Tag Archives: guns

Five Rules for New Gun Owners

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  1. Until proven otherwise, assume all guns are loaded.
  2. When a gun is proven not loaded, assume it is loaded.
  3. Never, never point a gun in a direction where it might hurt or kill someone, even if you are sure it is not loaded. This means you need to be aware of anyone or anything beyond any potential target. By the way, a nine mm projectile can carry on for miles. That is to say, it can remain lethal far beyond that target you missed.
  4. A gun is a good equalizer. A five foot woman can use it to defend herself from a six, six hunk of a man. However, if she is not willing to use a gun in your defense, she should not get one. If she gets one, she is apt to have it used against her. The brandishing of a gun won’t always stop the bad guys. Actually, even shooting a bad guy doesn’t always stop him, especially if he is high.
  5. Do not let the bad guy get closer that ten feet from you. The bad guy can traverse that ten feet in a fraction of a second. Referring to rule four, pointing a weapon at someone does not always stop the bad guys.

Through years of observation, I’ve gained insights into firearm safety, despite not being an expert. The phrase “I didn’t know it was loaded” has become an all-too-familiar refrain, even among those who should understand better. I recall an incident involving a marine sergeant who tragically shot a friend during an ill-advised quick draw game. Another memorable moment from a news clip illustrated the critical importance of maintaining a safe distance: an assailant wielding a knife charged a police officer from ten feet away. The officer fired multiple shots while continuously retreating, and the attacker ultimately fell precisely where the officer had originally stood. This encounter reinforced my perspective on the significance of spatial awareness and defensive positioning in potentially dangerous confrontations.

If only we could universally share this wisdom, preventing others from repeating costly mistakes. Sadly, many individuals seem destined to learn life’s lessons through personal hardship rather than heeding the hard-earned insights of those who came before them.

Investing in basic firearm training is crucial, regardless of your background or intended use. As a veteran, I wasn’t mandated to complete a training course for my carry permit, but I chose to do so and found immense value in the experience. The knowledge and skills gained are invaluable for anyone considering firearm ownership or personal safety. I strongly recommend such training to everyone, even those without immediate plans to purchase a weapon. It’s important to recognize that any object, from a hammer to a baseball bat, can potentially be used as a weapon, underscoring the significance of proper safety education and awareness.

I Would Like to Ask Kamala One Question

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It should be in front of the whole world so that one and all could see her reply. The rule would be that she should have to reply without repeating my question back to me. Finally, there would be backing out. Once I ask my short and concise question, she would need to reply in two minutes or less.

It would not be asking much. Most true experts on the subject could provide a good accurate answer in twenty, maybe twenty-five seconds. She would not be allowed to cackle. She would be required to answer accurately and seriously.

She wants to outlaw assault weapons. I wonder if she could provide a real and concise description of an assault weapon. I mean, if we don’t get a definition from her, it would make it very easy for her to keep changing the meaning.

Does it have to be a rifle or does it include slings, as David used on Goliath. Is it only semi-automatic or does it include bolt and lever action. Does it mean only weapons with scopes. If I use a kitchen knife to assault someone, would that make all kitchen knives illegal thereafter.

The fact of the matter is, assault weapon is a very broad term. Truly the first weapon used in an assault was when Cain killed Able. If a person has the proper training, he can kill with his bear hands. It makes it possible to turn a very wide variety of things into assault weapons. It gives the prosecutor a very wide range for prosecuting.

Indeed, it is so wide of a meaning that the Supreme Court could and should disallow any such law because it is so broad. If she really wants to outlaw a gun, she should call it a gun, not an assault weapon. If she wants to outlaw semi-automatics, then she should specify semi-automatics. If she wants to outlaw AR-15s, then she should use the term AR-15s.

While we are on the subject, she said she has a gun. Has she been trained how to use and not use it? Has she been through any safety courses? Does she know not to shoot at someone until she is sure he is a threat? Has she practiced with it to the point of being able to hit what she aiming at.

The fact of the matter is, a gun in the hands of an untrained person is at least as dangerous as just about any weapon, assault or not. I’m guessing about 80% of the peace officers in this country can tell her that from firsthand experience. I have no reference. Just a guess.

Oddly, Some People Believe It

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It’s the guns

It’s the guns

It’s the guns

We have to eliminate all guns every time someone gets shot.

It’s the target. it’s the target as soon as they start shooting at Pres. Trump.

Strange as that might seem, as crazy as that sounds, some people believe that line of reasoning, which is promoted by the dems.

It would seem, according to the dems, it is a matter of just whom the target might be. My guess is that if someone started shooting at me, it would be my fault as well.

Was the thought of shooting at Trump originated with the dems? I guess not. On the other hand, much of what they say, encourages it. There have been physical assaults on many republicans and the dems have made it clear it is okay with them, though they might pretend otherwise. They even encourage it in their speeches. Remember, Sen. Rand Paul was assaulted by his neighbor while mowing his lawn and again while walking along the the roads of D.C. Remember those that would have assaulted the Supreme Court justices if they could have. This, of course, while the Justice Department refused them protection. I guess the justices, too are at fault for the attempted assaults on them.

It’s not because of a warped since of justice, though as it would seem so. It just is that some will believe anything the dems say. After all, the dems, the media, and the social media have all spread the word, the orange man is Hitler. How much better would be the world without Hitler. So, by way of twisted reasoning, the dems are saying the world would be better off without the orange man. Hence, by the twisted logic, if someone killed Trump, the would would be far better off. Those that have tried might even be looking at themselves as heroes. On the other hand, there are dems that would agree with them,

As the Youth Die

Posted in Abuse of Power, Biden, Border wall, Bribes, Build the Wall!, Christian values, City of Memphis, Communism, Crime, Deceit, Drug Abuse, Drug Culture, FOC, Immigration, Kamala Harris, Lawyers and Representation, Liberals, News Anchors, News media, Our Legal Systems, Politally Correct, Politcal Opinion, Uncategorized by

When I wrote my book, “Mitch” I tried to put passages in it that would drive the youth away from drugs. As you can see, that didn’t work. Not many read the book. If they read it, they haven’t paid any attention. I would say my words fall on deaf ears, but they fact is my words don’t reach their ears.

In one of the passages, the main character, Mitch, is explaining to Margo one of his worst fears as policeman in drug enforcement is to one day look down the barrel of a gun held by a twelve year-old. In the book, he doesn’t explain it further. The reason for his fear is obvious. Does he kill the youth in self-defense or because of his age, does he allow the youth to pull the trigger on him?

As I wrote the words, and more over the years, I do wonder if there are similar situations that police officers are put in from time to time. I suspect it does happens. Sometimes the officer allows the youth to pull the trigger. In some cases, the officer pulls the trigger, knowing that he will live with the regret… knowing that those who appointed him to protect and serve will accuse him forever and a day. For sure, many times the officer goes to prison.

Don’t get me wrong. The officer is not always right to pull the trigger. I would never make a good cop. I would be among those that might pull the trigger when the kid has a B-B gun. Then I would have to suffer the rest of my life knowing that I made a mistake, though it isn’t really a mistake. B-B guns frequently do look like real guns, especially in the heat of the moment.

When I was a kid, that sort of thing didn’t happen. Why is it so commonplace today? There might be many reasons. However, I know of two. When I was a kid, kids were not involved in crime. Today, it is more and more common for younger and younger kids to have real guns and pull the trigger with little or no reason. Without police, the eleven and twelve-year-olds would be shooting each other as, to some degree, they do today.

The second reason is a little more difficult to see, but it’s there. The proliferation of the drug culture. At first, it was just the adults that were the only ones shooting at each other over the drugs and money. I guess, in the future we can look forward to 10 or even 9-year-olds shooting at each other.

As the youth die, the dems don’t care. They do nothing to curtail drug use. In fact, they seem to do things to encourage it and the accompanying violence, you know, like letting the cartel import the poison over the border.

You never, ever see the dems shedding a tear at the loss of the lives of children, actually over anyone. It facilitates the goals of ridding the country of law enforcement by decreasing their funding, which only adds to the problem, which, of course is by design.

Don’t Point

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I can remember, believe it or not, when I was 4, being told, “Don’t point. It’s not polite.”

Really, I am not writing this to brag about my memory. The thing is I was not much older when I was taught not to point a gun.

I have written before about gun safety and pointing guns. I should not have to repeat it. I should not have to say anything about it at all. Once a month, it should be repeated on TV. It cannot be repeated too much.

My three safety rules on guns:

  1. Assume all guns are loaded until proven otherwise
  2. Assume all guns are loaded, period.
  3. Do not point a gun at anyone you do not intend to shoot.

Since I posted those three rules last, I’ve added two more. First, make sure there is no one behind anyone you are aiming at. You might miss and hit the one beyond your target. Moreover, the bullet can go through you target and hit the one behind. Actually, it is something of an extension of rule 3. Finally, don’t shoot unless you are in danger. Do not shoot to protect someone else unless you are ready to go to prison for it. I guess it is sort of that way if you are in danger. You might still end up in jail but, at least you’ll still be alive.

It is a fact, if you shoot someone or if you shoot at someone and you can’t come up with a good reason, there is a good probability that you will go to jail.

As a side note: even if you are completely justified, it is something that will stay with you the rest of your life.

You might wonder why I brought up the subject. That actor is again saying it was an accident. He is pleading not-guilty because he didn’t pull the trigger. It doesn’t matter. He pointed the gun at the woman. Moreover, though he was told the gun was safe, he never checked it. (Rule 1)

I believe he should be convicted and go to prison. He’ll be lucky it will be just 18 months. Fact is, even if the gun never went off, he should still get a good hand slap for pointing the gun at the woman.

I did find it interesting that the defense attorney said that he was handed a prop gun. If I were the persecuting attorney, if appropriate, I would have objected. The gun he was handed was not a prop. it was a real gun with at least one real live bullet in it. The fact that it was used as a prop did not change that.

The Tragedy

Posted in Christian values, Crime, Gun Safety, Immigration, Important things, Lawyers and Representation, News media, Our Legal Systems, Uncategorized by

There will be many that will disagree with me. Then again, as I have said before. I try to be honest in my posts in the way I think and feel. I do believe, frequently, I do have proper and or logical reasons for what I write.

There has been a recent news story about a 13 year-old shot by police in Utica. To be sure, I cannot claim I know everything about the situation other than it was a tragedy and that should never have happened. Yet, it happens all the time. As I said in one of my first posts, sometimes decisions are made that cannot be undone. I did so by saying that life does not have “undo” functions. There are no backspace keys. I used the case of an old woman shooting her own son thinking that he was a burglar. Certainly that woman would have done anything to reverse the last ten minutes. But, sometimes, it is just impossible to change the past.

Sometimes, while driving, I take a wrong turn. It can have consequences, but generally, I think little of it. On the other hand, I have made mistakes, big ones that I will never be able to change. It does happen. I am sure most others have too.

Going back to the shooting and what I know and what I suspect. I would think right now, the officer that shot that boy would do just about anything if he could hit that backspace key. When he left for work that day, I am pretty sure he did not say to himself, You know, I think I will just shoot a 13 year-old-boy today. It was not part of his plan. It was likely the farthest thing from his mind.

In one of my books, a detective told a woman that his greatest fear was to look down the barrel of gun being held by some 14-year-old. The book is fiction. However, I am sure many policemen do live in that fear for real.

As near as I can tell, he saw the pellet gun and thought it was real. So I ask, one and all. If you were a policeman and some thirteen-year-old was pointing a gun at you, would you shoot him or would you let him shoot you and others.

As I said, it was and is tragic. It should have never happened. As with most tragedies, there were likely many things that led to the time the officer pulled the trigger. Now, I am going to guess at some of it. They said he was an alien. I would suspect he and his parents were here illegally.

Does that make it alright to shoot him. Of course not. However it is part of what led to what happened. He ran from the policeman. Why? Maybe because he was illegal and didn’t want to be caught. No one will really know the reason he ran.

The instant the policeman confronted him, he should have told the officer he had a pellet gun and then followed the instructions. Regardless, run or not, he should have never pulled the gun out. He had to know the policeman would have thought it was real.

Running was a mistake. Pulling the gun was a mistake. Then again, 13-year-olds do make mistakes. I certainly did. It just so happens, the mistakes he made became fatal.

And now, the shooting will have repercussions. It will change the life of the officer who shot him. It will likely change the city and the police department. I guess it can be said that there are and will have repercussions throughout the country.

There will be those who will say the officer should not have shot. There will be those who will rush to the officer’s defense. I suspect that few will consider that which led up to the tragedy.

In the end, as bad as it is, we the public will have to face it. It was a horrible accident. However, it was an accident. It was one that did result in a death, which I hate and I’m sure most others dislike it too.

Now, let’s get realistic. As the official observer of Memphis, I notice that there are shootings about everyday in the city. It seems there is an average of a murder a day and most go unsolved. There are just so many they don’t have the manpower.

Where is the concern for those lives. And I might mention, many of those people killed are not running from the police. Sometimes we are talking of children lying in their bed at the time the bullet hits them. Where is the concern for them? Where is the outrage? Why are we releasing people guilty of crimes involving guns without bond?

Sorry. I don’t understand the outrage of a policeman doing his job and the lack of outrage at real murders and murderers.

Also, let’s take another look at the media. Why do they like to make the officer the villain before the investigation is started, while making the criminal just an unfortunate man down on his luck. To me, that in itself is a tragedy.

Accidental Discharge of Revolvers

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I never shot a revolver, though I have shot a number of other weapons. However, one thing I did learn very early about revolvers is to keep the chamber under the hammer empty.

Some time ago, this was brought home to me when I heard on the news of a woman accidentally shooting the man next to her when she set her purse on a counter. The .38, which was in the purse went off and just happened to be pointing in the wrong direction.

Oddly, I have had a few men who should be knowledgeable on the subject, tell me that this won’t happen with the modern revolver. Maybe that is true. I don’t know. Still, if I had a revolver, I’d still follow the old safety rule unless I planned to use it right away.

I just heard another news story of an apparent accidental discharge. The woman claimed she was going through her purse when her gun went off. Regardless of all, the bullet hit and killed her daughter.

I don’t even know what kind of gun it was. However, I do have a tendency to believe it was an accident. I’m sure that doesn’t make the woman feel one bit better.

By keeping the one chamber empty, a person does give up one shot, but it’s far better than an accident, modern revolver or not. Incidentally, the empty chamber does not at all slow reaction time.

As I said, I don’t know fully know the circumstances in this shooting, but the lesson still applies. Please, as appropriate, pass the word. If there is no bullet in the chamber, it makes it awfully difficult for an accident to happen. It just might save a lot of of explaining…and grief.

Learning the Obvious & the Strange

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I have a bad memory. Sometimes I learn things and I haven’t a clue where I learn them. Nonetheless, I now know that the primary purpose of a holster is to guard the trigger.

Now how about that. All these years, I thought it was to hold the gun. It does help to explain something I learned a while ago. While a gun, short or long, is being carried in an auto, it must be holstered. Now I understand the reason for the law.

It makes sense. I should have onown beforehand. It is obvious. I write this in the possibility it just might help others. I mean, just because something is obvious, doesn’t mean we all know and understand it.

Then, while researching the holster thing, I found something that floored me. That means, it confused me. It seems that in most, if not all states, it is against the law to install compartments in autos to hide guns in.

Let me explain. In this area, there’s a problem with guns being stolen from autos. You might say it’s an epidemic. Virtually, every day, they say something on the news about it.

So, silly me, I start thinking about building a place in my car to hide my gun. You know, so I can safely leave my weapon in my car while I go into a place where it is unwise to bring it.

You have no idea how much thought I put into it. I even considered putting some money into it. Now, I’m thinking that’s strange. They want me to make sure my weapon is secure in my car before I enter, let’s say, a bank, but they will not let me put it in a constructed concealed compartment.

It doesn’t stop there. This also applies to RVs, boats, yachts and I would guess horse drawn carriages.

To some degree, I understand. It is a bad thing to let criminals hide things, including drugs, in vehicles and haul them anywhere and everywhere. The hitch is, they do that anyway. Frequently, they are caught and they still do it. I suspect it doesn’t slow them down.

At any rate. Maybe I have saved others the embarrassment of others finding out about the law the hard way.

Now. Just how do I keep the bad guys from stealing my weapon whilst I am in a restaurant. Guess I will need to resort to the drive throughs.