre that happened while he was training in San Diego on July 18, 1984. Perpetrator James Huberty killed 21 people and wounding 19 in a McDonald’s restaurant over a period of 77 minutes.  Huberty was killed by a SWAT sharpshooter.

Lt. Col. Stephen Dade, USMC (Ret.), Marine Corps Gazette, Jan. 2012