Obstacles to a Solution

The choice to carry a gun each day is nothing more than an extension of a previous decision one has made in their life.  This decision was that of self-preservation.  The concept that my life, or your life, or the lives of those we care about is more valuable than the lives of criminals that would seek to do us harm.

Anyone that has made such a decision generally then takes steps to ensure they can prevail against a criminal attack.  They acquire the tools and training and they develop a mindset and lifestyle that will allow them to avoid a fight if possible but win a fight if necessary.  It’s only logical that handguns would come up in this evolution of tools and training.  Handguns are easy to carry on your person and they are generally more efficient at ending a fight than a club, knife, or any less lethal weapon at stopping an attacker.  In fact, the only things that usually perform better than handguns are rifles and shotguns.

Having said that, self-defense is not about guns.  Continue reading

The Greatest Gift… Almost

Kimber Meme

Every year as we near the Christmas season, I see memes such as the one posted above all over Facebook.  Honestly, I would love it if someone bought me a new gun for Christmas and, admittedly, I get the slightest twinge of jealousy as I see my friends posing with their new “toys” in front of the Christmas tree.

But does giving someone a gun really tell them how much you care?

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Do I Really Need To Carry Spare Ammunition?

I recently taught an intermediate-level class in which, when asked, not a single student said that they normally carry any spare ammunition for the defensive handgun they carry daily.  These were all intelligent, well-meaning people who were trying to take responsibility for their own personal safety as well as the safety of their families.  They had all been carrying on their CCW permits for several years, all of them claimed that they shot at least somewhat regularly, and all of them had taken the responsible step of seeking out additional, non-mandated training.  Yet it had never crossed their minds that they might, at some point, need more ammunition than the normal payload that their firearms carried.  Continue reading