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Basic 16: Safety Rules

July 02, 2026

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It's been a long trip to Terry Pitman's #5 Reasonable: Your actions and decisions must be both subjectively and objectively reasonable. Every state and city will have different ideas about reasonable. The jury, often called the reasonable man, will decide. But how do you make a reasonable response at that moment of self-defense? This is a training issue. Make time to get professional training. I can't tell you the number of times I've told armed citizens that they can't shoot someone simply running away with their possessions. Is this a reasonable tool for self-defense? Maybe...It depends... Have a reason grounded in reality for everything you do. You don't have to be perfect, but having determined that AOJ exists, is a great start. Remem...

The Hunger Games

Editorial On! Post-addendum: It is July 2026 and Donald Trump wants to be king and rule by executive order. He's challenged the constitution on citizenship, established a private police force called ICE, bad mouths from the White House anyone who offends him. That's a very large group. He blames everything on Biden and Obama. He is attempting to convince the courts and the population he should get a third term, mostly because he wants it. Trump has embraced White Nationalist Christianity The list of grifting and massively stupid moves is endless. If you read this blog in July 2012, you said "Oh no...this can't happen." Want to take another guess? Editorial Off! I find it surprising where I often find what might be considered tactical/self-protection information. Take the books I’m reading. I’m reading the trilogy by Suzanne Collins called The Hunger Games. Set in the future this dystopia is the result of a botched r...

But Your Honor! Part 2

I'm not one to ignore the potential of other people's ideas. Terry Pitman's list of the five elements needed to survive the self-defense legal challenges is interesting. Imminent danger, agree? They are: 1) Innocent: not the initial aggressor, 2) Imminence: the threats must be happening now or immediately about to happen , 3) Proportionality: the force you use must not be greater than the force used against you, 4) Avoidance: do you live in a stand your ground state or a duty to retreat state, 5) Reasonable: your actions and decisions must be both subjectively and objectively reasonable. Number 1, Innocence, was covered in a previous posting. Let's talk about number 2, Imminence. I find it interesting that imminence and avoidance are linked. Avoidance is a great option and I'll have some ideas later. I...

Basic 16: Safety Rules

Gun safety isn't anything new. I recently saw a cartoon from a 1935 newspaper that addressed the issue. The three major NRA rules are: 1) Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction 2) Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot. 3) Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use And the zeroth order rule: All guns are always loaded until you personally check them. These rules were codified by Col. Jeff Cooper in the 1970's. When my wife and I used to teach, she taught the rules in reverse order. 3) Keep your gun unloaded until you need it. But if it's already loaded, 2) Always keep your finger off the trigger until it's time to shoot. But if your finger is on the trigger, what ultimately saves us is, 1) Always keep your gun pointed in a safe direction. The Zeroth order rule is the basis for a safe and functioning gun ...

The Cardboard Whisperer

Stay....Stay.....Easy boy!...

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