Posted on

How to Say the Right Thing

[Podcast 563]

We are talking effective communication for the new gun rights activist. The struggle is real and you can win this thing if you are properly prepared to do battle. The opportunity to make a difference can come at any time and I want to share some stuff I have learned over the years about communicating. The USCCA is having a three day expo next week and I got a chance to snag my friend Tim Schmidt for an interview. http://uscca.blackmanwithagun.com to join up. Michael J. Woodland has a commentary about the attack on the Second Amendment. Atty. Andrew Branca is back with a Law of Self Defense tip and story of the week.

Fight on!

Pro-rights people are under attack every day.  We are demonized, vilified, and maligned by people that get their point across more effectively than we do.  Communicating effectively is more important than talking.  The facts can get lost in the presentation.  I want to share with you how to say the right thing at the right time.  Communicating is secret sauce of life.

There are a lot of smart people that are not great communicators.  If you can communicate with others, the opposite sex, other folks in our community or when you get the opportunity to speak against gun control, effectively it makes a difference.  The newest tool of the anti-gun movement has been children.  The only thing more precious might be your pets.

So what do you do?  For many of us it is to counter-protest.  The media will be selective and chose someone from our side that they can ridicule or discredit if possible.  You won’t get chosen to speak if you are wearing a suit, clean shaven and not wearing a baseball hat.  If they don’t have a choice they may still give you some camera time but edit what you say.  You speak for 30 minutes and they put .30 seconds of that on the air.

 

I’ve been doing this since 1991 and would like to give you some tips.  In addition to that I just so happened to get a copy of the anti-gunner playbook that I will gladly share with you if you ask.  It’s an 80 page PDF I’ll exchange for a working email address from you.  I am trying to grow an email list of leaders in our community so if you want a free copy, click here 

Context is king for communication.

It’s not where you take things from, it’s where you take them to. — Jean-Luc Godard

Context helps you listen.  Think of context as anticipating your reader’s questions, and answering them.  Get into their heads and hearts: You need to really understand how and when your messages are going to be in front of your audience and what they are thinking and feeling in that moment. Every word you use or visual you include is filtered through their state of mind at that moment. Some of you call that “emotion.”  Don’t ever ignore the context of how, where and when your communication will fall into the audience’s day.

A Consistent Message

It’s where, how, when, and to whom, and how often you say it. For the pro-gun community, we have facts on our side but often lack the power of persuasion.  We need to be as relentless as our opponents.  If your message actually matters, then surely the time, place and tone you say it will matter equally.

Correct Facts

Your communication requires a high level of accuracy in reporting information. Characteristics of effective interviews in media include clear dates, facts, resources and schedules that should be double-checked for completeness and clarity. Effective messages are also free of jargon, and slang.

For example, the reporter says:  What is your response to the fact that more children are shot and killed in the US than anywhere in the industrialized world?

YOU say passionately that I heard that too but I know it’s not true, did you know that criminals are included?  Yeah according to the CDC, over half of all homicides of victims aged 15-19 are gang-related. The same study found that gang-related homicides are more likely to involve firearms than those that are not (95% versus 69%).

Clear Purpose

Effective messages include a clear purpose to inform, persuade or collaborate with the intended audience. The message should be designed according to the audience’s level of understanding, potential reaction and relationship with the composer. Generally, it’s best to include only one main idea in each message, unless there are closely related issues that must be addressed together. Having a clear purpose in mind for this communication will also help determine the medium used to deliver the message.

Complete Messages

Prepare at least three solid points for when the reporter sticks a microphone into your face or attaches you a lapel mic.  Knowing that you will be edited, keep your message succinct, know that the camera is rolling if you are in their presence.  Nothing is off camera for you.  If the question is off base deliver your points, regardless of what was asked.  If they want to use your sound byte give them the complete message of what you prepared.  For example, the reporter says,

Thank you for agreeing to speak with us.  What do you have to say in response to the uniquely destructive role that the NRA plays in America?

You respond with a smile, and say, I’m not sure where you get your facts but as a good neighbor, an active recreational and competition shooter I know that though the number of firearms owned by private citizens has been increasing steadily since 1970, and that the overall rate of homicides and suicides has not risen.

Creative Characters

 

The most effective messages are short, engaging and to the point.  Figure out how to provide infotainment.  Don’t deliver or respond to the sound bite the same dry, I know more than you, you are an idiot look.  Look at Wayne LaPierre, don’t be him.  There is only one Wayne.  You be you.  To be effective your communication should include a bit of creativity but not buffoonery.

 

Overall, and more important than the truth here is getting your message across.  The other side knows this.  That is why they are pimping kid victims and indoctrinating them with the PDF I want to share with you.

 

Socialist youth are made not born. – Kenn Blanchard

 

Draw attention to their ridiculousness of their claims.  Illustrate it, tell a story, everyone, even the ignorant care about personal safety.  Frame your response so you don’t look like a smarty pants, know it all but a concerned responsible father, brother, mother, sister.  Be self-deprecating if possible, appeal to the audience not the reporter or speaker.  Be as emotional as you have to be to be true to you.  You know this stuff matters.  You know the truth.  I am not saying you have to go for it like a Pentecostal preacher but …

I want the truth… you can’t handle the truth.

 

join the mailing list 

Get your IWB holster, belt and more from http://crossbreedholsters.com

 

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

If you like the podcast, download the free app for it on IOS at http://BlackManWithAGun.org also available in Google Play for Android. You can support this podcast at http://patreon.com/blackmanwithagun
Posted on

You Can All Go To…

“You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.” – Davy Crockett

Although I try to keep a lid on the salty language in this column, sometimes it is really tempting. As a law abiding gun owner, it sure has been difficult lately not to give some people some directions to a…much warmer location. Especially since the gun controllers have been feeling their oats following the Parkland school shooting, and the hundred-or-so million of us who have done nothing wrong have been feeling the heat.

It is really easy to get discouraged with the relentless attack on one-third of the American population and the accusations of complicity in the murder of children. The mass media amplification of the minority voice which favors massive control can certainly make us feel isolated and alone in our support of the 2nd Amendment.

But it is a false narrative, and I can prove it to you. Come see me…and over 80,000 kindred spirits…at the 147th NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Dallas, Texas.  If you are a law-abiding gun owner who understands and values the right to keep and bear arms as enshrined in the Constitution of the United States, you owe it to yourself to join us in Dallas the first weekend in May.

While Michael Bloomberg, George Clooney, and other elitists organized and funded the so-called March For Our Lives (a protest against civil rights), the NRAAM is a display of true grassroots. How many would have attended the March For Our Lives if they had had to pay their own way? We’ll never know. But in one month we will see over 80,000 individuals celebrate liberty in Dallas, and they’ll do it on their own dime.

The stakes could not be higher. The forces which wish to eradicate gun rights in this country are feeling brave right now. The mask is off, and they feel safe in their contempt for us and our liberty. But they are wrong. We are the good guys (and gals). We are going to gather in Dallas and show them who we are.

We are people who say “please” and “thank you” and “excuse me.” We recognize the responsibility that goes hand-in-hand with the exercise our right to keep and bear arms, and are exceedingly law abiding and safe gun owners. We do not have blood on our hands. No matter how the antis try to portray us, we are not the problem.

So if the constant stream of vilification from the anti-gun rights has you down, I can think of no better cure than to gather with the good people of the National Rifle Association in Dallas. Let the haters go…well, you know. I am going to Texas. Hope to see you there.

Posted on

Gun Rights and Porn in the Afternoon

Episode 561

On 24 March 2018 there was a huge march in Washington, DC funded by the super rich against gun owners. Kenn Blanchard talks about the shotgun in self defense, Michael J. Woodland on a survivors mindset, Andrews Branca gives a tip on the judicial system, and Kenn shares the news of the tragedy in Maryland with a school shooting. Kenn inspires and tries to encourage the law abiding gun owner now demonized. Gun control, gun rights, civil rights, and civil liberties explained.

SHOTGUN

Is the shotgun a one size fits all tool for self-defense? Probably not.  It is an effective tool and worth considering when choosing a home defense weapon.  For one thing, it is still a very economical option when compared to carbines. 

There are many  misconceptions surrounding the home defensive shotgun .  The stuff Hollywood puts out is misleading.  For the record, you can easily miss with a shotgun. Movie scatterguns may lift grown men completely off their feet or stop large cars in their tracks, but real ones don’t do anything like that.  The shotgun remains an excellent choice of armament for use in home or where concealment is not an issue.

The shotgun has been a ubiquitous home-defense tool for decades but it has lost its sparkle over the years. As I spoke of last week, the AR-platform rifles are getting cheaper and the fact that they are almost, endlessly customizable, and available in nearly every modern caliber under the sun, it becomes harder and harder to justify the harsh recoil and comparatively clunky operation of a shotgun.

 

Defensive shotguns still have a wide array of configurations, accessories, and ammunition types.  Tactically, a  shotgun offers four points of contact to steady and guide an easier-to-aim barrel. And then there’s the “terminal energy.”  In each typical shotshell of 00 Buck, there are nine pellets that combine to deliver roughly 1500 ft.-lbs. of energy to the target—or four times the energy of a .45 ACP bullet fired from a Model 1911 pistol. Factor in five to nine shells capable of being fired in rapid succession, and what you have is one of the most formidable arms for home defense ever conceived. The point is simple–proper selection of a fighting shotgun and effective ammunition, combined with training, give the defensive shooter one of the most devastating firearms possible.

The shotgun doesn’t have to be the shoulder-breaker that it is often stereotyped as.  Excessive recoil is going to negatively impact performance during training as well as during defensive situations, and as many of us have found out one way or another, shotguns can generate a ton of recoil.

 In states where magazine capacity is restricted, there may not even be a substantial capacity disparity between the shotgun and other defense platforms to begin with, which makes the shotgun an even more attractive option for those of us faced with excessive legislation against the law abiding.

Shot guns come in several flavors all categorized by their actions, some are.
Pump-Action
Semi-auto
Bolt action

Breech:  The breech types are for hunting and sport shooting not defense.

Training is what makes a difference.

 

PORN,  YOUTUBE and Gun Sites NEWS

Pornography is any image, picture, statue, advertisement, writing, etc. whose purpose is to create sexual titillation. In modern Western culture, sex has become such a public topic that the lines between what is legitimate and what is illicit are harder and harder to draw. In fact, sexual images have become so prominent that what used to be considered soft porn, is now considered tame enough to be on prime time television. And while it used to be that people could only get access to it in magazines behind the counter – and then only at certain stores – it is now so pervasive that virtually anyone can access any kind of porn through the most basic internet connection. Many now even question why Christians think pornography is such a big deal.

It is possible for a person to become desensitized to just about anything. Many people who live around abject poverty get to where they hardly even notice it. People who play violent video games often become so desensitized that even real violence is seen as no big deal. This technique is even used by the military to desensitize young recruits. And to get into the topic we are dealing with today, pornography has become so prominent in our society that we hardly even notice it anymore – much less think of it as something bad and destructive. A great example of this is the many “soft porn” TV commercials advertising everything from lingerie to hamburgers. It is so prevalent that most people aren’t even embarrassed anymore when they are shown.

There are many reasons why pornography is a bad thing. Some of those reasons include the fact that it is instrumental in breaking up marriages, it desensitizes people concerning the true significance of sexuality, it objectifies people – turning them into objects of self-gratification instead of persons of worth – and it creates literal addictions which, in turn, lead to acts of perversion.

From a Christian perspective it is bad because it rips people out of their personal fellowship with God. It changes our hearts. Pornography makes sex  purely an object of self gratification. In any area, when our life is focused on gratifying ourselves rather than accomplishing the purpose of God, we have put ourselves in a position which is outside of our relationship with God.

As Christians, we need to be living and expressing our own faith (worldview beliefs) in a way which not only serves to eliminate this destructive influence, but which, literally, changes the hearts of individuals.

In the news I referenced came from this one:

Gun enthusiasts publishing videos to Pornhub amid YouTube crackdown

BY
JESSICA SCHLADEBECK

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Friday, March 23, 2018, 11:06 AM

It’s getting hard to share gun videos on the internet these days.

A recently announced YouTube crackdown on a portion of its gun-related content has pushed some users to a new, unorthodox hub willing to host their content.
InRangeTV, which has more than 144,000 subscribers on its YouTube channel, has opted instead to publish its videos on Pornhub. A search of the adult website turns up a series of clips including one that sees hosts comparing a Glock 19 and a Hudson H9.
Though it’s listed among racier clips common to a porn site, the video appears exactly as it does on YouTube.
InRangeTV on its Facebook page said the move was an effort to defend “freedom of expression on the internet.”

“We will not be seeking any monetization from PornHub and do not know what their monetization policies are, we are merely looking for safe harbor for our content and for our viewers,” wrote Karl Kasarda and Ian McCollum, who run the popular gun review blog.
YouTube on Monday announced new policy regarding gun-related content shared to the website.

Starting next month, videos that offer instruction on how to make firearms and accessories — like bump stocks and silencers — will no longer be allowed on the popular video-sharing platform. Content detailing modifications to guns and videos aiming to sell firearms and accessories will also be prohibited under the new policies.

Several gun adovcates have slammed YouTube for the move. (INRANGETV VIA YOUTUBE)
“We routinely make updates and adjustments to our enforcement guidelines across all of our policies,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.

“While we’ve long prohibited the sale of firearms, we recently notified creators of updates we will be making around content promoting the sale or manufacture of firearms and their accessories, specifically items like ammunition, gatling triggers and drop-in auto sears.”
Prominent pro-gun bloggers and advocates were quick to denounce the move, many of them expressing their frustration on social media.

“The liberal left will slowly chip away at our freedoms and erode our rights, and the first step is to squelch our voice,” Florida-based gun manufacturer, Spike’s Tactical wrote on Facebook.

“To say we’re f—ing pissed is an understatement.”
The new policies are slated to go into full effect on April 20.
The announcement comes just more than a month after a gunman killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Florida. The student survivors of the deadly attack have since thrust the issue of gun violence into the national spotlight

YouTube today updated its policies on videos containing firearm and firearm modifications, banning demo videos, how-tos, and anything containing links to sites that sell guns. Needless to say, the gun enthusiast community on the site is not taking happy about it, and some are starting to find unconventional new hosts for their content.
According to YouTube’s updated policies, it will no longer allow content that:

…intends to sell firearms or certain firearms accessories through direct sales (e.g., private sales by individuals) or links to sites that sell these items …Provides instructions on manufacturing a firearm, ammunition, high capacity magazine, homemade silencers/suppressors, or certain firearms accessories such as those listed above. This also includes instructions on how to convert a firearm to automatic or simulated automatic firing capabilities, [or] Shows users how to install the above-mentioned accessories or modifications.

The community is already starting to feel the pressure, as several channels are seeing videos disappear, according to Motherboard. One popular channel, Spike’s Tactical, was taken down entirely for content that, according to a notice posted to the channel’s Facebook page, “promotes violent or dangerous acts.” The channel has since been reinstated, and YouTube told Bloomberg the takedown was a mistake.

At least one of the vloggers in question has turned to a different platform: PornHub. InRangeTV, a channel with over 100,000 subscribers, said in a statement on Facebook that it was “merely looking for a safe harbor for our content and for our viewers.” It also said, “YouTube’s recent update on their policy towards firearm content is extremely poorly worded and open ended.”

YouTube first began taking down videos with gun modifications last October, following the massacre in Las Vegas. At the time, the big target seemed to be bump stocks, a modification allegedly used by shooter Stephen Paddock to tragic effect.
We’ll have to wait and see if other gun enthusiasts follow InRange over to PornHub and other video sites. Though if I were Vimeo, I’d be feeling very unappreciated right now.

From NPR

From the Washington Post

 

*photo with woman and shotgun is from Oleg Volk.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

If you like the podcast, download the free app for it on IOS at http://BlackManWithAGun.org also available in Google Play for Android. You can support this podcast at http://patreon.com/blackmanwithagun
Posted on

Why Does This Black Person Want An AR-15?

On this episode of the Black Man With A Gun Show Podcast #560

My Country Tis of Thee…

What Happened on YouTube – Michael j. Woodland interviews Hank Strange

Which gun organization should you join?

Why Would This Black Man Want An AR-15?

For the record, I’ve been African American, Black not Hispanic most of my life. Before that I was Colored, Negro, and Afro- American. I’m over 50 so I have weathered the social and cultural storm. I am not confused.

I’ve been there done that, and got the scars to prove it.

Also, the title of this post and podcast is to bring attention to the foolishness which has become our normal. Some of you will get that later.

If you are still reading, let me share some stuff with you that is true and factual. Some information about gun control, deliberate misinformation, and fear based hypocrisy regarding a mechanical device called the AR-15. I have one and want to share why I “aint scared.”

The Armalite Rifle (AR-15) is the subject of debate, hysteria and fearmongering since a murderer used one in Parkland, Florida. Over the past twenty-five years of my tenure in the gun community I have seen and heard this argument over and over again. The laws that are proposed only affect the innocent, and the law abiding gun owner. The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Act (the Federal Assault Weapons Ban) was enacted as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to 2004 it did not work. The AWB did not prevent the 1999 Columbine massacre either. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people at a high school in Colorado, carrying two illegal sawed-off shotguns as well as a Hi-Point 995 carbine and Tec-DC9 pistol.

The bill was originally written by Vice President Joe Biden—then a Senator—no crime bill before or after was bigger. Inside the 356-page bill is the Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), which banned any new manufacture of semiautomatic rifles that accept a detachable magazine and had two additional cosmetic features from this list:

· Folding or collapsible stock
· Pistol grip
· Bayonet mount
· Flash suppressor or threaded barrel
· Grenade launcher mount

Along with the firearms ban was the stop to any new manufacture of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. The AWB’s intention was to stop mass shootings and lower homicide rates of law enforcement officers.

Remember Sandy Hook? Some anti rights folks, claim the assault weapons ban would have prevented Adam Lanza from obtaining the firearm he used. However, during the time of the shooting, Connecticut had its own assault weapons ban in effect. The alleged Bushmaster Lanza stole from his mother was legally purchased and owned in Connecticut.

The AR-15 was developed in the late 1950s as a civilian weapon by Eugene Stoner, a former Marine working for small California startup called ArmaLite (which is where the AR comes from). The gun, revolutionary for its light weight, easy care and adaptability with additional components, entered the mainstream in the mid-1960s, after Colt bought the patent and developed an automatic-fire version for troops in Vietnam, called the M16. I had a M16A1 in 1980 in MCRD Parris Island.

Why is it good?

The AR is a lightweight, magazine-fed, gas-operated semi-automatic rifle. It was designed to be manufactured with the extensive use of aluminum alloys and synthetic materials. They can be chambered in .22, .223 (5.56 x 45mm), 6.8 SPC, .308, .450 Bushmaster and about a dozen others. Upper receivers for pistol calibers such as 9 mm, .40, and .45 are available. There are even .410 shotgun versions.

These rifles are used for many different types of hunting, from varmint to big game. And they’re used for target shooting in the national matches. AR-15-style rifles are no more powerful than other hunting rifles of the same caliber and in most cases are chambered in calibers less powerful than common big-game hunting cartridges like the 30-06 Springfield and .300 Win. Mag. The AR-15 platform is modular. Owners like being able to affix different “uppers” (the barrel and chamber) to the “lower” (the grip, stock).

This is why some people compare the AR-15 to a car chassis, others to Legos or Mr. Potato Head. It is relatively easy to take it apart, reassemble it and modify it ─ including changes to the caliber of ammunition it fires. Pushing the gun’s “takedown pins” with his fingers, he broke his gun down into its basic components, and within several seconds snapped it back together.

Building an AR-15 at home often begins with buying a “lower receiver,” the only part with a serial number and that requires a federal background check. The rest of the core parts are available online. Then there is a seemingly endless array of accessories: barrels, grips, stocks, rails, magazines and scopes.

Everything about the AR-15 platform can be changed to fit the specific end user and their intended use. Long range shooters might add a longer barrel and big scope to the gun for increased accuracy. Those interested in home defense might choose a shorter barrel and add a flashlight to the gun. You can even change the grip to fit your hand exactly and make shooting more comfortable.

Hundreds of thousands of new hunters use the AR-15 platform (which is often sold in complete configurations specifically designed for hunting). The gun is rugged, reliable, portable and accurate. What’s more, the ability to quickly and easily change the rifle’s caliber offers American hunters a huge advantage.

Before the AR-15 rifle made its way onto the market gun owners needed to buy a different gun for each caliber and application.

Shooters were also stuck with their rifle’s ergonomics. If the stock was too long or too short there wasn’t much they could do—except pay a gunsmith to modify the gun. The same was true if you didn’t like the rifle’s trigger or the sights. Changing anything was a major pain in the butt.

For self-defense the AR-15 is an easy-to-use and effective rifle for self-defense, both at close and distant ranges. It’s also the reason the police rely on AR-15s to counter active shooters.

Since the 19th century, civilian sporting rifles have evolved from their military predecessors. The modern sporting rifle simply follows that tradition.

Misconceptions from the ‘hood.

AR-15-style rifles are NOT “assault weapons” or “assault rifles.” An assault rifle is fully automatic — a machine gun. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.

FYI: The M16 was not the original so called assault rifle, the German created at in WWII with a rifle called the Sturmgewehr 44 or STG 44.

Re-naming AR-15’s “assault rifles” is comparable to how folks named health care legislation (Obama Care) the “Affordable Care Act”.

Versions of modern sporting rifles are legal to own in all 50 states, provided the purchaser passes the mandatory FBI background check required for all retail firearm purchasers.

1. Owning a rifle does not equal murder.
2. Owning a rifle does not mean I am evil.
3. Owning a rifle does not mean I don’t have faith in God.

I am a steward of everything God has given me. He has given me the ability to get training, knowledge, and learn how to be safe, accurate and secure as a person. With this I can protect others and have fun with this device.

Shooting these rifles is fun.

The skill required to shoot accurately past one hundred yards is no joke.

LWRCI –DI

 

Being in the gun community, being an advocate for 20 plus years is starting to really pay off for me. I got a chance to visit the LWRCI shop in Cambridge, Maryland last summer. I had a ball. What made it for me was that it was in the town on Harriet Tubman. It was in a formerly poor part of the Eastern Shore. The folks there have a choice of either farming, working for Frank Purdue in the chicken realm, or become skilled craftspersons at a machine shop that makes high performance rifles. I saw old ladies, old dudes, young people cranking out, finishing, polishing, engraving, cutting, sanding, and building beautiful works of art that you can shoot.

Some people collect rifles for nostalgia. It reminds them of a movie, a war, a time period. For me it is to support my state, one of the most un gun friendly states in the union and the people that work for LWRCI.

Can I tell you about this rifle? (seen in the picture)

The LWRCI™ Di is made with the same craftsmanship and design excellence that comes with every LWRCI™ firearm. I have seen the African American hands that put these together. It’s built from the ground up to be more than just another direct impingement rifle, the LWRCI™ Di delivers the quality every rifle enthusiast demands with innovation that’s expected from LWRCI™. It has a “keyless” bolt carried design, combined with an operating system . It has an ambidextrous lower receiver is compatible with the rest of our IC family, you can upgrade your Di to our flagship, piston-driven IC just by switching out the upper.

LWRCI™ A2 BIRDCAGE FLASH HIDER

LWRCI™ AMBIDEXTROUS SLING MOUNT

LWRCI™ AMBIDEXTROUS CHARGING HANDLE

LWRCI™ ADJUSTABLE COMPACT STOCK

MAGPUL® MOE+®GRIP

CALIBER 5.56 NATO

BARREL 16.1” [40.9cm]

WEIGHT 6.6lbs [2.9kg]

O/A LENGTH 32″-35.25″ [81.3-89.5cm]

MUZZLE THREADS 1/2 x 28 TPI

RIFLING 1:7″ RH

How these guns work.

The bolt carrier acts as a movable cylinder and the bolt itself acts as a stationary piston. This mechanism is often called “direct gas impingement” (DGI), although it differs from prior gas systems. Designer Eugene Stoner did not consider the AR-15 to be a conventional direct impingement mechanism, but that is how it came to be characterized.[4]

Gas is tapped from the barrel as the bullet moves past a gas port located above the rifle’s front sight base. The gas expands into the port and down a gas tube, located above the barrel that runs from the front sight base into the AR-15’s upper receiver. Here, the gas tube protrudes into a “gas key” (bolt carrier key), which accepts the gas and funnels it into the bolt carrier.

At this point, the bolt is locked into the barrel extension by locking lugs, so the expanding gas forces the bolt carrier backward a short distance. As the bolt carrier moves toward the butt of the gun, the bolt cam pin, riding in a slot on the bolt carrier, forces the bolt to rotate and thus unlocks it from the barrel extension. Once the bolt is fully unlocked it begins its rearward movement along with the bolt carrier. The bolt’s rearward motion extracts the empty cartridge case from the chamber. As soon as the neck of the case clears the barrel extension, the bolt’s spring-loaded ejector forces it out the ejection port in the side of the upper receiver.

Behind the bolt carrier is a plastic or metal buffer, which rests in line with a return spring. The buffer spring begins to push the bolt carrier and bolt back toward the chamber once it is

Being into guns is not a strange weird thing people have been hunting with long guns for centuries, collecting, passing them on as heirlooms, investing in them.

Shooting is an internationally recognized Olympic sport.

Having a gun makes you better able to defend your family.

If gun ownership one day is made illegal, criminals won’t turn in their guns. Gun control makes easy prey out of law-abiding citizens. The police can’t come to help you until AFTER a crime has been committed. Having a gun may enable you to stay alive long enough to call for help from the police. Our courts regularly return violent criminals to the streets to do their crimes again.

Guns in the home are safe, when gun owners keep guns responsibly. More children die every year in swimming pool accidents than in gun accidents.

It is a fact that armed American men and women prevent two million crimes every year with their guns.

Self-defense is more honorable and better for society than being a victim. It is up to YOU to act responsibly for your own safety, and the safety of your family.

It is true that cities which impose strict gun control create the highest assault and murder rates in America.

The most violent cities involve gang members that shoot other gang members. The average gun owner never uses his or her gun to commit a crime.

Most states issue permits to carry concealed handguns. Men and women who get permits take gun safety classes, and have extensive criminal background checks.

These people make everyone a little safer, wherever they may be.

Imagine walking out to a outdoor range where the sky is blue and the grass is green like a golf course. You can’t even see the target without binoculars or the scope on your rifle. But if you are old school like me, you are using iron sights. The Zen of shooting is the ability to decompress, block out the troubles of the day, concentrate on your breathing, marksmanship skills and the abilities of the rifle you probably put together. Your goal is to hit a target accurately and continuously a foot ball field away.

The Japanese had bows or swords, we now have the AR15. It is the same art really, just a different choice of weapon but the mind game is the same – getting rid of “mind” so that one can just hit the target naturally. It’s a Zen thing.

If you still don’t get it after everything I said, then maybe you are not someone I would want around me or my family. Just saying…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

If you like the podcast, download the free app for it on IOS at http://BlackManWithAGun.org also available in Google Play for Android. You can support this podcast at http://patreon.com/blackmanwithagun
Posted on

All Politics Is Local – Gun Rights

The gun issue changed my life. It taught me the value of freedom. It showed me how my government works or doesn’t. It introduced me to politics.

As a gun owner you are responsible for the safety of yourself and everyone in your home. You enjoy the freedom of gun ownership. You enjoy the fun of owning, collecting, competing, hunting, and recreationally shooting. You may even own your firearm(s) for self-defense. Whatever your reason, sooner or later, you will be find out that part of that responsibility is to contribute to the national debate on gun rights. You are in the fight regardless of your political views, knowledge of the system, ability to articulate, education or financial, gender, ethnicity,  or marital status. You are a part of the political landscape because you believe in the right to keep and bear arms.

So what do you do? What organization do you join? Where should you send your money?

First of all, you know everyone is begging for your dollars. All organizations, clubs and committees are not equal. Beware of the ones with the best marketing, fancy logos, celeb endorsements.

Caveat Emptor.

Some groups do nothing. Some do a little. Some do as much as is they are able. Do your research.

Support the gun rights organizations that are working the local levels. I’m talking, your state organizations. They are underfunded, understaffed, under appreciated. I know there are the National blah, blah; and the blah, blah of America. You want to start being a soldier in the organization that is in your state. You know the one that has been begging you, annoying you to show up and be counted. Give them a second look.

The Tenth Amendment (Amendment X) to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights. It expresses the principle of federalism and states’ rights, which supports the entire plan of the original Constitution for the United States of America, by stating that the federal government possesses only those powers delegated to it by the United States Constitution. All remaining powers are reserved for the states or the people.

Your local politics matter.

Every day, states take care of amenities and infrastructure, such as transportation and public schooling; the people who are elected in local elections have more impact and influence over citizens’ everyday lives than one may think. These people are accountable for almost everything the state is responsible for; the state controls taxes, welfare and the judiciary. Gun rights are a part of these. Once a state law does not contradict the federal constitution and is not an enumerated right of the federal government, the state can pass it. The state mandates most of the laws that people are afraid to break.

Locally elected officials are supposed to act on citizen’s behalf and convey their issues to the federal branch of the government. You know they don’t when it comes to guns. Therefore, participating in local elections is supposed to be the most democratic aspect of American politics; these elected officials are supposed to represent citizens.

If you’re tired of arguing with strangers on the internet, try talking with one of them in real life. If something needs fixing, then lace up your shoes and do some organizing. If you’re disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself. Show up. Dive in. Stay at it. Step up and make a difference.

A political activist is someone who is involved in the political process for the sake of promoting, impeding or raising awareness of a certain issue or set of issues. It doesn’t pay but is needed now. Political activism typically involves engagement beyond just voting, whether it be through protest, demonstration or lecture.

I have to warn you, it is an investment of your time, and resources. You will often look around and wonder WTF am I doing here? These clowns don’t care. These clowns have their own agendas. You will see the professional organizations, lobbyist and lawyers in those halls, but they all started somewhere and you are in the fight now, not a spectator. You being there on the ground, is important. Look, learn, and connect with someone, in the State house because the assistant, the intern, the low level person they send out to talk to you, (because they are too busy), will be someone important in the future. Don’t belittle, push off, blow off anyone you meet.

Now is the time for you to give back to the land of the free and the home of the brave. Don’t let people you would not want to share a beverage with speak for you. Your silence gives them consent to do whatever. And they have been.

Our country tis of thee, baby…

If you like the podcast, download the free app for it on IOS at http://BlackManWithAGun.org also available in Google Play for Android. You can support this podcast at http://patreon.com/blackmanwithagun
Posted on

I Am Innocent

I am a law abiding citizen, and I own an AR-15.

I am not a murderer, rapist, thief, or drug dealer.

I am a military veteran, a former police officer, and a former SWAT officer.

I have been through several professional firearms training classes, and am a certified firearms instructor myself.

I have passed multiple background checks for firearms purchases and for concealed carry permitting. My state even automatically runs me through a NICS background check every 28 days, simply because I have a concealed carry permit. As such, I am background checked a minimum of 12 times per year.

In the 15 years I have had one, I have never had my concealed carry license suspended or revoked.

I have never intentionally harmed another peaceable human being, nor will I.

Despite all of this, there are those who would have me turn in my AR-15.  They would do this because another, with a heart full of hate, used a similar rifle to murder. I have harmed no one, and my rifle has never drawn blood. But they would strip me of my liberty to own that rifle.

To deny me the exercise of a civil right for the crimes of another is unjust. The thought of it should be as repulsive as suggesting that we incarcerate all members of a group, simply because some in that group commit violent crime. It would certainly reduce violent crime, but at the cost of the liberty of the innocent.

I am one of about ten million AR-15 owners in this country, and I am innocent.

I am innocent.

I am innocent.

I am innocent.

I am innocent.

I am innocent.

I am innocent.

I am innocent.

I am innocent.

I am innocent.

I am innocent.

I am innocent.

 

Images courtesy of Oleg Volk.

Posted on

You’ll Get Nothing And Like It!

Remember the scene in the movie Caddyshack where Judge Smails and his spoiled brat nephew, Spaulding stop for a snack break during a round of golf?

I can’t help but be reminded of all the “no-compromise” types who helped torpedo national reciprocity a couple of months ago, because it contained language to improve the accuracy of NICS background checks. (I’m looking at you, Congressman Thomas Massie.)

All I can hear is Spaulding’s whiny voice saying, “I want national reciprocity…no, I want national constitutional carry. I want a repeal of the NFA. I want a repeal of the ’68 GCA…” And then the Judge shouting, “You’ll get nothing and like it!”

That’s what I am afraid we gun owners are going to be faced with here in very short order. Following the Parkland, Florida school shooting, we are once again combating a flood of useless gun control proposals, and the squishy GOP trying to find something they can pass to appease the antis (who cannot actually be appeased). One proposal which is gaining traction is…you guessed it…passing the “Fix NICS” bill which is currently in the Senate. This is essentially the same language which was attached to National Reciprocity, but do you think we’re going to see any reciprocity being advanced now?

Hindsight may be 20/20, but think about how things might have turned out if we had gotten behind H.R. 38 and ignored the rants of Congressman Spaulding…er, Massie…and the like. Maybe we could have gotten something to actually advance gun rights for a change. All it would have cost us is to accept proper enforcement of the law…even if we don’t like the law very much…and we might be enjoying some tasty reciprocity right now.

Instead, we in the gun community tore ourselves up with infighting because some weren’t satisfied with the something we were offered. Now, we’ll actually be lucky if we get nothing. How do you like that?

Posted on

It Ain’t Me, Babe

Any of the young men pictured in this article could be me…
 
I entered high school in 1977. Before I graduated in 1981 I had been taught rifle marksmanship; we pushed back the desks, set up traps, and actually shot 4-position 10-meter air rifle *in the classroom*. I received the Tennessee Hunter’s Education course as part of the curriculum in JROTC; as part of that we went to the range and shot rifles, muzzleloaders, shotguns, and archery. Nobody shot up my high school.
 
I entered college in the fall of 1981. Before graduating in 1985 I was taught the operation and maintenance of the M16A1 and the M60 machine gun…and how to use them in the field. Never mind my schooling in the employment of the hand grenade, the Claymore mine and construction of field-expedient booby traps. Nobody shot up my university.
 
 
And even before any of this took place, I had been educated in the use of firearms by my father, at home. I owned guns. I used guns. When people ask me the first time I ever shot a gun, I truthfully tell them that I have no memory of it. I have had access to guns ALL MY LIFE. I have never attacked anyone, anywhere, ever.
 
Some will say, “But Dave, you’re different. Not everyone grew up like that.” And on a certain level, they’d be right. The difference between then and now is not the guns, it’s the people, and it’s the times. I…and people like me…are not the problem. The problems are multiple, and complex, and societal, and many are outlined in the linked article. You really ought to read it.
 
But the problem is not the existence, presence, or availability of guns. They have been widely available in this country since the founding, and no matter what law is passed, they always will be…at least to those unconcerned with breaking the law. To suggest we “just get rid of all the guns” is just as feasible as suggesting “just get rid of all the heroin.” While it is tempting to reach for a simple solution to a complex problem, it is also folly.
 
New laws and regulations which would restrict my access to firearms will protect no one. New laws and regulations which would restrict access to firearms by the over 100 MILLION gun owners who have never harmed anyone will…obviously…protect no one. So let’s drop the foolish notion that gun control will fix any of this. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Posted on

It’s A Major Award!

In case you missed it, the National Association for Gun Rights plans to recognize Congressman Thomas Massie for being a champion for gun rights. In his most recent act as such a champion for gun rights, the Congressman chose to vote against H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.

No…you did not misread that. To show his support for your gun rights, Congressman Thomas Massie voted against national concealed carry reciprocity. Now, he’ll tell you he supports “reciprocity,” but he never connects that word with “national.” This is because his support is only for the bill he introduced, H.R. 2909, which enforces reciprocity only in the District of Columbia…where he works.  He also says that he opposed H.R. 38 because of the “Fix NICS” language which was added to it. But ask him if he’d support H.R. 38 without that language, and all you’ll get is silence.

Never co-sponsored HR 38, even months before it was amended to include NICS.

No matter how he tries to spin it…he voted against my right to carry my concealed firearm when I drive through Illinois. And yours.

He voted against my right to carry a concealed firearm when traveling to Massachusetts, or New York, or Chicago for work. And yours.

He voted against my right to carry my concealed firearm into New Jersey to attend a martial arts seminar.  Without the national reciprocity which Massie opposes, New Jersey can continue to jail people like Shaneen Allen or Donna Gracy. Or me. Or you.

For this, the NAGR will present him with their “.50 Cal Award.” Mind you, this is an organization whose most notable achievement in the advancement of national gun rights is that they have never actually advanced national gun rights in any meaningful way. I cannot think of a single piece of significant national pro-gun legislation which NAGR has helped pass. If there’s something they’ve done to increase my gun freedoms, I am unaware of it.

So I guess it is 1984 after all. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. And a vote against more gun liberty gets you a major award from a national gun rights group which doesn’t advance national gun rights.

Personally, I’d prefer the leg lamp.

 

As a postscript, I will tell you that the gun shop which is hosting this award ceremony is in my local area (Triggers in Florence, Kentucky), and if I can get free on Thursday, I’ll go check it out. If I do, it will be the last time I ever set foot in that particular store. Any gun shop which would celebrate this will never get another dime of mine.

Posted on

Reboot

As you probably already know, the Black Man With A Gun website recently experienced what you might call a “catastrophic event.” Kenn has successfully recovered some of the content, but much was lost for good, including over five years of my writing. As you might expect, my first, knee-jerk reaction was…well, unprintable here. But I have learned over the years that the old adage about crying over spilled milk is true…and that time spent lamenting what cannot be undone is also time wasted.

So I am embracing this “reboot” as an opportunity for a fresh start. And in the spirit of that fresh start, I have a confession to make. For those of you who are unaware, you should know that I…Dave Cole…am not black. In fact, I am as white as they come. Most of my ancestors came here from Scotland, England, and Germany shortly after the Mayflower landed, and we’ve been here ever since. I spent almost the first half of my life in East Tennessee, before serving in Texas, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Korea with the United States Army for nine years as an Air Defense Artillery officer. Then I got out and moved to Northern Kentucky near Cincinnati, where I have worked in both private industry and as a police officer.

Not black.

Then early in 2012, I was listening to Kenn’s Black Man With A Gun podcast when he asked if there were any writers out there who might like to contribute to his website. I’ve always liked to use the written word as my own personal outlet, and I had some stuff I’d already written handy…so I sent it to Kenn. He emailed me back inside of an hour asking, “Can I go ahead and start posting this material?” I said “Sure,” and the rest is history.

But today…Martin Luther King Day…what is even more important to note is what Kenn Blanchard did not ask me. Before accepting my writing to post on the Black Man With A Gun website, he did not ask me what color my skin was. He simply read my writing, and judged whether it was good or not, regardless of the color of the person that it came from.

Isn’t that what Martin Luther King was talking about? Isn’t that exactly the way he would have wanted us to treat each other? Rather than focusing on our differences, Black Man With A Gun is a place where we focus on our commonalities…a love of guns, shooting, and liberty. I’m personally quite proud to be a part of this team, and excited to reboot into 2018 with all of you.