Perhaps A “High Capacity Magazine” Would Be Good To Have In A Case Like This
BY Herschel Smith
10 years, 10 months ago
South Carolina authorities are searching for seven men involved in a bizarre home invasion and kidnapping.
Police were called to an Orangeburg home at approximately 3:55p.m. on Tuesday in reference to an burglary and kidnapping.
Authorities say their investigation indicates seven unknown males with guns forced their way into the residence, forcing three adults and six juveniles to the floor. One of the gunmen struck a 52-year-old woman in the head with a gun while she was protecting her grandson. A 4-month-old was taken from the residence.
According to police, this was a targeted crime.
Renee Gilliard wasn’t home at the time but said she was horrified to learn the only thing the intruders found was her baby girl. The baby was gone for about two hours before she was found in Berkeley County by a passerby who saw the criminals discard the child on the side of the road.
Yea. A seven-man home invasion. If you’re toting a 1911 from room to room, you’d better be damned accurate with that thing. I have carried a rifle from room to room before around the house, but it’s truly obnoxious. I would carry a 1911 around the house, but in a seven-man home invasion I think I’d be better off with one of my polymer-frame double-stack pistols.
On January 17, 2014 at 6:49 am, Dan said:
Even an AR with a 30 round mag is problematic in a 7 on 1 encounter.
People need to spend $$$ on making their dwellings as difficult, time
consuming and noisy as possible to break into. A home that requires a
lot of work to break into is less likely to be broken into and makes the
SWAT team think twice about those 4 am unannounced visits. At best
making entry difficult deters invasion, at worst it gives the occupants time
to prepare a suitable welcome for the miscreants. Plan ahead folks….
be ready. The life you save will probably be your own.
On January 17, 2014 at 9:31 am, Paul B said:
Be Prepared. If you carry a 1911, have extra loaded mags. Pretty easy to get it back into action.
Although 7 invaders is a little over the top. That does sound like something else might be happening here.
Hardening your home is a good idea, but most hardened homes are not locked down as tight when people are on premises.
Still, this could bear watching.
On January 17, 2014 at 11:33 am, Jack said:
I took my first tactical level 1 pistol course this past weekend. Instructors are current San Jose (CA) police instructors/armorers. They had significant disdain for the 10 round mag limit in CA. They said they used “standard capacity” mags in their Glocks and were trying the aftermarket extended capacity mags because they wanted more.
They also had significant disdain for 1911s and single-stacks. The armorer commented that even though he loves his 1911s, he no longer uses them on-duty as they require much more continuous training to remain proficient.
Of the 16 in our class, we had 2 1911s, 1 Beretta, 3 Sigs, my HK USP, and the rest were Glocks.
At 7 rounds, the 1911’s were at a clear disadvantage to the 10 round double-stacks the rest of us had, even though it was just training.
On January 17, 2014 at 8:15 pm, Mark Dietzler said:
I took a Thunder Ranch class late last year, and about 3/4 of the class was running single stack 1911s (Thunder Ranch being one of the 1911 enthusiast training sites, because Clint was one for so long.) Running drills, it was always interesting to note, once we broke for head break/jam mags/hydrate break, there was always a significant number of nice Chip McCormick Powermags on the deck.
I like my 1911s just as much as the next guy, and even carry one during the summer, when concealability under a T-Shirt is most important, but I train with my M&P, and keep it next to my bed as my nightstand handgun. 17+1 is just better than 8+1.
On January 18, 2014 at 6:15 pm, Ned said:
“I think I’d be better off with one of my polymer-frame double-stack pistols.”
Herschel – appreciate the quotation marks around “high capacity.”
In a double stacker, that would be, of course, “standard capacity.”
It’s only in certain jurisdictions that “Our Masters” “allow” by statute, only “reduced capacity” magazines.
But, I’m sure that folks with criminal intent always use the magazines required by statute, while they’re in the act of committing kidnapping, rape, murder, etc.
Wouldn’t want to break THOSE laws, ya’know…
On January 19, 2014 at 2:34 pm, MarineOfficer said:
I agree that there is probably more going on here than a standard home invasion. However, that does not matter. Just as the police frequently raid the wrong homes, criminals are not exactly discriminative or logical in their target selection.
So that brings us to the tool at hand in initial seconds of terror and panic. IDEALLY you will have a rifle close at hand, and a back up weapon on your body. But I live in a home with small children, who need to be picked up and moved around, taken to the potty, etc. So the rifle would be a bit of a problem there. I frequently carry a “high capacity” gun on me during those times, but I work in (military) uniform, so when I come home, I need to change before that becomes reality. That’s a personal problem I need to get better about, but think about the things in your daily life, those small inconveniences that make you think “I’ll do it later.”
Our host posted an article titled something along the lines of “Marine Corps Tactics and Operation Red Wing,” and one of the tenants we teach all Marines is “fire superiority.” Win the fight in the first few seconds by gaining the time to maneuver to a position of advantage by suppressing the enemy and evening the odds. Mostly criminals have never been under fire, and as a general rule they do not have an exact plan as to how to respond if they come under fire.
So I posit that if it all goes pear shaped, have a gun. Know how to get that gun into action quickly, safely, and accurately. Do so. Over and over. Do so while moving. Know where you are going. And go to your rifle. Go quickly, but not so quickly that you do not accurately get yourself an advantage.
The point by Dan is well taken, but once they are inside and you are fighting, know where your rifle is, and how you will quickly get it into action. When I was in Iraq living with Iraqis, we called this the Alamo drill, and my boss required we run it every 48 hours. We would post sentries and run it inside our housing, where the locals could not watch us. But they knew we were doing it. If there were those that meant us harm amongst them, they knew we were a hard target, and unfortunately, moved on to others, who were softer and suffered.
Sad to see that South Carolina is degenerating that way, getting close to crossing it off the list of places I’ll go back to when the Corps finally has no more use for me.
On January 19, 2014 at 2:38 pm, Herschel Smith said:
South Carolina is better than this example portrays, believe me. There is indeed “something more” going on here. I suspect drug problems, or money, or something.
On another note, I see that the USMC has selected Colt 1911s as their sidearm of choice for the future.
Interesting.
On January 21, 2014 at 7:57 am, MarineOfficer said:
It’s my understanding that the contract is large enough to potentially eventually equip a large chunk of the force, but for right now it is aimed at giving a new back up weapon to MARSOC Critical Skills Operators (the odd named selected for our specops contribution), Reconnaissance Marines, and Military Police Special Response Teams. They have been fielded by our SRT here locally. I support the switch to the 1911 for ALL Marines, but I do not think it is a good idea to split the supply system by now requiring 2 separate DODIC’s for ammunition supply accounting, and by giving some people a tool, but withholding that tool from others.
However, there are so many different pistols floating around in various parts of DoD that I think we will eventually see a strong push from MCCDC to unify the Corps around one gun, and hopefully that gun will be some form of M1911, not M9.