Friday, July 15, 2016

In the wake of the Nice terrorist massacre . . .


. . . more sage advice from John Farnam, whom I've already quoted this morning.  Earlier this month, he wrote the following.  (Bold, underlined text is my emphasis.)

... no matter what protective steps we take, any of us may find ourselves, without warning, swept-up in a major terrorist event.

Here is what I emphasize, and what we relentlessly practice:
  1. At the first inkling, get in motion! Don’t hesitate, nor dither. Don’t freeze and stay in one place. Terrorists are weakest and least organized at the very beginning, as their plan is just starting to unfold. That is the time to make your move, whatever form that takes. As terrorists consolidate their control, your options will rapidly dry-up!
  2. Be aware of all exits, not just the door you came in through. Know how you are going to get to an exit, and out of there, quickly.
  3. A “lockdown” is tantamount to herding people into coffins! Pay no attention to “orders” to “shelter in place,” nor to “remain calm and stay where you are.” That is where your body will be found! Get out any way you can and as quickly as you can, and don’t worry about who likes the idea!
  4. “Rescue,” in whatever form it takes, is probably hours, maybe days (as was the case in Beslan), away. Most hostages will never live long enough for it to matter! Don’t count on being “rescued.” In fact, you have likely already been “written off.” Be prepared to fight for your life!
  5. Guns are vastly more effective than staplers and fire extinguishers! Be truly prepared. Go armed. “Gun-free zones” are the exclusive province of naive fools. Stay out of them, or go armed regardless!
  6. Get prepared, now! Guns in skillful hands will always find a way to win. By contrast, your shiny new pistol and rifle will contribute little to your continued good health when you’ve had scant competent training in their effective use. Just as expensive golf clubs are no guarantee of a good-scoring game, expensive weapons by themselves, will not guarantee personal victory. Your weapons don’t have personalties. They don’t love you. And, they won’t love their next owners any more than they loved you!
  7. In addition to guns and ammunition, always carry car keys, cash, blades, credit cards, cell phone, and wear shoes in which you can walk for significant distances. You may have to!
Now is not the time to listen to nanny-state socialists who do not have your best interests in mind, and never did! Face the truth squarely, and prepare accordingly.

It’s going to be a bumpy ride!

There's more at the link.

Earlier this morning, Mr. Farnam had this to say about the Nice attack:

It happened today, and in a nation that has just the kind of gun prohibition the both BHO and HRC are advocating for here (for everyone but themselves).

In France they don’t have that notorious “flow of guns,” to use BHO’s description (as if manufacturers and retailers gave them away). HBO prevaricated further that it was easier in America “to get a gun, than to get a book.” He obviously hasn’t been to a gun retailer recently. I don’t recall having to endure a thorough background check every time I wanted to buy a book!

Well, all that highly-touted gun prohibition doesn’t seem to keep guns from terrorists, in France or here, now does it?

Maybe terrorists in France, as in Bangladesh, just don’t realize gun are illegal, eh? I’m sure they would carefully obey the law otherwise!

Who do “carefully obey the law” are currently lying dead and dying on the streets of Nice, and Orlando, and San Bernardino, and Bangladesh, and a thousand other “gun-free zones” where hypocritical, paranoid politicians casually admit they can’t protect us, but still insist we take no effective measures to protect ourselves.

They shamelessly beg for our votes, yet insist we’re too stupid to own a gun!

Terrorist are on a roll, and they know it, and they are absolutely confident lying leftists in power (here and there) will continue to do nothing about it! What leftists will do (and they are so predictable), is blame innocent gun-owners, who have committed no crime, much like Hitler blamed innocent Jews for his own failures.

Look forward to this kind of incident once a week, at least. They’ll be no let-up!

The world is on fire. We’re on our own. Nobody cares!

Again, more at the link.

John Farnam is a living legend in the firearms training community.  A contemporary of the late, great Jeff Cooper and many others who developed modern handgun fighting doctrine, he's still hard at work.  Heed his advice.  He knows whereof he speaks.

Peter

7 comments:

Old NFO said...

Great advice... Hopefully people heed it!

0007 said...

And find a seat where you can see the entrance door - preferably near a rear exit and with your back to a wall.
My wife used to laugh when we would go out with certain friends. We were all armed(concealed) and the guys would be arguing to see who got the "wall" seat

RHT447 said...

+1 for John Farnam. His website is a daily stop for me. As with Peter's blog, there is a wealth of good info in the archives over at Mr. Farnam's place. Better still, take one of his classes.


For those unfamiliar, here is a bit more about Jeff Cooper---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j35de2QOd4

Much more to be found on Youtube.


Jeff Cooper served aboard the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) …

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pennsylvania_(BB-38)

…as a gunnery officer during WWII. Used mostly for shore bombardment, she fired more rounds than any other American BB during the war. In his book ‘The Past is Another Country’, He recalls that “Blasting Japanese bunkers at point blank range with 5-inch 38’s….

http://military.wikia.com/wiki/5%22/38_caliber_gun

…beats plinking tin cans with a .22 all hollow.”

Here is a link to archived Jeff Cooper commentaries---

http://myweb.cebridge.net/mkeithr/Jeff/

Uncle Lar said...

The simple truth is that it's about as easy to get an illegal gun as it is to get illegal drugs, and often from the same source. That will not change no matter how many feel good gun control laws get forced down the throats of the honest citizens.
What such draconian laws do accomplish is to force otherwise honest people to make a decision whether to remain honest and put their own and their families lives at risk, or to break the law in order to retain the means for self defense.
To paraphrase a line from a famous TV show, "as for me, I aim to misbehave."

Retired Spook said...

"Aiming to misbehave" is what got us 240 years of being the best country in the world. Doesn't look like now would be a good time to stop!

I'm afraid that the French are going to find their inner Charles Martel, and when they do, being a Muslim in France is not going to be a good thing. Even a rat will fight, if you don't give him any other option, and the French are rapidly running out of options.

As Tam has mentioned, the European people can go from zero to cattle cars faster than anybody else in the world.

Anonymous said...

Uncle Lar... actually, in parts of Europe it's much easier to get an illegal gun than illegal drugs. Such as around here, and I wouldn't be surprised if this was so in the rural areas in general. Plenty of stuff left over after WWII and even later occasionally...

A few years ago I mentioned to my boss at work that I was getting a new long gun and he was actually suprised that I bothered to do the legal paperwork for it too. (Our families were from the same town a couple generations back and he knew that we do hunt.)

David Lang said...

The french have been very pacifist for the last 50 years, but when pushed, they formed a pretty effective underground during WWII fighting opponents who were fighting very dirty.

Push them enough and some of them may start to remember stories from their grandparents (note, both sexes were very involved in the underground)