Gun Free Zone

The Lone Sheepdog.
(Originally July 31st, 2008)

In some Gun Forums, the now famous On Sheeps Wolves and Sheepdogs article seems to create furor among the ranks. Some identify with it, some take umbrage at calling those less than aware Sheep, some who serve or served in the Military or Law Enforcement communities seem to believe that it does not apply to those who are not in their groups and some think it is a Ramboesque thing that wannabes spout. I never served, I am not LEO. I am a Citizen. I know “I don’t get it” because I wasn’t there but I get things others don’t. I am a Lone Sheepdog.

Like many modern Sheepdogs, I started as Sheep, a believer in the goodness of Mankind and with the hopes of a better World. However life taught me differently and, in my case, my eyes were finally and totally opened by the death in my arms of a dear friend who was killed by roaming Wolves. I swore then I would do my best to avoid that same situation or die fighting so I began the process of learning to become a Sheepdog and I still do every day.

And you know what? A Citizen Sheepdog is a lonely endeavor. We must provide for our guns, our ammo and our training. We must walk alone the streets without back up a radio call away or the support a squad of friendly sheepdogs with more guns and even air support which the Wolves shy away from while they look and seek me since I am alone or with my family. Wolves are not afraid of Civilians since most are sheep ready for the picking but turn around and hide if they see a black and white or a Humvee. But since I look like the other Sheep, I can be targeted at any time with any degree of violence and I must respond to save my life or the lives of my loved ones.

And it something happens and I am succesful in defending myself, a new wave of attack begins. I will be interviewed by Police and Prosecutors and if I am unlucky I will be seen as a Wolf. The Press will try to crucify me as a wild predator, thirsty for blood. Friends and Family might see me as Cain, the slayer of the Brother now holding the Mark of the Beast in my forehead. I will have to reach into my savings for a lawyer if a politically hungry prosecutor decides to make me his campaign issue: No FOP or Union Lawyer for me, no Laws Of Warfare apply to me, I will get the brunt of the Sheep Law as I was some scum of the Earth.

And yes, I call them Sheep because they are Sheep. I was one, see? Lots of them had the same warnings I did, sit with me in the same lunch rooms watching news reports on TV about the horrible things Wolves are doing to the flock and they just moan and complain about needing more Sheepdogs to defend them. The thought of becoming Sheepdogs themselves is bothersome at best or frightening at worst. They refuse to take the responsibility because it is too cumbersome and too dangerous and prefer to ignore the world out there and its dangers till it is too late and then complain and seek justice as long as someone else does the dirty work.

And please, do not construe this as a criticism of Soldiers and Cops: God knows their jobs are hard enough and they could not pay me enough to do them. But then again I ask you to understand that we are faced every day with the evil you fight since it seeks us. We are not Rambos or Jack Bauers or Chuck Norrises, we are Joe and Tom and Rick and Mary and Sylvia, every guy and gal who lives next door, has a lawn, flowers and a pot belly and roots in their hair and loves his or her family but must stand alone when the Wolves come howling in the middle of the night.

It is scary but we swallow hard and face the Wolves. I do hope you understand.

Am I the only one in the Gun Culture that has no space to put his crap away? Mind you, I am not one to have a house full of guns with safes everywhere but the bathroom but I somehow manage to collect an impressive amount of gun related crap that I cannot seem to get rid of.

My “kingdom” consists of a 12×10 room which was designated as a “Wife-Free-Zone” in order to promote household peace and avoid divorce by clutter. The final agreement (sort of a prenuptial for my sake) was that she controls the house except this room and I don’t mess the house with my stuff. I am allowed to transit the rest of the edifice, use the privy, sit at the table to eat, sometimes use the stove and even watch TV. No major changes might be implemented without the written consent of the wife and her legal team consisting of my mother and our 2 cats (Yes, dear Mom went with the enemy).

So I am to contain all my belongings in the above mentioned 12×10 and space is getting to be a irrational premium. Several hundred books adorn the walls alongside other couple of hundred CDs. Desk cluttered with the modern electronics of computer, printer, external drive, phone, printer, etc and about 6 months to three years worth of papers. a gun cabinet, a closet full of reloading accouterments, old magazines that I will not part from, old studio audio equipment (anybody interested in an Alesis ProVerb or Peavey noise gates?), gun projects, ammo and a bunch of odds and ends I don’t recognize. And of course all the floor is covered in tools, cans und jars of spent brass, range bags, BOB bag, beach umbrella (don’t ask) and a spot of cat oral emissions.

And of course, I am not the most organized person in this world. My filing system consist of the notion that whatever I need must be contained in the 12×10 and will surface after an exhaustive search.  Add to that a slight streak of procrastination (and that is why I am writing this instead of cleaning up the mess) and what you have is a maid’s nightmare. If by perchance this room should become a crime scene, a team of valiant forensic scientist would be condemned easily of a decade of searching and cataloging while succumbing to mental breakdowns in the process.

Oh well, back to work.

Tropical Storm Gustav is right now south for the Dominican Republic & Haiti about to become a hurricane. The infamous Cone of Uncertainty has it hitting South Florida in a 30% chance for Sunday or Monday so once more it is time to get ready. I had a post relating to Hurricane preparedness but lost it in the WordPress upgrade, I will re post it here:

2008 Hurricane Season. Are you ready?
(Originally Posted June 3rd, 2008 )
With the 2008 Hurricane season already here, it is a must to re-stock your hurricane kit or get one if you do not have one. One of the best list I have seen floating around is the one Southcom’s Hurricane Survival Kit and it would be my recommendations you print it and follow it. I will personally bump my supplies to at least 3 weeks worth for the family and pets and I would add to it comfort/morale items such books, playing cards and board games. Once the worse is over and your mind has adapted to the new circumstances of less creature comforts, having something to distract you and your loved ones is a great morale booster.

Of course weapons, accessories & ammunition are not in the list. It still baffles me that there is some sort of political correctness timidity in getting the obvious in the list but we know better and learn from lessons past. If you have a semi auto pistol and only 2 magazines, What are you waiting to get a couple mags more? And with the political nightmare that might come in November, you better buy 5 just in case. Also, do you have weapons with red dots, lasers or lights attached? Don’t forget the batteries for them! Have 2 cleaning & lubrication kit: one full size and another portable that you can carry and use if SHTF and you are away from your home base.

So, Are you ready? And I mean mentally ready. Do you have a plan other than sitting there waiting for the hurricane to be over and wait for things to come back to normal or are you already mentally planning on the WhatIfs” of the after-storm? If you already forgot about New Orleans & Katrina, you better take a refresher as soon as possible. If there was an event that showed in full force that your safety is not guaranteed by the government, this was it. Louis Awerbuck expressed it succinctly when he wrote in a recent article that “The first of the loot-shoot-scoot brigade will deploy immediately after a disaster, looking for an easy mark. Those with nothing to lose will be ready to take, and the sooner they start, the more they can take.” And that means your stuff and possibly even your life or the life of your loved ones.

Although when Hurricane Katrina visited South Florida as a small category one, it did enough to leave lots of areas without power. Those who had a generator were doing OK but were suddenly facing a rash of critters who were intent on stealing such a precious commodity. A friend of mine was the target of two of those critters who were bold enough to openly stroll into his backyard and attempt to take the power source. My buddy confronted the critters from a second story window and politely asked them what did they want. The critters indicated in no uncertain and foul terms that they were about to steal the generator and there was nothing he could do to which my friend responded by producing his Bushmaster and aiming it at them. The critters immediately reconsidered their initial thieving position and disappeared in a flash.
During the same Post Katrina time frame, yours truly was enjoying a smoke at 2 am sitting in the threshold of my front door. It was miserably hot and humid with little breeze and sleep was AWOL for me that night, the battery operated TV was on but repeating the same old news that we were without power and it was hot (yippee! like I did not know.) when three critters drove by in a small white vehicle. Now I live in a small somewhat closed community and I pride myself in knowing which vehicles belong to the area and this particular one did not. The critters drove by slowly following the posted 10 M.P.H for the community and that raised the first flag: nobody here drives at that crawling speed. I kept my eye on them as they went away hoping that they were just joy ridding around. About three minutes later, they drove by again slowing just a tad and the three occupants eyeballing be without shame. Again the went away but by now my slow brain had decided that:

1) These guys are up to no good,
2) I am a moron for having the gas lamp on inside the house so I can be
silhouetted by it and
3) Get ready ’cause probably I will see the critters again.

By the time I finished reasoning the above points, the critters were approaching once more and at a higher rate of speed. The driver slammed on the brakes and 2 doors flew open while the 2 companions tried to extricate themselves out of the car. I reached inside the house and presented the profile of my WASR-10 to the critters who after taking a good look and recognizing the traditional AK shape in the hands of that fat bearded guy, decided that the target was not as soft as it initially appeared and it would be a good idea to initiate a hasty retreat which they did with a selected choice of cuss words as background music.

The point I am trying to make is that not only have weapons and ammo but the mental preparedness to use them in case interlopers decide to pay you a visit. This mental preparedness alongside knowing how to use your tools and what to do with it is what is called The Combat Triad: Mindset, Marksmanship, and Gun-handling. To be up to date in the Combat Triad is as important as a fully stocked pantry or having a good First Aid kit with you in emergency situations.

So, Are you ready?

Cruising DefensiveCarry.com (A great forum for those in the Concealed Weapons Permit Lifestyle) I found the following tidbit of information:

Police tell owners: ‘We’re inspecting your guns’
Investigators searching community for firearm used in murder.

Oklahoma police investigating the shooting deaths of two girls have told area residents with guns to bring them in for a test to determine whether they were used in the attack, sparking concern among those who own guns for hunting and self-defense.

According to reports in the Tulsa World the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation sent letters to members of the community who were registered as owning .40-caliber handguns suggesting they voluntarily bring in their gun or guns for a test.

That story in itself is disturbing as hell. Oklahoma does not have gun registration so how the hell OSBI managed to get a list of gun owners? Those enlighhtened in the gun business report that about the only way to get any kind of list would be for the OSBI to call ATF and get a hold of the “Yellow Sheets” or as we know the Firearms Transaction Record or Form 4473. Some are questioning the legality of using Tax Forms without proper judicial request since none of the reports so far indicate that legal measure.

The story in Fox News reveals that OSBI knows that a .40 caliber Glock was used as the murder weapon but the clincher is that from the list of 60 OK gun owners, 40 of them voluntarily turned their weapons in for testing. The precedent of such absurdity is astounding. A Law Enforcement Agency goes into a suspicious fishing trip looking for clues in a murder case that has stalled and you will relinquish your rights so easily? And to top it all off, here is a quote from the first article:

Brown said those weapons were taken by investigators and test-fired, and the results of those tests now are being evaluated. She said nearly half a dozen former gun owners contacted authorities to identify new owners

So just to be in the safe side, I will not only trample my own Second and Fifth Amendment Rights but I will do so unto others. This is just plain sad and worrisome. You’d expect this from New York, Chicago, Miami or Los Angeles but not from Oklahoma.

I do feel ashamed and sorry for the Sooner State.

(Originally Posted on January 10th, 2008)

I recently had coffee with a young lady of my acquaintance and she was upset. It seems that she works at a gun free zone workplace and, worried about her safety asked the Security Officer what was he supposed to do in case of a Bad Guy or Nutjob attacking the place. The answer given by the Security Officer was “I’ll call 911 and be a good witness.”

At first she thought he was joking but his face told her otherwise. He went on to explain that all he was required and ordered by the corporation to do was to call police and be a good witness. He went on to say that he was an unarmed Security Officer and that the corporation forbids associates to have any type of weapon on property and that includes Security Officers so defending oneself or anybody else against a Bad Guy is out of the question. Also, weapons are not allowed in personal vehicles so even if an associate might happen to be in the parking lot and hears the attack, he/she would be summarily fired for having a gun even if the life of the CEO was spared by his/her actions according to corporate policy.

About the only advice the Security Officer could give her was to run as far away and as fast as possible from the location or, if she could not to find a corner, bend over , put her head between her legs and….

You know the rest.

(Originally posted on January 10th, 2008)

Yes, the title is there to induce shock. If you are not aware, there is a segment of the population that is being discriminated because they chose to take responsibility for their self-defense. The people being discriminated are law abiding citizens who are vetted by State and Federal governments to carry a concealed weapon and yet, they are not allowed to access places that even felons can go into because they carry a weapon for their self-defense.

If you do not carry a concealed weapon, allow me to explain the feeling. Once we made the decision to carry, we must apply for a permit. This usually involves taking a class with a certified instructor and pass an exam, have your picture and fingerprints taken, fill paperwork and send everything to the government so they can verify you are not a Bad Guy. Once the government is satisfied and your information entered in a database, you receive a small ID card which says you are not a nutjob or a felon and can carry a concealed weapon.

Now you think your troubles are over, not so. You see, there is this erroneous conviction perpetuated by those who hate the idea of guns in the hands of civilians that we are an unsafe bunch. In their eyes we are a pack of bloodthirsty animals itching for a fight so can notch our guns with a body count. To calm their fears, politicians banned certain places from anybody who carried a concealed weapon: Schools, Bars, Restaurants, public parks, etc. and in some states, they allowed owners to ban the access to their business as we were some kind of lepers that should be kept outside so we would not infect other people. These places became known as Gun Free Zones.

The concept behind the Gun Free Zones, according to the Anti Gunners was to provide a safe haven from those NRA wackos that carry guns everywhere. They sold the idea hard and long guaranteeing that people would be safe from attacks because the law said so. Instead they created a perfect slaughterhouse for the real crazies that roam our streets and the criminals that like nothing else than a good group of unarmed victims.

So when I see a sign like the one above I am insulted. Why am I being treated like a second class citizen? I have demonstrated my desire of independence by not relying on the government for my safety. I have jumped through the legal hoops to demonstrate I am a Good Guy. I spent money on a quality weapon and gear to protect myself and my loved ones. and yet, I am treated like a pariah because some idiots fail to see the difference between reality and their own impotent fears and in the process they put innocent people at risk by allowing the true sick and the criminals a target rich environment for their misdeeds and mayhem..

Gun Free Zones are nothing more than a modern-day Jim Crow. This has to stop. Now.

By the way of Larry Correia of Monster Hunter Nation, we have the unique opportunity to help in the research against Breast Cancer and at the same time have a chance to lay our hands on the gift that will make the females in or lives happy.

I am going to paste directly from Larry’s blog for all the relevant info so pay attention and participate!

FBMG is proud to announce that we’re raffling a gun to benefit breast cancer research. All proceeds will be donated to the American Cancer Society. The winner will be announced at our 3rd Annual fun shoot on October 4th.

Tickets are $5 each. They can be ordered in person at FBMG, online at http://www.fbmginc.com/Breast-Cancer-Raffle-AR-15_p_1-8969.html , paypal at slg2qcorreia@yahoo.com, or over the phone at (801) 571-1160. Tickets will be on sale until October 4th.

All federal, state, and local laws apply. If the winner is not a Utah resident, then it is the winner’s responsibility to find an FFL for us to transfer the gun to. The winner is responsible for all local transfer fees. If the winner is a resident of a state with sucky gun laws, we’ll do what we can to make the gun compliant, but if you’re a resident of California or someplace equivelent, we can sell it for you and send you a check.

FBMG has donated a Stag 15 rifle. Our gunsmith, www.gundoctor.wordpress.com has done a custom pink Duracoat paint job. The pictures above are not the finished product, as he still needs to touch it up and apply the final clear coat. Once that is done we’ll do up some glamour shots, but the reaction was so great to the original posting that we had to hurry and put this up.

To all the gunbloggers who have linked to this, thank you. This is for a great cause, and we’re looking forward to raising a bunch for charity.