Mr. White, yes, I was one of the instructors Mas covered with his loaded (by his own admission) gun during a training confrence. I was one of the 20 or so who complained to the confrence organizers. It was the last day of the confrence, and to my knowledge no action was taken.
The comment about Mas wanting to get into a shooting was the result of conversations with several officers who had escorted Mas when he was in their cities. At different times and places, including the PPC Nationals and a national police expo, officers told me Mas would go for a ride-a-long, and later walk through the worst parts of town. He expressed a desire to 'validate' what he was teaching by getting into a (justified) shooting. So that comment is based on second hand information, from several sources unknown to each other, at different times and in different places. Based on the above, it seems believable to me. You decide for yourself. This was in the late 70's/early 80's, when he was just becoming a big name in the gun press.
This reply was long delayed because, for reasons unknown, I was not automatically notified of any reply to my post until today.
For the party who wanted to 'check my references, I choose not to publish my real name in an open forum. I you wish to persue the matter, please send me a personal message.
I served 27 years as a Special Agent for the U.S. Treasury Department, 25 years as a firearms instructor. I was selected to travel overseas to train foreign agencies. For 9 of those years, I was the Lead Instructor for Firearms and Officer Safety and Survival at our academy. Part of my mandate was the study of officer involved shootings, intigrating lessons learned into our lesson plans. I did kill someone in the line of duty, and I was sued and won the "wrongful death' lawsuit. My actions were upheld to a Circuit of the Supreme Court on appeal.
I do not run a 'shooting school', nor am I in 'competition' with Mas on writing or in any other field. I feel those who intend to spend their money should make an informed choice.
The only class I took from Mas was a large lecture at a national police expo. He was 'profane without a point', meaning he used profanity, but not to emphasise a point. At one point, he picked up a pointer, and started waving it around, again not using it to make a point. I noted a large number of attendees distracted (I could see their heads moving in sync with the pointer) from his comments. As a graduate of, and instructor of, "Instructor Development" classes, this is exactly the kind of thing we cautioned our students about. It detracts from the learning, and interferes with information transfer. I found him to be unprofessional in that setting.
I have never taken a 'small' class from him. From his writings, most (or all) of what he teaches is readily available from multiple other sources, without the distractions of the profanity others have noted.
It's still a mostly free country, spend your money with him if you like.
