1. Magazines are always placed downward into the pouch with the rounds pointed away from the support side. This allows the shooter to  grab the magazine, twist the wrist, and have the magazine and magazine well pointed in the same direction. 

2. Magazine pouches are placed on the support side and speed-loader pouches are always placed on the strong side (same side as the holster). These positions allow for use when prone without excessive body movement and at all other times allow the loading hand to drop directly onto the pouch. 

3. Engage all safeties every time.  Not using a decocking/safety lever will result in a failure to fire when the lever is inadvertently engaged without your notice. Train to flip safeties off with every draw and you'll be never be scared senseless because your handgun doesn't fire. 

4. Use every safety strap on your holster. Despite the difficulty breaking-in a new retention holster, they do loosen up. A holster strap can become snapped when the wearer brushes against a wall or car door jamb. If you don't train to disengage the bottom snap every draw, you will find remedial action difficult under the certain panic that occurs when your handgun won't leave the holster. 

The Practics book is coming along, finishing the final edit. Interested readers can go to the Notify Me page to receive an email with specifics prior to the release date.  The book will be available this Spring but the date has not yet been set. 

A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine told me his kid wanted to be a cop and was asking for some advice. Here's my general advice for those who want to be a peace officer in 2015.

1. Learn to shoot like Roy Rogers and Tom Mix. It is incumbent upon the officer to overcome all physiological and psychological influences and simply shoot weapons out of the bad guys' hands.  If you can master that skill out to 100 yards, you should be fine.  Remember this isn't the wild west, so officers need to be able to shoot like old cowboy-movie stars. 

2.  Learn Hollywood -style fighting. If a 109 pound actress can beat up a half dozen large men, there is no excuse for a commissioned peace officer to lose a fight or to resort to weapons that may cause discomfort or injury.

3. Work only  in areas where the residents are of your race. Part of a civilized society is to reduce all human beings to nothing more than skin hue.   Make sure your color is acceptable before responding to 911 calls.

4. Never become angry. Only degenerate, evil, power-mad psychopaths become angry when someone is trying to beat them to death.  Look in the mirror.

5. Understand that statutory law is a set of guidelines that is most often wrong when it comes to police behavior. Police actions which do not "feel quite right" to the general, knowledgeable, well-informed populace should rightly result in a series of federal maneuvers, civil threats, and prosecutorial misadventures intended to destroy the offending police officer. That's democracy in action. 

My advice to anyone wanting to become a peace officer in 2015 is, in a nut-shell, become a fireman. Everybody loves firemen.

On a serious note, we do have a problem with an increasingly militarized police. The War on Drugs has trampled protections against unlawful search and seizure. Jurisdictions can't wait to regulate every facet of life for the purpose of revenue.  Having armed agents with executive authority riding the population is a recipe for public rage. Nonetheless, America has good cops. Not all are good, of course, being human but the percentage of dishonest cops comes nowhere close to the percentage of dishonest politicians, lawyers, and journalists. As a whole, we've still got a pretty group trying to wring some justice out of law. 

I worked with police from all over the world and American law enforcement is fairly unique in one particular: the poor and weak trust the cops. Look in any inner-city or American backwater and you'll find that those who have the most contact with the police trust them the most. Whether its for impromptu marriage counseling, handling a belligerent child, or helping with an empty refrigerator, those without the means to help themselves call the police. That 's pretty good in a world that tends to wield power like a battle ax , and use law like a bullwhip.