Finally a Dispatcher Gets it Right

As posted on World Net Daily today, I was pleased to read all of the logic and decorum an American citizen could hope for in the account of this home invasion. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=118339

Kudos to the dispatcher (female even) for not villifying the woman for defending herself.

Kudos to the husband who had taken time to make sure that everyone in the home knew how to use the shotgun.  It’s says a lot if a woman can competently use a firearm, in the dark, under stressful circumstances.  Not only that, but the report says that one shot was fired. Clearly this woman knew what she was doing.

And finally, kudos to the woman for having a moral fiber through it all. It was quite apparent that she had no desire to take this man’s life and would have loved to have avoided doing so. But such was not to be. She had to use her own agency in order to handle the consequences of another person wrongfully using his own. 

I hope that everyone who has cause to use a firearm for self defense can be armed not only with the knowledge and skill of its operation, but with the moral fortitude that this woman displayed as well.

A True Best Friend

By Kellene Bishop

A true best friend is always by my side. Photo c/o Accurate Shooter

Will Rogers once said that strangers were friends he hadn’t met yet. With this in mind, I can’t help but wonder why it is so foreign for women to handle a firearm. Mine is definitely one of my best friends. Why?

I can trust this best friend to be reliable—to never flake out on me.

I can trust this best friend to protect my children, myself, and my loved ones.

This best friend will dependably fight for freedom and liberty for me.

I can rely on this best friend to stand for right over might.

This best friend is always available and by my side. 

This best friend strengthens my physical weaknesses against enemies, foreign or domestic.

This best friend enables me to preserve life when others may desire to take it.

Other than my husband, I have a hard time finding any other friend that I can say these things about. So ladies, my I suggest that you introduce yourself to Mr. Glock, Mr. Smith and Wesson, or any other Mr. soon and make a new friend?

Copyright 2009 Women of Caliber and Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Women of Caliber and Kellene Bishop.

Hone Your Natural Instincts

By Kellene Bishop

Ladies, it’s important that we control our bodies in a stressful encounter and not the other way around. The ability to do so may certainly make the difference between life and death.

Photo c/o hoboken411.com

For example, when a woman sees a gun pointed at her, her natural instinct is usually to scream and put her hands up in a manner of surrender—not keep them hidden and think. On the contrary, I have literally practiced handing my purse over to someone, PRETENDING to be a weak basket case and shooting my gun through my purse. That’s presence of mind that can protect your life. (Obviously, you would NEVER practice shooting a gun AT a human being. There’s no such thing a dress rehearsal for that.) I’ve also practiced pulling my asp from its hiding place as well as being prepared with other defensive devices.

Secondly, much like the Pink Panther movies, my husband regularly gives me practice of self-defense by startling me around the house. I have learned not to scream, throw my hands up flailing, and back away. I’ve instead learned to instinctively to go into “fight” mode, rather than “flight” mode. As a preferred target of criminals, it’s critical that we hone our natural instincts. After seeing many a woman fight viciously to protect their own child, I’m convinced that we were not programmed to flake out and crumble in a confrontation.

Austin thieves caught on a webcam. Photo c/o austinist.com

We also have practiced and thoroughly discussed what will happen IF someone were to charge unwelcomed into our home, or even our bedroom, at night while we are sleeping. We have practiced our efforts many times so that we know where the firearms are, where the strongholds are, playing possum when appropriate, etc.

This is called training. You don’t need to go to boot camp to accomplish this level of skill and awareness. You simply need to create your own disciplined mental and some physical training scenarios to better prepare yourself.

As you hone your natural instincts and run through these kinds of real-life scenarios, you will find that you’ll surround yourself with a stronger sense of peace and confidence rather than “whatever happens, will happen.”

Copyright 2009 Women of Caliber and Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Women of Caliber and Kellene Bishop.

2nd Amendment Rights for Sale

By Kellene Bishop

Are your 2nd Amendment rights for sale? Photo c/o highdesert

Are your 2^nd Amendment rights for sale? If they were, would you sell them for as little as $10.50, $3.50 or even 99 cents? Well, there are sure a lot of us doing that right now as we give businesses who CLEARLY object to your 2^nd Amendment rights and yet provide you with NO alternative to protecting yourself in their environments. I’m sure that if you thought about it, you would refuse to give your business to those who actively provided criminals with drugs, cash, prostitutes, and other props they need for their crime sprees, right? Then why would you think of supporting these same businesses in providing criminals with pools of defenseless citizens as well? Drugs or defenseless citizenry. It’s all the same. It benefits the criminals and leaves the law-abiding citizens punished for a “crime” of honor and responsibility.

2^nd Amendment Rights for Sale: Case #1 — AMC, Cinemark and Regal Theaters. I noticed yesterday when I went to a matinee that they now post a sign on one of their entrance doors barring any firearms. Needless to say, I don’t care for the scenario of being in a dark, overcrowded room with people I don’t know, whose lack of consideration for others has depleted dramatically in years past. I’ve seen fist fights break out over something as simple as saved seats. In addition, each of these theaters have donated heavily to anti-gun campaigns. PAH=LEEZE. They have pimply faced teenagers in charge of “security” at these places. I don’t trust them to protect me and my family in any way shape, or form. I assure you if push comes to shove, they are the first ones hitting the deck to save their own bacon. And if the Supreme Court has ruled that even your local police department is under no obligation to protect the citizens, what makes you think that a non- living/breathing business entity will do so? (Oh, and if you need any more fodder, read my article on how the movie theaters have little regard for your health as well—flu season be damned.) In this case, your 2^nd Amendment rights are sold for the cost of a movie ticket.

You may want to check with the laws in your state. In some states it’s meaningless for a theater to post such a sign. In other states, such signs have some very strict criteria, i.e.: how big they have to be, where they have to be placed, etc. But I’m telling you. All of this garbage makes the dollar theaters and Netflix look a lot more attractive to me. 

Three Suspects in Attempted Murder at a Blockbuster Video in St. Petersburg, FL 2008

2^nd Amendment Rights for Sale: Case #2 — Blockbuster Video. Don’t be surprised if you see a sign posted on a Blockbuster Video also prohibiting you from entering their “private property” with a handgun. Regardless of whether you’re legally carrying it or not, they would prefer to only show violent movies instead of having you prevent violence in your family. Do a search on “Blockbuster Video shooting” and “Blockbuster Video Robbery” and see just how safe you may feel in this unconstitutionally established gun-free zone. Is your life really worth the price of renting a video? Folks, you can pay a buck to Red Box and not surrender your rights of self-defense. Heck, if you do a search for “Red Box Code” you can even get your movie for FREE! Surely your safety is worth more than the price of a 2-hour entertainment escape. Netflix and Red Box keep looking better and better, folks. “Announcing: 2^nd Amendment rights purchased for the cost of renting Cinderalla II.”

2^nd Amendment Rights for Sale: Case #3 — Google is vehemently committed to being anti-gun. (What do you really expect for a couple of guys who never had to pay a real price for success?) Google liberally allows an unbridled range of pornographic ads and also takes no responsibility for the veracity of their postings, but hey, when it comes to posting ads for the sale of guns OR ammunition, they draw the line. Wow. I’m sure their mothers are proud. Use the alternative search engines such as AskJeeves.com, Yahoo.com and Bing.com. Well Google, since you don’t verify the factuality of anything, allow me to point out to all of my readers that you are a BEHEMOTH contender when it comes to funding international anti-guns and anti-self-defense propaganda.

2^nd Amendment Rights for Sale: Case #4 — McDonalds. Not only does McDonalds refuse to use meat produced in the U.S. where it has significantly better health guidelines than the Grade D meat it purchases from South America, McDonalds is decidedly against you being able to defend yourself in the vicinity of one of their locations. This is quite disturbing to me since so many Americans are drawn to take a break at McDonalds along their long road travels throughout the U.S. I believe that when traveling long distances, one is especially vulnerable to criminal encounters and thus should indeed have the protection that the 2^nd Amendment ensures them. McDonald’s doesn’t stop at just publishing their anti-gun agenda. They also put their money where their mouths are and have donated over $500 million to anti-gun organizations over the last 15 years!! By the way, they also support many anti-hunting initiatives as well as anti-fishing. So much for thinking there’s REAL fish in the Filet-o-Fish fillets. Wouldn’t you rather support a local fast food place where you know they don’t have the money and power to buy tainted South American meat? I personally have fallen in love with a place near me called Emmett & Ethel’s. Not only is everything fresh, but they don’t even freeze their meats! The fish, the burgers, the fries, the hand-battered onion rings all make my mouth water. When is the last time McDonalds made YOUR mouth water? Really. Your 2^nd amendment rights are definitely worth more than the price of a Happy Meal.

There is a litany of many more businesses that I could address for you, but that’s not really the point of my article. My point is that if you care about your ability to defend yourself, check up on the businesses that you give your money to. Otherwise you’re unknowingly sending your money directly to the criminals and anti-gun groups. As for me, I refuse to PAY these kinds of businesses to take away my 2^nd Amendment rights. Let’s stop complaining about the government taxing us when we willingly allow these businesses to rape and pillage away our freedoms voluntarily.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

What YOU Can Do To Protect Others

By Kellene Bishop

This week I’ve been impressed with the power of what an individual can accomplish. It only took 2 people to completely annihilate a corrupt organization of ACORN that even high powered politicians wouldn’t/couldn’t do. Thomas Paine was one person who changed the face of our nation forever with nothing more than his desire to share his opinion with whoever would read it. I could go on and on with great examples of individuals who have literally made our world a much better place. 

I was surprised to discover recently that some women simply feel like they can’t defend themselves, by themselves. As a result, they are less inclined to try and learn the skills necessary to defend themselves effectively. The fact of the matter is, lives are saved by individuals every single day. Sure you hear of policemen, firemen, and single soldiers saving a life, but everyday citizens have the same joy of doing so as well. 

There’s a saying “Necessity is the mother of invention.” I find that true in my life frequently. I think some people just figure that they will protect themselves when the time comes without having to do anything now to prepare for it. However, it’s simply not true in that millisecond of panic, chaos and action—that moment which manifests the need for a life-saving or protecting of your own or someone else’s life. The good news is that lives are successfully protected when there is the proper mindset and some skills put into place before the scenario presents itself. And in most instances, a horrific confrontation is eliminated altogether because an easy, vulnerable mark has been transformed into a more difficult target and thus eliminated from the view of the prey. Knowledge and skill is responsible for that transformation. So please! GET SOME!

Are you an easy target? Photo c/o F.O.P. Range Inc.

Having the knowledge to protect yourself is not only realistic, it’s necessary—not so that you can successfully pull a gun and fire in the right moment, but so that you never have to. I may be under-tall, overweight, and out of shape, but in spite of portraying an otherwise “easy mark,” I can guarantee you that the confidence and skills I carry inside of me successfully deter uncommitted criminals on a regular basis. Let’s fact it. Criminals aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer. They are lazy by nature. Unfortunately there are far too many “easy targets” for them that risking their life or their “freedom” is just not worth it when they can choose between an aware and confident mark and an oblivious, sluggish one.

The other night I had just finished up an errand at a pharmacy that I went to out of convenience. I wouldn’t have necessarily picked this location for its safety, etc. But my GPS said that it was the closest one and I was trying to save some time in a city that was unfamiliar to me. This particular area has experienced a rash of Oxycodone robberies at pharmacies lately. I was sitting in my car checking through my purchases and a man caught my eyes. He was in his late-20s, wearing dark clothes, head shaved, with dark glasses (at 8:30 at night) and was carrying a heavy-laden backpack. He didn’t appear to be “student age” to me and to be perfectly honest, he just plain looked creepy. As he walked in front of my car, I didn’t alter my view in an attempt to not let him know I was looking at him. Instead, I looked him dead on when he noticed me, calmly, my head following his path of travel every step of the way. He looked me right in the eyes and smirked– a creepy sly look. I watched him as he proceeded to the door of the pharmacy, paused, looked over his shoulder at me, and then proceeded to walk past the door. I then decided to pull my car out, and drive around the back of the building to see what he was doing on the other side. To be honest, I drew my firearm as I was coming around the back of the building, just in case, keeping it low and in my lap. The guy hovered around the other side of the pharmacy building for a moment, and then walked in an exaggerated zig-zag fashion away from the pharmacy. I continued to watch him from my vehicle. And yes, he saw me. I watched him until he was a block away. Satisfied that nothing was going to happen at this pharmacy at that moment, I proceeded with my own schedule.

Now, let’s be honest here. I have NO idea what that was all about. It may have been about absolutely nothing. But it did leave a marked impression on me. After all, my gut was telling me something wasn’t right and I rarely have to have my gun “handy” in such a fashion. (On my hip is usually sufficient.) But here’s what I do know. If something HAD happened at that pharmacy, I would have been devastated to know that I just ignored the preliminary signs. Now I can look back and know that “my hands are clean” because I didn’t helplessly ignore something.

Aware and mentally prepared citizens protect others in our society every day. Will you?

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Safety in Your Car

By Kellene Bishop

Car jacking photo c/o freedomsphoenix.com

As a nation overall, we don’t walk much. Sure we walk to and from our cars, but usually we’re in the vehicles when we’re going somewhere. As a result, the poor criminals who would normally hold you up in the back alley are starving. So they’ve taken to the brazen act of holding people up in their cars, car jacking, and “bumping” cars in order to get someone out of their car for a more vulnerable attack. Some have even gone so far as to obtain red and blue flashing lights and make you think you’re being pulled over by law enforcement. As such, I feel it’s appropriate to give you some good advice to strengthen your safety in your car.

• Safety in Your Car Rule #1: Always keep sufficient room between you and the car in front of you when you’re stopped at a light or a stop sign. This way, if you have trouble come up to your window, you have an escape route. We are in such a habit of getting right on someone’s tail at a stop light. This simply boxes us in with extreme vulnerability in the event of an attempted hijack or robbery while you’re in your car.
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  9mm and 40 caliber bulletholes through a car door. Photo c/o gunfreezone.net/

  Safety in Your Car Rule #2: Have the firearm handy. Having your firearm in your purse or glove box is not going to do you a lick of good in defending yourself against a would-be robber at your car door. The best place is on your body on your front or side. Others have been successful putting it in a Velcro type holder right behind their steering wheel or attached to the front of their seat as well.  If you’re going to have the tools to protect yourself, you might as well have the access to these tools. Also, don’t be afraid to shoot through the door so long as you’re shooting a 9mm or higher caliber. If you need to shoot you don’t need to roll down the window. That would be a precious waste of time. May I suggest however, that you try to go to a junk yard where there are cars and get permission to shoot a firearm from the drivers seat in the car? The sound and experience is a bit more rattling that what you experience at the range, so it’s good to at least have experienced it on some level. (By all means, use your hearing protection. It will still give you an idea of what to expect should you need to shoot from within your car.)

• Safety in Your Car Rule #3: When you park your car, be aware of potential escape routes. I like to park my car where a simple jump on the pedal will take me to safety. If I’m parked facing the building I’m shopping at, that’s not possible. If you must park near the building, do so with the back of your car facing it, not your front.
• Safety in Your Car Rule #4: If you insist on storing your firearm in your purse, then when you are asked for your wallet, reach into your purse calm and coolly and then grip your firearm. Shoot it from within your purse aimed at your friendly neighborhood robber. Play it dumb. Play it vulnerable. Play it freaked out. But be conscious of what your purpose is—to get out alive and to not be taken to another location. Shooting from within your purse is easier when you have a revolver, but if you have a semi-auto, you will be able to get off at least one round. So make it count. This means that you may need to rethink WHERE you are stowing your firearm in your purse. If it’s in the little outside zipper that you have to dig into in order to retrieve your firearm, then it’s in the WRONG spot. Shoot, then get the heck out of there.

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  Photo c/o ehow.com

  Safety in Your Car Rule #5: When you’re pulled over, even by law enforcement, you have the right to feel and be safe. If you have any alarms going off in your head/gut, then you should NOT get out of the car, NOT roll down the window and NOT engage in a conversation until you have verified with a law enforcement source (via your telephone) that this person pulling you over is the real deal. Call 9-1-1 and verify that this person is who they say they are. Once you’ve dialed, tuck the phone under your chin and keep your hands visible on the wheel while you speak to the person on the phone, in order to show the officer that you are complying, you’re just being safe. Even while you’re dialing, keep the car in drive, and your foot on the brake, just in case this person is not who they are pretending to be. Just so you know, it’s HIGHLY unusual for a plain-clothes law enforcement officer to pull you over. You should always at least have the benefit of seeing a uniform. Just because you’re getting pulled over, doesn’t mean you should let down your guard.

• Safety in Your Car Rule #6: In the event that you think you are being followed, take 3 right hand turns. Ideally you will want to take 4 right hand turns so that you’re back in the original direction you were going. But if a car follows you after 3 right hand turns, you have undoubtedly confirmed that you are being followed and you should call the police or drive to the nearest police station. There have actually been quite a few instances in which driving to a local police station have saved someone’s life.
• Safety in Your Car Rule #7: Get in the habit of looking at your tires and your back seat each time you get into your car. You want to check for damage to your tires that may have been instigated in order to waylay you as perfect prey for a criminal and you want to make sure that you don’t have any hitchhikers in your vehicle. If you do see a tire problem or notice someone hiding in your car, go back to the safety of the building that you came out of and call the police or the towing company. Do I really need to tell you to always park in well-lit places too?

Hopefully these 7 points will get you thinking how you can be safer when traveling and using your car. I also hope that you may start looking around you in more circumstances and determine what you back-up self-defense plan is—just in case.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Does a Knife Constitute a Gun Fight?

By Kellene Bishop

Photo c/o bostondirtdogs.boston.com

In short, the answer is yes. I have received some e-mails over the past year from persons mistakenly believing that the defense should be in “like kind” of the attack—meaning that a fist should be fought back with a fist and a knife should be fought back with a knife. I don’t know whoever made up such a nonsensical rule. Is this some kind of a ridiculous gentleman’s rule or something? Does that mean that if I don’t have a knife that I’m not allowed to fight back? Such a thought process completely ignores the fact that the fist of a skilled, drug enraged man against a skinny 21-year-old female college student isn’t a weapon to be taken seriously. Even if such a “weapon” wasn’t backed up with sufficient skill and soberness, it can still end or dramatically alter a life. Additionally, what is your goal if you are attacked? To survive or to see if you got your money’s worth from that year of Tae Bo Kickboxing class?

In the world of self-defense, persons with “other” weapons are clearly underestimated. A knife is still dangerous and deadly even at a distance. Not simply because it can be hurled (which takes a great deal of skill not common even among the dark side of criminals) but because a person is capable of covering 21 feet in a deadly charge in only 1.5 seconds. 1.5 seconds. Can you even draw and shoot your firearm accurately enough to defend against such an attack? Well, if you can’t you need to practice so that you are adept. And most importantly, you need to assess every potential attack in one way and one way only. The good news is that a physical memory discipline of quick-draw and accurately shooting is easy to learn and permanently incorporate. Simply practicing with a brush, curling iron, or practice gun at your side for few minutes a day in a quick draw motion will help to incorporate such a response. The important thing is to practice a quality quick draw. Practicing a flawed system will not save your life. It will only ensure that you are expert at performing poorly.

Finally, when it comes to assessing a physical threat of any kind, there really is only one question you need to ask yourself. “Does this pose a viable threat against my life, health or that of another?” If the answer is yes, then point and shoot. “Fair fights” are for Hollywood. 

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Sitting Duck or Vital Community Member?

By Kellene Bishop

Coward in War illustration c/o sonofthesouth.net

Surely you’ve seen those movies in which a revolution, war, worthy rebellion, or fight for survival is going on and then the story introduces a cowardly sitting duck who actually puts the lives of everyone else at risk. Unfortunately, that’s a very accurate depiction of the makings of every part of our society. The apathetic cowards always compromise the safety of the strong who are willing to do what’s right. The results of such sitting ducks in our life are so repetitive; I wonder why we aren’t more diligent in watching out for the apathetic as much as we are the proactively evil? They are both threats to our safety.

I have attended the same chiropractor regularly for several years. Recently he and his wife have been open and even proactive in the idea of becoming better prepared to defend themselves and their children in the event of an emergency. Given that I teach physical and firearm self-defense, my chiropractor had encouraged me to post my Women of Caliber flyer and business cards on their Business Directory board which is in view of all of the waiting patients. In fact, the set up is such that, other than a magazine, it’s about the only thing to “entertain” patients during their waiting. Last week when I went into my appointment I discovered that someone had taken exception to my flyer and business cards and had removed them. I spoke to the chiropractor about it wondering if he had had second thoughts in such a marketing piece being present. He assured me that none of his staff would have done such and that it had to have been one of his patients.

So why do I tell you this story? Because I see the individual who removed my materials as one of those apathetic cowards. This is the profile of a person who would rather pray for their enemies in order to avoid conflict with them. While I’m definitely a praying kind of woman, I’ve found that I do better asking for a rope and a pair of hiking boots rather than asking for the mountain to be removed. I can’t change the behavior of others. And I firmly believe it’s a shuddering scaredy cat who refuses to believe that there are plenty of “others” who would do them harm if given the right circumstances. So, since I can’t control the actions of others, I choose to practice and be ready for my actions when harm comes to me.

A protective mother and her pup. animalphotos.info

I find this especially baffling when I speak with mothers, as it’s the mothers of young children who tend to be the most resistant to learning to effectively defend themselves. Women tend to be more peaceful in nature, and less likely to be confrontational—unless you threaten their children. And yet what good is a mother who’s all riled at a home invader when she’s lacking in any actual skills that would effectively protect her children?

I find it ironic that if it weren’t for all of the sitting ducks, there would be no need for vital community members to “save the day.” The sitting ducks present just as much prey for the criminals as food does to wild bears. If there were less sitting ducks in a community, then there would indeed be less crime and less need for firearm defense.

Ironically it’s the people who leave their doors unlocked, their purses on the front seat, their garages wide open, and walk around unaware who are the same people that tend to take offense at messages that Women of Caliber dispense. Yup, the cowards fuel the evil. It’s a good thing there are a few of us vital community members to still come around and save your apathetic fannies.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

The Bourne Self-Defense

By Kellene Bishop

I have to admit it. I love the Jason Bourne movies. There’s one scene in one of Bourne movies in which Jason Bourne rolls up a magazine and uses it to beat the crud out of someone. There’s another in which he uses a simple pen to cause pain and agony. Implausible you say? It only happens in the movies? Nope. The magazine/newspaper and pen are viable weapons of self-defense even if you’re not a highly trained operative.

My 50 Caliber Round Pen. Photo by Women of Caliber

Bourne Self-Defense Method #1: The Pen. Ideally you want a to have a pen on hand that is sturdy and that won’t hurt your own hand in the event you need to use it as a weapon of self-defense. I lucked out with my standard pen. I was at a sporting goods show and lo and behold, someone was selling pens made out of 50 caliber rounds. It was heavy, sturdy, and I could comfortably hold it in a self-defense grip. A proper self-defense grip is one in which you can grip the pen with your palm spreading over the pen and your thumb placed at the dull end of the pen. This gives you appropriate thrusting and jabbing leverage. This is also the proper way to hold a knife if you need to use that as a weapon of self-defense. (See below) You do not want to hold a pen (or a knife, fork, or other like weapon the same way you would hold it if you were handing it to someone. You want a firm grip on it with the ability to stab and jab with it if necessary. One might laugh to see me shop for pens nowadays.  I don’t put them in my hand in a writing position.  I initially put them in a “Bourne self-defense” position first.  How it writes is secondary to me. (I have to admit that I hope after reading this that you’ll never select a pen the same way again. )

The proper Bourne self-defense pen stance. Photo c/o Women of Caliber

Bourne Self-Defense Method #2: Magazine/newspaper. The key to being able to use a magazine or a newspaper as an effective self-defense weapon is to roll it exactly as you see Jason Bourne do in the movie. Roll it nice and tight. Doing so enables it to become a good tool for jabbing. You’ll want to jab at the jugular, eye, vital vein in the arm or thigh. No, you won’t get very far using a magazine or newspaper as a “bat” to pummel someone with. By rolling it tightly you’re enabling it to withstand the pressure that you will impose using it as a jabbing and stabbing tool against soft and vulnerable tissues.

Bourne Self-Defense with a Magazine

Grant it, both of these self-defense tactics presume that you’re not carrying a firearm on you. Obviously, a firearm will provide you with the most effective self-defense of distance and speed. But a firearm may not always be available, such as when you’re in a “gun free zone.” I’m not really sure why Jason Bourne didn’t have a gun on him at the time he needed to use a magazine. But it made for a great part in the movie.

I recommend that you practice turning the pen into a self-defense position periodically. I also recommend that you practice rolling up a magazine quickly. And may you never view a writing utensil or fashion magazine the same way again.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

A Time to Squelch an “Opposing View”

By Kellene Bishop

Today I briefly endured a ridiculous article talking about how some people were un-American for rattling off their opposing views about the proposed health care changes, and other critical issues. (Click here for the article) Pelosi and others have whined that they aren’t even given a chance to share their views on these topics, as they have repeatedly been shut down by folks who don’t want to listen to what they have to say. Why is that, one may ask?

Well, I believe it falls in line with the same reasons why I don’t rationalize and have a conversation with a criminal. There are times when it’s plainly obvious that your life and livelihood are in danger, at which point you don’t offer tea and crumpets to the perpetrator. You take action to defend yourself and your values immediately, lest you act too late. In my opinion, this is a serious problem occuring in America both politically and physically. In the name of “decency” we are trying to rationalize with imminent threats all around us. Lives have literally been lost in this process. And certainly freedoms have been sacrificed.

Let’s put it this way. A would-be rapist definitely has an opposing view from mine. This would definitely be a view that I should have no hesitation in squelching. No, I shouldn’t converse with him. No, I shouldn’t let him get his point across. I should indeed stand up for everything good, free, and virtuous within me and stop the threat, period. I believe that fighting for one’s freedom is the most American thing one can do, even if it means not permitting the would-be perpetrator to have their say. When it comes to this kind of danger, both physically and politically, I’d say political correctness has lost its purpose.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.