Reason and responsibility

We all want the same thing. I mean except for a few mental midgets who truly want chaos, we all want safety and security. We all want to be safe in our homes, on the freeway, and safe at work. We all want our children to be safe at school, safe at home, safe at grandma’s house, safe on the sidewalk, safe in church, etc.

Dictionary.com
- safety: freedom from the occurrence or risk of injury, danger, or loss.
- security: precautions taken to guard against crime, attack, sabotage, espionage, etc. something that secures or makes safe; protection; defense.
- responsible: having a capacity for moral decisions and therefore accountable; capable of rational thought or action

So, what it comes down to is how you want to achieve the state of feeling safe and secure.

Medical safety
American Red Cross

“For nearly a century, the American Red Cross has prepared people to save lives through health and safety education and training. From first aid, CPR and bloodborne pathogens training to swimming and lifeguarding, HIV/AIDS education and Babysitter's Training, American Red Cross Preparedness programs help people lead safer and healthier lives.”

“Today's innovative programs also include teaching lay persons and professionals how to use automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to save victims of sudden cardiac arrest. Last year, nearly 11 million people enrolled in American Red Cross health and safety courses."

Why have 11 MILLION people enrolled? Because the sooner first aid is available the better the chances of survival, that’s why. If the “lay person” is on site the victim need not wait for someone to arrive before help can begin.

Train more people. Equip more people. Better chance of survival.

I’m pretty sure a defibrillator used in an irresponsible fashion can harm or kill. Much like a knife or gun or automobile can maim or kill; when used carelessly by unqualified untrained people. Why has no one complained about these potentially lethal devices being placed in our schools and churches and homes? Because, when used correctly, they SAVE LIVES, that’s why. Having this equipment readily available and trained personnel nearby makes us feel safer.

Motor vehicle safety
Motorcycle helmets make me feel safer, so do seatbelts. As a society we are so enamored with these particular safe practices we force it on people by making it law. We require auto manufacturers to include airbags for more security. Do I agree helmets and belts are safer? Yes. Do I think people should be forced to be safe? No. Bungee jumping isn’t particularly safe but there is no law against it.

Train more people. Equip more people. Better chance of survival.

In a fit of road rage can I take my helmet and pummel another motorist or pedestrian? Yes. Can a carjacker get in my car and strangle me with the seatbelt? Yes. Do we prohibit people from owning helmets or buying cars with seatbelts because people who are out of control or criminal MIGHT misuse them? No.

Home safety
We require inspections to make sure our homes will meet safety standards even before we buy. We require smoke alarms and circuit breakers and gas cutoff valves. Why? For more safety and security, that’s why. Many people even have civilian security companies monitoring their homes. People pay extra money every month for additional peace of mind; more security for their home, children, even pets. Some places require additional fencing for pool safety. Some require signs posting warnings about pets. Special permits are required for exotic animals because they are potentially hazardous to others.

Litter boxes are hazardous for pregnant women. Q-tips are dangerous if you stick ‘em in your ears too far. People choke on food all over the world. Food isn’t banned by the constitution; should local governments pass laws regulating the size of the piece of steak you can put in your mouth?

Train more people. Equip more people. Better chance of survival.

Can I train my dog to viciously attack people? Yes. Do I? No. I take responsibility for my dog. He’s trained to not pee on the carpet and he’s trained to guard my property. He’s trained to not eat things on the ground because I’ve seen what poison does. He’s trained to make a racket and get my attention when someone is nearby because I don’t want anyone sneaking up on me. He’s trained to wake me up when my blood sugar makes me sleepy and sluggish. He’s trained to come get me when it’s time for my meds. He’s learning to get the phone or the remote when I can’t.

Ladies and gentlemen,
If you misuse it, intentionally or accidentally, if you don’t take the time to learn proper technique, if you are not prepared; or in criminal hands ANYTHING CAN BE DANGEROUS.
Seatbelts Q-tips Dogs Water

Personal security
Let’s face it; there’s crime everywhere. Anyone who thinks otherwise probably has their shoes on the wrong feet. Statistics can be misleading at best and anyone with a goal can (ab)use stats to show just about anything. Grabbers and Toters have been hurling stats at each other since we quit using sticks and rocks.

There is a whole phone system, NATIONWIDE, in use because the police are not nearby when you are in danger. If the police were right on top of every incident no one would need to dial 911.

Having the desire to help does not magically create an ability to help. Nor does it guarantee the presence of any entity willing and able to help at the instant help is needed. Neither of my parents can swim. When I was young, I knew if I ever got into trouble in the water, my parents would be unable to help. Ask any parent of a drowned child how long it takes for tragedy to strike. Ask any EMT/Paramedic/First Responder what the window of opportunity is for ‘help’. It isn’t very big. This is why we put SIRENS AND FLASHING LIGHTS on emergency vehicles; because response time is often the difference between life and death.

The lack of immediate professional help is why we have 911, it’s why we have ADT home security systems, it’s why we have people trained in CPR in our schools, it’s why we have lifeguards at the beach, and it’s why we should be allowed to carry weapons.

Train more people. Equip more people. Better chance of survival.

If you feel secure enough with help 3 minutes away, good for you. I can’t hold my breath that long. I’ll learn the Heimlich maneuver.
If you feel secure enough with a hamster, good for you. I’ll keep my big dog.
If you feel secure enough with 911 on speed-dial and your phone on your belt, good for you. I prefer to confront people who violate my rights with an immediate response.

People take toy makers to court when children put things in their mouths. The toymaker wasn’t there when it happened
People take auto makers to court when cars malfunction. The auto maker wasn’t there when it happened.
How long until people take the police to court when a crime happens?

What separates the gun toter and the banner-grabber is the willingness to take responsibility for personal safety.

I took responsibility to learn to drive safely. I took responsibility to train my dog safely. I took responsibility to learn first aid. I took responsibility to study self defense techniques that I hope I never have to use. I took responsibility to train with my firearms. I don’t want to have to look at my family someday and say “daddy called for help, and they’re on the way” in a situation where I could say “daddy took care of it, and it’s ok”. I have a responsibility. I’m not going to pass the buck and say it is someone else’s responsibility to keep my family safe. Because it’s not.

Its about responsibility.

big weekend

Saturday
I got up early and packed up some gear: pistol bag, cooler, water, gatorade, extra socks and T-shirt & some other odds and ends.

First off I had to get a pair of new tires for the truck as the old rear tires were getting more than a few age lines. I was on site when they opened for business at 8am and was 3rd in line. I was a bit disappointed with the time I lost filling out paperwork, and the fact the guy who got my truck couldn’t work the door lock. But the actual changing of the tires didn’t take very long, and I was back in the saddle before too long.

After tires, I met up with one of the local Search & Rescue teams for a few hours of tramping around in the brush with several varieties of man's best friend, looking for lost volunteers and fuzzy yellow tennis balls. It was my first visit with this particular group and they were pretty friendly. After a couple trips down, around and through the brush, we stood in the shade, rehydrated and chatted about how dogs get trained, how non profit groups are organized, gear, first aid and other fun stuff.

When it got too hot training was over I headed north to meet up with a couple buddies who have been wanting me to visit their local pistol range. Having buddies with similar hobbies is cool. Having buddies who share their ammo is even cooler. We took time out for some lunch, smothered and chunked for me, then packed up the buddy gear and headed out to the sticks for some target practice. Nice spot really, shady, great big fans moving the air around, not crowded at all. I figured Saturday afternoon would be busy but we were the only shooters on site. We fired my .45, buddy #1's .45, buddy #2's glock 9mm, with a few test rounds through buddy #1's .22 rifle and my 9mm beretta.

After we had killed off the evil paper horde and created a sizeable dent in buddy's stockpile of .45 rounds, we packed up the gear, visited with the nice lady at the counter a bit, examined the most recent crop of kittens under the porch and headed back to civilization for a weapons cleaning frenzy. There was some unhappiness when my bottle of Hoppes leaked in the gun bag, but no major harm done. There was much discussion of random topics, including: how slowly I shoot, the cute friendly waitress at the waffle house, whether or not one should clean a glock or watch movies with one's girlfriend (buddy #2 chose movies) and should Texas repave some of the goat paths they call roads.

All in all, a pretty good day.

Sunday
The original plan called for a trip to the Johnson Co. Shooting Sports Assoc IDSA match but I was wiped out and slept in instead.

I did get out of bed in time to meet up with buddy #1 for a cheeseburger before we packed up for a training session with another Search and Rescue group. We don’t have trailing dogs in training so after a couple runs we sat around the base camp chatting about policy, procedure, maps, gear, upcoming scheduled events and training. I’m new to the S&R world so they were trying to learn about me and I was trying to learn about them.

Another good day

I spent most of Monday sitting around the house, napping and drinking water. I’m not used to putting that many miles on my boots over the weekend like that, so I needed some recovery time.

obamination

www.chicagotribune.com/news

"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set," he said Wednesday. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

response by MadOgre
response by Monster Hunter Nation

"Cannot continue to rely only on our military"? Say that to some service member and if you don't get your ass kicked its because he's got hearing loss from the noise at the front line.

Just what is on Obama's list of 'national security objectives'? Not stopping terrorism.

www.chicagotribune.com/video

At the very end of this video Obama states "war that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged"

So we shouldn't wage war against terrorism? I'm pretty sure war is "authorized" the instant someone hijacks an airplane with our citizens on board. If you want to say our citizens shouldn't get hijacked, I'll agree with that, but how can you say we shouldn't wage war on terrorists? You'll notice that the hijackers were able to take over planes where passengers are not allowed their personal weapons for self defense.

Why exactly do we need a 'civilian national security force'? What would this force be doing? Making sure school kids do enough volunteer work? Burning books? Enforcing dress codes? Curfews? Confiscating personal security tools?

'just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded'

As powerful as the military? why? Our military is the most powerful in the world. The only possible reason to have a CNSF of equal power is to fight the military.

As well funded? holy crap. Obama wants to DOUBLE THE MILITARY BUDGET??? Where the hell is that money going to come from?

He said he would make federal assistance conditional on school districts establishing service programs and set the goal of 50 hours of service a year for middle school and high school students.

Don't we pay taxes that are supposed to go to the school districts? He's planning on withholding that money until the children are put to work?

For college students, Obama would set the goal at 100 hours of service a year and create a $4,000 annual tax credit for college students tied to that level of service.

OK, I don't see a problem requiring some sort of public service for college students who want to receive federal funding. Working your way through college never hurt anyone. However, making 'volunteer' service quotas a graduation requirement pretty much prohibits use of the term 'volunteer'.

I have other issues with the college system. I went to college and had two roommates who were recruited by the university to fulfil minority quotas. I have serious issues when non-citizens get scholarships. I have no problem at all requiring some sort of service to our country for foreign nationals who come here and get a free education and then want to return to their native country. When my tax money goes to educate someone from another country and my neighbors can't get into the same school BECAUSE THEY ARE CITIZENS there is a problem.

today's menu

BREAKFAST
stack of pancakes (3) w/ maple syrup
scrambled eggs (2) w/ cheese (american)
sausage
bacon (is there more than one serving in a package?)
OJ. (country style WITH pulp, not that strained crap)
**peel orange, place in carton, presto! OJ

bowl of hay with 'milk' (dunno how 2% of the milk still qualifies as milk)


LUNCH
Cheeseburger w/ Lettuce, Tomato, Bacon, Pickle, Onion, Mayo
** a burger less than 1/2 lb isn't a burger, its a sample.
Chili-cheese fries
Chocolate shake

yogurt

gawd I hate my doctors.

me & my afternoon snack sunflower seeds are gonna go visit the virtual biscuits, cookies & pie over at Brigid's

Responsible informed ownership

All my platoon sergeants (well the good ones) said the same thing, “Never lose your bearing”. In my particular case, that phrase usually meant “Don’t lose your cool”. If you know a bit about reading between the lines, or maybe a bit about me, you probably realize it means: “thou shalt not physically, or verbally abuse any idiot, of superior rank or in view of anyone of superior rank”. Left to their own devices idiots frequently dig their own holes and I don’t need to point it out to anyone. Trouble is I don’t have much patience when some idiot gets in my face.

Case in point – the Army, Japan
[If you’re in a rush you can skip the story. I’ll never know.]

I park my car on my way to work. I get out of the car, (not as easy as it sounds as it was a small Japanese car and I’m not) and commence walking to the complex where I work. All is well.

Enter the stranger ---“That’s a crappy parking job”.

Stop. Turn. “Huh?” in the traditional ‘I wasn’t paying attention. Were you talking to me?” fashion.

I notice Stranger is the same rank as me. My lack of “Sir” and salute will not be a problem. All is well.

Stranger is not content with my response. “Can’t you see the lines? Where did you learn to drive?”

Now, in my world and many military places, ‘On time’ means 5 minutes early. At this point, my 5 minutes will probably be killed by the walk to the door and Stranger is holding me up here in the far end of the parking lot over what appears to be ‘parking symmetry’. Being late will terminate the current ‘All is well’ status.

Promote ‘Stranger’ to ‘Potential Idiot’ (PI).

Tune out PI’s ongoing verbal barrage.

Examine parked car. Note, car within painted parking lines in all four quadrants but by a somewhat narrower margin in the left rear.

Consider ignition key location, distance to driver’s door, probable time commitment for reentering vehicle and repositioning.

Carefully weigh desire to be on time vs. desire to appease PI.

Result: Walking faster and continuing to ignore PI will result in ‘on time arrival’. All is well.

Attempt to implement result. Path blocked by PI.

Promote Potential Idiot to Full Idiot status. (FI)

Internal self control gauge indicates “dangerous” level. All is not well.

I do not have the time to schedule this FI for an attitude adjustment.

I do not have time to fold myself in half and get back in this tuna can just so this FI will shut up about my parking skills.

Situation rapidly approaching ‘NOT GOOD’ status. Immediate Action required.

Turn. Grab rear bumper of car. Slide car the required 4 inches to the right. Release.

Note, FI has ceased verbal barrage.

Turn. Note absence of FI.

Re-initiate Plan A: “walking to work”. All is well.

Note, FI reached the door in record time.

Moral of the story: stay calm and idiots will find someone else to badger. No yelling or pummeling required.


What to do when some anti-gunner gets in your face? Be calm, cool, collected & informed (know your enemy). Never lose your bearing.

Know more than they do, know your sources & know your stats (gun grabbers love stats).Guy Smith over at Gun Facts has some good info on common myths and how to bust ‘em up. I grew up in a family of shouters so shouting is kind of a knee-jerk reaction for me in times of stress. I’m predisposed, you might say. I have learned over the years that people often (women especially) will immediately stop listening to WHAT you’re saying and focus on HOW you are saying it the moment you begin to yell. Calmly dispute their arguments and hopefully over time things will sink in. Never lose your bearing.

My personal approach I learned from an old army pal. He's used it effectively on people who come by, knock on his door and want to talk about religion. Instead of being confrontational and pointing out errors, simply ask questions. Where did you hear that? How many? Where can I find that info? If you get really good they will lead you right up to the very point you want to make, and the look on their face when they say it out loud is priceless.

Learn how the gun grabbers think. Hat-tip Artful Articulations. My arguments changed dramatically after reading this article by Sarah Thompson, M.D. http://www.vcdl.org/new/raging.htm

Our logical arguments are often lost on the grabbers and it’s frustrating when they refuse to see the light on even the simplest concepts like “criminals don’t care about the law, that’s why they are criminals”. Understanding how their minds work (or why they don’t work) helps us to know their motivations. I’ve always been inclined to lump people in the ‘too stupid to mess with’ category when their arguments don’t make sense. The fact they may have mental blocks and deep seated fears inhibiting their common sense and logic never occurred to me. Going off on someone who’s already spooked will only reinforce their fear and give them more ammo for their next encounter.

Unfortunately, scared people and misinformed people can still vote.

We have to know the law and know our politicians. Know how they vote, watch ‘em and yank ‘em up short when they try to do things we don’t want. It’s the information age; we can see it on TV or read it online or in the paper. We can use the media to help our cause.
http://www.keepandbeararms.com/opsd/

We can join together.
http://www.usconcealedcarry.com/
http://opencarry.org/index.html

"We the people". The government’s power comes from the people. It's time the government remembered it.

** it's late and proofreading is overrated anyways... if it's jumbled i'll fix it later

maybe.