Smokin’ Hot Brass

This is why I believe in our 2nd Amendment freedoms. It proves that guns can save lives:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ExC7fE1LaY

It has been awhile since I posted to this web site, but I’m back stating my views on the 2nd Amendment.

Once again we are facing a presidental election. During these compaigns, issues arise that we often forget about during non-election years. My concern is our 2nd Amendment freedom. I don’t care if you believe in owning a gun or are against owning a gun…I do care that a freedom we were granted at the birth of our nation is in jeopardy. It has been the right of every citizen to own a gun and protect themselves if they so choose. This right has been with us for over 200 years.

So why do we even have to consider changing the rules?

I find that like politics and religion, the issue of gun ownership is a hot topic. State your views in front of the “wrong” people and they will get very defensive with you. This is true for both sides of the fence on the issue. Why can’t I make the choice myself and base it on what I believe? Why do I have to defend my ideas?

I know the counter-argument says gun violence is up. That we must do something to control who possessive a gun. Historically, this type of oppression through sumptuary laws has proven ineffective. Think of the prohibition era. At that time alcohol was considered an evil substance that should be removed from our country.  The prohibition era brought the rise of mobsters in our cultural (it also brought in NASCAR, but that’s another story). Although the laws prohibited intoxicating beverages, they were still available to those that wanted it through moonshine and illegal gin joints.

The same is true with strict control on guns. If a person wants a gun, they will get a gun even if it is through illegal means. The law abiding citizens will be the only one’s affected by strict gun laws. In truth, the bad guys (like the mobsters in the 1920’s) will find gun restrictions as opportunities.

In the Chicago and Washington DC, gun possesion is illegal but you continue to hear of gun violence and other gun related crime. In Europe, knife violence is the major cause of concern, not so much gun violence. So in these countries, should they completely ban or restrict the sale of knives. Can you imagine having to show an ID or give you criminal history to buy a set of cultery from a bridal register?

The issue is not the weapon, the issue the people using the weapon. Violent people will find a tool to commit their violent acts. If we melted down every gun and knife, the bad guy would find another tool. A pencil or knitting needles could cause some damage. What about a hammer, tire iron, or glass beer bottle? Should we only give those “weapons” to the most trust worthy citizens. And from my Karate training, I know some pretty mean things I can do with my hands, elbows and feet.

My poit is… its not the gun. Don’t take my right to protect myself away. Its my choice whether you believe in it or not.

The local police force offers a free self-defense course. I took it with about 12 other women. As someone who trained for 4 years in Kenpo, most of the moves seemed familiar to me. It was curious how “we” women flinched and shrieked when the police officer described gouging eyes and breaking noses.  Yes, I too was one of the bunch that was appalled by the notion of causing physical pain to another. The graphic nature of ripping, tearing, and gouging flesh does not sit well with me.

But I quickly realized that, I had to put myself in that moment when I would need to behave this way. At the moment, that I would need to cause such physical harm to a person, would be the same moment that I would be battling for my life. I could never visualize myself going up to a stranger and gouging their eyes out. But I also can’t visualize the moment that the same stranger would have their hands around my throat strangling me.

For that moment, I must prepare mentally. I must grasp the reality that when I’m faced with this situation would be the exact moment that I would be facing death. Could I do this horrible deed? Could I face the facts that I must harm them in order to save myself?

Even though I flinched when we discussed these graphic techniques,  I realized that the reality of the situation is the same as if I were in need of shooting someone with a gun. I wouldn’t be playing around. I would have to make the decision because the only other choice would be to become a victim and most likely a dead victim!

In any self-defense tactics, it comes down to one question — Who’s life would it be at that moment, mine or theirs? Do I hurt or kill the person to save myself or my family? Or do I sit back and watch it all happen to me?

I know my choice.

As I try to learn more about personal protection, especially in the home, I stumble on things that never occurred to me before. Someone asked me the other day, if I had ever thought of putting a light on my home protection firearm. The first thing I thought was, I know my home better than any would-be criminal. I should have the advantage without needing to illuminate the home invasion scenario.

I quickly realized I was wrong. First important fact to realize is shining a light in someone’s eyes during a dark home setting will blind the intruder (at least, temporarily). However, an argument then comes from this thought is that I’m possibly illuminating myself and I’ve lost my cover in the darkness. I can also approach the same scenario with an ordinary flashlight. So why pay, big bucks for a gun-mount light?

Here’s what I discovered. Glock makes a nice, light-weight, gun-mount lights that mount to polymer frame handguns. As soon as I tried out this accessory I was sold, and quickly changed my thinking. Their lights come as either light or light/laser combos. What I liked about the light is when they’re mounted to a frame, the switch is near the trigger. I can gently tap the switch and the light pops on, but doesn’t have to stay on. Thereby giving me a quick advantage to see and potentially blind the intruder with the light. If I have the intruder in my sights, a quick flick of the switch turns the light on and my trigger finger is quickly at the ready position.

The model I bought has the light/laser combo where I can choose to use the light only, laser only, or light/laser combined. I like the light/laser combo. I’m told the laser can be adjusted for perfect bullseye accuracy of the gun.

With this gizmo, I can appreciate my advantage of knowing my home in the dark. I can have ready access to a light. When I hear an intruder, I don’t have to fumble for the gun and flashlight (which always seems to find its way to other areas of the house). With the laser, I have the intimidation factor of pointing a laser on my target and the bonus of blinding them with intense light at the same time.

Don’t get me wrong. I do not ever want to, or intend, to use deadly force, but I’m prepared to if my life is threatened. My home defense plan is to convince any potential intruder that they picked the wrong house long before they enter my home. In the end, I hope that if any intruder makes it to the laser/light stage of my home defense plan…they will willing retreat, realizing that my house is just not worth all the obstacles.

Do you have a home defense plan?

This morning I was thinking about my first pistol courses. The discussion came up about protecting oneself with a firearm. If you plan to use a firearm for personal protection, you must be willing to use it and be willing to kill the perpetrator. That’s a heavy concept.

Each person who plans to use a firearm for personal protection must resolve this moral dilemma within themselves. Its imperative to resolve this issue before you place that loaded handgun at your bedside or carry it on your person (that is laws allowing).

I think the decision process must be “all or none.” You can’t carry a gun and say I’m never going to use it. I don’t want to shoot anyone. I’m just gonna use it to scare the bad guy away. You have to be willing to say, if my family or my life is in danger, I WILL use this firearm. At the point that the handgun is pulled from its holster, you have made a commitment and you must be willing to follow through with that commitment until the threat is gone. When that gun comes out, you must be willing to convince a group of 12 of your peers that you were legitimately in fear of death.

I’m not saying, that when threatened you “have” to shoot to kill. I’m saying you have just 2 choices. Fight or flight. If you fight, you must be willing to make the full commitment, no backing out mid-way. The best case scenario is that the assailant will sense your confidence and commitment and leave the confrontation. No shots fired.

My concern is that when someone pulls a loaded firearm and they haven’t committed to their decision. I fear, in this scenario, that the assailant will sense the weakness and take control of the firearm, making a bad situation worse.

So, to me using a firearm for personal protection is not only about the firearm. Its about the willingness and confidence one must develop to stand up to a life threatening event. You must accept how you feel about the moral issues and handle the events in a manner that fits your moral code in life. If you are not willing to shoot to kill, then don’t use a gun for protection. There are other, less deadly, means of protection, you would be better off with one of them. Only you can decide what’s right for you, let your inner mind be your guide.

I am a NRA certified Basic Pistol instructor. A rare title for a woman to hold. Talking about holding my own, imagine walking into the Instructor class on an early Saturday morning. The classroom is full, and 25 male eyes look at you in curiosity. You can almost hear them think, “She’s got to be in the wrong place.” “When is she going to realize she made a mistake.” “I can’t believe she’s just going to sit down.” “Oh, wait a minute…the instructor knows her by name.” “She’s here to take the class.”

On some other day, I’ll explain how I convinced them to change their attitudes, but for now I want to talk about something I learned in class. This concept has really made me think of firearms in a different way. Until that cool, Saturday morning, I didn’t own a firearm, I owned a gun that I unconsciously called a weapon.

One of the first lessons of the day was about the NRA’s guidelines for instructors to call guns firearms, not weapons. Why would you think it mattered? Well, are you sitting at a desk? Do you have a pencil near-by? Grab that pencil as if you’re going to write a letter. Look at it…would you call “IT” a weapon? Now, change your grip as if you’re going to stab someone. What would you call it now? The pencil didn’t change, but the person holding the pencil changed its intended use.

So is a gun a weapon? Sometimes. Is it always a weapon? Absolutely not! Webster’s describes a weapon as “an instrument or devise used for offense or defense.” Then a baseball bat is a weapon, at least in the hands of the 14 year old Arizona boy who protected himself from a home robbery attempt last week. A car is also a weapon in the hands of the crazed college student who plowed through a crowd of students on NC State’s campus a couple years ago.

I like shooting paper targets. In my life, I hope I am never in a position to use a gun to shoot or protect myself from any living thing that plans to harm me. But, knowing that I’m good at shooting targets with my “firearm” gives me confidence when I’m alone. Just like I’m sure that baseball bat will remain by the young man’s bed side for years to come.

So, you think you want to buy a new handgun? How do you know what to purchase? Why choose one make over another?

In this dialog, I’m not going to go into the technicalities of the caliber of handgun to purchase. That’s a whole other thought process and we’ll save that for another day. Today, I’m thinking about the gun itself. Like a car there are a lot of variables to consider; what is the intended purpose? how much are you willing to spend? what kind of power do you want? are you concerned with the looks? or more concerned about precision handling?

Above and beyond all these questions is how does it feel? When you purchase a handgun it needs to fit correctly in your hand. If your hand is too small or too large for the grip, you’ll get fatigued quickly and have a difficult time handling it.

Just like when you purchase a car, you need to ask questions. Ask your friends, family, and yes, the gun shop owner. Do research on the Internet to learn what other’s say about different makes or models.

When you find the gun you think you’ll like, try out it out. You’d test drive a car, why not test drive a gun? Many gun shops with ranges allow you to rent a gun to shoot. If your gun shop doesn’t have a range, ask about their return policy. Some gun shops will let you purchase a gun and shoot it for awhile. If you don’t like it, they’ll let you trade it in (for a small restocking fee) on another model. Wish you could do that with automobiles! Also ask your friends, its possible someone you know owns that model of firearm. They may be willing to let you borrow it.

Just remember to learn the gun laws of your state. Determine what permits you need and regulations you must follow in order to possess, carry, transport, and purchase a firearm. By following our state laws, we encourage responsible gun ownership and help maintain our 2nd Amendment freedom.

Born in Chicago, I was raised a Yankee. Through the power of marriage and a military husband, I found myself transplanted to North Carolina an era ago. By now, my accent is so mingled between Yankee and good ‘ole girl people can’t tell where I’m from. I must admit that my heart and mind are mellowing to the Rebel ways.

Given my “blended” background, my first experiences at gun shows were quite enlightening. My first show was in Charlotte. This show reinforced my stereotype of the gun toten’, good ‘ole boy in dirty dungarees with his shot guns racked in the back of his pick-up truck. I was amazed to see people carrying rifles with tags offering their “for sale” price. It was also startling to see the “food court” between buildings that provided the shoppers with a nice cold brew. The Yankee in me said “Yep, just what I would figure.”

Several months later, I went to another gun show, this time in Raleigh. Boy, talk about attitude adjustment. Yeah, there were the good ‘ole boys, but the diversity of the rest of the crowd amazed me. Walking amongst the ‘ole boys, were the thugs. Ok…not a pretty thought, more stereo-typing, right? There were, also, lots of people like me, average. But what amazed me and enlightened me were the rest of the folks. Scattered amongst all of us were the well-dressed, just from church crowd. Yes, Virginia church going folks do own guns! I must have thought that “thou shall not kill” meant “thou shall not own firearms.”

Oh yes, I did see this attractive older woman, dressed to the hilt in her high-end Annie Oakley outfit. What an amazing and classy lady. And yes, she was engaging in dialog with the vendors. Obviously, buying some new classy hand gun to add to her collection. I wondered if she participated in the SASS. Boy, was I impressed with her attitude.

What opened my eyes about these two adventures was that I’m not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of gun owners out there. Some may fit a stereotype, but there are many, many more that don’t. Gun owners come from all places. We are a strong force in numbers. Visiting any gun show will prove that to you.

I’m new to this blogging thing. This past year after some strong encouragement by some folks I know, I decided to teach classes at our local wildlife/gun club. Last fall, I received my NRA certification in Basic Pistol and Personal Protection in the Home. This year, I’ll be working on my certification for Personal Protection Outside the Home and possibly Refuse To Be A Victim. All great courses.

If you haven’t taken any of these classes and you’re new to firearms, I strongly suggest that you do. Any information you can get about owning and operating a firearm and things you can do to protect yourself, is never wasted time or money. You never know when you’ll be in a situation that you’ll need to know how to keep a level head in order to protect yourself or someone you love.

As the time goes by, I’ll be posting messages to this blog about things I believe, things I do, and other ramblin’s. I hope you check back and tell your friends that there’s another new blog on the block. Maybe this one will strike your interest.

Till next time…N~