Civilian Self-Defense Code of Conduct (2).

– It is my responsibility not be controlled by extreme emotions.

In our modern world, and specially in Urban areas, we are subjected to the possibility of verbal and non-verbal aggressive communication. There is always somebody with a chip on their shoulders or just having a bad day and they take it out on the first person that crosses their path which may very well will happen to be you. Somebody thinks you are driving to slow or that you cut them off and the infamous flipping bird will shoot out of their windows or a loud “Fuck You Asshole!” will be heard from the alleged aggrieved party.  Unfortunately in our modern society, we have been conditioned that we should respond in kind or risk to be branded as weakling of some sorts.  Lt. Col. Dave Grossman in his book On Killing, tells us that in the animal Kingdom (and yes, we are part of it) there are four responses when confronted by aggression: Fight, Flight, Posture and Submit. When  “attacked” we may choose respond in kind (Fight), to take off as fast as possible (Flight), to puff up our chest and make a big show we are not being intimidated (Posture), or simply cower down and surrender (Submit).

You may have noticed that I highlighted the word choose and that is for a reason. Even though we are attached to the Animal Kingdom and those four responses are automatic in most of us, we do have the ability to control them and activate them (or not) at will.  I volunteer that 99.999999999% of the aggressive interactions we have with others in an Urban Environment are nothing more than Posturing that goes no further than some foul words and gorilla-like chest beating. The issue is that we may transform a Posture into an Attack by responding in kind and then we may be forced to use Lethal Force to control the situation. Once this happens we are in a world of trouble because our Self Defense legal position has disappeared since we also incited the confrontation. A ‘Fuck You’ or a Middle Finger do not constitute an attack in which we may reasonable fear for our lives, period. We then must learn a new set of responses to these attacks.

Your best option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.

I have seen this little tidbit of whole truth all over the Internet attributed to many different sources so I won’t even try to find the author. But do take this words and make them your personal mantra. Avoid any situation that can lead to a Deadly Force encounter. If you have to go to the store for milk in the wee hours of the night and you find a couple of toughies that look like trouble, put your ego away and go to another place. Yes, you have a right to go to the store but why get in trouble for a quart of milk? If your bladder demand immediate relief and the closest option is a well known biker bar, choose soiled underwear and pants if no other options are possible. A bit of embarrassment and load of laundry is much cheaper and safer than explaining to a Jury why you went inside that bar when any reasonable person would not. Choose no to attend any battles and you will win them all.

Deterrence is defined by Webster as the inhibition of criminal behavior by fear especially of punishment. I would add that it is any attitude (body language), tactics or devices we can use to make a potential attacker decide we are not easy victims. Whatever we can do to show that any potential reward that can be obtained by attacking you may come with a higher than intended price to pay, will help to keep attacks to your person to a minimum.   If we are in a mall just staring at the store fronts and oblivious to our surroundings, you can bet that a bad guy will notice you and mark you as a potential target. If you are sitting in a park bench, body slouched and half asleep, you are broadcasting to God and Country your mind is in bed and you pose no threat to anybody who wants to relieve you of your belongings. Be alert and make sure you face & body shows it. Constantly scan your surroundings and walk with as if you have defined purpose even if you are just strolling. If you are being watched by somebody, watch back, scan the person and and look into his eyes (No need to engage in a staring competition) to let him know you know. Except for the insane, the very stupid or the drug-affected individual, criminals will back off if they know the element of surprise is gone.

De-escalating is just the necessary maneuvers and behaviors we can use to reduce an ongoing and possible dangerous situation without the use of Deadly Force.  If you accidentally bump into a jackass and he explodes in a verbal description that includes your Mom copulating with assorted animal farms, apologize and try to leave safely. This is where most of the Posturing stance will occur with the fraction of them that might actually turn nasty. And this is where we must make the biggest effort to control our outrage and avoid getting baited into a clash of Egos.  Do not return the Posturing with some of your own and raise your “shields” in case an attack is incoming. This kind of display quickly runs dry if there is only one person doing the screaming and grows exponentially if the other party responds and augments the attack.  I have personally found that remaining impassive but alert after I extended the apology goes a long way in defusing the other guy’s actions. The ‘Posturer’ finds me not responding to his words and actions while I am not displaying fear (even though I might be a mess inside) and his ego will be satisfied or maybe realizes that there is something else going on that he is not aware of and that might not be the best thing for him to remain in his course of action. Either way the spew of cusses will eventually die down and the situation disappears. Avoid getting yourself in trouble. Leave the Ego safely tucked at home.

In explaining what other may do, I wanted to emphasize what we should not do. We are not immune to emotions but we can control them to a point where we can use them in our benefit. The late Col. Jeff Copper in his booklet Principles of Personal Defense stated that when confronted by an aggressive response we should change our fear into indignation. Indignation is much easier to control because it requires an intellectual process, the “How Dare He?” and at that level we can tailor our response to the situation at hand. The emotions can also be controlled if we develop pre-planned responses to possible offensive scenarios. We prepare ourselves by asking “What If” and coming with multiple solutions and practicing them over and over just like we do our shooting. This is possibly the most important part of the whole issue because when confronted by an aggressive behavior, you will not have the time to sit an come up with a reasonable strategy that will get you out of trouble.

To summarize, don’t let the opponent’s emotion dictate your behavior and do not let your emotions get you in bigger trouble. Self Defense is also a thinking process but we must do the thinking way ahead of time because when the bell rings, you only have seconds to survive.

Civilian Self Defense Code of Conduct

It is my responsibility to respect Innocent Life. And the first Life to be respected is my own.

No matter how much the Old  Media portray us and how bad other people may think of us, we are no trigger happy crazies, spraying bullets at the slightest chance. If anything almost twenty years of Concealed Carry Permits have shown that Law Abiding Citizens are perhaps the most peaceful and less dangerous group of people anybody can ever meet. We respect Innocent Life for the simple reason we appreciate the toils and labors the average citizen must endure. We understand that they have dreams and aspirations, they have responsibilities of their own that they must fulfill, they have loved ones that he cares for and he is cared from.  We respect that because that is us too. We consider that life precious in the same level we consider our life precious and doing or not doing something that might put that life at risk is morally and ethically wrong.

A Rabbi I met during an NRA Instructor’s class put it very succinctly: The taking of a life in Self Defense is neither morally nor religiously wrong. It is understood and accepted by most religions. However Suicide is considered wrong, one of the foulest of sins that an individual can commit. The same applies at not doing anything to save a life. While it may be legally and morally correct to not intervene in certain occasions (level of death or grave bodily harm to oneself or an innocent life might be too much) doing nothing to defend yourself when able but not doing under the pretense of a false Moral Superiority (“I cannot just bring myself to kill anyone. That is so wrong!”) is the same as Suicide.

I suspect that a lot of those who wave this banner of alleged Moral Superiority are doing so because they are part of an unholy marriage of Cowardice & Convenience. Being prepared to defend oneself is a difficult task which will knowingly forces us to confront the ultimate societal fear of taking a life and the consequences of that might come after it. It is easier to spend your free time enjoying the fruits of your life than worrying about what it may happen if somebody wanted to take it away. It shakes the consciousness and peels away the veils that protect our false sense of security. It is more comfortable to lay the responsibility on somebody else (Police, security) that take it oneself. But at the end, it will be the individual who had the ability but chose not to exercise it the one responsible for the loss of an innocent life.

As civilians we are not offered the opportunity to belong to an established group for support and guidance. So when we take upon ourselves to be responsible for our own self-defense, we do it in solitary. We are castaways left to our own devices and with little guidance but a few lines of the law with almost no interpretation and no idea what we might face.The following is a Code of Conduct that I came up during a boring shift at work. I will never claim to be an expert and please understand so. These are just my observations from what I have experienced personally and from what others have learned. I am just going to post the list and I will expand on each one at a time in following posts.

I have chosen to be the First Responder of my Own Safety so:

– It is my responsibility to respect Innocent Life. And the first Life to be respected is my own.
– It is my responsibility not be controlled by extreme emotions.
– It is my responsibility to train & learn any techniques that will allow me a chance to survive.
– It is my responsibility to keep and hone the skills I acquired.
– It is my responsibility to keep my equipment in good condition.
– It is my responsibility to stand against those who seek to eliminate the right right to defend myself.

This is a work in progress. I am guessing I will be adding or subtracting stuff as I get better at my writing or a kind soul happens to give a hand and improve on it.

I have a feeling Capone was a much honorable adversary than ACORN.

Word yo!

Poor dear Madame Speaker. Hot off the video presses here we see her…well, I am not sure she is emotional due to her constant and voluntary overdose of botox, but she seems to be feeling somewhat emotional.

She is a good politician. She is no coming out and saying: You all rednecks that hate my President have to shut the hell up and bow to the superior intellect.” but you know that is where she is heading. Specially when she mentions the “balance between Safety and Freedom” which whenever a politician mentions it, Freedom takes a serious hit.

Maybe she is finally getting the message that people are tired of their BS. Maybe somebody shook her from her daily reverie to the altar of Noam Chomsky and pointed to her that there is something going on because the serfs are revolting.  Maybe she was only getting her information from the ABC/CBS/CNN/NBC/MSNBC clique who are designed around the ignoring of the facts and the truth and thus missed stuff like ACORN personnel voluntarily agreeing to help pimp underage girls, that Czars are politically positioned to the left of Stalin and believe in population control or to fellow congresspeople who publicly admit their undying admiration for Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.

Pelosi reminds us of her sad memories of the violence in the 70s but fail to mention that it was her fellow political leaning terrorist the ones playing with explosives or dealing drugs to further the cause or executing police officers to later be nominated for the Nobel Peace prize.

Maybe too much botox is really harmful to the brain or maybe she is just LYING! Yes, I am gonna use that word before the Liberal Democrats bring back the The Sedition Act.

According to the great “trustworthy” Mass Media types and with the official confirmation of none other than Super Former President Jimmy Carter, I am now a Racist because I am against the ultra-left wing policies of this administration. That kinda gives you a load of warm-fuzzy, doesn’t it?

How desperate can the Ultra Left must be to be throwing the Race Card around with such agility? Note to the first I-Hate-America-and-I-sucked-as President Jimmy Carter: A majority of voters elected President Obama. So when you state that ““There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president.” there tends to be a contradiction with reality, you know, the one that real people live and work? That one you do not seem to understand? Yep, that one.  If a majority of voted for him it would be a good guess that also a majority of Americans is not racist and they are just fed up with the LIAR in a very short time.

I really don’t give a flying crap how the melanine in your skin diffracts light and gives you that particular shade or if you light candles to a particular deity or not or if you engage in private  games involving Crisco, a bottle of milk, a saddle and a tuning fork with a consenting adult (apologies to Return of the Killer Tomatoes) or even your political views as long as they do not interfere with the Rights recognized in the Constitution. However, I am prejudiced to hell against those assholes that swore to protect and defend the Constitution without any reservation or purpose of evasion but they did just that. Yes, I am prefuduiced against Communist Red because my kin lived under the “wonderful” Communist shitholes. I get pissed when members of congress extol the virtues of Fidel Castro and or Administration Czars that consider the Chavez Revolution as a good thing. Against idiots like that, yes I am prejudiced and no amount of sensitivity training is gonna change that.

And before I am outed and before some enterprising young couple disguised as pimp and prostitute go through my account at WalMart Photographic section, I am displaying a picture of a local KKK gathering I just attended locally.

And in case somebody have not figured out yet, I am a Spic A.K.A a member of the “Oppressed” races with a Hispanic background and I don’t give a damn if you want to call me names, but do not condescend me or tell me what’s good for me because you know better. That is the truest form of racism ever designed.