I enjoy Steven Crowder’s ‘Change My Mind’ segments immensely. This one in particular is illustrative of a fact we in the 2A community must constantly be more aware of.
Ignorance is far more prevalent and shapes far more opinions than those who are informed on the topic yet still descent. When was the last time you encountered someone with rudimentary functional knowledge of firearms that was rapidly anti-gun?
Education informs opinions and we in the 2A community must spend many times the efforts we do on educating as we do on our grand stand style proselytizing.
As an instructor one of the most common things I hear from students or from inquiring minds is ‘I did not know that’. On rare occasion it’s a ‘Well I still think…’ or ‘Well I don’t agree…’ but it becomes very difficult to argue against logic and understanding. It is that understanding that is the key for communication. We can shout the knowledge we understand to the side that disagrees but there are no ears more deaf than the uninformed.
That’s why the one on one interaction is more important than the grand stand. The one on one promotes real understanding. The knowledge transfer of formal classrooms and subject matter experts working alongside the well informed enthusiasts to expose the uninformed to knowledge and understanding. Knowledge without understanding is of little value.
I can know there are 500,000 to 3,000,000 defensive firearms uses each year but it takes more than two numbers in someone’s head to add the context that those are mothers defending their children from an aggressor breaking down the front door. A brother and husband preventing himself from being carjacked and kidnapped. A young woman preventing a sexual assault. Each defensive use was a human being, terrified, protecting their most precious lives. The knowledge is the numbers. The understanding is putting faces on each one.
If someone with understanding can still honestly argue they do not support private firearms ownership, self defense, or the second amendment of the United States Constitution then I can respect it while disagreeing because it is, at the least, an informed opinion.
I cannot respect an uninformed opinion on firearms any more than any other topic. I can’t put any value in a person or group ignoramus on firearm law, policy, and technology just as I can’t place any value on the same person or group’s opinion on traffic and vehicle policy if they don’t know how to operate a vehicle or the laws that surround driving. I can only remain polite.
We have come to a place where we equate ‘respecting’ someone’s opinion as synonymous to agreeing with it. Respecting the person and respecting the opinion are not the same.
Help spread understanding. One person or group at a time.
In the pre-hospital emergency medical service world, we’ve had a term that we’ve used for a long time. We like to call it “The Golden Hour”. This oft-used term is related to the importance of getting a trauma victim to definitive, advanced care within 60 minutes of the injury with the timer starting at the moment of injury. There are many factors which will play a part in this; the road conditions, the flight conditions if aero-medical evacuation is needed, the capability of the crew, the distance to the facility and, most importantly, the injuries received. One of the most important aspects of this “Golden Hour” is the very beginning. It’s the first 10 minutes post-injury that may tell the tale. We like to call it “The Platinum 10”.
Now break it down to the shooting range level. How far away from EMS or definitive care are many ranges? Does your range have a medical plan? Does your range have trauma kits (not band aids and expired antibiotic ointment)? Does your range have well-trained RSO’s who carry a blowout kit on their person? By well-trained, I mean more advanced medical training that basic first aid?
and you’ll get a little bit of the “why” you not only need a med kit, but “why” you need the training on how to properly employ said kit. It goes a little something like this: You will circulate your entire volume of blood in around a minute and the average adult has around 5 liters of blood. If your femoral artery is dissected, you can lose over a liter of blood within the first minute. 1 minute.
at loss of oxygen carrying and waste removal capability by increasing respirations and heart rate. Blood loss makes the body “shunt” blood to essential systems, that diversion of blood bypasses our “thermostat”, which makes the body colder, which decreases the blood’s clotting capability (which is already impaired due to losing clotting factors), which makes you bleed more, which decreases oxygen carrying capability, which increases waste buildup, which increases chances of death. It is a very vicious cycle and one that can be avoided by keeping the blood in the body where it belongs; in the body.
At the end of the day, we need to realize that no matter how much we know and how proficient we are, we won’t be able to save everyone. It doesn’t mean we won’t try like crazy and do everything in our power and with every tool at our disposal, but we need to be able to understand that concept or we will mire ourselves in an ever-deepening pool of second-guessing, guilt and self-loathing. All of that aside, remember, though, whether you do anything or not, all bleeding will eventually stop.
Pat was the nucleus of the training community here in Northern Virginia and for many, across our great country. There are many great things that I could say about Pat Rogers but my friend Jimmy Smith/co-owner of F3 Tactical Inc. has already done a great job expressing what a great many of us think and feel.
“TD1 at my first EAG class, I was instructed to redo a drill in front of all to see. I was all set….then Pat said “Don’t fuck up!” I fucked up. And was quickly told to “Unfuck yourself!” -Patrick Tarrant
You can only win one of them but are entered in automatically to win all three!
The purpose of range commands is to establish clear, concise, and standard methods of range operation in order to make things move efficiently and enhance safety. On a shooting range, in a firearms class, or in competition, commands are just that: commands! They are not suggestions or good ideas – they are words that demand a particular course of action. All action shooting sports have standardized range commands.
I immediately raced to the door and slammed my shoulder into it as hard as I could. When I did this I heard a grunt from whomever was outside as I pushed the door back to flush. I noticed that the door had been hanging on by a thread, only still closed because of the EZ Armor my Father in Law and I had installed some months earlier.
As I held my front door shut with all my might many thoughts went through my head. This first of these was where is my gun? The answer to this question was upstairs in the bedroom where it would do me absolutely no good. When I had come home from work and changed out of my monkey suit I had left the pistol upstairs because I wanted to wear sweatpants and be comfortable. As I waited for another kick to hit the door I frantically looked for anything in the vicinity that could be used as a weapon, but finding nothing I resolved in my mind to go hand to hand with whomever came through that door, even if they were armed, as I knew my Wife and newborn were only feet away from a potential intruder. Moments passed and nothing happened, so I chanced a peek out the window in the room next to our front door. I just caught someone in a hoody jumping into an SUV in my driveway as he slammed the door and they backed into the street and sped away. Almost as soon as I realized the attack was over and that we were safe, a sudden cacophony of sound assaulted me. The dog barking, my daughter crying, and my wife screaming all punctuated just how serious this situation could have been. I took a moment to collect myself, consoled my wife, and called the cops. My family had just dodged a real bullet and I knew it was my responsibility to learn from the situation.
Now on to the part that has made the most impact on me, the thing I screwed up. As I am sure the reader has gleaned by this point my big screw up was not having my gun on me. I know a lot of people think you don’t need to carry a gun in your own home, or in the day time, or any number of other rationalizations- I used to be one of them. If this is you, then you are wrong. I now have a firearm in easy reach no matter where I am in my house. I carry my gun, even in my own home, all the time. The big problem is that I knew I should have been carrying my gun at home even before this happened. Even having taken multiple shooting courses focused on personal defense and hearing the exact words “carry your gun all the time” come from the mouths of such respected trainers as Matt Jacques of Victory First and Pat Rogers of EAG Tactical wasn’t enough to overcome complacency. I served in Afghanistan and I know good and well that evil exists in this world and then when the moment of truth comes you had better stand ready….and I still got lazy. Folks, I am begging you to take a look at what you can do to harden your home, come up with emergency plans and practice them with your families, and above all train with and carry your weapon. All the time. Even at home. Even when its hot or cold or rainy or uncomfortable. If this could happen to my family, in a nice neighborhood in broad daylight it could happen to anyone. In this seemingly ever more dangerous world, the only ethical choice is to take personal responsibility for the safety of yourself and your loved ones. Owning, training with, and carrying a firearm is by far the best way to do that.
There are unspoken rules of etiquette within our shooting community that should be observed at the range. Sometimes you don’t find out about them until you have done something wrong and are on the receiving end of some harsh criticism. To save you from having to learn the hard way, here are seven ways you can be a respected shooter the first time – and every time – you walk into the range.