My how we have grown

The Liberty First Foundation has made some incredible progress considering just a few short months ago we were only just beginning to discuss how we would be able to make an impact in defending the Second Amendment.  The Facebook group Religion of Arms was in its infancy and we were starting our path towards incredible growth.

When I joined the Religion of Arms, it was just under 1000 people and at that time, I knew that we had some incredible people that believed in the Second Amendment and wanted to make a difference.  We were determined to change how people’s perceptions about firearms and the Second Amendment.

Today, we are well over 24,000 people and growing, and our beliefs are stronger and our organization is starting to solidify.  The Liberty First Foundation has recently opened up its State organizations so that we can start taking an active role in the defense of the Second Amendment.  Already some of these organizations are taking action to insure that our rights are protected today and well into the future.

The Liberty First Foundation Maine Chapter participated in a counter protest in Kittery, Maine at the Kittery Trading Post.  Some anti-gun organizations and politicians decided that The Kittery Trading Post should not be encouraging people to exercise their rights protected under the Second Amendment.  The protest was an attempt to bully the Kittery Trading Post into not selling semi-automatic rifles.  The Liberty First Foundation Maine Chapter responded to this egregious attempt to restrict our rights.

In concert with the Gun Owners of Maine and some other pro-second amendment organizations, the Liberty First Foundation Maine rallied against these people in a show of support for the Kittery Trading Post.  The response from the public was very encouraging.

The Liberty First Foundation Washington has been very active working to stop another threat to the Second Amendment.  With I-1639 being allowed on the ballot this November the Liberty First Foundation has turned up the heat to urge people to vote against I-1639 and save the rights of the people in the State of Washington.

These members have started a flyer and poster campaign to get the word out and are engaging people informing them of this attempt to restrict their rights.  In the short time they have been at it the membership has grown to over 500 people and continues to work to defend this attack on our rights.

The fight has begun the only question that remains is will you get involved or will you remain on the sidelines complaining as your rights are slowly taken from you?  Many people are working behind the scenes to organize and setup strategic partnerships in order to grow this organization and strengthen our voice.  As we continue to grow, we need your help.  We need you to add your voice to ours, join your State organizations, and get active in your communities.

With each state having unique challenges and differing threats to our rights and the Second Amendment the State leaders will address the best way to address the unique challenges.  Only when we take a stand will we be able to defend our inalienable right to self-protection and insure these rights are not oppressed for future generations.

Use of Deadly Force Chapter 4

You are the weapon; the gun is your tool

Unfortunately, we live in a violent society and if you carry a gun for personal defense, you must be fully prepared for an armed confrontation. Like any good warrior, you must prepare yourself mentally and physically for battle. To start your training, you must ask yourself a question. This question should not be taken lightly and it needs substantial soul searching.  Are you prepared to kill another human in self-defense?

This is really not an easy question to answer. Most of us have been hardwired to be kind and gentle. That is a healthy thing in day-to-day society. Sadly, not everybody follows these rules.

It has been often documented on many accounts that during the heat of battle soldiers simply shot over the heads or at the feet of their enemies. These actions were thought to be deeply rooted beliefs that they did not want to harm or possibly inflict mortal wounds on another human.

For those of you who could not possibly use deadly force on another human being there are many other options for self defense other than a firearm, which will be covered in an upcoming chapters.

If you answered honestly that you could in fact use deadly force in a self defense situation, the next step is acquiring a defensive firearm. I use the words defensive firearm because it should never be used in an offensive scenario. Become accustomed to referring to your firearm as a defensive firearm. In the aftermath of an actual shooting the witnesses, law enforcement, prosecutors, and news media will quote your words. A jury could ultimately hear you describe the events.

Telling someone “I feared for my life, I drew my defensive firearm, shot, and stopped the threat” sounds much more like you were the victim than saying “I feared for my life, I drew my weapon, shot, and stopped the threat.” Although, it may seem like splitting hairs, you need as much going for you at trial as you can.

Don’t merely ask a stranger what gun you should purchase. Go to a reputable gun shop that has a range and firearms you can rent. Try shooting as many firearms as you can and judge for yourself which is best. If you are not comfortable carrying your defensive firearm, you probably won’t. Once you decided on and purchased the best firearm for your needs, your training should now begin.

The main thing to remember when you start your “weapons training”, YOU are the weapon; the GUN is only the tool you use.

Next Article: Chapter 5 – Sheep, Wolf, or Sheepdog?

Link to Chapter 1 – https://wp.me/p9RiLn-5D
Link to Chapter 2 – https://wp.me/p9RiLn-7O
Link to Chapter 3 – https://wp.me/p9RiLn-7M
Link to Chapter 4 - https://wp.me/p9RiLn-9A

 

 

Use of Deadly Force Chapter 3

What Is Deadly Force?

Deadly Force is any force that carries a substantial risk that could result in the death of any person.

Here are a few instances where a person could exert a force that could cause death. The use of deadly force is:

1. Shooting someone with a firearm
2. Stabbing or cutting someone with an edged weapon
3. The recent phenomenon of using of a motor vehicle to plow people down
4. Even using common everyday items like hammers, screwdrivers, or a baseball bats can be used as weapons

If you carry a gun or knife for self-defense, these carried weapons are intended to deliver deadly force. You must remember that your carry weapon or EDC (Every Day Carry) is not intended to be used as a scare tactic or intimidate someone. In most places, that is a crime in itself (which will be covered later.)

Your EDC is not intended to make you “feel” safer. If you wouldn’t normally do something while unarmed, you definitely shouldn’t do it while armed. Everyone has seen that person who after a few drinks develops “beer muscles.” Beer muscles cause normal people to act out in ways they would never act without alcohol. Just like beer muscles can make you act out abnormally, so do “gun muscles.” Gun muscles also can make people act out in an abnormal manner. Never carry a firearm with the mindset that you can feel safer doing dangerous things or that can act out in ways that put you in harm’s way just because you have a firearm and no one could harm you.

• Your defensive firearm is intended to give you the capability of delivering deadly force under the proper legal circumstances.
• You must become confident about when you can use these tools to defend yourself and people you love.

You must educate yourself to the point that this information is embedded deep in your subconscious. Remember that every deadly force situation is different. A defensive shooting can be as little as a single shot fired at close range which lasted only a few seconds. On the other hand, it could result in 40 or 50 rounds fired during a running gunfight at distances up to 100 feet away that took up to several minutes.

You do not have any time to waste. Plan ahead for the fight and prepare yourself mentally. There is no time to hesitate. The greatest source of hesitation is not being mentally prepared. The two main sources of hesitation are that the people have doubts about using deadly force based on their religious or social concerns or doubts about the laws regarding when deadly force can be used.

A defensive shooting is about self defense and never about revenge; otherwise, it is murder. You cannot be Judge, jury, and executioner.

Next Article: Chapter 4  – You are the weapon; the gun is your tool

Link to Chapter 1 – https://wp.me/p9RiLn-5D

Link to Chapter 2 – https://wp.me/p9RiLn-7O

Link to Chapter 3 – https://wp.me/p9RiLn-7M

FMJ vs Hollow Points

In 2018, I’m not sure why this is even a matter of debate. Especially with the highway of knowledge called the internet. FMJs shouldn’t be carried; even in states (I’m only aware of New Jersey but there could be others) where hollow point use isn’t allowed. Finding that better option will take time on your part, but in the end you will have yourself a round that is more efficient at stopping an attacker than your bulk-bought ball ammo.

 

The biggest argument I see people make for carrying FMJs or even party packing (HPs and FMJs) is barrier penetration… This argument spawns purely from ignorance on defensive ammunition. Hollow point ammunition that passes FBI standards (HST, GoldDot, Critical Duty, etc) are designed to be able to beat typical barriers such as car doors, windshield glass, plywood, and heavy clothing… All with little to no deviation in the impact of the bullet. Not only that, but they have to reliably expand at depths between 12-18″ in calibrated gel . 14″-16″ is the ideal penetration depth and any failure to expand in 5 shots would get round thrown out. These standards came around due to the 1986 Miami-Dade shooting and the assailants not falling to multiple shots of various kinds of ammunition from semiautos and revolvers alike. If you would like to read more into what the standards are for FBI testing, I highly recommend checking out BrassFetcher’s website since it has all of the details laid out.

Barrier penetration aside, FMJ ammunition will increase your likelyhood of a pass through,  have poor wounding capabilities, and typically produce wound channels that are two or more times smaller than what hollow points produce. The most important factor, bar a CNS shot on an attacker, is blood loss. Smaller wound cavities = less blood loss = your attacker being able to take more hits without going down.

The second biggest argument I see people making is “Its a personal choice.” This argument is right in that it is a personal choice, but it isn’t a very strong argument… Smoking meth is a personal choice as well but we don’t try justifying it. Hollow points are more efficient at stopping an attacker, decreases the chances of having a pass through almost entirely, and are designed to be more reliable; from primer ignition, to retained weight.

Hollow points being produced for self-defense have higher standards for what will be rejected and what won’t which is a huge reason they are better for your carry gun. For example  lets use the primers. FMJs acceptable primer thickness deviation could be between .010″-.016″. Primers within this range will be accepted for use with FMJ ammunition. Hollow points/other defensive ammunition’s acceptable thickness deviation would probably be between .011″-.012″.  I have also noticed that hollow points tend to be more consistent in cartridge weight  than ball ammunition, which leads me to believe that the powder charges are more consistent as well. Due to the higher quality control on hollow points, you will be seeing more consistency in velocities, muzzle energy, and primer ignition.

There isn’t a valid argument for carrying ball ammunition aside from not trying to do some form of research. There are .32ACP and .380ACP loadings that will meet or exceed the FBI’s standards. There are defensive ammunitions that aren’t hollow points, but still meet FBI standards. At the end of the day, your box of full metal jackets will still say “For plinking/range and training use” and hollow points will state “For range/plinking, self-defense, and hunting (caliber dependent)”. There is a science behind this, but its up to you to carry in an educated manor… I also challenge you, as the reader, to find me one LE certified FMJ ammunition meant for duty use in their handguns.

 

If you would like to help support the Liberty First Foundation, click this link!

For more content from me specifically, checkout my website!