Nothing Good: More Criminals with Rifles

Dave Merrill

In situations that don’t require concealment, a rifle beats a pistol almost all the time. The learning curve of effective rifle fire is far shorter than with a handgun. A rifle offers three solid points of contact for a drastically reduced wobble area and increased hit ratio. Force multipliers like optics are [generally] easier to mount and certainly easier to use on a rifle with only a modicum of training. Ballistically a rifle offers better range and effect on target, and to top it off your standard magazine sizes are usually double that of their handheld brethren.

It isn’t called “The Pistolman’s Creed” for a reason.

[Jeff Gonzales demonstrating proper technique]

It’s seems we’re seeing more and more examples of the criminal element also learning these lessons, such as in the following videos (you may have to skip ahead for the salient bits):

No, in these cases they didn’t make it in the house [thankfully] but there were long guns present. Rifle caliber “pistols” are also in use, though they are decidedly less useful without a proper buttstock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzeTZSEesXY

A friend of BBC recently discovered a would-be home invader caught on their security camera armed with a rifle (thankfully the dogs scared him off). Knowing that this could easily just be confirmation bias, I reached out to several law enforcement officers about my perception of an increase of rifle use. Here are some of the statements they provided:

“They’re still running a lot of Hi-Points [pistols] but now we’re seeing two to three times the AR and AK pistols compared to five years ago.“

“In one of our recent raids we came up with fifty firearms in the house. WASRs, ARs, SKSs, and stolen military body armor stashed in the woods.“

As you may imagine, most of these guns weren’t legally purchased. They were stolen outright, or stolen then traded for drugs, with some straw purchases thrown in.

“A Draco [AK pistol] is like a status symbol for the higher ups in a crew and they’re being seen more and more.“

And though you’re not likely to see a training center set up for your local Blood or Crip set, there are at least some indications of an increase in proficiency. In the aftermath of one gang shooting, law enforcement officials found a pile of spent rifle shells and then a live round. On this scene the pattern repeated. At the surface level this may seem like some dramatic chambering going down like in the movies with an already loaded weapon, but the investigation showed that they were all from the same rifle.

This indicates that the shooter was experiencing malfunctions, clearing them, and then continuing the fight.

That level of weapons proficiency is rarely seen with the criminal element, and it’s rather concerning. This video, in another gas station setting, shows two robbers working in coordination, with the rifleman proving cover from a [mostly] offset position.

So What to Do?

Several untrained criminals with stocked rifles are decidedly more deadly than the same with handguns. They’re likely to have a greater hit ratio and perhaps double or even triple the ammunition capacity. If you find yourself in the middle of a gunfight on the street, likely the best tool at your disposal is going to be your CCW with somewhere between five and thirty rounds on tap depending on what you carry. A compromise in size and capacity is what concealed carry is all about. But in your home….

In your home you have more options. While there are some advantages to pistols in close quarters, almost always the best option for home defense is a rifle, especially when defending yourself against multiple parties like in Oklahoma who may or may not have rifles themselves.

For further reading on the use of a rifle for home defense from the likes of Kyle Lamb, Larry Vickers, Pat Rogers, Matt Graham and more check out this archival article The Truth About Rifles for Hearth and Home.

-DFM

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About the Author: Minion Emeritus Dave Merrill (DFM) wrote for Breach-Bang-Clear from late 2013 until early 2017, including a year as Managing Editor. He departed our ranks in May of 2017 to accept a well-deserved position as social media manager for RECOIL Magazine. He is a combat veteran of the Marine Corps who describes himself as a “…former urban warfare and foreign weapons instructor for Coalition fighting men.” You can find a lineup of all Dave Merrill’s Breach-Bang-Clear articles here, and you’d be well advised to do so. Lots of knowledge in his skull, and a wickedly humorous way of delivering it most times too.

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