Blog Launch Day!

No, not this blog. This blog launched quite awhile ago. Rather, we’re talking about The School Of Guns, the new blog at Ammoman, written by a Teamgunblogger alum.

Go check it out, and keep coming back, as new content will be posted every week.

 

Welcome, NSSF, To The Teamgunblogger Lifestyle.

This website, seven years ago:

We are committed to getting the millions of new gun owners out to the range and encouraging their safe use of guns in competition, training and practice.

The NSSF, last month:

One trip to the range can be all it takes to create a new recreational shooter. With your help, we can recruit the next generation of target shooters and secure a strong future for one of the greatest American traditions. Join the +ONE Movement and invite a friend on your next trip to the range.

Gun owners are being shoved into a corner. We are being marginalized, and as such, our rights will soon be up for grabs. Take someone out to the range. Make gun ownership seem normal.

Because it is.

Content Dump.

I’m quite proud of this piece I did for NRA Family on making shooting resolutions for the New Year. You’re already resolving to lose weight and exercise more this year, so why not resolve to shoot more as well?

I really liked the Ruger PC Carbine I reviewed for Shooting Illustrated (and so did my editors, because they named it their Rifle Of The Year). However one thing I found in testing it was that the one short section of Picatinny rail on it wasn’t enough. Fortunately, Catalyst Arms has rectified that shortcoming with a couple of rather nifty gadgets that are a “must have” for the Ruger PC Carbine owner.

Keeping Your Gun Safe in the Home

A few months ago, I mentioned that I carry in my home just like I carry outside of my home. Yes, I have a quick-access gun safe and I use it at night to store my CCW gun, but day in, day out, I keep my carry gun on me except when I’m wrestling with my sons or some other activity. 

Why? Because it’s faster to engage a threat with a gun on my hip or in my pocket is faster than any off-body storage method, that’s why. 

Which is faster: A gun in a nightstand drawer or in a gun safe

I’m not a big fan of leaving loaded guns lying around the house because it’s kinda like leaving the bleach jug in the refrigerator next to the milk jug: Something bad is going to happen, it’s not a question of IF, it’s only a question of WHEN.

So we decided to test things to find out if a gun safe safe is a better alternative to leaving your gun in a nightstand drawer, and the results really surprised us.

A few notes about this test:

• Jaci and Robert are almost identically-skilled as shooters
• They used guns they were familiar with
• Robert was not familiar with how to use that gun safe because we wanted to simulate the stress of figuring out how to open it correctly under stress
• The shots were so close together, the shot timer app on my phone couldn’t tell them apart. 

The gun safe we used was this model from Paragon safes, but if I’m honest, I prefer GunVault safes. 

The Top Ten Clues You Picked The Wrong CCW Instructor.

From the home office in Paulden, Arizona…

The Top Ten Signs You Picked The Wrong CCW Instructor

1. He starts off his safety speech with “Accidentally discharging a firearm is something you need to get used to.”
2. He has a Mayors Against Illegal Guns challenge coin.
3. He spends more time complimenting your choice of camo gear than he does correcting your shooting stance.
4. He says “Ok, here’s something I learned from Call of Duty.”
5. His handouts  on aiming refer to “site picture”.
6. He’s wearing a drop leg holster. On his arm.
7. He’s proud of the fact he’s teaching the same stuff they taught in the 50’s. The 1850’s.
8. His talk on the legalities of carrying a firearm is just “Shoot first, ask questions later.”
9. He says he can’t pick up yours or anyone else’s guns because his felony conviction is still on appeal.
10. He starts off the range session with “Here, hold my beer while I try this.”

Always be nice. Until it’s time to not be nice.

“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” 
– Robert A. Heinlein

“Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”
– James 3:5-6, NIV

In general, I’m not a fan of “Monday-Morning-Quarterbacking” defensive gun uses, because each one is unique and may or may not apply to our daily lives. However, this happened less than a mile from my old house, and because I lived in that neighborhood and know that store, it’s more applicable to my life, and maybe I can help others as well. 

A man who shot and killed another man inside a suburban Phoenix Walmart opened fire in self-defense, Chandler police said Monday. 
According to Chandler police, Cyle Wayne Quadlin, 25, shot Kriston Charles Belinte Chee, 36, following a fight at a service counter Sunday afternoon.
Detectives reviewing surveillance video report the two men fought in the store before the shooting Sunday afternoon.
Quadlin told police he pulled his gun in self-defense.
“Mr. Quadlin was losing the fight and indicated he ‘was in fear for his life,’ so he pulled his gun and shot Mr. Belinte Chee,” police said in a statement.
Belinte Chee was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said. Investigators said the pair did not know each other before the shooting.
Authorities said Quadlin remained at the store for a little while following the shooting and then fled. Police found him after a family member called authorities to report his whereabouts.

This fight started with a heated argument and escalated into deadly force. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: When you carry a gun, you gain the ability to defend yourself against violent lethal force, but you give up the “right” to get angry at another person’s words. I cannot emphasis that enough: If you’re the hot-temepered type, get your anger under control before you carry a gun, or don’t carry one at all. A man died in this incident and another’s life is forever changed because tempers flared and things got out of control. Learn to walk away from fight before it happens, because the easiest way to win a fist is never starting it. 

This is why I’ve never recommended off-body carry

I was a professional advertising photographer for ten years, and to getting the shot meant I carried  a gadget bag full of expensive cameras on my shoulder in some pretty shady areas full of pretty shady people. That gadget bag drew attention to me and said to the criminal element “Look, here’s a bunch of expensive stuff you can fence quickly: STEAL IT!” 

And I never once considered carrying a self-defense weapon in my gadget bag: It’s what the crooks want, why would I just add to the stuff they get to steal by putting a weapon in there with my lights and lenses? 

Same with a purse: It’s what the crooks want and one of the things you want to defend, so keeping the means to defend yourself inside the thing you’re to defend. 

It’s like freezing your diet plan inside a tub of vanilla ice cream: You’re going to get into more trouble getting to it than you are using it. 

Video courtesy of Kathy Jackson, who recommends on-body carry, and so do I. 

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