Modern Minuteman: YOU are the First Responder‏

I was listening to Glenn Beck’s radio program the other day and he came to the conclusion that the modern use of the term “First Responder” in relation to emergency services is an outgrowth of the progressive movement in America.  I completely agree with that assertion.  Folks, we have to take accountability for becoming our own First Responders.  That is what being a Modern Minuteman is all about, as I have outlined in prior posts.  We are the people who have decided to step up and be the first to respond to those in need.  That may mean using a fire extinguisher, administering first aid, or stopping a lethal threat in defense of others. 

All being a first responder comes down to is making a decision in advance to be willing to act when no one else is.  I don’t mean waiting to see if someone else acts first, and then stepping in if necessary.  Rather, we need to be the first to step forward, the first to render aid, the first to respond no matter what the need is.  Make the decision now.  Get training in the areas you need to improve, and equip yourself.  Keep a first aid kit in your vehicle.  Notice where fire extinguishers are located.  If a disaster hits, get out and help your neighbors recover from it.  Carry your gun wherever legal. 

You don’t have to formally join your local volunteer fire department, become and EMT, or go to police academy to be a first responder.  Those are all great ways to serve your community and I highly recommend doing so if you can.  I personally am a member of my local CERT team, but that doesn’t make me a first responder.  My mindset does.  We cannot afford to rely on someone else to take care of our needs in the best of times, let alone when the chips are down and someone is in dire need of help.  Be a first responder within your community, because it is your responsibility to do so.
 
Mitch

Modern Minuteman: How to Use a Fire Extinguisher

Last week I was pleasantly surprised to see Brett over at ArtofManliness.com post an article about the proper use of a fire extinguisher.  I compared his article to the draft I had written up, and found his to be more comprehensive and better written.  Now you may be asking yourself why a self-defense blog is discussing the proper use of a fire extinguisher, and that is a fair question.  The answer is that you are far more likely to need to know how to use an extinguisher than you are a firearm or knife in defense of your life.  Yes, lethal attacks happen every day and are stopped by an armed citizen, but many times more fires are put out by a fast-thinking citizen than you realize.

Even the police and armed security guards are more likely to need an extinguisher than their firearm in the course of a normal day.  Take a moment to locate the fire extinguishers near you.  If you are in a public space, they are clearly marked.  If you are at home, you should have one in your kitchen and one in your garage at a minimum.  If you don’t have one located in those places, they are not expensive insurance against the loss of your entire home if you respond quickly enough.

Get over to ArtofManliness.com now and read Brett’s article here.

Mitch

The Importance of Structured Range Sessions

The current ammo shortage coupled with the average cost per round highlights the need for structured training while at the range.  No longer can many of us afford to plink with a couple hundred rounds of even the normally reasonably priced 9mm.  I recently made some acquisitions that allow me to conduct the vast majority of my training with .22-caliber understudies of my primary firearms.  Even the lowly .22 LR has become scarce where I live, and acquiring some has since become my top ammunition acquisition priority.  When I switched to training with .22’s I discovered I was able to make a significant improvement in my shooting skills.  Unfortunately, the side effect of that was a vast increase in the number of rounds I tend to shoot in a session.  Transitioning to training with a .22 caused me to shoot far more rounds than I normally would have, despite having a planned list of drills I intended to shoot.

Sadly, those days may have passed us by, at least for the foreseeable future.  That means it’s time for us to begin rationing our training ammunition to make the most of each round.  Right now, staring in the face of additional gun legislation is not the time for gun owners to go to ground.  Instead, we should be practicing our skills, training harder than ever before, and introducing as many people as possible to the joys of firearms use.  Make sure you get out and practice your skills as much as possible given the current state of ammunition availability.  Make the most of every pull of the trigger by making sure you go to the range with a specific set of goals in mind. 

For those of us who devise regimented training sessions for our range time, I have developed a form to lay out our training drills and track feedback on each drill.  Eventually I am going to find out a way to post it to the site.  In the meantime, if you would like a copy please feel free to contact me and I will email you a copy.  If you need some range regimens, I happen to have several posted on this blog including round counts for each drill.  Feel free to use them as a template to train specific areas of your defensive skill set and if you come up with a good set of drills let me know and I will share them here.

Now is not the time to let your skills get rusty.  Keep practicing!

 

Mitch

Knowing the Threat: Could You Pull the Trigger?

This weekend while at the range I realized I was missing something in my visualizations of a lethal threat.  What I was missing was variety.  When I pull the trigger I visualize a middle-aged heavily-tattooed drug addict or a mid-20’s crazed terrorist of Middle Eastern descent.  Unfortunately, the threats we encounter in life do not fit such neat stereotypes.  I think the tragedy at Sandy Hook is a good example of what I am referring to.  In that case, the dirt bag was young and someone who no doubt was known to many of his mother’s co-workers who ultimately became his victims.

That realization started a soul-searching within myself.  Could I shoot someone whom I have known for many years?  We know that statistically many types of violent crimes (rape, for instance) are perpetrated by people who were known to their victims.  Incidentally, I listened to episode 204 of the HandgunWorld podcast titled, “Gunfighting by CR Williams.”  In that podcast, CR discussed a thread post over at Warriortalk.com titled, “Could You Shoot the Cheerleader?” 

The discussion between CR and Ben on the podcast was along the same lines I had previously been thinking.  In short, it is important to consider that you may find yourself in a position where your life or the lives of others are threatened by someone you know.  That person could be a close personal friend, a co-worker, a casual acquaintance, a neighbor, or Heaven forbid a relative.

Pulling the trigger when you know the person behind your sights can be especially hard if you’ve never considered the possibility.

If you are an Armed Citizen, you should have already come to grips with the reality that when the time comes for you to defend your life or the lives of others, your actions may result in the threat to losing their life.  We all know that using a firearm is using lethal force regardless of the body part targeted.  Serious students of self-defense do not train to strictly target arms or legs to make “disabling shots.”  Shooting someone in the leg could very well strike the femoral artery and cause the threat to bleed out extremely quickly.  Instead, we train to shoot to maximize effectiveness, which most often means we train to hit center mass.  We also train to target whatever a threat presents to us, with the full knowledge that any use of lethal force is exactly that: lethal.

Once we accept that our action may cause the death of those who wish to do us harm, it becomes necessary to accept that we may know that threat personally.  Think about that the next time you are at the range and plan for such an incident.  Such a thought should prove difficult to cope with, but doing so ahead of time is the key.  It very well may save your life if you find yourself in a lethal encounter.

Mitch

Modern Minuteman: Planning to Better Yourself in 2013

The new year is here, which means it’s time to take a look at developing a plan to better ourselves in 2013.  Learning new skills and practicing new ways to apply our existing skills is a big part of what being a Modern Minuteman is all about.  We also are always striving to become more self-reliant.  Figuring out how to set appropriate goals for the next year and then tracking my progress toward those goals is always a challenge for me, but when I heard Jack Spirko promoting his 13 in 2013 Challenge, I knew that I had found a good way to do exactly that.

The idea behind 13skills.com is to promote the learning of new skills among the modern survivalist community.  The heart of the site is a fairly comprehensive list of skill categories.  When you create a profile on the site you are asked to pick 13 different categories and are given the opportunity to elaborate on your selections under each category, further defining the skills you aim to learn.

I will not go into each of my skills in this post, but will highlight some of them and explain why I chose to focus on learning those skills:

Self-Defense: Because not every fight is a gunfight, I have chosen to take more Krav Maga instruction.  Krav Maga is the best choice in martial arts for real world self-defense applications available where I live.

Knots: The knowledge of a variety of knots is a skill that I had as a younger man and sadly have since lost.  By setting this goal I hope to regain that knowledge.  I want to learn the tying and proper use of ten different knots and hitches.

Welding: This is one of those skills I have always wanted to learn and have never gotten around to pursuing.

Fitness: Again, not every fight is a gun fight.  I would also like to graduate to a smaller pair of blue jeans.

Foraging: If you know what to look for, nature provides plenty of wild edible and medicinal plants, especially in a temperate climate such as mine.  I’ve never developed much knowledge of local edibles and figure it’s time to do so.

These are just a snapshot of the kinds of skills we should be looking to further our knowledge in.  As a Modern Minuteman, we should try to have at least a working knowledge of first aid, as well as a basic skill set in empty-handed self-defense and firearms use.  Make sure to get some training with your pistol, rifle, or shotgun this year.  Take some empty-hand self-defense instruction, work on your fitness levels, and stock up some extra food and water in your pantries for those rainy (or snowy, or icy) days.  However, being a Modern Minuteman doesn’t stop there.  Take some time to think about where your skill set is lacking and make an effort to develop those areas.  After all, a Minuteman isn’t just someone who can save the day during the big emergencies.  They should be able to save the day during those common smaller everyday emergencies too.

– Mitch