A grown man can cover 30 feet in fewer than 3 seconds, and begin his assault upon you.  Whether he has a knife, a hammer or just two meaty fists and deadly intent, you've suddenly got your hands full!

Many pistol fighters drill with such an assault in mind.  From standing with your arms at your sides, how long does it take you to sweep under your coat, clear leather and double tap center mass?  Seasoned fighters will incorporate a weak hand extension as the strong hand pulls the weapon, acting to deflect and redirect the attackers energy as he reaches contact range. 

In the real world as you handle such an attack, you'll pull the trigger with your pistol at your waist, point shooting because you will not have the time or the range to bring your weapon up for a sight picture.

Many CQB courses will teach you to rock back slightly to create a bit more range as you fire.  This technique is dangerous, and it plays upon the natural human instinct to separate and create distance in conflict.  But the real world result is that as the attacker makes contact and moves into your space, you surrender your balance by unnaturally rocking backward at the waist.

The proper response is to turn and enter slightly as your attacker makes contact, keeping your weight over your belt and letting centripetal energy carry your attacker by...as you press the muzzle of your weapon to his body and double tap. 

The attacker will fold and you still have your balance, and you are in a strong position for the next attacker.

But this column isn't about static training exercises.

Defeating our hypothetical attacker above assumes that you recognize the threat in time to do anything about it.  It also assumes that you are mentally prepared to do something about it.

Those are two monumental assumptions.

If you are on one of Big Brothers lists (and if you are reading this column, you are on a list, get over it), then you must assume that if Big Brother decides to move against you they will not approach you as they would the common rabble.  This holds true especially if you have posted in a militant or defiant tone (Big Brother dislikes that tone), or if you have anything in your past that would lead Big Brother to treat you more like a Lion than a Sheep (Say, you are former military, or otherwise know how to make things stop working in a violent and certain manner).

If Big Brother concludes that you may be one of those people who expects them to show up, and he further concludes that you may have a few surprises prepared for him at the typical entry points of your home, he may decide to make a move on you away from your castle defenses.

So, think about our 3 second drill above.  Do you maintain proper situational awareness when in the grocery store to identify a baddie coming at you down the aisle?  What if the butcher putting meat in the refrigerated box...isn't really a butcher?  As you reach for the Porterhouse, he shows you the muzzle of his service weapon from 9 inches away.  If your wife and kids are with you, your options just went from really, really bad to the realm of nightmares.

What if you are loading the car in the parking lot, and the housewife pulling into the space next to yours smiles.  Your only real hope is that she doesn't cut it too sharp and scratch the paint on your car.  Are you ready for her to draw down on you?  What about as you pull up to the intersection leaving the shopping center.  One of those scruffy guys is in the median, holding up a sign and asking for change.  As he passes a few inches from your window...he shows you the muzzle of his service weapon? 

That 3 second drill is now useless.

The point is not that your situational awareness needs work...though it probably does.  The reality is that you simply can not be completely prepared for any and every potential.  You do the best you can and work with what you've got.

The real point is this:  When you are an active target, nothing is as it seems.

The rules in effect are: There are no rules!

Respect that reality, and you may just live a bit longer.

Sam
III

Excerpt: There comes a time when civility is no longer appropriate as the only option on the table.  Dare we not offend the sensibilities of Liberals, Socialists, and Communists in our midst who are ruining and destroying our republic?  Are we to cower and sheepishly genuflect when we are scolded for the tone or choice of our words in the face of ruin, poverty, tyranny, and death?!

Excerpt: You are a fool if you do not believe that elements of the Left would use force, if they could, to compel you to comply with many of their edicts.  In drafting healthcare reform, they use the threat of financial fines, felony conviction and prison if you refuse to buy health insurance! 

How is that not only a degree or two removed from a pistol to the head? We are undeniably heading toward the same tyrannies known to Russians, Germans, and the Chinese.  It starts with Liberalism, advances to Socialism, and ends with Fascism, Communism, or some other tyranny…and death.

Excerpt: We have a culture of people whose first response to a physical threat is to dial 911, or worse, a lawyer.  We have a nation of people who will dump hot coffee on themselves, then sue the restaurant – and win!  We have a nation of educators who suspend children for drawing a picture of a handgun or for bringing a Boy Scout knife-and-fork kit to show and tell! 

We have a nation of people so removed from the food chain that many would starve to death if the local supermarket closed.  We have a nation of people who cannot truly grasp the hardships faced by most of the people in the world every day, and as a result we have a nation of people who have lost fundamental common sense.

Excerpt: The Bill of Rights articulates the natural rights of man, rights that are not bestowed by government, but rights that are innately ours as human beings.  These rights may not be taken from us.  These rights were written in plain language so that no clever interpretation and manipulation of the intent was possible.  These rights may not be restricted, narrowed, or infringed.  Any attempt to do so is a violation of the relationship between Man and Creator. 

Every narrowing, restriction, infringement, and clever interpretation imposed upon us in the years since our Constitution was ratified is simply a violation of our natural rights.

We hold that every violation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights by those in Government is an act of Treason, as these violations are unjust, undermining the fundamental foundations of our republic, breaking the pact between citizen and government, and desecrating the relationship between Man and Creator.  Any man or woman who enforces these unconstitutional laws on behalf of government is a treasonous soul and an enemy of Liberty and humanity.

Sons of Liberty Flag

How do you know when you have made the Bigs?

You catch a Federal case.

When you earn real attention from our Masters, you'll know it...usually after it is too late.  Our Masters will tolerate quite a bit from folks, even Patriots who are rabble-rousing.  They really don't care if you are stocking up on rice and beans, even rifles and bullets.  They don't care if you call them names or incite a few misdemeanors or send them snarky little letters.  If you are trying to get their attention and you have not yet caught a Federal case, it's still amateur hour...or maybe you are valuable to them...

It's when you start to have an impact on the flow of dollars that you will earn real interest.  Write a report that negatively impacts the stock value of a few Fortune 50 companies, and you will soon have a genuine understanding of the term Lawfare. 

You may also be schooled on Constructive Possession.

There are many lessons you may be taught.  Right Now.

You will learn inside baseball details about the US Code that will make you ill. 

The world begins to move very, very quickly. 

You will be faced with stark choices that have never entered your mind, because you think you understand the rules.

You do not understand the rules, until you have been inside the machine.

Then your options are put on the table: 2 years if you take the deal, or 20 if you fight...and we'll add a Conspiracy case for your little dog, too...

You will learn that the power of a US Attorney is crushing.

Do not make it easy to take you out of play, Patriot.

And, it is oh, so easy...if they ever decide to do it.

The choice is theirs...not yours.

Truth, Justice & the American Way?

Not so much.

The DOJ conviction rate is 95% in a bad year, and pushes above 98% according to some stats.  The deck is not only stacked in their favor, they own the deck.  And the card table.  And the casino.  Do you understand?

Can you name any Federal bureaucracy that runs at a minimum 95% efficiency rate?  What does that tell you?

Do not make the mistake of thinking that you intimidate them just because they have not yet chosen to come for you...

The Point: If you are trying to incite Big Brother to notice you, go for it!  But, man up and roll bigger dice.

If you would prefer to make your preparations for it with relative impunity, just go about your business and avoid taking actions that will make it easy for Them to take you out of play, and do not give them a reason to take you out of play.  Don't telegraph about the details of your preparations or defensive measures.  Don't put a pistol in your belt, against your local laws, unless you are willing to use it when LEO spots you in the convenience store.  Avoid gratuitous violence.

Do not draw hyperbolic lines in the sand.  When you draw lines in the sand that you do not defend, it reveals you for what you are deep in your Soul...and some of that bad energy splatters on us, too.

There will be plenty of opportunities for a fight, if you want one, soon enough.  Be smart, stay off the radar, so that any fight you engage will be on your terms.
 

A note to Vanderboegh