Weather permitting we will have a class

Sunday Sept 7 we will be having a class, if you want to be there please call me at 956-437-2607 or email me.(if I don’t pick up the phone, my caller ID should record your number and I will call you back within 24 hours) Class starts at 8 am sharp, the classroom will be done at 870 E Grant Roma TX, range will be at the StarrCHL range at the end of FM650. I have just a few more open spots, please let me know if you need to be there for renewal or new permit. Classes are scheduled for the first Sunday of every month out to the end of the year.

Ambush!!

Edinburg PD had a shooting last Friday, it took me a bit to draw some lessons for us to examine.

First the news report.

Police release names, photos in officer shooting

EDINBURG – Police are looking for 22-year-old Jorge Luis Gonzalez Anaya and 20-year-old Fidel Tijerina Garza in connection with shots fired at an Edinburg police officer.

Edinburg police state in a release that both are now facing arrest warrants on attempted capital murder charges from the Aug. 22 incident and that Anaya allegedly is the one who pulled the trigger.

Edinburg police chief Quirino Munoz previously declined to release the officer’s name involved in the shooting and would only say that he has been with the force for nearly 10 years.

The officer attempted to pull over a pickup truck around 11:20 p.m. Friday heading south on Guin Road for speeding and blinker signal violations, according to police.

The pickup truck did pull off to the side of the road, but before the patrol car came to a complete stop, allegedly Anaya sat up from the open bed of the pickup truck and fired several rounds at the vehicle, according to police.

Two bullets pierced the middle of the officer’s windshield – but did not strike the officer. He has minor injuries from the glass fragments, The Monitor previously reported.

The truck then took off and other patrol cars caught up to it by the time it ran into a fence on Veronica Street in a subdivision off of M Road just south of Monte Cristo Road.

Three occupants fled on foot and police instantly caught the driver, 20-year-old Oscar Cantu from Edinburg. He was charged Sunday with attempted capital murder and evading arrest, police said.

This is the first time in six years that someone fired at an Edinburg police officer, Munoz previously said.

Jackie Leatherman covers Hidalgo County government and general assignments at The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4424.

Original article here.

If one is serious about developing the mindset for self defense, one must be aware of how attacks occur. Many times victims are attacked while entering or leaving home,  or their vehicle. Here is a case where the officer was ambushed doing the most common of law enforcement routines, the traffic stop. In this case the officer was able to respond and get enough help that one suspect was apprehended almost immediately while it is now known who the other suspects are.

The suspects in this case displayed  some skill in planning likely they were on their way to commit another crime . More than likely someone else was the intended victim, but the traffic stop broke their planning. The stop broke their OODA loop.

Observe

Orient

Decide

Act

More info here.

When a bad guy wants to commit a crime, he will come up with a plan. His plan may not be written or well thought out, but he knows what he needs to do to succeed. Success may involve getting enough money for more dope, or stealing your car without having to break in. Maybe that nice phone attracted some unwanted attention from the immediate gratification crowd. You as victim are the only thing standing in their way. (yes most criminals see you as an object, not a person) So how can you break their plan (get inside their OODA loop)? The most important factor for self defense is awareness. You need to pay attention to the people and goings on around you. Many times being able to notice that “attention” before the attack will be enough to break their plan. Other times the attack may be pressed home, but you are ready. You want to research Col. Coopers color codes for my statement to make sense so here it goes. You need to conduct your daily business in “yellow”. “Yellow” means noticing and being aware of what goes on around you.  It means paying attention to people and things that may seem out of place.  It also means having some sort of plan as to how to deal with what may become a threat.

Lets examine a common property crime in some urban areas, the carjacking.  When are you vulnerable to this crime?  You cannot be carjacked when driving 70 mph on the freeway, but stopping at lights, stop signs, drive thru windows, drive up atms is a prime opportunity for criminals.  Here is where awareness plays such a large part in not becoming a victim.  When you stop at a light, how much space do you leave in front of your vehicle and the back of the other vehicles parked in front of you?  Sitting right on the bumper of the car in front of you makes escape more difficult, leaving some space to scoot forward and sideways makes it much harder for you to be assaulted.  You can drive on the sidewalk if there are no pedestrians, but you must be aware for this to work.  Locking your doors and having window film installed makes a quick break in almost impossible.  But what if your assailant displays a gun you ask?  Creating space between you and the threat always works to your advantage, hit the gas and scoot out of the x.  (x is ground zero for whatever is about to happen.  Bad things happen to people that stay on the x, always attempt to break contact)  Not all situations call for gun play, your 4000 lb vehicle is one fine weapon against some idiot standing out in the open……

Next time I will present some ideas on how to deal with attempts made while leaving and entering your home or vehicle.

An update

On the murder discussed in “You are allowed one mistake…only one.”

Murder Suspect Arraigned

WESLACO – A young man arrested in connection with a teen’s murder appeared in court. Victor Olivarez was charged with capital murder. The 18-year-old was wearing a bulletproof vest during the hearing. Police say it’s to protect him from possible retaliation for the murder of 14-year-old Roberto Castro. The teen was fatally shot over the weekend at the Weslaco Wal-Mart parking lot. Police say it happened when the teen and his father tried to talk to the driver of a gray Dodge truck. They reportedly thought it could be the same one stolen from their family. The teen’s parents, Robert and Elissa Castro, sat quietly in the courtroom during the hearing. The family says they wanted to see one of the men suspected of their son’s murder. The investigation into the 14-year-old’s death continues. We’re told other arrests are possible. If you have any information about the crime, you’re asked to call Weslaco Crimestoppers at (956) 968-TIPS.

Original story and video here.

You are allowed one mistake….only one

More details would be useful, but it appears to be a classic in our area.

Police release murdered teen’s name

WESLACO – Police are still searching for the person responsible for shooting and killing 14-year-old Roberto Castro Jr. Saturday evening at a gas station.

The boy and his father, Robert Castro Sr., had walked up to a gray 1993 Dodge Quad Cab pickup truck at the Murphy USA gas pumps at 1310 N. Texas Blvd. that they believed could have been their recently stolen truck. The truck had Minnesota license plates containing the letters “APG.”

One shot was fired through the passenger window hitting Castro Jr. in the chest. He later died at Knapp Medical Center. The truck immediately left and was last seen heading west on the frontage road toward Donna, according to police. A witness later said the vehicle had turned around and was heading to Mercedes.

Police said they have no descriptions of the suspects.

Weslaco Police Department spokesman David Molina said he did not know where Castro Jr. went to school.

Weslaco School District Superintendent said he had not talked to police as of late Sunday afternoon and he could not confirm if Castro Jr. was one of his students until Monday morning.

Today is the first day of school for Weslaco students. Rivera said if Castro Jr. did attend the area’s schools, counseling will be provided.

I can fill in some of the blanks without impugning the victim. First it is highly likely the vehicle in question had not been reported stolen. Second it is highly likely that the victim was between schools because the family worked some part of the year out of state. Third the father exhibited a tremendous amount of overconfidence in his attempt to recover what may have been his vehicle. The possibility that the shooting went down in a different manner than the account given to police is very high. That someone involved in this has some part in an illegal activity is almost certain. Too bad the most innocent had to pay with his life.

There are some bits of wisdom that the CHL holder can gain from incidents such as these. The one that stands out the most to me is “let the police do their job.” If the victim or his father had called the police and let them investigate exactly what was going on, a family would not be planning a funeral right now. If the situation looks to you like it needs the police, then call the police. You as a CHL holder are not law enforcement. You are allowed one mistake….only one.

Original article

It can happen anywhere

This article appeared here.

The author provides a very insightful commentary on his own experience and the aftermath of his use of deadly force in self defense.

“Guns in the hands of good people”

A testament to Second Amendment rights

Brian Fentiman

June 28, 2008, was a defining moment in my life. It was the day I shot and killed a man in the defense of my life and the lives of others. We all have defining moments. They might not be as tragic as taking another man’s life, but they are events that change the way we look at things — or even, perhaps, how we live our lives.

Before that muggy Saturday evening in June, I would have said my defining moments were many: graduating from high school; enlisting in the Army; getting married; having children; getting run over by a tow truck; and especially, meeting my fiancée, Maria. All of these events, and more, have happened in my life and changed me.

* * *

On June 28, only two days after the Supreme Court announced its 5-4 ruling that Washington, D.C., citizens have the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment to the Constitution, I found myself standing in a pool of blood in York, from a man I had just shot. It was not my intent that evening to test the Second Amendment or kill somebody, but events unfolded to make it necessary for me to draw my weapon to defend myself and others.

My fiancée Maria and I had spent the day showing real estate investors our investment properties in York. We were driving to nearby Hanover to visit my mother when we came across what looked like a rear-end traffic accident.

Instead, a man, Douglas Need, had been driving recklessly when he swerved in front of a car and was hit in the rear. In a fit of road rage, he stormed out of his car, went back to two young women and a baby in the car that hit his, reached through the driver’s window and started beating the driver very violently. She was able to break free and drive her car to the only place she could go — the parking lot next to the street. Need ran back to his car, squealed his tires into the parking lot and looked as though he was going to broadside the women’s car with them still inside.

At the last moment, he swerved his car around and blocked hers from going anywhere. I pulled into the parking lot, got out of the car and yelled at Need to leave the women alone while Need’s passenger was in the parking lot. My gun was still holstered by my side. The woman got out of her car and escaped into the store. He followed but only moments later exited the store back into the parking lot. Both Need and the man with him were uncontrollably enraged and seemed deranged past the point of caring who they hurt.

As they continued to threaten that they had guns and were going to kill people, for some unknown reason Need ran to the driver’s side door of my car and started pounding on the window, shouting at my fiancée who was inside the car with the engine running. Fearing that Maria’s life was in danger because of his previous death threats, that’s when I drew my weapon. I ordered Need to step away from my car, which he did. He then returned to the center of the parking lot, according to witnesses, and continued with threats and deranged behavior.

I went to my car and stood at the driver’s side door. Need turned back to me and started coming at me with his arms waving and shouting “just shoot me.” I ordered him to stay back, but he kept coming. Then, when he was about four or five feet from me, he put his hand into his pants pocket, and that is when I fired my first shot into his left thigh. It didn’t stop him from coming at me. He grabbed my shirt, ripped off the top button and grabbed my right arm. That’s when I shot him the second time point-blank into his thigh. I was told later that the bullets had severed his femoral artery and he had bled to death at York Hospital. I was truly sorry he died, but knew I had made the right decisions.

* * *

There is an aftermath of emotions and events that follows even the justifiable taking of a life. Being taken in handcuffs to the police station is traumatic. Waiting for three weeks to find out the district attorney’s ruling on your case is also something not easily endured. Even knowing the truth was on my side with several witnesses backing my testimony, it is still unnerving.

There’s a feeling that

everything in your life needs to be put on hold. You feel remorse over what happened and second-guess yourself as the entire scenario is played over and over again in your head. The question of “what would I do if I actually needed to use my gun” is answered. There’s anger at the perpetrator for compelling the use of deadly force, and at times yourself for the realization of your capacity to use deadly force. Lastly, there is the fear that your loved ones and friends will not trust your judgment in needing to protect yourself and others from grave harm.

Our brave soldiers in the Middle East seem to be expected to somehow handle the killing of others better that we “regular citizens.” We expect that since they kill enemies of the United States it somehow makes the taking of a life more palatable. However, killing another human being is not something to be taken lightly, no matter how corrupt or evil the person might be. What gives us the strength to deal with what we’ve done, whether soldier or civilian, is the understanding of the greater good we performed by our actions. We were responsible for the safety and welfare of other innocent lives. This is comforting.

* * *

Criticism has come from both sides of the gun control issue with Second Amendment advocates saying I should have shot to kill him in the first place. People not in favor of the individual right to bear arms have both criticized me for stopping to help the women in distress and in using my weapon to defend myself and others.

Online commentator “Computer Steve” responded to a newspaper article saying, “His concealed weapons permit should be revoked. You cannot just intervene on behalf of someone else.” He went on to say, “I witness crimes and call 911 on a weekly basis and there is nothing I can do but watch the crime take place and relay the information to 911. If I had known that I was able to intervene I could have stopped a violent sexual assault in front of the YMCA on Tuesday evening. So what’s the law? Are we intervening on our own now or what?”

Another online respondent, “Forgot to Mention,” implied that the women deserved what they got by becoming involved in a road rage encounter. This respondent commented, “I would never engage in road rage or pull over to fight with someone who did. Why did that women (woman) place herself and her passengers in such a dangerous situation?”

Nothing could be more ludicrous, given the facts and the innocence of the women who were victimized.

In the Supreme Court’s majority decision, the court said, “It is not the responsibility of the police to protect the individual, but society as a whole.” I take this to mean that any American who witnesses the wrongdoing of an innocent has the lawful right to intervene on behalf of that victim. So how can people like “Computer Steve” and “Forgot to Mention” possibly live with themselves knowing they could allow heinous crimes to take place before their very eyes and just sit and watch without intervention?

This does not mean I am advocating vigilantism and want all Americans to rush out and purchase weapons. A great deal of responsibility comes with owning and carrying a gun.

The York Daily Record editorial dated July 24 posted the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act laws regarding the justifiable and non-justifiable use of firearms by civilians. Not only should gun owners know and understand these laws, they should have the motivation and desire to practice with their weapon on a frequent basis to become familiar and proficient in its use. Even then, to go out looking for trouble just because you have a firearm is dangerous and irresponsible.

In my almost 51 years on this earth, never have I come across a situation as violent as the one on June 28 and hopefully, I never will again. When I was assigned to the 709th Military Police Battalion in Frankfurt, Germany, I would occasionally observe the MPs perform their duties on patrol. The most I saw in the form of violence was an occasional bar brawl or domestic violence situation between a husband and wife. But nothing had ever escalated to the point where deadly force was needed. However, the MPs on the military installations had a similar problem to cops in the U.S. Response times were delayed for lack of staffing and the sheer numbers of people they had to police.

Our police officers here at home are taxed to their limit. We complain that there is never a police officer around when we need one and joke how you can always find a cop at the doughnut shop, but fail to realize that many communities are under-staffed with officers. In York alone, there are only about 100 officers to police a city with a 42,000 population. As with other communities in the state, some of its officers are National Guard or Reserve members and have been deployed to the Middle East. This makes it even more difficult because those officers are guaranteed their jobs upon return from military service and cannot be replaced.

However, it will never be possible for a police officer to be immediately available in every instance that someone is in danger or in need of help. I believe that it is our personal responsibility to care for each other as Americans. A person doesn’t have to own a gun to help an elderly man hit by a car lying in the middle of the street while cars swerve to miss him and pedestrians stand on the sidewalk and stare at him like he was road kill. That seems heartless to me, and we Americans are not a heartless people.

* * *

I stepped into a dangerous situation to protect the lives of two young women, a baby and my fiancée, and some have said that makes me a hero. I’m not sure what I did was heroic. I did what I did for the same reason other Americans do what they do when any tragedy takes place – it is the right thing to do, we step forward and rise to the occasion and if that’s heroic – then OK. Our military men and women, our police officers and firefighters, however, demonstrate this every day and for that we should truly be thankful because they are heroes.

There has been an outpouring of responses that have been overwhelmingly positive and supportive. On the other side are people who seem to have a belief that no private citizen should carry or use a gun. One responder to my story, with the screen name “He is no Saint,” claims to know me and has accused me of murdering someone’s son. This person says, “If Mr. Fentiman would have never stopped, a bystander or the police would have brought justice to that man.”

I was the bystander who stopped to help. If I had not, and everyone had waited for the police, what would have been the cost to Need’s victim? I did not intervene with my gun waving in the air. I pulled it only when my fiancée was directly threatened. Furthermore, it was not my intent and not the job of the police to have “brought justice to that man.” Punishment for crimes is for the court system and a judge.

“He is no Saint” writes without taking into consideration the exact sequence of events that evening. Apparently, they also mistakenly believe I would not have stopped if I had no gun. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Anti-gun advocates argue that the more guns off the streets, the fewer deaths by gun fire. Somehow they believe that if a legally permitted gun carrier flees from a life-threatening situation with an out-of-control perpetrator this will defuse the danger and stop the criminal from causing harm to others. The problem with this argument is it assumes the criminal element will realize their mistakes, repent and give up their guns during one of the many amnesty gun turn-ins cities have in an effort to reduce gun-related crimes.

In reality, what usually happens is the innocent become victims of gun crimes and the perpetrator isn’t caught, or if he is, only goes to jail while the victim lives for the rest of his or her life with the consequences of the crime. This imbalance of justice should not be acceptable to any American.

I believe that those of us who grew up in the’60s and’70s have been lax in protecting each other and have passed this attitude on to our children. Some of us developed this complacent attitude that someone else, especially the government, is responsible for supporting us or solving our problems. But they are not.

The fact is that guns in the hands of good people can help deter the crimes of bad people. Good people with legal gun permits do not suddenly turn into villains and go on killing sprees because the gun feels so good in their hands. They also don’t holster their weapons and cruise the streets looking for bad guys. They are hard-working Americans who either carry because of their exposure to the criminal element from their jobs, or they keep a gun in their house to protect their families.

For me, my job exposes me to a criminal element that can be out of control. I carry to protect myself, my fiancée and my customers from the squatters who might be drug addicts or dealers working out of the vacant properties we buy in York, Harrisburg and Reading. To ignore this potential threat would be irresponsible to the people I love, honor and care about.

People might ask why we choose sometimes dangerous inner-city areas to buy distressed properties to renovate. In addition to being a source of investment income, transforming derelict houses into comfortable and safe homes has a tremendously positive impact on the many good people who live in these communities. We love the cities where we work and are proud of what we do to make them better.

I never thought I would be threatened in a situation outside my job or need to come to the aid of someone else being threatened. However, I would have been devastated had I awakened the next morning and read in the newspaper, or watched the television news, to see that one of those young women had been beaten and killed by Mr. Need because I chose to drive by and not intervene.

Bad people make poor choices and do bad things. The guns and other weapons of bad people have typically been obtained illegally and will most likely be used to commit crimes. We know what a weapon in a criminal’s hands will do. As long as there are bad people, no gun control law will prevent criminals from obtaining all the guns they desire.

The America we live in today is not the same country my father and mother experienced. Dad was a World War II veteran and recipient of two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts, and Mom was a “Rosie the Riveter” who built ships in Long Beach, Calif., during the war. They were a generation that helped each other. They were neighbors who watched out for the interests of their neighbors. A large part of the population was involved in WWII, and they had to depend upon each other for their very survival. Sometimes the only thing these military men and women had in common was the fact that they were Americans. Yet they cared for each other.

We live in a dangerous society where the criminal element seems to have no regard for human life, let alone the ability to leave people alone. We need to take a more courageous attitude toward the safety and welfare of our fellow law-abiding citizens and teach our children to have the same values. And if it is deemed that carrying a firearm is necessary to protect ourselves and others – then so be it.

America’s greatness won’t fall because we fight enemies who commit atrocities. Our greatness will end if we tolerate the atrocities of our own against ourselves. Decay starts from within – and so does the cure.

Brian Fentiman lives in Allentown.

Mr. Fentiman made some very difficult choices very rapidly. The only mistake that I see comes in hindsight, that first shot should have been center mass, especially at the distance involved. If you are faced with such a situation always try to keep at least 20+ feet of distance between you and your assailant. Allowing Need(edited to follow story starrgunny) to close within 5 feet exposed Mr. Fentiman to all sorts of attacks from fists upwards to knifes and guns. Not being close allows you time to respond while still making it difficult for the assailant to grab your weapon or person.

Note the bold and italics are mine. There are many people in this world that will not get involved, and will in fact condemn those that take action to defend innocents. The police are not everywhere all the time, nor should you want to live in such a society. Taken together, the conclusion can be drawn that a certain percentage of citizens cannot be trusted to come their fellows defense, then that defense becomes your own personal decision. You can be a sheep or you can become a sheepdog.

For more self defense stories go here.

“No Safe Places”

Recently, there were two Christian musicians who were leaving a recording studio and were murdered for two dollars and their car. Initially, I paid little attention to the news reports nor did I listen to the names of the two victims. Three days later, I received an e-mail from a woman friend who had received her CHL by taking my course along with her son and daughter. The e-mail read, “Hi Don, my son, Steve, was murdered Thursday. His funeral is at….”

I sat there stunned. Steve had been licensed through my instruction. I had been to a couple of activities that he and his mother attended – in both cases they were armed. I knew Steve’s mother believed as I do that you never go anywhere unarmed if it is legal to carry in those places. I did not know Steve as well as I did his mother, but I found him to be very likable and smart. In fact, I later discovered that he was probably a genius. Of course after getting that terrible news, I couldn’t help wonder if he was armed that night. I assume that he wasn’t because of the deadly results of his encounter with two heartless thugs. Both criminals were captured the next day. A television interview showed that one of them was almost proud of what they had done. Apparently, he is feeling good about being a “gangsta” now.”

I attended Steve’s funeral wishing that I could ask if Steve had been armed that awful night, but knew it would be totally inappropriate to ask such an insensitive question. After the funeral service was over, I watched as the ushers allowed the family members to leave the sanctuary first. I couldn’t help notice that Steve’s mother and sister were carrying handbags made of nylon that were an odd shape. Of course, it was obvious to me why they were carrying those bags and what was in them.

I waited my turn to give condolences to Steve’s mother. Then as I approached her, she said in a voice that was a mixture of crying and disbelief, “Don, Steve didn’t have his gun! He always carries his gun! When he comes to my house, he has his gun on him under his shirt. He doesn’t go anywhere without his gun! Don, he didn’t have his gun! In fact, when the police were telling me about the shooting, I asked them where Steve’s gun was. They said that they had not found his gun so I told them that the criminals have it. Later, we found it at his home.”

I was sick. The tragedy was bad enough, but for him to be killed on one of the few nights where he had forgotten to take his gun seemed to rub salt into the wounds of those of us who cared for him. I am always amazed at how many people who have taken my CHL class do not carry all the time. Some almost never carry a pistol. And yet, here was a case where someone who practically always heeded my advice to be armed at all times was killed while the others who continue to walk around in an un-armed condition, in a mental state of white, don’t pay the price that Steve did. No, I don’t want those others to pay that price. It’s just that they are more likely to be hurt or killed than those who do carry where it is legal. The irony cannot be ignored.

One of the reasons that I became a CHL instructor was because of a conversation I heard during my first renewal class. An elderly gentleman asked the instructor, “I live in a nice neighborhood. My wife and I go walking nearly every evening. Do you think I should take my gun with me?”

Incredibly, the instructor replied, “Well, that’s a personal decision that you will have to make for yourself.”

I wanted to scream, “Of course, you should! There are no safe places!” In fact, I was so stunned at the stupid answer that I didn’t say what I was thinking. I still feel guilty about not speaking up. However, I do speak up now. Throughout the classes that I teach I use examples, many of actual shootings, to show the need to carry all the time. One such example is an appeal to logic. I ask the students if you could turn off and on your fire insurance at will, would you ever turn it off because there was little chance of a fire on a particular day? Of course, you wouldn’t! But, that’s exactly what you do if you decide to leave your home unarmed. You have chosen to let yourself be vulnerable to a mean world that can take you or your loved ones from this world for two dollars or for your tennis shoes.

There are no safe places! One woman who took my class has for many years worked as a contractor in federal housing, i.e. high crime areas. Unfortunately, her employer will not let her carry her gun in her car (she can’t go in the federal buildings armed), but she has never needed a gun in those high crime areas. On the other hand, she has needed a gun for protection three times in “safe areas.”

She started carrying a gun at seventeen because the police would not believe that she and her boyfriend had been robbed and that she had nearly raped (she said that she was in her menstrual period or she would have been raped). The police did not believe her because at that time there had never been any crime in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens (this occurred in the 1960’s). This “safe place” soon became a hot spot of rape and murder during the following year causing it to be fenced and closed at night. Fortunately, the gang of youths were caught and convicted of multiple rapes and murders.

Those of you who are instructors have probably had many stories of similar need for a gun for protection told by your clients. I use real life stories as much as I can, but I am still frustrated at how many people have the “it won’t happen to me attitude” and don’t carry all the time. I have finally decided that few people really take to heart my cajoling and warnings. Fortunately, many have, but I want to be even more effective in getting that point across since not only are they safer being armed, but we are too.

Since many of you who are reading this newsletter are instructors, I invite you to e-mail me if you have found effective methods to get the point across that it is important to be armed. Hopefully, there will be enough information that I can pass it on to others via this newsletter. If you have something that will help, please e-mail me at happydad1@sbcglobal.net. If I do write another article on that subject I will give you credit for your ideas.

I truly believe it is important for us to teach our clients and friends that CHL holders should be armed whenever possible and this safety advice is just as important to teach as it is for us to teach conflict resolution and the use of deadly force required by the state. I hope you agree. Be armed; be safe.

Don Myers
Texas Concealed Handgun License Instructor
North Richland Hills, TX 76180

Here is something for everyone to think about

The usual suspects will not be happy:

Small Texas school district let’s teachers, staff pack pistols

When classes start Aug. 25 in the tiny Harrold school district, there will be one distinct difference from years prior: Some of the teachers may have guns.

To deter and protect against school shootings, trustees have altered district policy to allow employees to carry concealed weapons if they have a state permit and permission from the administration. The 110-student district lies 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth on the eastern end of Wilbarger County, near the Oklahoma border.

More than a dozen state legislatures have considered making it legal to carry guns on college campuses, but experts and officials contacted by the Star-Telegram say the move is unheard of in elementary or secondary schools.

Superintendent David Thweatt said a main concern was that the small community is a 30-minute drive from the sheriff’s office, leaving students and teachers without protection.

More

here

I think that this is a GREAT idea, but not for the reasons that are obvious. Arms and the carrying thereof has become in the last fifty or so years a political issue that thrives on the ignorance of the general populace. Many gun control laws in the south are a consequence of Jim Crow. See here for some of the actual case law from post civil war Texas. What should be common sense instead has become muddled because the historical record more often than not is neither explained nor taught accurately. GUN CONTROL WAS/IS A TOOL TO CONTROL FORMER SLAVES. The main benefits accrued to the KKK, as violence against freed slaves was further helped by the effective disarmament of said persons. When a black victim turned the tables on the night riders, a daylight visit from the sheriff was sure to follow.

Now fast forward to 2008 and take note of the “usual suspects” that will know come screaming forward with the same tired propaganda.  The commonality of the post civil war klanner and the post Heller gun controller is striking.  Without regurgitating all of the propaganda it all boils down to :  “Only the govt can be trusted to protect you, you are too ignorant and lazy.  Allow us to decide for you and all will be well.”  Gun control=people control.  Scratch a gun controller deep enough and they bleed fascist/communist.  The establishment by this school district of what is essentially a volunteer, on campus, armed, civilian militia poses a grave and potentially terminal threat to that idea.  Imagine what the consequences would be if this idea where to spread.  Your interest in this site show just how far this idea has  already traveled , the fact that even as a Texas CHL you are not allowed  to exercise your rights in most public schools shows how much more remains to be done.

Thank you Harrold ISD for kicking off the debate, now comes the time for all of us freedom loving citizens to push and make more  Harrold’s happen statewide.

We need more of this

Considering how interesting the border can be, this is a good thing.

GRANJENO – “Raven 7. Raven 7. …

“Napo, you there, man?”

There’s static, then a crackling voice responds in Spanish over the little handheld radio.

He’s probably out of range. The walkie-talkies don’t have the strongest signals.

The radio goes back on the table on the porch, where it’s often joined by binoculars for watching the passing road and neighbors’ yards for any threats to peace and order.

More
here

These folks are dealing very well with the reality of their situation. No matter how good a response time law enforcement has, no matter how professional their conduct and performance, they cannot be everywhere at once. Again the inherent virtue in undertaking to defend yourself and your community against those that would do you harm shines through. If you are to be a successful CHL, the ideas that this community is using in organizing itself, i.e. a working knowledge of what is normal in your community, who resides and has reason to be there, the awareness of who can come to your aid if trouble should occur, the self confidence that you are doing the right thing, practicing for “what if’s”, these ideas replicate what the armed individual should be doing. These ideas range from awareness (normal vs. abnormal), knowledge of who your neighbors are and what habits they have, networking with like minded individuals, practicing to a higher level of proficiency and thinking scenarios through before it happens, and finally taking charge for the safety of yourself and those you cherish because that is your God given right, all of these embody what every armed citizen should be doing.

There ought to be a law

Against assault and murder.
Hannibal man killed trying to help woman
Monday, August 11, 2008

HANNIBAL, Mo. (AP) — A Hannibal man is dead after reportedly trying to stop two men from attacking a female.

Instead, the attackers apparently turned their attention to the victim, 45-year-old Rodney Wood, leaving him fatally injured. Both suspects, ages 21 and 22, were arrested Sunday.

Wood’s body was found early Sunday on Broadway in the northeast Missouri town.

Police are saying little about the incident. But a family friend tells the Hannibal Courier-Post that Wood was riding his motorbike when he saw a female being attacked. Her age was not known.

Friends say Wood stopped to intervene and the men began attacking him.

More

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Sometimes trouble has a way of just inviting itself into your life.  Having the means and will to deal with the unexpected is not always looked upon very highly by “polite” society.  That no one is immune has not yet dawned upon many in our society, changing this is something that all responsible CHL”ers should make a priority.  No we are not paranoid, but everyday folks that are willing to take responsibility for our own safety and that of our loved ones.  Let’s point out the inherent virtue in that idea as much as possible.

More on the road rage shooting

Don’t do this if you want to stay out of jail.

The man accused of killing a federal agent during a road-rage confrontation earlier this week may have a good self-defense case if the agent threatened him, legal experts said Friday.

But fleeing the scene, dyeing his hair and renting a car, in an apparent attempt to avoid arrest, will make persuading a jury that it was self-defense more difficult, they said.

More
here.

Wonder can publish a “How to” in what to do if you want to spend the rest of your life behind bars.