Guns

Carry your damn gun, people!

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

Via Uncle, a story on why it’s important to carry your gun.

 

Mrs. Maughan kills both of the attacking dogs and it turns out her dog is expected to recover. Good job and nice shooting there**. But her son takes the story to a scary place:

Brian Maughan said the event made him think about how vulnerable children or older adults would be to a similar attack.

“What if it had been a human being?” he said. “That’s just what was really scary about it.”

Mrs. Maughan is 60 so if the other older adults in that neighborhood are like her, then they be bad! But there is no reason it couldn’t have been a small child instead of her dog that was attacked. And if it had been Mrs. Maughan grandson being mauled by these feral dogs, she would still have had to go back home and retrieve her gun. Fate isn’t going to hit the pause button because you weren’t ready and need a time-out.

 

 

Tom Givens has had nearly 60 students involved in self-defense situations. Only 2 died, because they weren’t carrying their guns (I believe they had to disarm themselves due to legal reasons). Those that carried their guns lived.

The reason you carry your gun is because you need it, right fucking now. If attacks happen that sudden, if they go from 0 to ugly in no time, if so much damage can be done within seconds… do you really have time to go fetch a better tool from the house or the car or wherever it might be stored? No! You need it immediately. Really, the only place you can have it is immediately on your person, ready to go.

To borrow from Tom: Carry your damn gun, people!

 

Basic Home Security

/ hsoi / 9 Comments

Apparently there are a rash of break-ins happening, middle of the night, in neighborhoods in South Austin. We know one of the families that got hit, 2 laptop computers stolen. I’m still trying to get hard details, but the impression I’m left with is they removed the screen on a window, opened the window, got into the house, took 2 laptops, then left by the back door. Nothing broken, just stolen laptops, and easy access to them.

Like I said, I’m still trying to gather information, but I can think of a few things from this:

  • Lock your doors and windows! So many crimes like this are crimes of opportunity. Yes, locks ultimately can’t keep out a determined enough person, but if a criminal wants an easy target, why make yourself an easier target?
    • Make sure they are locked. Close, lock, then tug and ensure. I’ve had a few times where I thought I closed the window the whole way and locked it, but then when I tug-checked the window came up.
  • If you have an alarm system, use it. I know many people with alarm systems but they don’t use them or maybe only use them when they go away for vacation. Why? Do you know when something bad is going to happen? Probably not, so why are you gambling?
    • One of our window sensors went stupid a couple of weeks ago and had to be replaced. The tech noted to me that he was amazed at the number of “zones” (sensors and other things) we had in our house. He said our setup is rare, most people just get something like their doors and a motion detector. While I understand the cost factor (it wasn’t cheap to put a sensor on everything), I don’t understand how “swiss cheese security” actually works well here. Need to have everything secure.
    • Oh, and test your alarm regularly, at least monthly. Ensure the monitoring center is getting the signal.
    • If you have an alarm system, be sure signs and stickers are posted in the yard and on the windows. Make sure they know there’s a warning system.
  • Got dog?
  • Sure a firearm is nice, but let’s put perspective on it. The one family we knew that got hit, by the time they realized what was going on the guy was long gone. And while legally in Texas you can use deadly force in such a circumstance, should you? It will of course depend upon the exact circumstance at the time, but just remember: maximize beer & TV enjoyment.

A truly determined person is going to get what they want. But why make their life easy? Granted, it’s also a balancing act between making your life difficult in exchange. But there are some simple things we can do to minimize such violation and disruption in life. It behooves us to do them.

To clean or not to clean

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I was reading the February 2011 issue of The Blue Press. Someone had written in that was up in hackles about people not cleaning their guns. He couldn’t understand why someone would want to brag about never (or hardly ever) cleaning their guns. He asserted that if you don’t clean your guns your lazy or don’t care.

I beg to differ.

It’s good to know your gun can run despite being very dirty; that you can give it that level of abuse and it still runs. If your gun craps out after 50 rounds, would you trust your life to that gun? If you know you’ve put 2000+ rounds through it without a cleaning and it doesn’t hiccup, at least to me that instills a level of confidence in the gun that it can run even in less than ideal conditions. Life isn’t full of ideal situations, and I like to know my gear will run regardless.

Is it that we’re lazy or don’t care? Perhaps for some. For me, I’m not religious about cleaning my guns because I have only so much time in a day and too many other things taking priority. I know my gun will run dirty, so do I really need to agonize over ensuring it’s sparkling clean after every range trip? How about when I take a weekend-long shooting class where we’ll put 1000-2000 rounds down range? When the days are that long, it’s nice to know I can reholster my carry gun and know it will still work for me while I travel home, sleep, and drive back the next day. Sorry, but in a case like that, spending a little time with my family, taking care of chores around the house, and tending to other matters (like sleep) tend to win out over cleaning my gun before the next day’s class. I know the gun will run. And honestly, if I can discover it won’t run, if I can discover its limits, I’d rather know that when things are calm than when the fur is flying.

I’m not saying to never clean your guns. After hunting season I clean my hunting rifle and prep it for storage, figuring it probably won’t be pulled out again until next Fall. After a good training session I will give my handguns at least a quick boresnake, wipedown, and oiling. I don’t think it’s wise to never clean your gun, because a dry gun is going to wear, a dirty gun is going to have build-up that will eventually cause a problem. But I just don’t feel a need to worship at the altar of the spotless and shiny gun. I buy guns that are rugged and dependable, so if I miss a cleaning, I don’t sweat it. To me, it’s about finding a reasonable balance.

To each their own tho. And hey… if you’ve got a lot of time on your hands, you’re welcome to come clean my guns. 🙂

Rangemaster March 2011 Newsletter

/ hsoi

The Rangemaster March 2011 Newsletter is now available.

As always, the newsletter is full of excellent information. One article discusses the “Concealed Carry Presentation”, discussing the finer-points of drawing and presenting a concealed handgun. Well-written and if you carry a gun you’d do well to read it.

A more important article is one where Tom Givens discusses how folks trying to ban guns, large capacity magazines, and so on are missing the mark. No matter what side of the debate you’re on — but especially if you are anti-gun — you should read it. Tom Givens is an authority on the matter, invested in facts and data, not emotion. If you really want truth on this matter, talk to Tom. But Tom doesn’t shy away from giving his opinion either:

In backward, primitive Third World countries, poor, ignorant, uneducated people think evil spirits live in rocks and trees. We make fun of them and call them savages. In this country, certain people think evil spirits live in guns or magazines for them. We call them anti-gun activists. A more rational thinker sees very little difference in these two views.

SB 766 – Scheduled for public hearing

/ hsoi

SB 766 is now scheduled for public hearing on March 7, 2011.

Support this bill. Our shooting ranges need protection. The protection offered here certainly doesn’t excuse true problems, negligence, etc.. It does help to protect against frivolous lawsuits and witch hunts.

Let the dogs deal with it

/ hsoi

Another one from John Farnham, about bears.

Bears are not much different from most others predators. They know they need to eat, and they know how to get food.

[…]

Human predators are similar, just less honest and a good deal less respectable. They function outside our normal economic system, but, like bears, they know what they need, and they know how to get it. To them, you have no value outside what they can forcibly extract from you, with minimal effort and risk.

The concluding advice?

 

“… and when a bear comes… keep as many sheep as you can between the bear and you. Then, let the dogs deal with it!”

 

 

But you know, that only works if there are dogs around to deal with it. When we accept the myth that the police will be there to save us, I ask you right this moment, where is the nearest person that can save you? Where is the nearest police officer, this very moment? You know tho, one person that is right here right now is you yourself. Think about that.

Furthermore, when we attempt to use the law of the land to prohibit sheepdogs from existing and doing their thing, we’ll have fewer and fewer dogs to keep us safe. You may be unwilling to protect your own life, and in doing so you put the job of preserving your life into the hands of others. Don’t restrict and abridge those willing to help you, else you put the job of preserving your life into the hands of the predators… and they don’t see you as something to protect, only as prey.

 

KR Training website fixed

/ hsoi

The following note comes from KR Training. Reposting here to help spread the word:

 

If you attempted to enroll in a KR Training course in the last week using a yahoo, gmail, hotmail, AOL, or other webmail email address, and you did not get a “registration received” email from me, please re-register online here:

http://www.krtraining.com/signup.php

Godaddy.com (where the KR Training site is hosted) recently changed a server policy to block submission of all online forms with a “from” address associated with many popular email services. This was done as an anti-spam measure.  They did not inform customers of this change, which made it appear to customers that their registrations were going through, but no email was being sent to me with the registration information.

The online form has been fixed to eliminate this issue, so you can use your gmail, yahoo, etc. addresses on our form and they will reach me.

I apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your continued business.

regards,

Karl

You’re on your own, and always have been

/ hsoi

Whenever I talk about the fallacy of “gun free zones” being equated with “safe”, I point out where shootings do and do not tend to occur. Where do they tend to happen? Places where the law-abiding citizen cannot protect themselves, like schools or places that like to post “no guns” or “weapons prohibited” signs (e.g. Westroads Mall in Omaha). I then point out that shootings tend to not happen at places where you know everyone is armed, like NRA meetings, gun shops, and police stations.

Well, I guess I need to revise my statement. John Farnham tells of a Detroit police station that got shot up.

In the case of the Detroit Precinct Station, all legitimate residents were carrying guns, so the armed invader enjoyed only an abbreviated tenure before he was shot to death by officers who courageously and unhesitatingly responded in kind, but with more skill and precision. Had they all be unarmed, as would be the case with denizens of most schools and churches, the criminal’s deadly spree would have gone on and on!

The fact that those DPD Officers were routinely armed and ready, even in the “office,” saved many innocent lives.

You can’t stop crazy — and going into a police station to shoot the place up is a definition of crazy (he wanted “death by cop” for certain). But consider what happened. It was cut short only because of the ability to swiftly respond. Imagine if swift reaction wasn’t able to happen, how much more havoc could have ensued. Look at the big mass murders say at Virginia Tech or Westroads or other such places… lots of people died because no one was able to swiftly respond.

You’re on your own, and always have been. For the clueless and unprepared, it is only luck that has protected them thus far.

So close, yet so far.

/ hsoi

I’m filling out form CHL-90, necessary for the renewal of my Texas CHL Instructor certification.

The form asks for my driver license ID number, and then says I need to provide a color photocopy of the driver license.

Why?

This is Texas Department of Public Safety. You’d think they had access to this information.

Yes yes OK, someone from out of state makes it necessary. But why should a Texas resident with a Texas drivers license getting a Texas CHL Instructor certification renewal, all being matters handled by the same department…. why is this necessary?

Plus with the rest of the renewal process is all electronic forms. So, why can’t form CHL-90 also be electronic? Sure, if we have to submit copies of things (e.g. NRA/TCLEOSE certifications) couldn’t we then mail them in, or better, scan them and upload JPEG’s or PDF’s of those documents?

*sigh*

It’s an improvement in the process for sure, but there’s still room to improve.