Somebody Else Isn’t Going To Help You.

My friend Kathy Jackson has a great post on how all of us tend to think that bad things will always happen to somebody else, when in reality, we are just somebody else’s “somebody else”.

I confess, I lived like that for a long, long time. I grew up in Canada, and despite having some sky-high murder rates, we never thought of violent crime as something that affected us. We lived in good neighbourhoods, we didn’t do stupid things with stupid people, and besides, there would ALWAYS be a Mountie nearby when we needed one, right?

Then one night, a group of friends and myself went camping, and late at night, after we’d all retired, a group of yokels made camp near us, lit up a huge bonfire and started shooting shotguns off into the air, and I realized that if they meant to do us harm, a cop would NOT be there to protect us and the only thing we had to defend ourselves was a hatchet.

Somebody else’s problem became MY problem, and quickly. That’s when I realized that believing bad things only happened to other people was not going to keep me safe, I was going to have to be my own first responder. 

What’s your story? When do you realize it self-defense wasn’t someone else’s problem?

 

Teach your kids about guns.

I have two wonderful sons. They’re the reason why I own guns. I know that there won’t be a cop around when I need one, because crooks are really, really good at finding opportunities to attack people when there’s not cops around. 

That’s why they’re called “crooks” and not “convicted, locked-up criminals”. 

I digress…

One of my priorities is making sure my kids know that guns are dangerous things and should not be played with. Before I bought my first gun for home defense, I bought and installed a quick-access safe to store it in, and I also ordered the free Eddie The Eagle DVD from the NRA. 

Why that DVD? Because it’s excellent, and the NRA is the world’s largest firearms training organization, that’s why. If you have kids, you need to have them watch it, because it works. 

How do I know that? 

A few months ago, we were cleaning out the trunk of my car, and my sons found a few loose shotgun shells rattling around the trunk. My youngest son immediately stopped what he was doing and asked me what I wanted them to do. He knew to “STOP! – Don’t Touch – Leave the Area- Tell an Adult.” when he saw that ammo because they learned it from the NRA’s DVD.

Win. 

Okay, you just bought a gun. Now what?

Before I began my career as a photographer, I worked a few years behind the counter of local camera stores, getting to know the industry and the gear. When someone bought a camera from us, we made sure they bought an “accessory kit” to go with it to help start them off right, and the store made almost as much profit on the kit as we did on the cameras.

And it’s must the same for a self-defense firearm. I’m assuming you’ve purchased some kind of compact or full-size handgun for protecting yourself or your home, and if you’ve just bought a gun like that, there are a few things I’d highly recommend you purchase along with your new gun that will help you enjoy it to its fullest. 

1. Ammo
   A gun without ammo is an expensive and rather unwieldy club. You’ll need two kinds of ammo for your gun; Defensive ammunition and practice ammunition.
   Defensive ammunition is something like jacketed hollow point (JHP) ammunition that’s designed to expand and not punch through what it’s being shot into. You want this because if, God forbid, you need to defend your life, you need ammunition that stops the threat, not punches a hole in it and moves along to hurt someone else. 
   Practice ammunition is usually Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) ammunition that’s cheaper and easier to produce than JHP ammo. At a bare minimum, you should purchase three times as many rounds of defensive ammo as your gun holds, so you can be certain your ammo of choice works smoothly in your gun, and purchase at least 100 rounds of practice ammo so you can learn the basics of how your gun operates (and plan on spending a LOT more on ammo after that.). 
2. A Cleaning Kit 
   Guns are dirty things. Gunpowder doesn’t burn up 100%, and the oil that makes a gun operate smoothly attracts dust and grime. Get an inexpensive cleaning kit and plan on using it often. 
3. Some way to safely secure a loaded gun
   No, NOT a trigger lock. It’s too easy to make your gun go BANG while fiddling with a trigger lock, and a gun that’s unloaded and under the bed is a pretty useless defensive weapon. Secure your gun with a good locking case, or better yet, a quick-access safe, and will be there when you need it and safely stored when you don’t. 
4. Training. 
   Unless you’re Rob Leatham and were born with a .45 in your hand, shooting a gun accurately is not something we know how to innately accomplish. Getting training as you start your journey with firearms ownership will help eliminate or reduce bad habits done the line. 

I’m always amazed when I walk into local gun stores and I don’t see them putting together package deals that offer new gun owners a starter kit that give them everything they need to enjoy their new guns right from the start. 

Okay, gun stores: Add-on accessory kits have worked for camera stores for decades. Get on it. 

If you’re reading this, you might be a winner!

And if you aren’t reading thing, you definitely are NOT a winner. 

So we pulled numbers out of a hat, and we have our winners in the TeamGunBlogger / MyGunCulture Ultimate Concealed Carry Giveaway! 

They are… 

First Prize: TeamGunBlogger Twitter follower Stand-Fast America

• DeSantis Superfly holster for pocket semiautomatics
• DeSantis EZ-Rider II RH Belt/Portfolio holster
• DeSantis Apache RH Ankle Holster
• Book: The Rookie’s Guide to Guns and Shooting, Handgun Edition
• Book: The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters

Second Prize: My Gun Culture Twitter follower Mike Clinton

• Book: The Rookie’s Guide to Guns and Shooting, Handgun Edition
• Book: The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters

Third Prize: My Gun Culture Facebook follower Tom Jeffries

• Book: The Rookie’s Guide to Guns and Shooting, Handgun Edition
• Book: The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters

If you’ve won, know someone who’s won, or just like to think you’re a winner, we’ll be contacting (or have already contacted you) regrading shipping. 

Thanks to everyone who entered, and stick around, because apparently Tom has something ELSE up his sleeve. Hmmn, I wonder what it is…

What being a gun owner is not

• Being a gun owner isn’t being a gun nut 
• Being a gun owner doesn’t mean you need to buy Mossy Oak clothing (unless you own some already)
• Same is true of RealTree 
• You don’t even need to know what MossyOak or RealTree is in order to own a gun
• Being a gun owner doesn’t mean you have to watch Duck Dynasty
• Being a gun owner doesn’t mean you start using tactical as a noun
• Being a gun owner doesn’t mean you want to buy this
• Or this
• Being a gun owner doesn’t mean you vote Republican
• Being a gun owner doesn’t mean you’ll be signed up for the NRA against your will (although joining of your own volition is a really good idea)
• Being a gun owner doesn’t mean you’re compensating for something. 

Being a gun owner means you’ve realized there will not be a cop around when you need one, and that you are always going to be your own first responder. 

Giving up something to carry a gun

People want to know what changes they will need to make in their lives when they decide to carry a gun for self-protection. The answer I usually give out isn’t about new clothing or different equipment, it’s about a new attitude. Specifically, you can’t get angry when you carry a gun.

Ever. Let me say that again in another way: Carrying a gun means giving up your right to be angry at the actions of others, no matter how unbelievably stupid those actions may have been. 

An example. 

A friend of mine’s boyfriend got into an argument while driving with the driver of another car. Words were exchanged, and both cars pulled over to the side of the road. My friends boyfriend walked out of his car with his gun in hand, determined the other driver was unarmed, and drove off, believing the incident to be over. 

The other driver called the cops, claiming my friend’s boyfriend had pulled a gun on him (which, in reality, is sorta what happened). My friend’s boyfriend had a long legal journey that only recently came to an end and with a satisfactory (but not exculpatory) conclusion. 

What if he had just walked away and not stoked the fires of anger? What if he gave up his “right” to express his anger at that @#$! who just cut him off at traffic? Would he have had to worry about that other driver being armed? Would he to face a mountain of legal bills and possible loss of his right of armed self-defence? Is giving up the pretend right of being angry at someone worth the loss of your actual right to arm yourself in defense of your life and your loved ones? 

If  you answer to that question is “No, I am not willing to give up my right to get angry”, please don’t own a gun. The safety of myself others around you depend on such things. 

Wait, did we say the Ultimate Office Concealed Carry Giveaway was ending soon?

We’re not done yet! 

Tom McHale from MyGunCulture.com has graciously anted up two more prizes, so now we have a Second Prize and a Third Prize. 

2nd Prize and 3rd Prize are a paperback copy of The Rookie’s Guide to Guns and Shooting and a paperback copy of The Insanely Practical Guide to Holsters. 

So that’s a chance to win 6 books, 3 holsters and a night out on the town with Kate Upton*, all for just liking Teamgunblogger or MyGunCulture on Facebook and/or following us or him on Twitter. 

And because of all this extra added awesomeness, we’re adding on another week to the contest: Now we’re shutting the whole thing down at midnight on September 8th. 

This is it, though. No more added prizes. No more dates with supermodels. You’ve got until September 8th, and that’s it, this is over with, so enter now. Kate Upton is waiting for you.

*Note: Kate Upton not included 

 

Why do you need a gun safe?

So you’ve gone out and purchased a gun for home self-defense. 

Fantastic. Understanding that you’ll be your own first responder and doing something to protect yourself is the most adult decision you’ll make in your life. 

Having a gun in your home is great first step, but a gun isn’t a magical self-defense charm. Owning a gun doesn’t protect you: Owning a gun, knowing how to use it and having it available for use if, God forbid, you need to use it protects you and your loved once. If you keep your gun unloaded and in the box it came in, it’s going to be hard to get out and load if it’s needed. This is why quick-access gun safes have become a popular way to keep a gun safe in the home, and it’s something I use myself in my home to keep my self-defense firearm accessible and secure. 

There’s a bunch of people who don’t like this option, though, because they worry about how long it’ll take to access their gun in a safe if they need it, and prefer to keep the gun loaded in a nearby dresser or nightstand drawer. I can understand it, but such concerns leave out an important fact: Things get moved around inside your drawer. 

It’s 3:30 in the morning. You’ve heard a noise downstairs. You’re afraid. You want your gun. It’s in your nightstand drawer. 

Find it. 

Compare this to a quick-access safe. The gun and only the gun is in it and I know the gun will be there when I need it. No searching, no fumbling around and hoping I don’t grab the trigger by accident, just beepbeepbeepbeep and I’ve got my gun ready to go.

That’s just one of the reasons why I prefer keeping my gun in a quick-access safe rather than an unlocked drawer. These are two more reasons why I use a safe: My sons. They’re great kids and they’ve been through the Eddie The Eagle gun safety program, I know they know how to be safe around guns because I’ve trained them and watched them do it for myself. 

However, the consequences of them forgetting to leave a gun alone just once are just too great for me to not lock up my guns. Yes, I trust my sons. Yes, I know they know how to stay safe around guns. No, I am not relying 100% on those two facts: I keep my guns in a locked container because I know where they are and I know they are safe, and I recommend a quick access safe to everyone who has a gun and has kids or is concerned about the safety of their guns in their home. 

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