Thoughts on Self Defense

The following post originally came from the AR-15 FORUM about 11 years ago. I post it here as food for thought. Some folks take issue with parts or all of it.

Lately in our group we have had two different board members find themselves looking down the barrel of a gun along with the GF of another ARFCOMMER in street robberies. Also one member got shot all to pieces last year.

While many say it is better to be lucky than good, no one is lucky every time. In this post I am going to attempt to provide some insight into street encounters. Other may have different viewpoints. I am not here to argue. I will say some of the comments I have seen posted in the threads about this sort of matter make me realize that while some ARFCOMMERS are clearly street veterans others are not. This is really for those who are not.

Background

First, my info. I worked in the street of one of America’s most violent, dangerous cities for 15 years. I usually worked in the worst part of that city. I spent 15 years in patrol. I liked patrol. It was wild. Most of the time I worked in areas covered in ghetto. By that I mean large housing projects combined with run down slum housing. I have worked all shifts. Later I became an investigator including a robbery investigator. I have spent countless hours in interrogation rooms talking to hold up men. I know them. I am still an investigator but have quit playing the Robbery game because my family was starting to forget what I looked like.

The Enemy

Some may object to me calling hold up men “the enemy”. You can call them whatever you like. I can assure you however they are as deadly an enemy as you will find anywhere but the battlefield. Even many soldiers probably lack the viciousness and utter disregard for life most hold up men possess.

No one wakes up in the morning one day and decides to become an armed robber. It is a gradual process that requires some experience and desensitizing. Before a man will pick up a gun and threaten to kill people who have done him no harm in order to get their usually meager possessions he has to get comfortable with some things.

He has to get used to seeing others as objects for him to exploit. He has to accept he may be killed while robbing. He has to accept the felony conviction for Robbery will haunt him all his life. He has to accept he may need to kill a completely innocent person to get away with his crime.

This is a process that starts with stealing candy at the corner store as a child. It progresses through bigger property crimes that may also involve violence. But one day G gets tired of selling his stolen property for nothing and decides it would be better to steal cash. Cut out all that tiresome sales stuff.

Keep in mind many petty thieves, auto burglars, residential and commercial burglars, paper thieves, and hustlers will get to that point and decide not to become armed robbers. Most will. It is a special group of outliers who decide threatening to kill people for a few dollars is the way to go.

Once a man starts armed robbing he has crossed a line most won’t. Don’t forget that when you are looking these psychopaths in the eye. Their decision to kill you is already made. Your life means nothing to him. Only his does. His sole motivation for not killing you is he doesn’t want a murder case. He has already accepted he may pick one up though.

We hunt hold up men around the clock once they are identified. We send teams of fire breathing fence jumper/door kickers to find them. We will bring their mother to the office and convince her she is going to jail if we don’t have Junior in our office in an hour. We have her call her son crying hysterically for him to turn himself in before she is arrested and held without bond as a material witness and her home seized for harboring him. Most of the time they won’t. They betray their own mommy.

We will hit all Junior’s friends and family’s houses. We make it so no one will harbor him. He is so hot no one will let him in their house or even talk on the phone with him. We put money on him so he knows he is right to be betrayed and set up. We do this because of one thing.

That thing is they WILL kill someone if they keep robbing. That is why the city is willing to pay all the overtime. They don’t want the murders. Think about that when you see Junior coming. The more robberies he does the closer he is to killing someone. Maybe you.

The guys who hit you on the street are gang members. They are Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, Crips, Sureonos, many others. They do not see themselves as part of society. The street is all they know. They don’t expect to live long or stay out of prison. They take a delight in your fear and suffering. They are warped individuals for the most part. They can be extremely dangerous.

One time we were locking up a hold up man and having a conversation about how they target their victims. I was saying they pick easy ones, another guy was saying they preferred easy ones but would take anybody.

I pointed out a uniform Officer there was an NFL size guy to that hold up man. Frankly the dude was a monster. I asked hold up man if he would rob him. He said “If I needed the money”.

You

Chances are good you are a law abiding person except for maybe a little light weed smoking and maybe driving a little drunk every once in a while. Most of your life you have been taught to be nice and don’t point guns at people. You are the exact opposite of your enemy who was taught just the opposite. Remember a lot of street life is like prison life. Who’s the man is everything. Violence is the currency of the street.

You do not possess total disregard for the lives of others and do not want to kill anyone. You are concerned about the ramifications of shooting someone. Your family, your possessions and finances on the line. Your enemy has none of these concerns.

The laws that keep you from carrying your gun in bars or where ever you want to mean nothing to your enemy. Your reluctance to shoot someone works to his advantage. His greater experience in street violence and the element of surprise is on his side.

Everyone should call their local FBI office and get a copy of Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted. When it first came out it was ground breaking because it demonstrated to academics and other elites what street police knew all along. What did it show in interviews with cop killers? Nice guys finish dead. That’s right. Most of those offenders commented that the Officer they killed set himself up to be killed because of reluctance to use force early in the encounter.

You can probably find it online now. Alot of the victim Officers were a lot like other people, normal people. They were the opposite of their enemy.

Am I advocating becoming the enemy? No. I am saying the person who is robbing you has certain traits, attitudes, and background. That is all.

Dynamics of Encounter

Hold up men target victims on the street in an impulsive, opportunistic manner. They see someone and make a quick judgment call on whether to rob them. The time between when you are targeted and they are on you isn’t long. Therefore, situational awareness is everything.

If you see G coming you are in good shape. If you don’t you will be the victim who says “He came out of nowhere”. No he didn’t. There are many tricks to watching out but simply watching your back is the main thing. Watch your back. If you do it enough it becomes second nature and you won’t even realize you are doing it.

Watching out is great but unfortunately many self defense courses stop there. You have parked you car in a well lit area, are aware of your surroundings, and looky here, here comes three guys across the parking lot and they start to kind of fan out.

When you lock eyes with G the very first thing you need to do is indicate you have a weapon. It doesn’t matter if you do or not. If you are a woman put your gun hand in your purse and keep it there. If you are a man fan your shirt or coat tail with your gun hand. Make it clear to dude you are mentally prepared to draw and making sure your gun is clear. This will many times result in an about face by dude. It is the single best robbery avoidance tactic IMHO.

Not long ago I was walking down the sidewalk in my town to go get my car. I was holding a folding chair in my gun hand. A car slow rolled past me with 4 heads in it. The guys in the back seat turned around as they went by looking at me. They went a little farther and U turned in the street.

Here they come back. As they started to slow down I looked at them with as contemptuous a look as I could muster and switched the chair to my left hand and flicked my shirt tail with my right hand. They just drove on mad dogging me.

In another case I was at a Christmas party and walked a girl to her car about 3 am. As we said our good-byes two guys were walking across the parking lot. One went behind a dumpster. I though he was peeing. He came out from behind the dumpster with a bottle.

As they got closer I stepped clear of that girl and unzipped my jacket at those two guys. When I did the guy threw down the bottle and they walked by cussing at me. If someone challenges you after you indicate you are armed say “I don’t have a gun”. Then they will know you do.

Here is an opposite story. A girl my brother knows was walking her dog when a guy approached her. She was polite. Mistake. He talked to her about the dog and said she had pretty hair and reached out and touched her hair. She did not slap his hand down or aggressively object. Mistake. He asked her if her dog bit and she said “No”. At that time he slapped the **** out of her, drug her into a wooded area, and raped her.

The answer in the street is always “No”. Can I ask you something? No. Do you have a cigarette? No. Can you tell me what time it is? No. The answer is always “No”. Don’t be nice. Stop the encounter as soon as it starts.

When to draw

Despite warnings I often see on the Net I have yet to encounter an instance in which a hold up man called the police to report his intended victim threatened to shoot him. Thugs do not want to come into contact with the police. They may already be wanted or realize chances are good they have been identified in a recent robbery. Or what ever. They are not going to call the police if you draw on them.

Supposed two guys are approaching you in a parking lot and do the classic fan out maneuver. You indicate you have a weapon by clearing your gun hand and fanning your jacket at them. They are not discouraged. DRAW!

I am not saying you should pull your gun out, assume a Weaver stance, and scream “That’s close enough motherfuckers!” What I am saying is draw your gun and hold it beside your leg as you start to move to cover. I am very fond of telephone poles. Anything will do though. They will see this. They will remember they have to be somewhere else. They will not call the police.

Then you can just put your gun back in the holster and go back to whatever you were doing like nothing happened. Why? Because nothing did happen. A happening is when shots are fired.

Do not hesitate to draw. If you are somewhere you are supposed to be and someone appears who is not supposed to be there like a closed business show him the end of your gun. Could it be Mother Teresa looking for her lost cat behind your closed business? No it is someone up to no good. He won’t call the police to report he was prowling a location when a guy ran him off.

When to shoot

The time to shoot is immediately upon seeing his weapon. You are not a police man who has to try to arrest the guy. No need to scream at him. No exposure while you yell for him to drop the gun.

In deer hunting the experienced hunter takes the first good shot. May not be the perfect shot but it never is. Novices pass up a doable shot waiting for a better shot and then the deer is gone. Take the first good shot you are offered. Hopefully your alertness and hostile cues will prevent you ever having to fire. But once you see his weapon, shoot.

If a guy is coming at you with a gun in his hand shoot him. Shoot him right then. If you don’t shoot first you may not shoot at all. I have known more than one person who was shot and received life changing injuries and also shot their attacker. Their only regret was not shooting sooner. Like Bill Jordan said “Nothing disturbs your enemy’s aim like a slug delivered to the belt buckle area”.

Guns and weapons

The handgun is the best weapon you can carry easily. I understand it is not always possible to have one due to laws, restrictions, whatever. I am not telling anyone to disregard laws about carrying weapons. Each person has to decide for themselves what they are comfortable with. I will say there is no substitute for a pistol when you need one.

Also if you can not be trusted with a pistol after a few drinks you can’t be trusted with a pistol period. Booze is liquid bad judgment no doubt but it shouldn’t make you into a damn moron. If you are a moron sober I don’t know what to tell you.

Types of guns and ammo are always debated and probably always will be. I have seen people shot with all common calibers. My conclusion is if you hit someone between the collar bone and the tip of their ribs three times with anything, they are handled. Bigger is better but something is better than nothing. Get your front sight on his shirt and stay on him as long as he is standing with whatever gun you have.

Just have a gun with sure fire ammo. Draw early and fire immediately upon seeing his weapon. That course of action is about all you can do to up your odds of ending things favorably. Guns like the Ruger LC9, SIG 239, Glock 26/27 are examples of guns small enough to carry but with enough power and capacity to be useful. Do not be afraid to use a French Lebelle if that is the only gun you have. A gun is a gun. I like a Glock 19.

Training

We all want the best training. It can be expensive if you are having to pay for it and it can be hard to find the time to do it. There is a whole lot of BS out there. What can you do? First, pistol handling is not rocket surgery. If you will learn the basics and practice on your own you can be fine. Smooth draw, quick pairs, reload. If you know those things well you can be OK.

I know a young man who shot down two hold up men in 2010 at very close range while he and his GF were walking home from the store. He in Wyatt Earp like fashion ignored the fire coming from the gunman and killed him and wounded his accomplice. He nor his GF were injured. He like many was willing to give them the money until he picked up on nonverbal cues that because of his GF they were not quite satisfied with the money. He had a Glock 27.

He had only the most basic of training in gun handling but did do some draws and some dry fire a couple times a week and live fired maybe once a month. That basic skill combined with knowing what to do was enough. He shot at the first possible moment despite having let the guys get the drop on them. When the gunman turned his head because a car drove by that was the opening. A split second is a long time sometimes.

Work on some one hand shooting at close range. That is a skill not as popular as it once was and you want to use two hands when you can. Often you can find yourself doing something with your off hand though so be able to shoot with one hand out to 5 yards or so.

After

If it comes to pass you are forced to shoot someone do not feel bad. When the police come just tell them a guy threatened you with deadly force and you were forced to fire. I know there are bad police out there in some parts of the country who don’t support self defense. I can’t help you with that.

Do not talk to them until you have your attorney present. Now most young guys don’t have an attorney on retainer and you may have no idea who to call. That is OK. You will figure it out but in the mean time don’t talk about what happened other than to say you were forced to fire. You don’t have to be a jerk, just remember wait for your attorney.

Hopefully you will not give a statement for a couple days. Remember if you are put in jail that doesn’t mean you are charged. Most places can hold you 48 or 72 hours on a felony before charging you or letting you go. Breath deep and get an attorney.

Expect to never get your gun back. You may get it back one day but maybe not. Do not buy expensive guns for the street. Buy yourself a nice sporting gun if you want a nice gun. Keep your street guns basic. The factory Model 10 Smith and the GI 45 have done a lot of work over the years and aren’t fancy.

Worlds

We all live in different worlds. My world is filled with felons and gang members. Violence is common place. No one would be surprised if one of their friends called and said they shot a hold up man at a place of business or parking lot. In the past when I made calls the fact that the guy who is beating his GF is also on parole for 2nd degree murder flavored my world.

You may live in a smaller, less violent place where shootings seldom occur and it would be a rare to shoot a hold up man. I envy you and will be moving to a place like your town as soon as I can.

But be advised no matter where you are a hold man is going to be about the same. Whether he is a home boy or a guy who just exited the interstate into your town and needs some quick money. He is going to have a vicious streak and no regard for your life. Treat him like he treats you.

Giving them the money, doing what they say, all that may work but there is no guarantee. If you have never read Jeff Cooper’s book The Principles of Personal Defense I suggest you order a copy immediately. It is a short book but summarizes a lot of important things.

Last year we had a trial here regarding an armed robbery that occurred. Three or four guys took a young couple from a parking garage near a college out by some railroad tracks where they raped, shot, and beat them. Their lives will never be the same.

The lesser thugs all turned on the trigger man at trial. The trigger man’s statement in the paper was after all that had happened he felt like he was a victim. Think about that. That is the mindset you are up against.

The Stimulus “Voter Bribe” Gone Wrong…

I imagine that 8 or 9 million or so people taking their stimulus checks and buying guns are putting the fear of people power into the minds of the Leftist politicians. That’s why gun owners are now being associated with “domestic terrorism” in the media. That war of words is real.

While many people are dependent upon government payments to live during this time, a huge number remain employed, and this “voter bribe” is available for buying things like guns when they hear Leftists talk about “defunding the police”.

The amazing thing is that nobody seems to understand that “serve and protect” is a police motto. Good marketing. The Supreme Court made it clear years ago that police are under no obligation to protect any individual. That is a personal responsibility, and to defend yourself effectively in today’s world takes a gun.

9 million new gun owners can’t be wrong.

535 Senators and Congress members with a majority of them Leftists are most certainly wrong.

The two faced political double standards are so obvious as to be tragic. The Leftists want to defund police and take away your power to defend yourself and your family by eliminating your choice to own guns and learn to use them safely. At the same time, they want to protect a woman’s choice to abort pregnancy. Anyone see that as hugely hypocritical??? Yet almost half the nation buys into those lies.

I guess it was the stimulus “voter bribes”… too bad we’re not using the money the Leftists want us to… I guess thaat darned freedom and liberty has to be rebranded “domestic terrorism”…

The latest is to start referring to the people that invaded the Capitol and scared the politicians on January 6th as “armed”… The implication is that they were armed with guns, which isn’t true. The only people with guns in the Capitol invasion were Capitol protective police officers, and the only shots fired killed an unarmed woman who was a retired Air Force officer. More media lies to get the politicians support for their power grabs, and national gun registration.

It’s Time for Coalition Building

Remember Virginia!

At any given time, all of us are basically ONE election away from what happened this past year in Virginia. Why is that important? Because when the leftists got control in that state (Governor and both legislative houses) the very first thing that they did was pass draconian gun control laws.

We can celebrate the fact that four Democrats refused to support a semi-auto gun ban. That turned out to be too extreme for even them. But that’s not all that happened.

The efforts of VCDL and 28,000 people showing showing up with guns peacefully at their general assembly may have made their point and had their effect, and 91 of 95 counties declaring themselves “Sanctuary” for gun owners may have made their point, but the simple fact is that today FIVE new gun control laws are on Governor Northam’s desk and ready for his signature, or already signed.

This includes another state that is falling to the folly of Red Flag gun confiscation legislation.

This is called “LOSING” your rights through encroaching infringement. It’s not victory. You can’t stand as a minority (gun owners) in a democratic republic like ours and expect to defend your rights.


We can rail against the influence of Soros’ and Bloomberg’s money, but the simple fact is that we blew it. Now that we know how to lose, lets start talking about how to win.

It was interesting to see the unvoiced prejudice and discomfort among the Democrats, and the language they sometimes used about Pete Buttigieg. In private it was sometimes base, coarse, crude, offending language.

Let’s think a bit about why this all came about, and how it affects us as gun owners trying to win re-election for conservatives.

I should mention that based on my life experiences, the people I’ve met and the institutions I’ve supported I am a fiscal conservative and social moderate. I think that HATE and HATRED is one of the least useful human emotions. My mother was abused as a child, and instead of becoming an abuser herself, she became a protector and nurturer. She taught me not to hate, but to listen and learn.

The vast majority of American are born heterosexual. A US Department of Health study done in 2013 found the numbers and they are somewhat consistent with long term work done starting in the late 1940s. This makes people like Buttigieg a clear minority in Americans.

Anyone that thinks that being a widely hated and discriminated against minority is a voluntary choice needs to check their reasoning. I can’t imagine someone choosing to subject themselves to ridicule, physical attacks and the most vile of name calling.

It’s equally interesting that while we condemn religions like Islam for condemning and motivating the murder of people (including gay people), many of us feel it’s our righteous duty to do the same thing. The Bible teaches us to discriminate and destroy many things. Today, we selectively choose to only condemn a few of them because we now know why things like pork spoil and become deadly, and that some marriages can never be reconciled. Do we eat pork and get divorced? Why does religion teach us to hate homosexuals and murder Jews?

Today it’s understood that sexual orientation is something that is born into people, not learned or effectively changed. It’s the same for other things like right or left handed preferences or left or right eye preference. It’s also something that isn’t considered all or nothing, and is thought to exist on a continuous range with people falling somewhere between completely heterosexual to completely homosexual.

Some babies are born “intersexed” They can be physically born one sex on the inside and one on the outside. Years ago, I knew a doctor named John Money who specialized in “correcting” these extreme rarities in nature. You can’t imagine the lives he destroyed when he picked the wrong sex for his surgery. While some consider him a pioneer, I saw his re-assignment of some patients as monstrous. In truth they were experiments on living human beings. Should we hate these people?

It’s the nature of some rare individuals that they are born with a sexual orientation that doesn’t match their body. Should we hate them?

Gay people like Pete Buttigieg are invisible if they choose to be. Many that help you and make a difference in your life will never trust you enough to discuss themselves with you. This is because of prejudice. It can extend to even the relationship between father and son, mother and daughter. Sometimes they can’t live with you, and can’t live without you. It’s a major cause of suicide in young people.


OK… I get it. Hate is a real emotion and generally something that is taught by parents, religious leaders, peers, or some other institution. How useful has hate been in your life? And if it’s based in your religious belief system, it may be time to ask yourself why. People are different in many ways. The human animal survived in pre-history by instinctively selecting members of it’s tribe carefully, and violently driving other tribes away. Much of that selection was done on visible characteristics, and yet the invisible ones were more threatening. Something as basic as sexual orientation is both invisible and very difficult to understand, so it’s easy to build hatred on that. Never forget that the most potent wars place God on both sides.

Do the people we are taught to hate have a right to defend themselves from physical attack and harm? When I teach a student gun safety in a NRA class, I don’t ask them if they’re gay or have certain religious beliefs. I do make sure that they comply with the laws of our nation, and turn away anyone that doesn’t. That includes illegal invaders – not because they are foreign, but because they flaunt and violate our laws (many of which are bad laws).

I’ve taught classes that were all women. I’ve taught classes that were all black citizens. For all I know, I’ve taught gay students how to defend themselves. I frankly don’t care. It’s not my job to hate any of them. They all have a right to self defense, and many of my students need to exercise that right every day. As you can see, I’m socially moderate.


As gun owners, we’re literally fighting for our rights, and one election away from losing them big. REMEMBER VIRGINIA!

If you really want to win, it’s time to stop hating people and start building coalitions. Starting back in the 1960’s civil rights movement, the Democrats have been smart enough to build up their power in this way, and have been doing it now for decades. In fact, every conservative social policy I’ve seen our Republican party lead with has driven people into the Democrat coalition, all while we watch them destroy our nation economically and in international position. Embrace legal immigrants, embrace Black citizens, welcome the gay citizens – many of them are actually quite conservative too. Many support gun owners and our Second Amendment for very personal reasons.

If gay people represent 8 to 10% of our population, why would you voluntarily drive them away and give up their votes to the Democrats? All because you were taught to hate them? That’s not rational. It may be comfortable, and safe, and something friends approve of, but it’s not how to win the election. That 8 to 10% of the population (many of whom are, I expect, politically active and actually vote) could make the difference in electing conservatives this fall.

We all have a choice in November. We cannot stand alone in a country like the USA. And don’t think for a moment that we can continue to divide and somehow win.

The Gun Won’t Protect You

A member of one of the forums I frequent online was bemoaning the lack of availability of quality revolvers in gun stores. He saw salesmen push inappropriate semi-auto handguns on customers that ended up not being able to cycle and shoot them for a variety of reasons ranging from medical conditions to inability to control the recoil of lightweight compact semi-autos. As one handgun is found to be inappropriate, the salesman is more than happy to steer the customer to the next inappropriate handgun.

The selections are often being made based on appearances rather than the characteristics needed for reliable self defense based on an individual’s needs.

Now you’re seeing the impact of fake media and it’s convergence with marketing.

What you don’t see is a number of students that I have show up in Basic Pistol classes that show up with completely inappropriate handguns that they are unable to operate. They are always the one that the student trusted the sales clerk to sell them. Or the trusted relative to select. Very few of these selections are actually based on the needs of the student.

I do what i can to show students the adaptive approaches to actually using what they bought. In some cases, where they bought the cost reduced versions of products, the brand new handguns mechanically fail. In one case years ago, the trigger of a brand new S&W Sigma a student brought in was so sloppy and inconsistent that he (and ultimately I) couldn’t accurately fire it. In others, brand new guns have jammed or repeatedly failed to cycle / eject / load properly.

Understand that the vast majority of buyers never bother to go to a class. The incidence of this kind of thing I have seen in classes implies that there are quite a few guns in drawers in homes that the owner may have fired once or twice at a range, and then put in the drawer thinking that the presence of the gun (instead of the skill shooting it) would protect them in the awful possibility that they would need to use it.

With that done, it’s back to watching people misuse handguns and fully automatic weapons on television.

We’re Energy Independent – Why Worry About Iran?

As the president mentioned today, the US is now energy independent within the world. We don’t need Iran’s oil anymore.

So, why is Iran important to citizens of the United States?

Iran isn’t just a normal nation, plying it’s way through the world and time. It’s an active exporter of terrorism motivated by Islam and the establishment of Sharia Law worldwide.

Iran is important to the USA because they have numerous terrorist cells here, in the United States, in place as sleeper cells waiting commands from their controllers in Iran.

This is a terrorism fusion report from Virginia. It’s ten years old:

https://www.legitgov.org/vafusioncen…sessment_b.pdf

In it you will see detailed assessment of these Iranian financed and controlled activities. A state under attack, and about to do everything they can to disarm lawful citizens, preventing effective self defense.

We should care about Iran because of the violence that they export and specifically target against us. They have been actively at war against us since they occupied our embassy in 1979.

Go with the Flow of your Money…

How do things really work in Leftist Liberal Progressive La La Land (otherwise known as the “Deep State”)?

Money is, of course, needed to keep the machine lubricated and running inefficiently. It’s the same with “Big Government” everywhere,

This article is the story of how lucrative contracts for the Federal “Job Corps” program get fulfilled, and how the money flows.

What’s the “Job Corps” you ask? It’s a multi-million dollar program that serves under performing youth with job opportunities full of perks and interesting things once the American education system fails you… https://www.jobcorps.gov/ You know… a bureaucratic employment service for failed Liberal Arts majors…

It’s legacy is the Lyndon Johnson hatched “Great Society”. It serves about 45,000 young students a year.

Thanks to big government, the fix is in and the scam is set!

https://amgreatness.com/2019/12/01/color-me-crony/

It’s got everything. Racial preferences; Shady employment relationships, and a Federal time and materials based contract that isn’t performance (as in you do what you promised) based…

So… read the article. Go with the flow of your money.

Facts keep trumping the Democrat alternate “reality”…

I teach firearm safety because I think it’s important. Here’s more evidence that our education efforts are important and relevant to today’s societal needs.

https://crimeresearch.org/2019/10/new-concealed-carry-report-for-2019-18-66-million-permit-holders-despite-16-constitutional-carry-states-over-1-4-million-more-than-last-year/

The full report has the details.

httI tinps://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID3463357_code16317.pdf?abstractid=3463357&mirid=1

While these numbers and the consistent trend outside restrictive states like California and New York approach 10% of our population belie the propaganda from the media and politicians, it’s important to know that a small percentage of firearm owners have actually had formal safety training.

That said, it’s better to be part of the solution!

While millions of guns are being sold every year, so few new gun owners have had any formal safety training. I expect many that have it took the classes because it was required by state law for concealed carry permits.

We’re now approaching ten percent of the population with concealed carry permits plus 16 states that have some form of permitless concealed carry.

Do you think it’s magic that the increase in guns on the street has resulted in a decrease in crime? Guns are tools for safety and sustenance. Like all tools they can be used constructively or destructively.

It’s time to cut through the legacy media and politician lies and see responsible gun owners for what we really are. Pillars of a society that is teetering on the sand of socialism and false foundations. If we don’t stand up and defend the America that much of the rest of the world envies, I assure you that few others will.

Why the Lying Legacy Media is Dangerous

Ammoland today featured this commentary about the mis-reporting of a clear self defense incident in Atlanta recently:

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/09/ajc…ight-be-legal/

It would seem that when the truth is inconvenient to the legacy anti-gun owner agenda, they must still spin the story to put a clear self-defense incident into question, ensuring increased anxiety and fear in the general population that bothers to read their drivel.

Any lawful gun owner clearly understands how unfairly they will be treated in any incident. The danger is that when attacked, such reporting would make a defender question their actions long enough to die at the hands of their violent attacker.

That situation would, of course, be spun into more fear mongering by the rabid lying press that covered it.

The Day Lives Changed in Florida…

Last week, an incident recorded on video lead to the conviction of a man for homicide. I think that the incident is a teachable moment for gun owners.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-michael-drejka-second-amendment-guilty-manslaughter-mcglockton

The fact is that this case likely had nothing to do with “stand your ground” or “Castle Doctrine” laws because both parties to the incident had a right to be where they were. The media is lying about this aspect of the incident.

There is a concept of “Escalation of Force” in most self defense / lethal force statutes. We teach this in our Concealed Carry classes.

Briefly, if you are the one that escalates the level of force, you become the instigator, and the other person becomes the victim.

Even though the incident took place in Florida (under different laws), it may be useful to see NC’s actual statute:

§ 14-51.3. Use of force in defense of person; relief from criminal or civil liability.

(a) A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that the conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat in any place he or she has the lawful right to be if either of the following applies:
(1) He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another.
(2) Under the circumstances permitted pursuant to G.S. 14-51.2.
(b) A person who uses force as permitted by this section is justified in using such force and is immune from civil or criminal liability for the use of such force, unless the person against whom force was used is a law enforcement officer or bail bondsman who was lawfully acting in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer or bail bondsman
identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a law enforcement officer or bail bondsman in the lawful performance of his or her official duties. (2011-268, s. 1.)

Levels of force include:

1. Physical presence
2. Verbal
3. Soft Hands (push, slap)
4. Hard Hands (fists)
5. Chemical (Mace, pepper spray, wasp spray)
6. Impact Weapons (sticks, clubs)
7. Deadly Force

The video of the incident clearly showed an escalation of force. The beginning was physical presence and verbal force. The shooter was the initial instigator.

You can find various versions of the video at:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=clearwater+florida+shooting+
Next came an escalation of force when the deceased exited the store, and pushed the shooter to the ground. This was “Soft hands”, and it allowed the shooter to regain the right of self defense.

The gray area in this case was whether or not shoving the shooter to the ground involved lethal force. “Soft hands” is not lethal force. It is often in these gray areas (manipulated by media propaganda, prejudice and any number of unknown risks) that juries and judges can be influenced to find either way. The fact that one was armed and the other wasn’t is irrelevant because you don’t have to have a weapon to project lethal force.

The fact that the deceased did not continue to pursue the shooter, but stood back and did not attempt to further injure the shooter argues in the direction that lethal force had not been used. Simply knocking someone to the ground is not lethal force. Following it up with a further beating might have been, but that is not what happened.

The shooter could argue that, due to disparity of size, he feared for his life while on the ground, and felt he had been attacked with lethal force. In this case, I doubt that was actually true. Being afraid for your life might be unjustified if it is not a rational reaction.

From the video, and knowing the “reasonable man” standard of juries, I thought that the shooter was in trouble the moment I saw the videos of the incident.

If the shooter had drawn his firearm to potentially protect himself, but not shot I believe he would have been justified, but I think in panic he was the one that escalated to lethal force, losing his right to self defense under the law. I think that he probably shot in panic, and possibly shot based on prejudice based assumptions.

In any case, the jury and judge though he was not justified in using lethal force. The results are the same in any case. Homicide conviction.

Carrying a firearm without getting the proper education about how the law works in your state can be very dangerous and at minimum very expensive. This is why I teach, yet I’m amazed at how few gun owners bother to get the proper training.

Today’s Media “Guilty Gush” of Love for Guns…

I know it’s hidden in plain sight, but has anyone noticed today’s media “Guilty Gush” of love for guns?

Every network has, at great expense, sent their lead anchors and crews to France to stand on the liberated soil of France with President Trump and the leaders of France and England. More important, they are standing on that soil with the last members of the world’s “greatest generation” that actually put their lives and family welfare at risk to take back France from socialist tyrants.

Every one of those that sacrificed their lives and fought for the liberty and freedom of France and the rest of Western Europe, shielding those back home from the expansion of German aggression, did so with the effective means made possible by guns. Handguns. Rifles. Artillery. Tanks.

Practically every soldier storming Normandy beaches carried a gun. A gun of superior design. The “M1 Garand Rifle” or the M1911a1 .45acp pistol. Or the “M1 Carbine”. Or the “Thompson SubMachine Gun”. Or “Browning Machine Gun”.

They didn’t carry guns because it was “a good idea”, they carried them because they were forced to by well equipped German troops that were defending the territory they stole from the French.

Many of the more effective rescuers of liberty in France learned to shoot guns accurately and effectively well before they entered the armed forces. They learned as civilians. The better ones taught inexperienced civilians and helped select the most effective ones to lead others.

Not one media story I’ve heard or seen on this 75th anniversary of the rescue of Liberty in Europe has discussed the history of the guns used to make that rescue effective. Instead, they focus on the misuse of guns when criminals, terrorists and psychopaths use them to take advantage of the massacre zones politicians have created here.

Guns are the tools of freedom and liberty. They are the tools of self-defense. Guns save lives. By honoring America’s “greatest generation” on this anniversary, we must necessarily honor the means of accomplishing their task. By lying in their omission of the truth, the politically correct media can’t tell the entire story. In truth, they really don’t want to because it would interfere with their socialist secular agenda.