Follow your instincts, and if you cant’ feel them you had better develop them.

The buzzword around the CCW community is "Situational Awareness". We concur with the theory and approve, however too many people do not think about anything other than what is the next TV show. When people were out in the woods and hunting for food, and being hunted themselves, our instincts or "inner-self" was something that everyone knew how to feel and listen to. Have you ever had the hair go up on the back of your neck, or feel like you were being watched? This is a talent that we as a nation need to develop and relearn how to listen to our "inner-self". If it takes turning the TV off and getting in the woods, going on walks, or even reading a book it would help in critical scenarios. "Situational Awareness" needs to be coupled with "thoughtful preparation for scenarios". If people take a few moments to ask the "What if" questions prior to a situation, it would speed up reaction time dramatically when the time for action does occur.
There are two types of people in this world; (1) those that are survivors; and (2) those that don’t. I quizzed some of the kids in a youth group recently on how they would handle different tough situations. The results were very different but supported the theory that there are two types of people. Some of the kids put their heads down and hoped the problem would go away, others suggested closing the door and blocking it with a desk. The latter is exactly what a group of students did at Virginia Tech this month. They forced the desk in the door and they survived.
Take time to think about walking to the car with your car keys in your hand, and what would happen if…. Or if you were in the public bathroom and …Look for escape routes when walking into stores. Talk to your kids about situations and give them options. We live in a different world and we have the right to defend our selves. Bad guys pray on the weak and unprepared, fool them…. be prepared. – Clark

Has anyone explained to the United States media that next to Hollywood, they are the single biggest problem facing the United States?

I just had the privilege of sitting down with a gentelman visiting from France. He listed the following as his opinion of how the United States is percived.
(1) The democratic leaders going around the President and having their own meetings is a sign that we are weak and can be pulled down shortly. The media used this opportunity to try and humiliate our President, and inflate the traveling democratic leaders.
(2) The media constantly shoots down and insults our President. We also have former Presidents that are traveling around the world saying things that could be considered treasonous.
(3) Hollywood tries to force their opinions and values on the world. Because of Hollywood the world perceives the women in the United States as loose sleazy women that do not care about anything except power.
(4) Our media is being quoted by the radical Islam groups fueling the problem and using the media slander as requiting tools.
(5) Radical Islam will not stop, and Europe will not be able to help the United States as the radical Islam numbers are growing and they are voting them selves into power.
(6) The democratic leaders care more about making a political statement than trying to win the war on terror. Forcing the time table, or holding funding hostage sends the message to our troops that the democrat party is more important.
Our Media and Hollywood are slowly killing our country so they can move their political agenda. Most of the world gets its news from our media, and the US media hates their own country. It is no wonder that the radical Islam groups do not have any problems getting new recruits.

We need to pay attention as Hollywood and the media is playing into the radical Islam’s plan in assisting in recruiting new terrorists. This will affect the United States in the next few years as there are presidential candidates that want to remove all gun ownership rights. One of the ways is through trying to enter into a treaty with the UN’s world wide gun ban. Just ask your favorite candidate if they have had any discussions about this, or if they would support the treaty to over ride the 2nd amendment.

It will get to a point in the world when we would want to practice isolationism and close all of our bases around the world and bring all of our troops home regardless of country. Only then when our billions of dollars are not in their local economies, or our troops dying to save their freedom, will the politically motivated media have no control or impact. –

Let's stand up as a Nation regardless of political view and talk positively about the greatest country the world has ever seen.
Clark – carryconcealed.net

Lock the Guns UP!

This past week in America has seen a lot of discussion about what to do with gun rights and protection of our kids. It has even seen schools and universities this week under attack from copy cat type predators. In Tulsa an 8th grade student even brought a gun to class and was turned in by a fellow student. Our question to the gun owners in the United States is simple; how does a child get a gun? If you can go out and buy a gun for $99 to $700, and have a trigger lock included in the package, how do you let the kids get the firearm? There are safes for $50 that have combination locks and fast access so that you can get to them quickly if home defense is required. Is a human life worth $50?
We as gun owners cross religious, ethnic, economic and political parties. People forget that years ago the NRA was involved in teaching minority communities to defend against racist attacks from bigoted organizations. We saw that in the Katrina aftermath, the neighborhoods that had guns were able to defend themselves when the police could not. This topic is not about the NRA vs. Democrats or Democrats vs. Republicans, this is about being responsible Americans. We can sit back and watch what is happening in England and Australia with guns being outlawed they are having the highest gun violence in the history of their countries. Let’s look at our capitol. You have a greater chance of getting chance per capita of being shot in Washington DC than you do in downtown Bagdad. There is a joke going around on the internet asking for a time table for us to pull out of Washington DC.
Let’s pull together as a country an enforce the laws that are on the books, improve our system to catch mentally deranged people from getting guns, and commit to each other that we will go and buy a gun lock or a safe and keep the guns out of the kids hands.
Clark – Carryconcealed.net
Sources:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,4057,21590821-2,00.html
http://www.kjrh.com/content/news/breaking/story.aspx?_id=9a4b0475-f53f-4787-b8c1-0dee23adf903
http://rkba.org/comment/metaksa.yale.12sep95

It is not the gun law; the system failed.

It is a measure of the politician’s total lack of understanding of the problem when they are calling for stronger gun laws. When in fact the tragedy at Virginia Tech was due solely to the failure of the system to cross check for the mental instability of the gunman. We just need to enforce the laws that are on the books, and re-think what gun free zones mean. The laws of almost every state prohibit the mentally distressed from owning or purchasing firearms. The system failed and the Virginia Tech gunman was able to purchase two guns. There should be a better ability for cross checking data bases and prohibit mentally unhealthy individuals from getting fire arms.
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has even gone way off the left end of the park. In an article written by Aamer Madhani and Rex W. Huppke published in the Chicago Tribune, April 19, 2007, they quote the Mayor as saying "gun sales should be posted on the Internet, " I think people should know who owns weapons, he said". This would allow all of the criminals to know where to go and violate the rights of the gun owners. Where is the ACLU in fighting for the gun owner’s rights to privacy? They fight for every other groups rights, why not the only group of people in the country that crosses race, religion and economic abilities.
Also in the article they indicate that both Senator Edwards and Obama both were attributed as asking for stronger laws. It is clear that they do not fully understand what it takes to secure our kids from the terrorists or those deemed mentally incompetent.
We all need to take a deep breath, and talk about what we as AMERICANS can do to protect our kids and our future. Lets start with closing our borders; enforce the laws already on the books regarding guns and illegal aliens. This would include escorting the illegal aliens out of the country when they are involved in a crime. - Clark

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070419guns,1,7549367.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

America Are You Ready?

If you have questions of gun control, you may want to take five minutes and read the "A Global Intelligence Briefing For CEOs" by Herbert Meyer. This is one of the best summaries that we have reviewed. Like it or not the world is tied together for our economies and well being. Herb Meyer served during the Reagan administration as special assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence and Vice Chairman of the CIA's National Intelligence Council. He goes through four main topics. They are (1) The war in Iraq; (2) The emergence of China; (3) The shifting Demographics of Western Civilization and (4) The restructuring of American Business. Herbert states that the unsuitability in the Middle East has been going on even before the 7th century and therefore how can we expect the region to embrace democracy in the 21st century.
This is a direct quote from the speech; "The lesson of 9/11 is that we live in a world where a small number of people can kill a large number of people very quickly. They can use airplanes, bombs, anthrax, chemical weapons or dirty bombs. Even with a first-rate intelligence service (which the U.S. does not have), you can't stop every attack. That means our tolerance "for political horseplay" has dropped to zero. No longer will we play games with terrorists or weapons of mass destruction."
China is undergoing the single largest revolution in the history of mankind. The Chinese government has moved 250 million people from the farms to the cities and in the next 20 years will move an additional 300 million farmers to the cities. This will provide burdens on the Chinese government that will have global impact. Fewer farmers and more people striving to make low cost goods just to make a living. Food costs up, and working for lower wages is a formula for disaster. America has become more dependent on China’s ability to produce goods at lower prices and is shifting the business model to more services. The migration of manufacturing outside the US is not totally understood by everyone as to the potential damage to the future of the United States.
The shifting demographics of the western civilization are laid out very plainly. He states "Most countries in the Western world have stopped breeding. For a civilization obsessed with sex, this is remarkable. Maintaining a steady population requires a birth rate of 2.1. In Western Europe, the birth rate currently stands at 1.5, or 30 percent below replacement. In 30 years there will be 70 to 80 million fewer Europeans than there are today. The current birth rate in Germany is 1.3. Italy and Spain are even lower at 1.2. At that rate, the working age population declines by 30 percent in 20 years, which has a huge impact on the economy." This also is relevant to the United States as there will be fewer young workers to pay for the baby boomers that are retiring faster than young workers can enter the workforce and pay money into the retirement systems.
The global issues in the world demand that we as Americans get ready to face the future prepared rather than being caught blindsided. FEMA has reports and lists that can help with getting your family ready for the next emergency. Do not expect that the Government can solve every issue, and you must be ready to survive on your own for some time. The bottom line is if we loose our culture, we will not be bailed out. There is not another United States of America to bail us out. –Clark



Braden Blog: http://braden.weblogger.com/2007/02/24
FEMA "Are you ready?" Web site: http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/basic_preparedness.shtm

"If I only had a Gun"

It is a horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech Campus. All of our hearts and prayers go out to the community while they go through the grieving and healing process.
One week before the shootings on the Virginia Tech Campus we posted a Blog titled "Should Teachers carry?". We brought up the potential issues at the universities as well as the high schools. We also had posted an article written by John R. Lott Jr. titled "Letting Teachers Pack Guns will Make America’s Schools Safer". The Blog and article deal with issues surrounding the protection of our kids. Virginia Tech had voted last year to make the school a "gun free" zone. This vote prohibited any legal CCW permit holder to carry the protection needed on campus. If the hero professor that had survived the holocaust and gave his life for the students, had a side arm, things might have gone different. If any of the ROTC or retired military teachers had a side arm, things might have been different.
On the "The Factor" on Fox aired on April 17, 2007 Mr. O’Reilly, in a discussion with Professor Mark Smith, stated that criminals will find ways to get guns no matter what the gun laws say. Professor Smith agreed and indicated that our constitution provides for the US Citizens to defend themselves, as the police are not able to be on the scene until after the problems are resolved. On Mr. O’Reilly’s radio show he stated that the laws should be changed to only allow for US Citizens to purchase and own handguns. We agree with Bill on this issue, as the 2nd Amendment should only apply to legal US Citizens.
The bottom line – we have the right to defend our families and friends. The safety of our kids is the paramount issue at hand. We live in the greatest country this world has ever seen and we need to take the extra steps to protect our open society.
Blogs; http://www.carryconcealed.net/blog/
Article: http://www.carryconcealed.net/articles/Letting+Teachers+Pack+Guns+Will+Make+America

Should Teachers Carry?

It is interesting to see that no one remembers that we found plans to attack the schools and churches all across the United States on a terrorists laptop several years ago. This made the news and yet we do not prepare. It is apparent from the attempted bombing at the OU game in Oklahoma City that universities are also included in this discussion. While it is not prudent to give every one a gun such as the seen in "Second Hand Lions", starting Robert Duvall. The entire cast is issued a gun, including the two little boys sharing a gun, as the gang heads into the cornfield after the lion. There has to be a compromise for our children’s safety and our country's future. It has been suggested to me that the United States Homeland Security create and monitors a program in which only qualified people are allowed to CCW in schools. The qualifications would need to be strict, but open enough to get more security minded people in the front lines protecting our kids.
Take for example the JROTC programs across the high schools and the ROTC programs at the universities. There are well trained, experienced, military leaders that have served our country well and are now leading our young students. This would be an excellent starting point. They could be brought up to the first line of defense for our kids with the least amount of impact on the budgets. There is not a town in the United States that has extra money left over for the required staff to protect our kids against the terrorists that are running a committed campaign to take the United States of America down.

2 age-old questions "Does size matter?” & “Quantity vs. quality”.

I believe the answers to the two age-old questions would be (1) Size matters in gun and bullet size. There is a balance that must be achieved between stopping power and the ability or desire to carry the gun. If the gun is too big you will find your self not carrying the single thing that may save your life. Secondly: (2) Most self-defense situations are at close range and are fewer than 3 or 4 shots. This adds validity to the quality of the shot. Having a well placed 22 LR is better than not having a gun at all. Having a well-placed 45-caliber bullet is even better. In this day of everyone being sued or law enforcement officers going to jail when they are doing their jobs, it is better to shoot as few times as possible to save your life.
Clark