Like most Americans I never owned nor ever felt the need to own a handgun until one night in the early spring of 2008.  That night everything changed for me and my family.

    There was a bad house fire down the block.  In the next day or two, two people were found murdered in the rubble.  One was stabbed, the other was shot and stabbed.  The neighborhood was stunned, it is a quiet middle class mostly professional neighborhood and has enjoyed about the lowest crime rate in the county.  

    The local police did an outstanding job solving the crime in less than a week but something was still very wrong.   While the shock was wearing off it became clear that the police cannot protect individuals.  Each person  must be responsible for his or her own immediate safety. >

    As in this case, the bad guys do not always use guns.  They murder people with knives, box cutters, clubs, chains, screwdrivers, fists, guns or any number of ways.  The bad guys always have the initial advantage as they plan the crime and know exactly what they are going to do.   The victim will usually be vanquished or killed if not prepared and trained in advance.

    Just like death and taxes, bad people will always be among us, robbing, raping and killing us.  Just cleaning up the victims bodies and jailing the killers is not acceptable.

    Fortunately for the public our constitution provides a way for us to defend ourselves.  Its called the 2nd amendment to the constitution.    The 2nd amendment bestows to the individual the right to possess and carry firearms for self protection and protection from bad government.   

    Politicians that force bad government on us always fear firearms.  Any political party that fears firearms must be distrusted and feared by the people and voted to the ash heap of history.  Those politicians have no regard for the constitution and will take away our freedoms one step at a time.   The next to go will be free speech.  Education and elections matter.   Read this.

    One must observe that the mass shooting which occurred in the last few decades all happened in gun-free zones.  Gun-free zones are killing fields.  Gun control laws only protect the bad guys from the honest citizens.

   Good citizens are too busy to become proficient in all weapons for protection.  However firearms proficiency is one skill that everyone can accomplish quite easily and will level the playing field with the bad guys.   It does take some time and effort but the rewards could save your life and the lives of your family.

According to Boatman in Chapter 20 of his famous book 'Living With Glocks': "Convicted felons reveal in surveys that they are more afraid of armed citizens than they are of the police. And well they should be. Armed citizens kill 2,000 to 3,000 criminals each year, three times the number killed by the police. And only two percent of civilian shootings involve an innocent person mistakenly identified as a criminal, whereas the error rate for the police is more than five times that high."

    At this time there are still two states that do not allow conceal carry.  In our city, the local police detective bureau has jurisdiction for the pistol safety checks.  I found them very professional, courteous and helpful.  I hope you are as fortunate as I am.

    Our state is an "Open Carry" state.  That means anyone can openly carry his or her properly registered handgun. (with some restrictions)  Some areas frown on this and may give a person grief but the courts will soon solve that problem.  Open Carry is normally not recommended.   Most law enforcement officer deaths occur from their own guns taken by a bad guy.

    Be aware local police must respond to a 911 call of "person carrying a gun".  The public is not used to seeing firearms in the open so you can expect contact with the police if you carry open.  Co-operate fully with the officer, he is just doing his job.  Do not give him any problems or you may be detained.  The public needs to be educated on our 2nd amendment rights.

    Our state is also a "Conceal Carry" state.  To carry concealed one must have a  Concealed Pistol License or CPL.  A certified Pistol Safety Class is required to apply.   The initial cost of the pistol, ammo, range time, class and license will be over $600.  One must practice to demonstrate proficiency with your weapon before you can qualify for your Certificate.  The CPL is an investment in your families safety.

    CPL holders have made no small investment and take pride in their concealment. They become very proficient in the use of their weapons and most continue to train to fine tune their skills.   The goal is to draw and put 4-5 rounds in an 8" diameter target at 7-10 yards in about 2-3 seconds.

    Concealed Carry is the preferred and safest method of carry.  One should never advertise they are armed.  Surprise is the best defense against the bad guys.

    Print out lists of mandated gun-free zones and keep them in your home and automobiles.  You must be forever alert for posted no-firearms signs.  I do not patronize businesses that force me to disarm.  A "gun free zone" is where only the bad guys have guns.

    Carrying concealed will require a lifestyle change.  You will have to change your method of dress to properly conceal.  Carrying concealed means never expose your weapon, never touch or draw your weapon in public unless your life is in danger.

   Search the internet for information.  There are many sites that have articles and information.  Subscribe to newsletters.  Shop around for training videos, I've purchased three thus far from our local Top Gun, they have very good prices and were well worth the cost.  See the CCW Support links to the left.

    My main conceal carry holster in summer is an "Inside the Waist Band" or IWB type.  At other times of the year I use a Don Hume H721 O.T.  In my opinion, the Don Hume H721 O.T. is the best holster made. 

    My open carry holster, if I ever use it, is the Blackhawk Supra locking holster.  The pistol is locked in place and is released when you grip the weapon.

    My carry weapon of choice is a .40 caliber S&W M&P40 with a 15 round magazine.  I chose it because it is the largest caliber with a 15 round magazine that can be comfortably carried concealed.  I also carry two spare 15 round magazines.

    My ammo of choice is the standard hollow point round.   Hollow point rounds expand when fired so a few well placed one inch holes will usually stop any bad guy.

    When holstering your semi-automatic handgun, it should be pushed in by pressing the back of the slide.  If the slide bounces relative to the frame while holstering, it may misfire when you need it the most.

    One safety point:  Never, never pass your weapon to anyone loaded.  Always remove the magazine and/or expel any chambered rounds first.  Double check the chamber then point the muzzle to a safe spot and click the trigger.  

    Fairfax, VA-Today Governor Jennifer Granholm signed into law a package of six self-defense bills backed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), bringing "Castle Doctrine" protections to law-abiding Michigan citizens.

    "I want to thank the Michigan Legislature and Governor Jennifer Granholm for working together in making this victims' rights bill into law," said Chris W. Cox, NRA's chief lobbyist.  "When you're confronted by a criminal, you don't have the luxury of time.  This Castle Doctrine package states that if victims choose to stand their ground and fight, their decision will not be second-guessed by the State of Michigan.  The ability to protect yourself, your children, or your spouse from harm is important, whether you're in your home or outside."

    The six-bill Castle Doctrine Package passed with bi-partisan, supermajority support in both houses of the Michigan legislature:

SB 1046, sponsored by Sen. Alan Cropsey, outlines rebuttal presumptions for justified use of self-defense.  The bill makes it clear that there is no "duty to retreat" if a person is in a place where they have a legal right to be.

SB 1185, sponsored by Sen. Ron Jelinek, allows for the award of court and attorney fees in civil cases where it was determined a person acted in accordance with the Self Defense Act and where civil immunities apply.

HB 5548, sponsored by Rep. Tim Moore, gives civil immunities to persons acting in accordance with the Self Defense Act, preventing criminals and their families from suing law-abiding citizens.

HB 5153, sponsored by Rep. Leslie Mortimer, puts the burden of proof on the prosecutor to show that a person acted unlawfully in the application of force, rather than the person using the force having to prove they acted lawfully.

HB 5142, sponsored by Rep. Tom Casperson, expands the definition of "dwelling" to include a person's garage, barn, backyard, etc.

HB 5143, sponsored by Rep. Rick Jones, creates the Self Defense Act and specifies that it is not a crime to use force or deadly force to defend oneself if that person is not breaking any laws when defensive force was used.  The person must be facing imminent threat of death or great bodily harm.

    "On behalf of all NRA members in Michigan, I want to thank each of the bills' chief sponsors for their leadership in seeing these measures become law," concluded Cox.  "The Castle Doctrine is about putting the law back on the side of the victim, the way it's supposed to be."

    Michigan celebrates six years of lower crime rates since the enactment of Right-To-Carry laws.

    Convincing the anti-gun crowd that Right-To-Carry laws aren't a stepping stone to Armageddon brings to mind that old cliche' about talking to a brick wall. Yet recent news from the state of Michigan might be enough to cause a crack in the wall as statistics prove--yet again--that the predicted rash of shootouts failed to materialize.

    Figures released in January show that during the six years since Michigan joined the American mainstream by offering citizens a shall-issue Right-to-Carry law, the number of firearm-related fatalities dropped--even though opponents predicted rampant mayhem.

    More telling is the fact that criminal activity dwindled while the number of Michiganders legally licensed to carry a concealed handgun increased some six-fold.

    Overall, the violent crime rate in Michigan during the years since passage of Right-to-Carry was significantly less than the rate during the six years prior to passage. At the same time, the number of firearm fatalities, including those stemming from suicide and accidents, also declined.

    According to Michigan law enforcement officials, approximately one in 65 state citizens are now authorized to legally carry loaded firearms during their daily routine. This adds up to some 155,000 Michiganders, a number far exceeding the 25,000 or so authorized to carry guns before the concealed-carry system was broadened in 2001.

    "I think the general consensus out there from law enforcement is that things are not as bad as we expected it could be," said Woodhaven Police Chief Michael Martin, co-chair of the legislative committee for the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police. "What we anticipated didn't happen, and I think we should breathe a sigh of relief."

    Opponents of Right-to-Carry predicted an outbreak of firearm violence, even though concealed-carry options are now the norm rather than the exception across much of America. Similar predictions of Wild West-style shootouts in a number of other Right-to-Carry states also never materialized, dating back to the uproar in Florida some 17 years before.If you're in a bad situation and have to resort to calling 9-1-1,then it's probably too late.

    John Lott, visiting professor at the University of Maryland, has spent years researching violence in America. He said the crime-reduction trend following passage of the Michigan Right-to-Carry law should come as no surprise to anyone.

    Lott said at least two-thirds of the studies he's seen indicate that Right-to-Carry laws reduce crime. The rest show very little effect on the status quo.

    At the same time, no peer-reviewed study has ever indicated that crime actually increased following passage of a Right-to-Carry law enacted by state lawmakers, like the one signed by Michigan Gov. John Engler in 2000.

    Under Michigan's law, those seeking a concealed-carry permit must complete a strict training process and pay a fee. Generally, these tend to be the kind of people who don't break laws, Lott pointed out.

    Lott added that nationally, the number of revoked permits continues to be very low. In Michigan, some 2,000 have been revoked or suspended since 2001, or just a little more than 1 percent of the number granted. In almost every case, revocations were the result of some sort of nonviolent legal issue.

    Yet even though statistics point towards a safer Michigan rather than the catastrophically violent one anti-gun groups promised if Right-to-Carry passed, detractors still refuse to accept positive findings.

    One official with the Michigan chapter of the Million Mom March actually said that despite the figures, she still believes that gun violence has grown, owing to what she feels is inadequate reporting. And, she adds, even if the statistics prove to be correct, there are still more guns in Michigan homes and on the street, in her opinion offering the potential for increased violence some day in the future.

    However, advocates for the Michigan Right-to-Carry law believe the crime reports are both scientific and accurate, and also point out the number of lives saved by concealed firearms when permit holders faced violent criminal attacks. And, while a large percentage of Right-to-Carry licenses have been granted to citizens concerned for their personal safety, some, like 40-year-old Michelle Reurink, applied simply because she feels the U.S. Constitution provides her with that right.

    Reurink remains a strict constitutionalist on Right-to-Carry issues. And, since she applied for a carry permit and passed the necessary requirements, Reurink has found that she feels safer due to the training, especially the sessions covering self-defense. She and others believe that the training process provides a certain amount of psychological insurance as they go about their daily routines, building confidence and providing a deterrent that has eased a number of concerns.

    "With due respect to the police, they simply can't be there to protect each of us," one Michigan permit holder pointed out. "If you're in a bad situation and have to resort to calling 9-1-1, then it's probably too late."

    At present there are 40 Right-to-Carry states, with 36 now having "shall-issue" laws, or statutes requiring that carry permits be issued to those meeting uniform standards established by the state legislature. Others, including Alabama, Connecticut and Iowa, offer what the NRA terms a fairly administered "discretionary issue" system. Independent-minded Vermont allows concealed carry without a permit process. Alaska offers a permit for those wishing reciprocity with other states; otherwise, citizens there enjoy freedom to carry a concealed firearm under a no-permit-required law adopted in 2003.

    Among the 10 states that still deny the right to carry, eight sometimes offer permits on a discretionary basis. The others--Illinois and Wisconsin--ban carry altogether, despite the fact that in recent years violent crime rates have been lower than at any time since 1976. National statistics reflect a 31-year low in criminal violence, while 23 states have passed Right-to-Carry laws since 1991 and the number of privately owned firearms has risen by some 70 percent.

    Researchers believe that if holdout states had adopted concealed-carry, it's possible that they could have avoided annually as many as 1,570 murders, more than 4,000 rapes and some 60,000 aggravated assaults. The statisticians point out that when Right-to-Carry laws have been put in place, individual counties have experienced an 8.5 per-cent drop in murder rates, a 5 percent reduction in rapes as well as a 7 percent decline in aggravated assaults.

    David Kopel, Second Amendment scholar and frequent America's 1st Freedom contributor, points out, "Whenever a state legislature first considers a concealed-carry bill, opponents typically warn of horrible consequences. But then, within a year of passage, the issue usually drops off the news media's radar screen, while gun control advocates in the legislature conclude that the law wasn't so bad after all."

    A case in point would be Florida, which, led by the efforts of former NRA President Marion Hammer, adopted Right-to-Carry in 1987, passing a law that became a model for the majority of states following suit. At the time the uproar over the proposed legislation reverberated coast to coast. A contingent of anti-gun organizations, prominent media personalities and lawmakers portended that the state would descend into a "Wild West" environment besieged by vigilante-style justice and shootouts on every street corner, reducing the Sunshine State to a modern-day version of old Dodge City.

    In reality, Florida's murder rate actually decreased by 23 percent through 1992, while the number of murders was climbing nationally. Following 1992, the downward trend continued both in Florida and on a national basis.

    The Florida Licensing Division director during the transition to Right-to-Carry was quick to point out, "Florida's concealed-carry law has been very successful. All major law enforcement groups supported the legislation. Now some of the opponents of the law admit that the program hasn't created the problems many of them predicted."

    By looking at the statistics it's easy to see that the right to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense has been, for a number of years now in the majority of our states, a law that's good for the good guys and not so good for the bad. At the same time, it shouldn't be overlooked that the right to self-defense is a fundamental right, one the U.S. Constitution, the constitutions of 44 states, common law and laws in all 50 states recognize.

    Essentially, Right-to-Carry laws are a common sense extension of a free society's most basic tenet--a reflection upon, and respect for, the basic right to live free of fear and to have a fighting chance.

    In his essay, 'Behavior Modification And Self Defense', Michael Mitchell writes that laws do one thing and one thing only - provide a penalty for wrongful behavior.  The function of laws is to punish people, and punishment is a form of behavior modification.  But laws are obviously only effective on the law-abiding populace.  Criminals, by definition, don’t respect the law; they make their living breaking it.  And fear of punishment is only effective if it is swift, sure and severe.

    In these days when the legal system cannot be relied upon to provide effective punishment for criminal behavior, armed self-defense can.  It’s definitely swift, as the gun will appear during or immediately after the negative behavior.  It’s sure, since, if the criminal doesn’t stop his assault, he will be shot.  And most people would definitely call a bullet to the chest severe.

    The beauty of armed self-defense is that, because of its immediate, sure, and severe nature, the mere threat is usually enough to stop the behavior.  Is it any wonder that states that pass concealed-carry laws experience immediate and obvious drops in crime rates?  The violent criminal in these states isn’t nearly as worried about being arrested for his crime as he is about being shot by his would-be victim.  This fact fits perfectly with well-established principles of behavior modification.

    On the flip side, the crime facilitators (gun control advocates) with their notions that we should submit to criminal assault, reward criminal behavior.  The criminal gets what he wants - your money, your dignity, and maybe your life.  Since positive reinforcement - reward - is the strongest, most effective behavior modification tool, that criminal behavior is likely to be repeated.  In other words, by submitting to criminal demands, you are encouraging criminal behavior.

    Mitchell did not say, but I will, that the most effective way to modify the behavior of a criminal is to modify it to the extent that he is no longer capable of any behavior at all.

    In 1998, John R. Lott, Jr., senior research scholar in the School of Law at Yale University, authored the most comprehensive and exhaustive study of crime and gun control laws ever conceived, based on the largest data set on crime ever assembled.  His landmark book, More Guns, Less Crime (The University of Chicago Press, 1998, 2000), now available in an updated second edition, includes thorough analyses of more than 54,000 observations and hundreds of variable factors across more than 3,000 counties in all 50 states for 18 years.

    The assiduously researched conclusions reached by Lott immediately set off a wave of panic among anti-gun fanatics and drew organized, systematic personal attacks of the most vicious and dishonest nature, including death threats leveled at Lott and his wife and children.  Yet not a single serious academic challenge of Lott’s research, his methodology or his incontrovertible conclusions has ever been successfully mounted.  In fact, Lott’s conclusions have reluctantly been called “bulletproof” even by the liberal mainstream press.  Among those conclusions are:

    Bottom line, in keeping with the title of his work, the more guns there are in society and the more these guns are carried by private citizens, the less crime there is.

    These are some of the reasons why police, who fight crime for a living and are well aware of the realities of street criminals, support right-to-carry laws for private citizens by an overwhelming three-to-one margin.  This is an even higher margin of support for right-to-carry than the strong support voiced by the civilian population.

    Policemen are nobody’s personal bodyguards.  Their jobs are to find and arrest people who have committed crimes, not to prevent such potential crimes from happening in the first place.  Clearly, the responsibility for victim-prevention lies with the victim-to-be. 

    The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Bowers v. DeVito, 1982) did not mince words when it ruled, “There is no Constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen.”

-Boatman-

    That loaded S&W in your holster is a powerful expression of your Constitutionally guaranteed liberty as an American citizen, your recognition of the solemn duty you have to your fellow man, and your willingness to accept the full weight of a life-and-death responsibility.

    When you are prepared to defend yourself, you are equally prepared to defend all of society and all of its guiding principles.  Your responsibilities are therefore many - moral, legal and tactical.  That is why most people, including lifelong gunowners, experienced hunters and competitive shooters, even in states that freely issue concealed carry permits, do not choose to carry a gun.

    Your moral responsibilities are to fire your gun into another human being only when the line of necessity has clearly been reached, and then to fire without hesitation and to full effect.  Remember the words of Cicero.

    Your legal responsibilities are to justify your actions to those who would call you a criminal at the drop of a hat, and quite possibly to a jury of your peers, most of whom have neither the competence nor the courage to carry a gun in their own defense.  Read the findings of the Citizens’ Self-Defense Act of 2001.

    Your tactical responsibilities are to carry your gun with confidence, to be well trained in your ability to operate it effectively, and to have instilled in yourself an iron will to use deadly force to prevent or end violence committed against yourself or others. 

    Violence happens either at random, or directed toward the obviously vulnerable, or toward someone in particular for a reason.  You can rest assured it will not happen at the shooting range when you are all suited up in your speed rig with a plan of action worked out for the coming run-and-gun stage.  It will happen when you are home sleeping in your bed, shopping at the grocery store, walking out to get the mail, mowing the grass, at dinner, at church, at the theater.

    The most dangerous places in the world are those called “gun-free safety zones” by their ignorant political creators and known by criminals and psychopaths as “safe-to-kill zones. ” Even an adolescent school kid can figure out that an advertised killing field where no one is allowed to shoot back is the safest location in the world to carry out a mass shooting.  Don’t even consider going to a place like that unarmed, whether it’s your kid’s school or a national park.  If you can’t handle breaking the law, don’t go.

    The assistant principal of a high school in Pearl, Mississippi, broke the law.  He kept a .45 in his car parked on the school grounds.  When a deranged student opened fire, Joel Myrick ran for his gun.  Two students were killed because Myrick had to retrieve his gun from his car instead of his holster.  But the .45 eventually prevailed, and Myrick stopped the massacre long before police arrived on the scene.  God only knows how many lives he saved.  But assistant principal Joel Myrick wasn’t awarded any medals.  Of the several hundred newspaper and television stories about the incident, only a few even mentioned his name.  Almost none revealed the fact that he used a gun to stop the killings.

    When you bodyguard someone for a while, or when you just live a normal life with your eyes wide open, you realize how vulnerable we all are to becoming another tidbit-of-opportunity in the relentless food chain that sustains the life of this unpredictable world.  It’s a realization not of paranoia but of reality.  That’s the way it is, always has been, always will be.  You can ignore it out of faint-heartedness, deny it out of lunacy, submit to it out of a fatalistic contempt for your own life and the lives of others, or you can face it with courage and intelligence and prepare yourself to deal with capricious reality’s predisposition toward danger.

    Most of those dangers can be met with nothing more than a strong I’m-not-a-victim mindset and body language.  Many others may shrivel with the demonstration of superior verbal skills.  Still others may require a fundamental knowledge of martial arts, a container of pepper spray, a makeshift club, the presence of a well-wielded knife or the sight of a firearm.  A few, perhaps one in a lifetime, will not be affected by any kind of less-than-lethal response and will not end until you churn your attacker’s dreams and determination into a chunky red stew and spew it all over the street with a couple of big-bore hollowpoints.  The trouble is, you never know when or where that last one is coming.

    If you ever find yourself under attack by an armed criminal, you will be on the defensive and he will be on the offensive.  In other words, he will have a strong advantage going in.  And, though he will not have trained himself to shoot nearly as well as you have trained, he will be far more experienced in the art of killing.  The odds are, any criminal who is intent on killing you has probably killed men before, knows how to do it, knows how it feels and likes it.  You’re not going to talk him out of it, scare him out of it, or wound him out of it.  You’re going to have to kill him.

    Studies show that simply brandishing a weapon saves many lives, but I am personally against the idea of waving a gun around while your adversary thinks.  The way to overcome his offensive advantage is to strike without warning.  Once you make the decision to free your S&W from its holster the entire situation should be over and done with in a second or two.  The most important component in practicing your draw is firing the instant you have a sight picture on your target, and continuing to fire until your assailant no longer exists.

    More than a century of military and police research tells us that most people, including up to 85 percent of trained soldiers and cops, are psychologically unable to use deadly force in a life-or-death situation no matter how compelling the circumstances may be.  If you can’t kill, there is no reason for you to carry a lethal weapon.

    Carrying a loaded gun with the ability and will to use it is not a casual fling meant to bring some excitement into your boring life.  It is an all-embracing lifestyle and must take precedence over your respect for law, your fear of social criticism, your love of humanity, your wardrobe and your drinking habits.

    You can never be unaware of the weight you carry on your hip or under your arm.  You can never forget your responsibilities.  You must wear your S&W with the same allegiance as your wedding ring.  If you’re not married, your S&W is your wedding ring.  Wear it for life.  Don’t even think about leaving home without it.  Be prepared to use it at a moment’s notice.  Carry it all the time.  And shoot to kill.

    “Liberty or death,” the meaning of which is clear and absolute, is but a trivial phrase if you do not carry a gun.  For freedom-loving Americans, the five most important words in the English language are, and always have been - from my cold dead hands.

-Boatman-

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