Are You Prey for a Rapist? Part II of II

By Kellene Bishop

Continuation from Are You Prey for a Rapist Part I from yesterday…

If you do have to encounter an assailant up close and personal, make your hits count.  Most women go for the groin first and foremost, but understand that every would-be rapist is very familiar with this “knee-jerk reaction” and prepared to thwart it. 

• My first physical shot, if necessary, would be a solid hit to the throat where the likelihood of collapsing his windpipe is high.  At the very least, he will be distracted long enough for me to make my next move.  
• Next move, is right between the eyes on the bridge of the nose.  Such a strike will stun them and cause their eyes to naturally pool with blood.  This will impair their vision. 
• THEN I do a hit to the groin.  Understand that you’re not hitting the groin as a sign of disregard for their manliness.  This particular hit is connected to the core of their senses, especially when they are heightened with rage or arousal!  It will debilitate them and can even kill them.  No matter.  Make the hit count.  Regardless of how fit they are, each of these strategies aims for a vulnerable spot that even the “Terminator” can’t easily absorb.

I’ve heard instructions from other “experts” to pinch the under arm as hard as you can between the elbow and the arm pit.  That can work well on someone who does not have strongly defined biceps.  However, if they have defined muscles, you will have wasted your energy and just made them mad.

I also highly recommend that women practice the leg sweep defense:

1. Lay on your back.  Have someone get on top of you resembling the rapist.  Most rapists will have their hands on your throat or mouth until at one critical point in which they will only have one hand there.  Have your helper put their hand on your neck as if to strangle or prevent movement.



2. (At some point they will HAVE to reach for their offensive body part, belt buckle, or something else.)  At this moment you want to grab his wrist with both of your hands. (It’s a natural reaction, so hopefully you won’t have to think twice about doing this.)
3. Then bring up your leg that is on the same side of your body as his hand/arm is.  Cross your leg in front of their neck to the opposite side of his head and then pull them down towards the direction of their arm.  (If you’re using the left leg, pull them down to the left.  If you’re using the right leg, pull them down to the right.)  You’ll be surprised just how strong your thigh muscles are.  Do this quickly and without hesitation. 



4. Be sure to bring the leg directly across your body.  They will have to flip on their back and will be at approximately your 3 o’clock or 9 o’clock position.  Your leg will be directly across their neck, thus inhibiting air flow.



5. While you are flipping them on their back, keep their arm extended, in your grasp, and tightly in between your breastplate. 



6. Once they are flipped over, slide over as fast as possible so that your groin is planted just under their shoulder and your other leg is across their chest.  You will then be perpendicular to them.



7. Keep their arm close to your chest and then raise your pelvic area for all it’s worth.  (I couldn’t do this in the picture or else I would have broken my husband’s arm.) 

The power is not in the legs.  It’s not in the arm hold.  It’s in the pelvic raise right under their shoulder.  This will break their arm indubitably. Yes, keep your legs strong on their neck and chest, and yes, keep your grip on their arm firm.  But remember, that the key is for you to be squarely under their shoulder with your pelvic area. A little goes a long way with this move so don’t worry about your back strength. Between the broken arm and accompanying pain as well as the lack of air supply you will have defeated your assailant sufficiently for you to get help, get your gun, or at best—get away.

Here’s the most important part of this exercise though—putting yourself in a position in which someone is on top of you with their hand to your throat and you having an exit strategy.  If you will do this, the likelihood of your surviving a rape attempt goes up NINETY percent, simply because you have done the necessary mental exercise to NOT be defeated.  (By the way, when practicing this at home, please be careful of the pelvic lift. You WILL break someone’s arm. When my husband and I practice this, I raise gently until he “taps out” with his other hand letting me know I’ve caused him sufficient pain.)

So in a nutshell, be aware, be ready, and be armed with the right tools of self-defense.  Let’s stop showing these blankety-blank cowards that we’re easy marks.

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

Are You Prey for a Rapist? Part I of II

By Kellene Bishop

I’m going to share with you some traits that rape predators look for in an ideal target and how you can counter their efforts.  This is NOT an all inclusive summary, it’s merely a highlight of a few of the considerations I teach in my Women of Caliber self-defense course.  Understand that my pointing out a physical trait does not mean to say that you should alter your dress or hair, etc.  But you should indeed be sure that if you posses some of these traits that by arming yourself with the knowledge and the tools to successfully fend off an assault, you eliminate all odds of you being raped. 

1. 

   Photo c/o stalecoffee.blogspot.com/

   You are a target to a rapist if you have long hair, a pony tail, or some way for the psychopath to control the rest of your body by pulling your head.  If your hair can easily be grabbed, you pose as an ideal target.  Now, here are the facts of things.  I refuse to change my personal appearance just because there are scum bags out there.  I won’t let them intrude on my freedoms in this manner for one minute.  This is why I also exercise my freedom to be armed with a suitable firearm and other weapons that are easily accessible to me.  While they are pulling my hair, I’m pulling my firearm from my side or belly holster—end of story.  

2. Your clothing makes an ideal target if it is easily removable.  Some rapists even carry scissors to aid them in this effort.  Again, dress as you will, but if you’re going to wear something that will pop off with the flick of a finger, I suggest you either quickly become a master sumo wrestler or you become familiar with flicking YOUR finger on a ready trigger. Also, keep in mind that involuntary nudity really disrupts a woman’s ability to think clearly.  Don’t worry though.  You don’t have to practice random acts of public nudity to become immune to this vulnerability.  Simply putting your mind through a legitimate mental exercise of what you will do if your clothes are violently removed from you is a HUGE asset.  Most women forbid themselves to even think of such a thing.  As a result, their mind turns off if it happens.  This is NOT what you want to have happen.  Stay focused on your rehearsed self-defense and determination and not on the spontaneous breach of modesty and you will very likely survive mostly unscathed.

3. 

   Photo c/o smarthome.com

   Do NOT disengage from your environment.  Rapists look for women who are on their cell phones, walking, loaded down with bags, etc.  Such women are typically disengaged from their surroundings.  Not only can you not afford such a state of cluelessness for your own safety, but you’re useless to helping others as well if you indulge in this manner.  This isn’t about being paranoid.  This is about being aware.  I never get into my car absentmindedly.  I carry my keys with my hand ready on the trigger of my red-dyed pepper spray.  I am aware and ready.  If I’m going to be on the cell phone, I’m still mindful of my surroundings—to the point that my friends and family ask that I call them back when I can be focused on THEIR conversation.  A quick chit chat is not worth my safety and they know and respect that.  I never go out to my car at night or walk the dogs mentally disengaged.  I’m particularly focused when I’m in a parking lot of ANY kind, day or night.  While most reported rapes occur between 3:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., it doesn’t diminish my level of awareness at high noon.  Any person aware of their surroundings also comes across as a confident, ready woman.  Shallow useless excuses of a man are always repulsed by such an image.  

4. Remember, rapists are cowards.  They are specifically preying on what they deem to be an EASY target.  As such, the majority of them do NOT have a gun on them (only 2%). Of those that do carry a gun or any other kind of a weapon, they rarely expect to have to use it as they rarely expect a woman to be armed with anything more significant than a random right hook or pepper spray, let alone the knowledge, skill, and willingness to USE a weapon.  Statistically assailants will give up and flee when confronted with a determined fight.Do NOT fall for the ridiculous notion that submission is safer.  It’s not.  Even if you aren’t killed during a rape, do you really want to end up pregnant with the child of a rapist?  Do you really want to have to corrupt every intimate relationship you will have thereafter because of the rape?  Regardless of your moral standing, I assure you that a rape is NEVER just sex.  It’s violent.  It’s a nightmare that will take superhuman strength to heal from.  I’d much rather use my superhuman strength to prevent a rape than to have to heal from such an incident throughout the rest of my life—wouldn’t you?

5. 

   Photo c/o Getty Image

   When you’re fighting for your life, 5 minutes can seem like forever.  One of the exercises I highly recommend you doing is to punch at a pillow, mattress, dummy, or punching bag non-stop with all the fiery will you can muster for an entire timed five minutes.  Keep the fighting at a high, fevered pace.  Work up to this if you have to.  Most women are not accustomed to such a workout.  Sure women can run for 6 miles without so much as a sweat, but fighting for their lives with arms and feet moving feverishly for 5 minutes is a whole other matter.

Part II of II in the “Are You Prey for a Rapist” series requires some specific instructions and some photos to aid in that effort.  So tune in tomorrow to learn of a highly effective exercise and defense method for you to use in rape prevention!

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

Firearm Security for Women

By Kellene Bishop

Many women ask me “is it really necessary for me to carry a gun?”  My answer is always an emphatic “YES!” backed by some important statistics.

Photo c/o Hans Neleman/Stone/Getty Images

1)     Surely the prevention of over 2.5 million crimes a year (which equals 6,849 crimes everyday) is compelling enough to believe that you would benefit as well.  (Targeting Guns, Dr. Gary Kleck, Criminologist, Florida State University, 1997)  There is not a city in this nation that is impervious to crime with the exception of Kennesaw, GA which passed a required gun ownership law.  As a result, residential burglaries dropped 89% the following year!  Even then, petty theft and other minor crimes are still prevalent.  So please do not make the mistake of believing that you live “in a safe neighborhood.”  While your neighbors may be perfectly wonderful, you must admit that we live in a technologically advanced world where most people, even criminals, possess transportation and thus the means to infiltrate your world of serenity.  🙂  My point being is that no community is so safe that one can believe that they will never have the need to defend themselves against a violent crime.  

2)     Even criminals take the presence of a firearm seriously.  More specifically, everyday 550 rapes, 1,100 murders, and 5,200 other violent crimes are prevented simply by the presence of a firearm.  In less that 0.9% of these instances is the gun ever fired. (National Crime Victimization Survey, 2000, Bureau of Justice Statistics, BATF estimates on handgun supply)

3)     You have the right not only to protect your life and the lives of your loved ones, but also your PROPERTY.  The increasing number of individuals having legal access to a firearm, either in their home or on their person has been slowing down the property crime rate.  It has decreased in direct proportion to the increase in the number of legal handgun ownership.  (Ibid) 

Photo c/o dailymail.co.uk

4)     Keep in mind that overall, criminals are parasites, not predators.  Parasites look for lazy, free rides.  They are not inclined to go out of their way to get what they want.  There are too many risk-free ways for them to pillage without risking getting shot.  So if you look confident, secure, and serious that you’re going to take care of yourself, you will usually be able to deflect an assault or otherwise criminal incident.  I have yet to encounter a woman who carries a firearm and knows how to use it who appears timid, shy, and as an easy target.  Firearm self-defense is simply “magical” that way.  *wink*  Just a couple of other tips, lock your doors (in your cars and in your homes) and stop leaving your garage doors open, even for a moment.  Such mindless exposure marks you as an easy target to a criminal.  I recently observed a woman who went into a hair salon to chat for just a moment.  The problem was she did so while letting her Jaguar run with several shopping bags sitting in plain site in the back seat.  (This is a perfect example of what I call “Dumb Squared.”)   Ridiculous!  (To be harsh, I know, I caught myself thinking women like that need a good scare to bring themselves back out of their fantasy land.  Yes, I admit that I was SO tempted to get in and move her car to another location in the parking lot.  I refrained even though I rationalized to myself that my moving the car would be a lot safer for her than some criminal hiding in the back of it waiting for his prey.)

5)     Women wield a substantially more significant result of safety when carrying a firearm than men do.  Here’s why.  The majority of rape, robbery, mugging, and other types of assault crimes are committed upon women.  Women are perceived as being an easy target.  The number one reason is simply because a man is typically stronger than a woman and she can easily be overpowered by his strength combined with the element of surprise and fear.  BUT… a woman who is armed with a firearm and possesses the knowledge of how to use it in a moment of self-defense is 3-4 times more likely to prevent a murder or a woman, as opposed to a man possessing a handgun.  (More Guns, Less Crime, John Lott, Sr. Research Analyst) Logic dictates that since women are the more likely targets of crime, then if women were to prevent crimes against themselves, a drop in the crime rate would inevitably follow.  When a woman was armed with a gun or a knife during an attempted rape, only 3% of the rapes actually were completed.  (U.S. Department of Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, Rape Victimization in 26 American Cities, 1979)

6)     Possessing a firearm statistically provides you with an immediate upper-hand in face of a criminal confrontation.  It’s actually a myth that the majority of violent crimes are committed with a gun.  In fact, 90% of all crimes do not involve a firearm of any kind.  (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, 1998)  Even when the person committing a crime did have possession of a firearm, 83% of them did not use the gun in commission of the crime.  (FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1994)  These two facts show you that you indeed have the high ground when possessed with the knowledge and the tools to defend yourself.

7)     Firearms used in self-defense most certainly save lives.  Of the 2,500,000 crimes that are prevented annually, 15.6% of the people who used them defensively stated that they “certainly saved lives” by doing so.  (National Crime Victimization Survey, 1979-1985)

Photo c/o habby0123

8)     You need not believe that owning or having access to a firearm makes you a lesser person.  While it’s not readily discussed by women, the facts are that 41.7% of women either own or have rapid access to a gun.  28.5% of women have a gun in the house.  (Smith. T; 2001 National Gun Policy Survey of the Nation Opinion Research Center; Research Findings. University of Chicago, Dec. 2001) Now all we need is for women to become more proficient with these valuable tools and increase that number to at least 90%. 

So, to answer your question, “Is a gun really necessary?”  I say the facts support such a necessity to carry a firearm.  Just be sure you do so also armed with the knowledge and mental preparation of how to use it as well.  For training availability specifically for women, taught by women, go to www.womenofcaliber.com.

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

Ready or Not

By Kellene Bishop

When I was still learning of the importance of the use of a firearm for self-defense, I attempted to take my proactive self-defense steps in teeny-tiny degrees—much like trying to ease myself into an ice cold lake on a hot summer’s day.  I’m sure that many women can relate to these steps.  You know:

• First shoot a firearm a couple times, only to immediately relinquish the scary thing back into the hands of someone else when you’re finished. 
• Then get your concealed carry permit, but that’s it. 
• Next, perhaps owning a firearm, but store it away, unloaded.  Then actually owning bullets.  (Yup—as crazy as it sounds, for some that’s actually a completely separate step.)  
• Then practicing with your firearm a couple of times.  And then, maybe, keeping it LOADED in a safe, with a trigger lock. 
• Then, getting comfortable enough to carry it in the car, unloaded, with the rounds close by.  
• And then perhaps the gun migrates to your purse, still unloaded. 
• Then, the next step (and final for some) in self-defense is to actually carry the gun, loaded, in your purse.  
• And then there’s the ultimate step typically thought to be taken only by zealots—actually carrying the loaded firearm on your person.  (I hear some folks waffle about whether or not they carry with bullet in the chamber.) 

Ultimately, these steps are necessary for many people—male and female—in order for them to gradually become mentally comfortable with the possession of a loaded firearm on them in such a way that it would be most effective for self-defense.  And I would never discount the merits of such steps for the mental strength of a gun owner. However, in an effort to get you to your ideal state of self-defense preparedness, I’d like to point out a couple of critical considerations.

Contrary to what you may see in the movies, it’s not likely that you will have a lot of time in a confrontation with an aggressor to stall, get your gun, load it, and then use it for self-defense.  (Even less likely is for you to be able to convince the aggressor to “get in your sites, pretty please.”)  As I’m sure the rational part of your mind will tell you, criminals use the element of surprise, combined with their disregard for human life and safety, to their benefit.  Criminals don’t intend to give you warning.  They don’t intend to allow you to defend yourself.  With that in mind, expecting that you’ll be able to even load a magazine in your firearm fast enough to use it defensively is wishful thinking.

If you believe that you need a firearm for self-defense (and I pray to God that you do realize this at some level) then you need to be sure that your actions do not disable this valuable tool with faulty logic or rationale watered down by emotion.

Perhaps some of you remember the horrific multiple victim shooting which took place in Killeen, Texas at a Luby’s restaurant.  One of the women in that shooting reports losing her parents in the shooting because she had failed to have her firearm on her person that day.  Instead, it was sitting out inefficiently in her car (due to state laws at that time).  She was helpless to fight back, even though she was in a perfect strategic position to do so otherwise.  

The key aspect in this account is that the woman wasn’t in a dark alley, or alone on the streets late at night.  She was in a public, family restaurant enjoying a meal with her family.  But the accessibility of her means of self-defense was out of reach. 

The police did not arrive until long after 23 individuals were killed and several more wounded.  The police didn’t stop the gunman, rather he committed suicide.  Out of a jam-packed restaurant, no one was prepared to stop this madman. 

When my husband was teaching me the need to be ready with a firearm in the event that I needed to use it for self-defense, he orchestrated an example.  He provided me with a practice gun and a magazine clip to go with it.  He then walked to the other side of the room, and told me that he was going to pull his practice gun on me at the count of “three.”  Even though I was proficient with the practice gun and how to load it, AND I had the practice gun in one hand with the clip in the other (where it most certainly would NOT be if I was surprised by an attacker) and KNOWING what was going to happen didn’t make a difference.  I couldn’t load that firearm, cock it, and prepare to shoot prior to my husband lifting his shirt, pulling his gun and pulling the trigger.  Repeatedly we did this exercise, and no matter how “ready” I was, I couldn’t load the firearm fast enough.  After that exercise I realized the need to be prepared at all times to use my firearm immediately if my life, or someone else’s, was threatened.  (Warning: Please don’t try this exercise with real firearms.)  

Photo c/o concealedcarrypursestore.com

This moment was a huge shift in my feelings about being ready with a loaded firearm on my person at all times.  I also realized that a firearm on my person was a lot safer than leaving it in my purse, where I didn’t always have access to it while visiting a friend or at a family gathering, where prying little hands might get ahold of it.  I also realized that if I was going to take the responsibility to use a firearm, I needed to also take the responsibility of being proficient and skillful with that firearm as well.  Consequently, my practice time increased dramatically, and as a result, my concerns of having a loaded firearm subsided with the newly acquired skills.  I also had peace of mind knowing that I would never wonder “what if” in the event my life did encounter a moment in which I could have acted to save someone else or my own life “if only I had been ready, truly ready, to fire.”

As such, I not only practice shooting the firearm, but I also practice lifting up my clothing expeditiously so that I can get to my firearm.  I practice rotating the firearm from the holster towards my target.  I practice exactly when my finger goes on the trigger.  I even practice shooting from my hip as opposed to extended in front of me.  I practice shooting one handed.  I practice shooting with my weak hand, in the event that’s the only angle I have available to me while maintaining appropriate cover.  And lastly, I even practice a quick magazine change as well.  I decided a while ago that I wasn’t going to let what’s portrayed in movies, on television, or the evil that lurks in men’s hearts frighten me from being truly prepared to defend myself, my loved ones, my nation–because then the “bad guys” have already won.   

So, for the record, yes, I carry my firearm on my person anywhere it is legal to do so.  Yes, I carry it fully loaded WITH one in the chamber.  I don’t indulge in a mechanical safety to disengage (as I carry a Glock).  I have made all of these personal decisions so that if an occasion arises in which I need to pull out the firearm, I can use it precisely for what it was intended—to save a life—and never have to live with the regret that I could have done better. 

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.

You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

High School Football—A Terrorist Threat

By Kellene Bishop, Women of Caliber

beware the football, lying in wait to attack!

Between the fall of 1997 and the spring of 2002, FIFTY-THREE high school students were KILLED playing high school football.  (National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, Feb. 2001)  The lives of the spectators and the fellow students of these players will never be the same.  And I want something done to make sure that such needless deaths never happen again. Fifty-three deaths!  Where is the outrage?!  Where’s 20/20 or 60 Minutes when you really need them to shed light on a problem?  Why can’t we have Football Free Zones?!  Something must be done to STOP these needless football playing deaths.  In fact, I think that the schools should all adopt a strict “no play zone” policy.  Someone could poke an eye out with one of those footballs, or choke on it.  A teacher could be emotionally and physically harmed for life if a student hit them with a football!  If you see someone drawing a picture of a football, I don’t care if it’s a fifth grader in St. Petersburg, FL, that person should be arrested.  If a drawing of a football is used at school, even if it’s two eight-year olds, they should be have criminal charges filed against them and be considered a terrorist threat.  If a child is caught pretending to throw a football, they should be charged with felonious assault.  Take down those pictures of football players and coaches!  Stop glorifying them.  These types of activities KILL KIDS!  And if they get caught with a Nerf ball on school property—that’s just unacceptable.  Such a criminal should be jailed in Fort Meyers, FL—I don’t care if they ARE a National Merit Scholar.  There should be an aggressive and zero tolerance policy to this kind of extreme in order to ensure that no such football players are ever killed playing football again.  In fact, this problem is so pervasive, I demand that the National Education Association offer a FREE $150,000 insurance policy to be paid in the event that a teacher ever dies from a football incident. 

 

No.  I haven’t lost my mind.  “They” have lost theirs.  And the previous paragraph will point out to you just how extremely off-base they are.

Between the fall of 1997 and the spring of 2002, 32 students were killed by an incident involving a gun at an elementary or secondary school.  (National School Safety Center)  This total includes gang-related activities, crimes committed on school properties (even after hours), shooting accidents, as well as the highly publicized school shooting incidences.  During this same period of time there were over 128 million children enrolled in such schools.  This equates to 1 death per 4 million students.

During this same research period, four teachers were shot and killed at these same types of schools.  (National School Safety Center)  That equivocates to 1 teacher shot and killed per 3.3 million teachers. 

It’s interesting to note that in 2001, that yes, The National Education Association did indeed offer all of its members a FREE $150,000 death policy, payable only under such circumstances.  (San Diego Union-Tribune, July 28, 2001)  Hmmm…  Of course it was free.  The likelihood of it happening is 1 in 3.3 million!  But you can bet that the press didn’t give you those statistics, did they?

Why have they done so much to attempt to curb the deaths of children from school shootings, but have done nothing to alert them to a situation which takes the lives of more children than “school shootings” do?  We have gun free zones to avoid school shootings, why don’t we have “football free zones” as well?  The sickening aspect is just how extreme the schools have gone to punish the very non-infractions that I used to illustrate my point in the first paragraph.

• A fifth-grade in St. Petersburg, FL was indeed arrested for drawing a picture of “weapons.”
• A National Merit Scholar student was jailed in Ft. Meyers, FL because a dull kitchen knife was found under her car seat—it was dropped while her family was moving from one apartment to another.
• Two eight-year olds had criminal charges filed against them and were identified as “terrorist threats” in Irvington, New Jersey for playing cops and robbers with a paper gun.
• A seven-year old was charged with three counts of felonious assault for pointing a toy gun at three other children during recess in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Ann Arbor News 2)
• Elementary students throughout Texas and Louisiana have been suspended for pointing pencils and saying “pow” and have forbidden the children from drawing pictures of soldiers.
• School libraries throughout the U.S. have even removed references to the military.

See: http://opinionjournal.com/extra/?id-95000486, and Chicago Sun-Times, June 20, 2001, and NBC Saturday Today, NBC News Transcripts, May 26, 2002

Instead of criminalizing children for being children, schools should participate in sound measures of gun safety education and the U.S. Constitutional Amendments.  No wait.  Sorry.  I must have left the earth for a moment there to even make such a suggestion.  I forgot that education in schools is reserved for gay marriages, abortion, and the use of contraceptives. 

Any death of a child, young or teen, is tragic.  For those who have lost a child to ANY death is unacceptable, of course.  Emotionally speaking, I feel that homicide is an even more difficult death to accept in these cases.  Any death or harm of a child that can logically be prevented, should indeed be prevented.  I’m a huge advocate of seat belts, car seats, and adults not exposing their children to second-hand smoke.  To me, these methods pass the “stupid test” in my book.  Meaning, they are just plain stupid NOT to employ.  And while seat belts and car seats may have been known to even cause the occasional death of a child, but they are logical. However, the media harping on school shootings as if they are the ultimate killer of the children in our world is mal-practice in its truest sense.  It’s fear-mongering.  It’s a dissemination of false information and it prevents responsible parents from focusing on the true dangers in our midst. 

Conservatively speaking 2,000 of our nations children are sexually assaulted by illegal immigrants—EVERY year, and yet we can’t seem to instill an “illegal immigrant free zone” in our nation. (http://www.newswithviews.com/Kouri/jim94.htm)  

On average, over 1,700 children die every year as the result of a drunk driver, and yet mandatory accountability for such actions is minimalistic and seriously flawed. (http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html)  

Four percent of all pregnant women use illicit drugs and extreme amounts of alcohol, and yet there is absolutely no accountability for such actions.   (http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1169.asp)

These are just a few examples of genuine threats to our children. Fight the real enemy, folks, not a fictitious enemy that the media and some government officials perpetuate in order to accomplish other horrible agendas.  

May you be victorious in your REAL battles.

Kellene

 

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.

You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

 

Another Significant Victory for the 2nd Amendment

By Kellene Bishop, Women of Caliber

 

Did you think that the ruling in favor of D.C. residents of legally possessing handguns was simply a fluke?  Think again.  If you’re in favor of the 2^nd Amendment being honored throughout this nation, then you have reason to shout and holler with happiness!  In an otherwise highly liberal court, the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals in California has ruled to enforce the 2^nd Amendment!  Woo hoo!  This is a significant development, folks.  Take a moment to bask in good news.  

 

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=95767

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.

You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Countless Government Officials Guilty of Child Endangerment!

By Kellene Bishop, Women of Caliber

 

When you’re finished reading this piece, I hope that you will see how numerous of our government officials AND the majority of our journalists are actually guilty of premeditated child endangerment in our nation. 

 

Don’t you HATE being manipulated?  I don’t know about you, but I LOATHE being manipulated.  So much so that when I’m watching a live presentation and I can tell that I’m being manipulated to laugh or clap or holler at a particular moment, I obstinately refuse to be a “joiner.”  To me, manipulation is right up there with spewing “bold-face” lies.  Such actions are disingenuous, and in my not-so-humble opinion, when such manipulated efforts are perpetrated by a government or otherwise trusted “officials”, it’s worse than just a lie.  It’s an act of treason which is intended to strip me of my freedoms and security.  So how would you like to discover that countless attempts are shot at you regularly to manipulate how you raise your children, and in doing so are actually putting your children at a significant danger?  Yup.  Now “Dem’s Fighting Words, Bubba!”  

Welcome to the relationship our international media has with guns.  Their motives are unfathomable to me, but they clearly reek of a subservience, minion-like attitude of one who is serving a tyrannical king.  (Makes me wonder why so much blood has been spilt so that these journalists can have the right of free press, when they clearly do not use such a right freely.)  While horrific criminals are being let off Scott free for premeditated murder of children, child abuse, child endangerment, and child slavery, our very own media is in love with manipulating our nation’s parents in their views and education of their children about firearms.  IF firearms are a danger to the lives of children, then they are sounding a much needed warning cry.  However, IF firearms are actually an effective means of protecting ourselves and our children, then such manipulation is a terrorist act, in my opinion.  In such a case, here’s the real crime—the protection and safety of our children should be the number one priority of every single parent in America.  Such instincts to protect the children are even remarkably innate in non-parents as well.  And IF a firearm can actually ensure that an added measure of safety and security is available for our children, then anyone who would desire to eliminate such a tool is an enemy to my children, the future security of my country, and thus a terrorist enemy to me.  

 

If right now, you cringe at the thought of possessing a firearm in your home or on your persons out of fear that a child may be harmed by it accidentally, then you have indeed fallen prey to this criminal campaign.  Here’s why.

 

Crime #1—How the government statistics define “children.”  Since the anti-gun proponents frequently use images of young children to ensure the proper emotional reaction to firearm accident statistics, it’s important to understand how such research studies define a child.  Are you ready?  According to the majority of all gun and children related accidents a child is defined as the age of 0 to 20 and even as old as TWENTY-FOUR years old, depending on the source.  That’s right.  Junior who has joined a gang at the age of 18 and is 35 times more likely to be shot as a result of such gang-relations is blatantly used to skew the statistics of the “children and guns” movement of the anti-gunners.  Why is this the case?  For the very reason that I used in my example.  Gang related deaths are numerous.  And unfortunately it’s common for teens to be involved in gangs, thus they are involved in gang related shootings. 

 

“Most violent crime is committed by males ages 16-24, so these numbers include adult gang members dying during criminal activity.” (FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1997)

 “18-20 year olds commit over 23% of all gun murders.” (U.S. Treasury and Justice Dept. Report, 1999)  None of these “children” are allowed to purchase a handgun due to their age under current law.

And don’t forget the fact that some of these “children” are fighting over in Iraq or Afghanistan right now.  The clear motivation with this stretched definition of what constitutes a child is that the anti-gun individuals will have a more suitably intimidating statistic of “children involved in gun related deaths” to influence society with.  Don’t believe that these statistics are defined this way?  Here’s just one direct quote from Handgun Control, Inc., a blatantly anti-gun organization.

The annual review of mortality data, published by the Department of Health and Human Services, said gun-related deaths dropped from 4,223 in 1997 to 3,792 among children under age 20 in 1998.” -Handgun Control, Inc. (emphasis added.)

In actuality, 142 children ranging in age from 0 to 14 were killed as the result of a gun.  That does not imply that 142 deaths of any age is acceptable, but do you really think that the media and government officials would get the emotional result from you they desired if they instead stated “Out of over 300 million guns held legally nationwide among over 15 million children under the age of 14, 142 were killed in 1997.”  Yeah.  It lacks the “pow” effect that they believe they can accomplish with the other so-called statistic.  It’s a far cry from the 4,223  or 3,792 number, now isn’t it?  Do you feel manipulated yet?  Don’t worry if you don’t.  I’ve got more.

Crime #2—Blatant Media Bias on the Reporting of Children and Gun Incidents: When you see a news report on a child killed with a gun, pay attention to how many times such a report is run compared to any other news piece, and pay attention to the pictures which are associated with such an instance.  When individuals are killed in an airplane crash, what does the media attempt to do after such a report?  They predictably follow up the story with statistics on overall safety record of flying, attempting to allay any fears the viewers/readers may have about flying.  Have you EVER read a news article that ever attempted to convey the facts about the SAFETY and BENEFITS of guns in our nation?

During 2001, John Lott, Sr., Research Scholar of the School of Law at Yale University, audited the 3 major news networks.  During that year there were over 190,000 words of coverage dedicated to gun crimes.  However, only 580 total words were devoted to the merits of owning a gun for self-defense, and even that occurred as the result of ONE network interviewing a police office who helped stop a school shooting.

In 1999, Newsweek did a special issue of “American Under the Gun.”  There were over 15,000 words spewed in an attempt to bias the dangers of gun ownership and not one single word sharing statistics of the use of guns in self-defense scenarios.

In 2001, USA Today contained 5,660 words on crimes committed with a gun, no words on gun use in self-defense.  Washington Post provided 46,884 words on stories of gun crimes with only 953 words on defensive uses of guns.

In 1999, 20/20 aired a very anti-gun episode specifically attempting to enlighten viewers on dangers of mixing children and guns.  During the course of the show, a toy room was filmed showing children playing with real guns and playing with them as if they were toys.  At one point the “voiceover” even stated “It wasn’t long before the shooting began.”  There was NO shooting.  There was make-believe play!  The same year this show aired, 1999, there were 31 children under the age of 10 who died from accidental gun deaths.  Is there ANY other way that children die which receives more press attention with the same level of alarm?  Think about it.  If 31 children died this year as the result of choking on a Triscuit cracker, do you think it would receive ANY news coverage?  The level of disproportionate coverage is clearly an indicator of blatant manipulation.  Wouldn’t it be revolutionary for a new report to follow-up a rare accidental child shooting with statistics such as, “Did you know that water is 19 times more dangerous to a child than a firearm?  Or “Bathtubs are twice as dangerous to children as guns.  Fire is 18 times more dangerous to children than guns.  Cars are 57 times more dangerous.  Household cleaners and poisons are twice as dangerous.” (Dr. Joyce Lee Malcolm, Guns and Violence , Bentley College history professor)

Feel manipulated yet?  There’s more.

Crime #3—Blatant Government Bias on the Reporting of Children and Gun Incidents: First of all, it’s important that you understand that government reports almost always result in statistics which favor the entity which funded the work of creating such a report.  Politicians clearly want research studies which produce the support for the position which they have already opted to take.  And they rarely resist injecting politics into supposedly objective science studies.  In spite of being in existence and well-funded for decades and with all of the “studies available” conducted by government organizations on guns and children, the Department of Justice and the National Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, has never conducted ANY is ANY report which attempts to discover the number of children’s lives that were SAVED as the result of a gun being present.

The manipulation never seems to cease, does it?

Crime #4—Out Right LYING about Gun Use Statistics: Seatbelts save lives, right?  That’s why it’s a crime in most areas of the country not to have your child in a car seat and with a seat belt.  And yet in spite of such requirements, 250,000 children are injured in car accidents every year, with over 2,000 of them resulting in child fatalities. (National Center for Statistics) Additionally, in spite of the rare circumstances which have occurred in which a seat belt or an air bag has actually killed a child in such an accident, you do not hear any clamoring for such cars or automobile safety features to be banned or locked up, right?  And yet the entire aura of government reports and media reporting would have you believe that guns are an offending foe in the deaths of children. 

 

While we’re told that 13 children die every day from a gun accident, this number “13” involves gang-related activities while committing felonies and kids that commit suicide. (FBI Uniform Statistics, 1997) In fact, four children dies each day in the U.S. as the result of parental neglect and abuse.  Perhaps we should register and license parents?  Not!  The number “13” is nothing more than a bold-face lie intended to manipulate the presence of guns for self-defense in our lives. 

According to the Center for Disease Control, of all of the accidental killings of children, 56% of them were from car accidents, 22% were from drowning.  0.1% of all deaths of U.S. children between the ages of zero and 14 are from firearms according to the National Safety Council.  In 2000, there were 86 accidental firearm deaths of children under the age of 15.  However, in that same year there were 40 children under the age of five that died in a bucket and 80 who died drowning in a tub.

According to the General Accounting Office, gun trigger locks are proven ineffective against most children older than 7 years of age.  California has a trigger lock law and saw a 12% increase in fatal firearm accidents in 2005.  Texas doesn’t have such a law and experienced a 28% decrease in firearm accidents in that same year, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

 

The myth is perpetuated that handguns are 43 times more likely to kill a family member than a criminal.  And yet of the deaths that were reported in the study this mythical statistic originates, 86% of the deaths were suicides.  Other deaths involved criminal activity between the family members such as drug deals that went awry.  Only 0.1% of the defensive gun deaths resulted in the death of a family member. (Dr. Gary Kleck, Criminologist, Florida State Univ.)

 

Manipulation rages on.

 

Crime #5—Failing to Assist in the Education of REAL Gun Safety: You can’t watch television all your life without being exposed to the reinforcement of rules that parents teach their children such as “don’t talk to strangers,”  “say please and thank you”, etc.  And yet there has not yet been ONE government or media sponsored piece teaching children gun safety.  Over the past 5 years, not a single gun safety mention has ever been made after the report of an accidental shooting involving a child.  Not one.  And yet if the safety message of parents were to be reinforced by the media and our government, the number of accidental child shootings would be reduced by HALF!  (Read The Bias Against Guns by John R. Lott, Jr.) Instead of supporting and even sharing such teachings of safety, our media, entertainment industry, and particularly Hollywood glorifies the insolence and rebellion of youth and gangs.  

 

In my opinion, if you are not a part of the solution, then you are definitely a part of the problem.  Instead of getting this kind of support funded from the egregious taxes they pay, parents have to rely solely on like-minded friends and family members, or the generosity of private organizations such as the NRA’s Eddie Eagle Gun Safety program, to reinforce the most critical of gun safety rules.  If you were to protect yourself and your family from an intruder (rapist, kidnapper, robber), would a telephone or a firearm be more effective? 

 

The facts are that over 2.5 million crimes are PREVENTED every year as the result of the possession of legally held firearms. (as reported by John R. Lott, JR AND Dr. Gary Kleck) How many of those prevented crimes have actually saved the life of a child or prevented the sexual abuse of a child or a child kidnapping?  Well, that’s yet one more “research study” that is glaringly missing from the campaign of guns in America.  Gee.  I wonder why?

Instead of vilifying guns and gun owners, our government should be accurately reporting the facts related to guns and children and guns used in self-defense.  And based on the REAL statistics, even encourage and empower more citizens to actually possess and use guns in self-defense and to defend their family. 

Consider these final facts.  Eight times as many children die from non-gun violent acts than from gun crimes. (Kids and Guns, 2000, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention) 82% of homicides to children age 13 and under were committed without a gun. (1997, FBI Uniform Crime Statistics)

Yes.  You’re being manipulated.  And the overwhelming statistics of SAFETY actually prove that such a distortion of the truth could cause harm to your children.  That’s why I wholeheartedly accuse several government officials and leaders, as well as so many so-called journalists of endangering the life of our nation’s children.  Unfortunately, if you buy into this travesty of a campaign, the real statistics indicate that it just may COST you or your child their life.  

 

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.

You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Are You a “Gun Free Zone”?

By Kellene Bishop

 

While it’s one thing for it to be a federal offense for carrying a firearm into a “gun free zone”, it’s a completely different situation for you to impose such a state upon yourself.  There are dire consequences in doing so.  And yet the MAJORITY of the women that I speak with who have a concealed firearm permit do not carry a firearm on their person, or even in their purse.  As such they are sentencing themselves to the same exposure that a “gun free zone” does to citizens involved in public shootings.  While carrying a firearm indeed needs to be a confident proactive decision, too many avoid carrying their firearm on their person for reasons lacking in rationale and substance. 

 

Let’s ask this question.  If you were a criminal intent on shooting people, or robbing a place with a firearm, where would you NOT want to go?  What would be the most stupid place or area you could attempt to hold up?  Let’s see… The Pentagon.  A police station.  A military base.  A Texas rodeo.  A donut shop in New York (because that’s where a lot of police hang out – j/k) or a pawn shop in Utah—way too many guns there and people with guns.  Yup.  I haven’t heard of any criminals trying to hold up the Federal Reserve or Fort Knox in a hundred years.  I wonder why that is?  Oh yeah, there might actually be GUNS there and people who know how to use them.  Indeed, with the exception of a little tongue in cheek humor, these places would be the most risky for a criminal to infiltrate as a result of the harm that he would most assuredly face.  And since such criminals are cowards of prey, not predators, they would not be inclined to expose themselves to such a risk. 

 

Now, let’s ask this question.  If you were a criminal intent on killing people, where would you go to avoid the majority of risk with the most possible damage?  The post office?  A school?  A church gathering?  Blockbusters or McDonalds?  (Both opposed to their customers being armed with the ability to protect themselves).  And exactly why is that?  Because a criminal knows that there are no lawful firearms in these places.  Instead, while there may be concealed firearm permit holders, such holders are statistically very law abiding individuals.  So, no guns.  Just law abiding citizens.  As a result of this rationale, what have we seen parading on our televisions as of late?  Shootings taking place in “gun free zones.”  In fact, the whole nation watched the consequences of a U.S. ship which was barred from having any lawful guns on it.  (Thank goodness the captain and pirates were actually off of that ship when the pirates were shot, otherwise an explosion or something dangerous could have occurred—*sarcasm intended*)  Seriously.  Think for a moment of the multiple victim shootings in “gun free zones” you’ve been exposed to lately. 

 

Riverside, CA—Roman Catholic Retreat—no guns allowed.  2 killed, many wounded at the hands of one gunman

Oakland, CA—No firearm permits issued without insurmountable exceptions.  4 police officers dead at the hands of one gunman.

Detroit, Michigan—Michigan College—gun free zone.  2 dead at the hands of one gunman.

Blacksburg, VA—Virginia Tech—gun free zone.  33 dead at the hands on one gunman.

Colorado Springs, CO—New Life Church—a gun free zone, with the exception of armed security officers who are screened members of the church, one of which stopped the killer with her own gun.  3 were killed that day by a man who was armed with 2 firearms and over a thousand rounds of ammunition.

 

As “STUPID” as criminals are, do you think that they are not aware of the fact that the likelihood of a WOMAN being armed and able to defend herself is less than 1%??  That’s right.  They instinctively see women as a perpetually open season “gun free zone.”  No wonder they see women as targets, as easily accessible as a church, school, or federal building.  Is that really acceptable to you?  And besides, in the name of fashion, for crying out loud…  Does a big fat neon bull’s-eye on your back compliment any of the fashionable accessories and clothing you adorn yourself with everyday?  Contrary to a popular movie title, “death” does not look good on anyone.

 

Now, here’s a compelling 3-minute video to make you think a little deeper about this issue.  

 

 

My point?  So-called “Gun Free Zones” don’t do much to protect anyone from criminals.  So why would you insist on imposing a “gun free zone” in the sanctity of your own home or in and around yourself?  How about doing more with that concealed firearm permit than just having it in your wallet?  How about getting the training and confidence that you need to actually start carrying a firearm on your person and being ready for any possibility in which you would need to defend yourself, your family, or members of your community?

 

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.

You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Children and Guns Part 4

What’s Really Responsible for the Deaths of Our Nation’s Children?

 

This is part of a four-part blog series addressing Children and Guns.  Part I – want to ensure your kid never commits a crime?  Give him a gun.  Part II addresses myths of gun safety – what you must know in order to truly protect your children.  Part III  addresses when it is safe to educate your child on firearms.  Part IV explores what’s really responsible for the death of our nation’s children.  If you enjoy what you read, please comment and share on your blog or Twitter.  Thank you. 

 

This is the final part in a series I’ve been writing on Children and Guns. 

 

I’ll start right off with answering the question, “What is Really Responsible for the Deaths of Our Nation’s Children?”  This is specifically posed to the deaths that result from guns being inappropriately used by children, and not all of the other more deadly causes of death discussed in Part II of this series.  The answer is the somewhat naïve position that parents take regarding “toy guns” and the entertainment that we expose our children to.  Allow me to show you why this is indeed the case.  

 

As you well know, the media and overwhelming political powers have successfully positioned in the minds of caring parents that children and guns simply don’t mix–when in fact, children and guns collide whether you like it or not.  In this regard, the only decision you really get to make is if you prepare for it by making this a positive concert or a deadly clash.

 

The other night I was at a family gathering watching 12 raucous boys ranging in age from 3 to 12 in the back yard. There were all kinds of “boy toys” back there such as foam swords, balls, and even a plastic gun.  I was livid however, when one of the boys picked up a toy gun and began “shooting” his cousin with it.  Clearly this child has not been taught anything about the proper use of guns in his environment (Yes, I did intercede and took the moment to educate…not that it will do any good unless it’s reinforced in his home as well). 

 

Let me speak plainly.  While I firmly believe and have even provided you with statistics that guns are not the “bad guy”, and are not the killer that the media and political diatribe would have you believe, they still are—100%—to be fully respected and confined to their proper perspective. 

 

It may sound odd to some parents to know that my husband and I—who are avid shooters and in full support of their use for self-defense—have agreed that we will not have ANY toy guns in the home.  A child’s desire to play with a toy gun is merely a mimicking and acting out of what he has seen on T.V. or at his friend’s home.  However, the creation of toy guns is actually our nation creating a promise for disaster. In actuality it’s downright shocking that more deaths of children combined with guns do not occur.  Think about it.  A perfectly dangerous combination exists with all of the inconsequential violence that your children are subjected to in video games, movies, and other social activities, combined with the fact that there are over 300 million legally held guns in the U.S. and over 73 million children under the age of 18. So if we were to actually believe the picture that the media feeds us, shouldn’t there be MORE deaths involving children and guns?  I mean seriously, if the media painted overeating and refined sugar as the villains that they really are the same way they portray guns in the presence of children, we’d have a very different health status in our American youth.  It’s hard to uncover any other way that children die which receives more focus by the media in America.  Regardless, one life lost unnecessarily is too many in my opinion, especially when it truly is so easily avoidable.  The key aspect of this problem is that our nation has come to accept a dichotomous position, yet the two sides of this position simply cannot coexist and still foster gun safety with children.  

 

There’s NO Such Thing as a “Toy” Gun

It defies logic to think that we can simply teach children that “play” guns are acceptable but “real” guns are not, when “play” guns always instill the physical action of pointing and shooting!  Parents have an even tougher challenge in this regard when we consider that “play” guns are expertly mimicking the appearance of real guns today.  Parents, you simply cannot have it both ways.  You can’t successfully have a world of toy guns and a world of real guns.  Remember, you can’t control what your children will find outside of your home.  The rules for guns need to be consistent, and deliberate whether it’s a “play gun” or a “real gun.”  Teach your children that there’s no such thing as a “toy” gun.  Non-real guns can be used to teach skills, safety awareness, etc.  But every gun your child comes into contact with should be viewed with the same safety rules and respect as a gun which shoots real bullets and can take another’s life, otherwise it’s playing Russian Roulette in it’s truest form.  There’s too much else that your child is exposed to which is relentlessly fighting against your message to your children of gun safety.  As such, you can’t afford for there to be any confusion on the subject.  You are either going to teach your children unequivocal truths about gun safety, with no exceptions, or you are going to fail miserably.  Does this mean that you shouldn’t teach you children how to shoot, how to clean a gun, how to hunt, how to enjoy shooting sports, and how to defend themselves?  Absolutely not.  In fact, quite to the contrary. 

 

When a child is old enough to pick up a toy gun and begin playing with it, this is the perfect time to take him into the education process of teaching him the REAL world of guns.  Start teaching him how to clean them.  Teach him the safety rules, all of them, again and again.  Take him shooting.  Take him to a REAL gun training class (like the kind that Women of Caliber offers to children 5 and up with a parent present).  My husband and I even bought our niece a BB gun when she was 5 (with her mother’s permission, of course) and taught her how to shoot it.  Bottom line, you can’t successfully outlaw all guns, period, because of what they will be exposed to elsewhere.  So you’ve got to educate them with one set of rules which applies to all guns.  

 

From the beginning of the 1800’s and through the 1970’s you rarely heard of accidental shootings with children.  Why?  Because the combination of gun usage and children was a necessary and integral way of life for a significant portion of our youth during that time.  Children had to regularly learn to shoot on their farms, for hunting, in sporting events, and yes, even to defend themselves.  Don’t you recall the abundance of “children” that attempted to enlist during the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and even World War I?  It was also custom at the time that when a boy turned 4 years old, he was taught how to shoot rabbits to put food on the table.  Additionally, children were not exposed to the kind of “entertainment” and pervasive television like they are now either.  Guns weren’t vilified during these years as they are now.  Think about it.  Our nation lasted over a century without this prevalent kind of problem in our midst.  Why is that?  Because guns had their proper, respected place in society.   

 

I wholeheartedly encourage parents to teach their children about guns, consistently, and to be sure that their rules apply to ALL kinds of guns.  This will ensure your safety and that of your children in many more ways than one.

 

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.

You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

 

20/20 Shoots Blanks

Serious flaws were present with the 20/20 show aired last Friday, April 10, 2009.  This episode was focused on showing the error of private citizens owning guns.  It made a case for the fact that individuals don’t shoot effectively when they are under stress, that children and even teenagers aren’t properly trained to avoid guns, and that gun shows are ideal locations for criminals to buy guns.  Let’s go over their fallacies bit by bit. 

1)     “Individuals don’t shoot effectively when they are under stress”: In actuality this is 100% true.  This is why Women of Caliber emphasizes individuals to not only get training, but to get a specialized form of training that enables a person to automatically defend themselves in a moment of emotional climax.  However, the gross error that 20/20 commits is the insinuation that only if you are expertly trained, should you have the right to defend yourself.  This is 100% false!  Even the police and military require special training in order to overcome their body’s natural reactions in the event of a criminal attack.  The fact that 20/20 was able to contrive shooting errors in the scenario they aired does not negate the fact that citizens have the right to protect themselves from criminals (and even defend themselves from a tyrannical government).  Many monumental wars have been fought to defend this nation by every day citizens who were not trained in matters of sharp-shooting, overcoming tunnel vision, and muscle memory.  Yet the wars were won because so many stood up for their rights to freedom, with an effective tool of influence.  Speaking of influence, over 2.5 million criminal acts are prevented EVERY YEAR as a result of the presence of a firearm in the hands of every day citizens, not Rambo-trained individuals (John Lott, Sr., Research Scholar, School of Law at Yale University and former chief economist for the United States Sentencing Commission).  Having the ability to protect yourself is not only your human right, but it is the law.  And no television show can tell you otherwise.

 

In this scenario, 20/20 had a “shooter” enter a classroom full of undercover participants and one “Exhibit A,” an individual “armed” with a derivative of a paintball gun in a holster on their person.  All of the “Exhibit A(s)” had just gone through a gun safety and target training with professional instructors prior to being put in this contrived situation.  While each “Exhibit A” was attending a training class, the appointed shooter enters the room and starts shooting.  The undercover participants start screaming and running in all directions.  In every instance shown by 20/20, the Exhibit A person was unable to draw their firearm effectively, protect themselves from being shot, and/or accurately hit the offending target.  Can I just say, DUH!  For one thing, just how often does such a scenario as the one 20/20 illustrated actually occur?  Sure the news is full of shootings in public places over the last 6 months, but they are far from being commonplace.  In my opinion, using such a scenario was callused and sensationalizing a horrific occurrence.  Very rarely do mass shootings get stopped by regular citizens.  It is difficult to be sure of your shot and thus difficult to avoid collateral damage due to the ensuing chaos of fleeing and frantic persons all around.  The cessation of such a scenario with a firearm would very likely require either a whole lot of armed private citizens focused on the same outcome, or one very well trained shooting expert.

Secondly, the flaw in this scenario is that shooter knows who “Exhibit A” is, so of course they are going to be aiming for “Exhibit A.”  And sure enough, in each instance, the skillfully trained shooter goes into the room, takes out the instructor and then immediately goes for the “Exhibit A” person.  That does not happen in a real scenario.  Criminals do not expect anyone to fight back.  They intend to intimidate and get their prey to cower and comply.  In mass instances, the shooters do not know who’s armed or who isn’t.  In such mass shootings, the shooters are just as susceptible to tunnel vision due to the heightened emotions as any who would defend against them.  Ultimately the only point that this portion of 20/20’s episode conveyed accurately was the need for legally armed citizens to be trained properly and practice regularly if they want to save their own lives or the lives of others.

 

 

2)    “Children and even teenagers do not handle situations with firearms properly”: Again, another DUH!  This point is 100% accurate thanks to the education that most children receive all of their life at the hands of the media and film industry about guns—not for the reasons that 20/20 attempted to demonstrate.  Most parents do not train their children appropriately about guns nor frequently enough.  20/20 would have viewers believe that gun safety training was ineffective in preventing accidents.  Bottom line is the safety your children employ around firearms is up to you.  Obviously it takes more than a simple 20 minute safety class to train them properly—it has to be a lifetime effort.  Just as you attempt to train them all their life to choose right over wrong, you must train them all of their life to handle a firearm appropriately.  That way they don’t turn into stupid teenagers who mishandle firearms.  By the way, you may want to take a look at the real statistics of children dying at the hands of firearm accidents by seeing my previous expose on children and guns:   https://womenofcaliber.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/children-and-guns%e2%80%94part-ii/

 

 

3)     “Because of all of the shootings we’ve had, we must make it harder for people to get guns”: See this is where folks really don’t understand what it means to be a nation of Freedom.  Freedom is in place so that ALL citizens can have the unfettered ability to make decisions for themselves.  And in the event that some citizens use their freedom to take away the freedoms of others, then they need to suffer the consequences.  But taking the freedom away from law abiding citizens because there are many who won’t use their freedom wisely is wrong, plain and simple.  This is like the age-old question that people ask, “Why does God let these bad things happen?”  Because He allows us to make choices and to suffer the consequences that come thereafter.  If He took away the freedoms of one to punish another then He would not be a God of Free Agency, would He?  And if our nation takes away the Freedoms of some in order to MAYBE thwart the evilly used freedoms of others, then we are no longer a nation of Freedom.  Our government does not exist to legislate and squelch freedoms.  It exists to support and protect our freedoms and then to dish out appropriate punishments to those who abuse that freedom, and ONLY to those who abuse that freedom.  Yes, it’s easy for criminals to get guns.  And no matter what laws get put into place, it will always be simple for criminals to get whatever it is that they want.  But we cannot punish the criminals in what may be their evil intent (i.e. prevent them from getting guns through standard processes) without surely punishing a free, law-abiding people from carrying out their rights.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.

You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.