As Mr. Farnam reiterates below, when you budget for any defensive weapon, be it a handgun or long gun, also budget for some classes in how to use that weapon effectively. Beware of classes that only make you “feel good about your abilities”, seek out a class that challenges you and forces you to improve! The World is an unforgiving place folks, Time to get serious about your Survival! -SF
In the “Age of Terrorism…”
Last weekend, I was in the northwest conducting an ARTA (Armed Response to a Terrorist Attack) Course.
This is not a Course for entry-level students. Attendees were all veterans of other Courses and were all competent Operators. Exercises involved both rifle and pistol.
This Program consists mostly of live-fire scenarios, where students are provided with only minimal information and must rapidly size-up the situation and make a plan. Then, they execute their plan, tweaking it along the way as necessary.
I emphasize that, in our current Age of Terrorism, many of our left-leaning politicians seem far more interested in soliciting terrorists’ votes than they are in arresting them!
So long as liberals are in charge, no effective response to terrorism will ever see the light of day, as we are now seeing on a weekly basis, on our soil as well as other places in the world.
So, as I’ve reiterated many times before, we’re on our own. Actually, we always have been. It’s just that now many, even among the willfully naive, are finally noticing!
We all know the importance of tweaking our individual lifestyles in a way that makes contact with terrorists and other criminals unlikely. However, no matter what protective steps we take, any of us may find ourselves, without warning, swept-up in a major terrorist event.
Here is what I emphasize, and what we relentlessly practice:
1. At the first inkling, get in motion! Don’t hesitate, nor dither. Don’t freeze and stay in one place. Terrorists are weakest and least organized at the very beginning, as their plan is just starting to unfold. That is the time to make your move, whatever form that takes. As terrorists consolidate their control, your options will rapidly dry-up!
2. Be aware of all exits, not just the door you came in through. Know how you are going to get to an exit, and out of there, quickly.
3. A “lockdown” is tantamount to herding people into coffins! Pay no attention to “orders” to “shelter in place,” nor to “remain calm and stay where you are.” That is where your body will be found! Get out any way you can and as quickly as you can, and don’t worry about who likes the idea!
4. “Rescue,” in whatever form it takes, is probably hours, maybe days (as was the case in Beslan), away. Most hostages will never live long enough for it to matter! Don’t count on being “rescued.” In fact, you have likely already been “written off.” Be prepared to fight for your life!
5. Guns are vastly more effective than staplers and fire extinguishers! Be truly prepared. Go armed. “Gun-free zones” are the exclusive province of naive fools. Stay out of them, or go armed regardless!
6. Get prepared, now! Guns in skillful hands will always find a way to win. By contrast, your shiny new pistol and rifle will contribute little to your continued good health when you’ve had scant competent training in their effective use. Just as expensive golf clubs are no guarantee of a good-scoring game, expensive weapons by themselves, will not guarantee personal victory. Your weapons don’t have personalties. They don’t love you. And, they won’t love their next owners any more than they loved you!
7. In addition to guns and ammunition, always carry car keys, cash, blades, credit cards, cell phone, and wear shoes in which you can walk for significant distances. You may have to!
Now is not the time to listen to nanny-state socialists who do not have your best interests in mind, and never did! Face the truth squarely, and prepare accordingly.
It’s going to be a bumpy ride!
“Some people walk through a hallway with covered mirrors, a hallway lined with mirrors, but there are blankets covering each of them. They go through life believing in an image of themselves that isn’t real. If you happen to be in that hallway and pull blankets off the mirrors, they’re going to think that you’re hurting them; but they’re actually just seeing their own true reflection for the first time. Sometimes, the most horrendous thing a person can see is all the hidden things inside them, the things they’ve covered, the things they choose not look at.
But, you’re not hurting them.
You’re setting them free!”
C JoyBell
/John
Read the Original Article at Defense Training International
Reblogged this on Rifleman III Journal.