Planning #7.1 - Guns con't. this might take a few posts

Here we go again...... Going back into the rabbit hole......... Yes this subject can go very deep and will take more than one or two posts to cover..........

I might say some things here which you do not want to hear..... If your mind is closed to the idea of firearms you might want to skip this one.

If you keep reading you are agreeing to come down the hole with an open mind!!!!!!

An axe is a tool you can use to cut trees down. You can turn the axe over and use the axe as an improvised hammer if need be.

If you want to use an axe to fell trees you will want to know a thing or two about using the tool properly. The axe can be dangerous if you do not use the tool properly. Heck, the tree can hurt you if you do not stand where the tree is going to fall.

Some of us know how to use these tools. Some of us, including me, need to learn how to use these! Some of us can think of three things off the top of our heads which can go wrong with these if we do not use them properly!

Some of us know how to use these tools. Some of us can think of things which can go wrong with these if we do not use them properly!

Some of us know how to use these tools. Some of us, including me, are learning how to use these tools. If we do not know how to use these tools properly we will be disappointed with the results.

How do we learn to use these tools? We read up on it, surf the net and ask people who have the knowledge already. Take a class and eventually get some experience with how to use the tools. No different than the new set of tools we need to be able to use. If we do not learn how to use these tools properly we can hurt ourselves, others and fail at what it is we are trying to do.

Firearms, guns, rifles, pistols, assault weapons, black scary guns, high powered rifles or a horse by any other name is just a tool! Get over it! They are just tools and if you think otherwise you are ill informed. I know that might hurt someone's feelings but this is the part I warned you about........

Assault weapon and high powered rifle or other such words are used to scare you. Why? Because people have agendas personal or public and we will leave it at that.

This is an axe...................................

This is a fully automatic axe with high capacity, multiple cut, long distance, motor driven, fossil fuel burning, greenhouse gas contributing, butcher of trees and was designed for no other reason than to KILL TREES!!!!

This is a chainsaw.............. I guess it is how you see it?????
 

Anyone remember these cases? You know people being arrested for selling or trading raw milk? What's wrong with raw milk? It can make you sick and kill kids!! Do you know how the milk makes people sick? Do you know the types of milk? Do you know the laws concerning milk? How many cows does it take to make a gallon of milk? What time is the best for milking cows? How many types of cows are there?

Don't know? Me neither, until I asked my favorite Hippie. (side note: he better be reading this!)

If you do not know how to do this and do not know how to do this....................

Then there are two new subjects for you to master!!! Shouldn't life be about learning new things??? The more you know about something the less intimidating or scary the thing is. Learning more things increases your abilities and during an emergency your abilities might be all you have to count on.

Knowledge is the key to things, right? Let's start putting some knowledge out there and start to round out people's knowledge base. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?" someone asks defensively. Here is what I mean......

You and the children are at the park and there is a GUN lying on the ground. What do you do? Do you leave it there? What if there are a lot of kids and you are not in charge of all of them? Every park full of kids has those two or three kids whose parents are not watching and they run out of control. What if they pick up the gun you do not know how to handle? Are you willing to just leave the gun there and hope nothing happens? Do you know how to handle the gun so you do not hurt anyone on accident? No, let's learn a few rules to follow.

These are the foundational rules everyone should know. You can never go wrong if you follow these four rules. Yes there are variations depending on who you ask but they all should cover the same concept. If the person you are talking to does not cover these concepts stop listening to them!!!!!

Here is what you sit down and tell your kids ASAP!!! Do not make them afraid of the tools! Just explain to them what to do if they see one. The same as you would do if you were telling them what to do if they see a kitchen knife on the ground, stray dog or anything else they might hurt themselves with.

I just like this picture! But you can see the basics of safe weapons handling are covered here. If you do not break these rules you will not hurt someone by accident.

 Another use for these rules....... I see a lot of self defense training being offered and some of them will cover firearms. Most of them do not address these rules and treat the firearm as a simple thing to use.

Do you know how to milk a cow, do you know how to clear a 'stovepipe' stoppage on that pistol? No? Than you need to follow the four rules! Keep control of the tool and leave the area. Pointing the tool at the bad guy is just a bad idea if you do not know how to use the tool.

As with other subjects we have covered this subject has more uses than just barricading ourselves in the closest big box store and holding off the hordes of the undead. Understanding the basics of firearms and understanding these rules can help you deal with situations you might come across. Everything from a child finding a gun, hunting trips with the buddies, to you disarming an attacker and suddenly you have a firearm you know nothing about.

Is she doing it right????????????

Before you plant a garden, can your harvest or treat a wound you had to gather some knowledge to do it correctly. Firearms are no different. Seek out the knowledge and beat back the ignorance which so many people put out there. Do not allow your family or yourself to become victims if a bad day comes simply because it is the 'trendy' thing to do. When you do buy a firearm the trek does not stop there. Training, training, training, you do not become a proficient fisherman by buying a rod and reel which just sits in the garage. Same with firearms, the day you need one is not the day to figure out how to use one.    

As Always,

Stay Safe