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Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Self-Initiative Project Podcast.

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I’m your host, Jim O’Brien.

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Hello, and welcome to Podcast 35. You know, I’ve been pondering doing this episode for a while.

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I knew 35 was coming, obviously. you did too, if you’ve been following us,

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but I don’t know what the title is.

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So I’m sure later when I go to launch this thing, I will have worked out a title

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and hopefully it’ll attract people to listen to what we’re talking about this time.

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And if you’re listening now, you’re, you can sit back and enjoy, but I wanted to,

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I know I’m kind of stumbling here, but the genesis of this is this concepts

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that I’ve heard and seen in the gun community, at least from time to time.

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And it kind of irks me when I hear it. And I’ll just say it because it’s one

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of the things that I wanted to talk about today anyway.

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And that is, you know, gun control takes away our right to self-defense and

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I’m paraphrasing, right?

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And you’ll see that typically in context of talking about women owning guns

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and being able to own guns and access guns for their own self-defense.

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And I get the sentiment, but we need to separate emotionally charged statements like that with reality.

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And look, the ownership of a gun and the gun community and the anti-gun community,

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there’s a lot of emotionally charged feelings and sentiments out there.

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But yeah, I wanted to spend today and maybe not dispel fallacies,

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but just keep things real and be honest as I can about purchasing a gun.

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And, you know, firearm sales here recently with everything going on is seems to be doing pretty good.

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And, you know, it’s hard to even find firearms some of the time now, along with ammo.

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And look, I, I encourage you to purchase a firearm, assuming that you have a

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desire to learn how to use it and learn how to use it safely and responsibly.

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And look, you know, you can purchase a firearm for a lot of different reasons.

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Sometimes just going to the range and shooting paper.

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I mean, I love to shoot. I’ve been shooting since I was a kid and,

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you know, going to the range and spending some time just mindlessly plugging

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away at some paper targets is a lot of fun.

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And, you know, going with your friends and family and shooting and enjoying

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that experience together is hoot.

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And, you know, for me, I find shooting cathartic sometimes.

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I it’s it’s stress relieving for me

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and maybe that makes me a weirdo but that wouldn’t be the first time

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and you know you can buy a firearm to shoot competition

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if you haven’t shot you got to kind of work your

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way up to that point but you know that’s another reason to own a firearm hunting

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obviously is a reason to have a firearm own the firearm and know how to use

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it and again safely but today we’re going to be talking about purchasing and

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owning firearms for the purpose of self-defense if you think you’re capable of doing that.

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You know, when you carry a gun or own a gun for self-defense, things change.

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And look, training and safety is important no matter why you have a firearm.

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They’re not a toy. They’re a tool, but they’re not a toy. And so,

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you know, part of this talk today is, you know, the importance of,

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is going to be about the importance of getting the proper training and handling

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firearm safety, which if you’ve been following for a while.

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We’ve talked about gun safety before, but with that, I just want to drop a.

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Few honest pieces of information. So if maybe you’ve got a firearm in the house

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and you’ve thought about staging them for home protection,

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or maybe you’re just now purchasing a firearm and you’ve decided to purchase

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it for yourself, for personal protection of yourself and your family,

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whether you’re going to be putting it in the house or carrying it on your person,

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or maybe you’ve owned guns for a while.

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And because you own them and have them in your house, you think that’s good

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enough and it’s going to do you some good when the time comes.

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But with that, I just want to drop these few things on you.

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So, you know, first and foremost, whether you’ve just had a gun or you’re getting

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close to making the decision to purchase a gun for yourself because you feel

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compelled with things the way they are right now,

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the first thing that I would say to you is that a firearm, a gun may make you

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feel better about things, and it may make you feel safer when you get it in your possession.

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It’s in your car, it’s in your bedroom, it’s on your person,

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but a gun does not make you safer automagically, right? A gun does not make you safer.

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And, you know, going back to what I started this out and what

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I said was kind of the inspiration of me doing this podcast is that if guns

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didn’t exist or they enacted all kinds of crazy gun control acts and made it

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very difficult for those of us that have and own guns and use them responsibly.

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Even if guns didn’t exist, you still have the right to defend yourself,

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the right to self-defense, the right to build up your personal safety plan,

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and you still have a means of defending yourselves.

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A gun isn’t the only tool out there. and

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arguably the most important tools are the or is the

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things that are in between your two ears and

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we’ll talk about some of that later in a bit as well and then

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the last thing which i personally think is the most important part point that

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i want to try to make with everyone today is owning a gun whether it’s in your

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house or on your person owning a gun does not absolve you from all your other

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personal safety responsibilities and things that you need to be taking,

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doing and taking care of to protect yourself and your loved ones. Let me say that again.

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Owning a gun does not absolve you from all your other personal safety responsibilities.

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And so you say, what does all that mean? Why are you making this point?

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I don’t want people to have, you know, the wrong idea about owning a gun or not only a gun.

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As I said, the genesis of this whole thing is this silly notion that if you

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take away my guns, I won’t have the right to defend myself anymore,

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or I’ll have no way to defend myself anymore. And that simply isn’t true.

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First of all, gun is just a tool like any other.

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And most of the time, it’s not going to be your go-to.

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Like things have to have gone really, really bad for you to need to escalate

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to the point where you’re pulling a firearm on somebody to defend yourself in the first place.

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So if guns went away, you still have the right to defend yourself and you still

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have a lot of means to do so.

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But I just want to talk about a gun being a tool.

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And look, like any other tool, screwdriver, hammer, power drill,

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whatever, you need to not only

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know how to use that tool, but you need to know when to use that tool.

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And what do I mean by that? Well, obviously you need to know how your gun works,

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how to use it safely, how it operates, get used to the bang and the recoil, all the usual stuff.

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But the when part I think is neglected a lot of the times.

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And that’s when to use the tool. You know, I know how to use a screwdriver.

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And I know that when there’s a loose screw or something I’m trying to tighten

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up or, you know, put a screw into a piece of wood, I know I can use a screwdriver

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to tighten or loosen that screw down.

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Same with a hammer. I know I bang on the nail of the head, nail of the head

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of the nail, right? can’t talk today, with a hammer.

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And I know that when I go to hang my picture, I can nail that nail into the wall using a hammer.

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Same thing with a gun. A gun is no different.

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It’s a tool. And even if you know how to use it, which is a big part of it, you need to know when.

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And if you don’t know both how and when to use a firearm, you might wind up

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getting hurt or worse, right?

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And, you know, like I said, sort of buying a gun is not the end of your personal

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safety journey or the pursuit of self-defense.

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If you think all you need to do is go buy the gun and I got it now I’m safe, you’re sadly mistaken.

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Without proper training and knowing what to do and how to do it and when to

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do it, the gun’s not really going to do you any good at all.

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And as I already mentioned too, getting ahead of the game a little bit,

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a gun is not really a go-to tool, and arguably it’s only a last resort.

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And, you know, just to dispel this fallacy right off the bat, there’s no guarantee,

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Even if every situation warranted a firearm, which it certainly does not,

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there’s no guarantees that a firearm is going to work.

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They could malfunction, right? Maybe it’s not. Maybe you haven’t kept it as

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clean as you should. Maybe you got a batch of bad ammo.

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Maybe there was a complete catastrophic mechanical failure with the firearm.

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Or using a gun doesn’t mean it’s automatically going to be effective.

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You know, even shooting someone in the head may not do the intended or the expected

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damage that you thought it would and stop things in that moment.

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And look, because we’re very fortunate in that bad things rarely happen,

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we have the luxury to get a tool and not think about it twice.

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And we have the luxury to talk a lot of shit about what we would do and how

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things are going to go down.

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And I’d just shoot them in the

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face or I’d rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6, all of that stuff.

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But the realities of it is it’s only because bad things, especially bad things

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that would necessitate or warrant us using a firearm in the first place, are few and far between.

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So just keep that sort of stuff in check too and know that, you know,

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when and if the time does come, it’s a lot different than you might think it is.

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And, you know, the mindset thing, have you thought about what to do?

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Have you thought through scenarios?

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Have you thought about how you would respond?

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Do you know you’re capable of using a firearm? Because if you got a firearm

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to hurt somebody or I’ll just shoot them in the leg or arm, you don’t need to

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have a gun for personal safety.

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You don’t need to have a gun for self-defense. A gun is not used to hurt someone.

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A gun is used to stop the threat.

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And when you get some training, you’ll understand more about what that means.

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And look, just because you elect to carry a gun doesn’t mean you’re a badass, right?

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You still have work to do to avoid bad situations.

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And when you own a firearm, your level of responsibility goes through the roof, right?

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And you should want to avoid things because the last thing anybody should want

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to have to do is pull a gun on somebody else and use it. But,

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you know, like we’ve talked about, a gun is just a tool, any other,

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you know, it’s a piece of hardware.

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And you could make the argument that there’s other tools that might even be

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better for your choice, your purposes than a gun.

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You know, some might say a knife is better.

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With little to no training, you can affect a lot of damage with a knife if things

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got to that point. But again, things have to have gone really bad.

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To get to the point where you’re using the potential deadly force on someone else.

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And so, you know, everybody talks about physical, you know, when it comes to

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the self-defense world, everybody talks about learning physical fighting,

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you know, how to throw a punch, kick, and all of that good stuff.

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I talk about tools, whether it’s guns, knives, coupons, mace,

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a whole slew of other things.

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But really and truly, that’s the hardware, right? whether you’re talking about

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our hands and fists or a gun, that’s the hardware.

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I’ve forever contended that the most important piece in my mind is the software.

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And what do we mean by software?

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Well, you were given a brain.

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That which resides behind that hard cranium of yours is what you should be employing

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more often than not, and certainly long before it gets to the point where you need to use a gun.

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And so what are we talking about with our brains?

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Well, we’re talking about mindset. I just mentioned that. Do you even have the

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capabilities of taking another life?

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You should really think about that before you get a gun for self-defense purposes.

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And then, you know, you need to get some training and do some things to develop a never quit mindset.

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You’re not ever going to give up until you can’t fight anymore if you ever find

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yourself in those situations.

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So mindset is really key and probably the most important piece of the software.

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But, you know, we’re also talking about things like becoming more situational,

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situationally aware, practicing good situational awareness when you’re out in public,

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avoiding, you know, that we’ve talked about the dark alleys and not going to

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the gas station or the ATM at night after dark by yourself.

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Learning some verbal de-escalation skills, you know? Do you know how to talk

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to somebody without enraging them further?

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Maybe you can talk them down off the cliff.

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I think setting up, especially for ladies and men to setting up,

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not only setting up, but also learning how to enforce your personal boundaries

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that you set for yourself.

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And then lastly, and, you know, very important and not just for women,

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but for men too, is listening to your intuition.

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If your sixth sense, if your spidey senses, you know, Spider-Man tingling,

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if your intuition is telling you something might be sketchy or there’s a bad

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person up ahead or whatever, listen and avoid it.

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You may offend them temporarily, but who cares? If you feel unsafe,

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get yourself to a safe place.

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So when we talk about software, there’s all these tools in your head,

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in your brain that you should work to become good at or better at long before

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a physical tool, hardware, piece of hardware comes into play.

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And, you know, I want to, if you take nothing else away from this podcast,

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I want you to realize that things do not happen the way they do in the movies and on TV.

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Let me say that again. Sorry to burst some of your bubbles, possibly,

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but things do not happen like they do in movies or on TV.

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And we’re talking about in the context of firearms of guns, right? Guns don’t always kill.

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You know, gunshots don’t knock you 10 feet back through the air and down.

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That’s not how it happens.

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Multiple shots on target, even if you place good shots, may not work.

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Even some headshots may not work in all cases.

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Shooting someone to hurt them, as I mentioned a little while ago,

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shooting someone to hurt them is not the purpose of a gun.

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So if you think that’s going to be your standard practice, your approach when

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and if the time comes, don’t go in there with that because that’s a legal issue in and of itself.

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And that’s something that we’re going to talk about as well.

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There’s also this other fallacy that, you know, you need good training because

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if you’re not trained, you won’t know how to respond. And that’s true.

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But just thinking through scenarios and figuring out how you would deal with

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different situations puts you

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ahead of the next person that hasn’t given anything an ounce of thought.

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But there is this fallacy that says when you’re put under stress,

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the reason why you want to train is so that you’ll rise to your level of training.

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That is completely false.

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If you went to a physical training like Krav Maga, like I’ve been through,

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or some other martial arts,

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And you performed at your absolute best in class and you went to class two or

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three times a week, which is minimum, right?

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And you were performing 100%, every technique, everything that was thrown at

00:16:51.604 –> 00:16:54.744
you, you did it 100%. I mean, you’re a rock star in class.

00:16:55.324 –> 00:16:59.644
If someone attacked you on the street or in your personal life,

00:16:59.824 –> 00:17:05.544
whatever that looks like, you’re probably only going to rise to about 60% to

00:17:05.544 –> 00:17:07.444
70% of your training abilities.

00:17:07.444 –> 00:17:11.524
Because when under stress, with the dump of all the chemicals,

00:17:11.724 –> 00:17:16.724
which we won’t go into today, you’re going to be lucky to remember half of what you’ve learned.

00:17:17.084 –> 00:17:21.344
And, you know, there’s some other physical things that you go under in addition

00:17:21.344 –> 00:17:22.704
to the chemical responses.

00:17:23.064 –> 00:17:27.644
There’s auditory exclusion. You lose, at least in part, some of your hearing.

00:17:27.824 –> 00:17:33.704
You develop tunnel vision and you lose your fine motor skills, right? Right.

00:17:33.744 –> 00:17:40.424
Your body just kind of shuts down and all the blood goes to the center to kind of help keep you going.

00:17:40.644 –> 00:17:45.204
Right. And so you lose all these fine things that you normally have.

00:17:45.324 –> 00:17:47.684
You’re hearing your vision and your fine motor skills.

00:17:47.804 –> 00:17:53.264
And then some say that your IQ drops significantly in those situations as well.

00:17:53.264 –> 00:17:57.364
So you’re not going to rise to your level of training. You’re going to rise

00:17:57.364 –> 00:18:02.724
to some sub part to that, some sub percentage of that.

00:18:02.804 –> 00:18:06.544
And that’s why training is so important so that when something does happen,

00:18:06.704 –> 00:18:12.084
you perform better than you would otherwise, you know, and that brings me to the training piece.

00:18:12.084 –> 00:18:17.844
Again, we talked about not just knowing how to use the tool, but when to use the tool.

00:18:18.104 –> 00:18:23.564
So, you know, as far as training goes, are you seeking out professional training?

00:18:23.944 –> 00:18:28.024
Especially, again, if you’ve purchased a firearm or think you have a firearm

00:18:28.024 –> 00:18:33.844
or are going to get a firearm for self-defense purposes, are you seeking professional help?

00:18:33.844 –> 00:18:38.124
Not only do you need to learn the basics of the firearm, but you need to learn

00:18:38.124 –> 00:18:42.304
how to handle that firearm safely first and foremost.

00:18:42.724 –> 00:18:48.224
Are you going to shoot regularly and not just keeping a gun in the house and

00:18:48.224 –> 00:18:52.404
maybe taking it out every 6 to 12 months or 18 months?

00:18:52.564 –> 00:18:54.724
You know, owning a gun doesn’t do you any good.

00:18:55.004 –> 00:18:57.484
You got to use that gun and use it regularly.

00:18:58.064 –> 00:19:01.704
And when you do go shoot, hopefully if you’re getting professional training,

00:19:01.884 –> 00:19:06.704
it’s, you know, it’s what you’re doing. So the the training for self-defense

00:19:06.704 –> 00:19:08.384
is going to come a part of that training.

00:19:08.624 –> 00:19:13.044
But when you go to the range, you know, you don’t want to just be shooting at a piece of paper.

00:19:13.304 –> 00:19:17.904
You want to go online, learn some shooting skills, take some targets,

00:19:18.224 –> 00:19:22.824
make it a point to practice something that’s improving your overall skills and

00:19:22.824 –> 00:19:24.904
ability each and every time you go to the range.

00:19:25.823 –> 00:19:30.703
You should be shooting on your own, not including just the professional training

00:19:30.703 –> 00:19:32.023
that you find for yourself.

00:19:32.363 –> 00:19:39.243
If you plan on carrying for self-defense purposes, you need to be training a minimum of once a month.

00:19:39.443 –> 00:19:43.323
And honestly, you need to be going once every two weeks. And if you can get

00:19:43.323 –> 00:19:45.783
ammo and afford it, I’d say go once a week.

00:19:46.023 –> 00:19:50.783
Again, because carrying a gun, owning a gun, whether it’s in your car,

00:19:50.923 –> 00:19:56.083
your house, or on your person, you know, you have a responsibility to be better

00:19:56.083 –> 00:19:58.023
than anybody else with that firearm.

00:19:58.023 –> 00:20:03.263
Because if you’re called upon to use it, you want to be sure you know what you’re doing with it.

00:20:03.383 –> 00:20:05.703
Because again, it’s not like movies and TV.

00:20:05.903 –> 00:20:12.343
With that being said, given the current times, you know, going to the firing

00:20:12.343 –> 00:20:16.503
range, the gun range in your area may be limited due to COVID.

00:20:17.363 –> 00:20:23.803
And, you know, there’s obviously, it seems to be a pretty massive ammo shortage at current.

00:20:24.003 –> 00:20:28.603
Now, that’s not always the case. And I’m sure, too, that this will come to pass

00:20:28.603 –> 00:20:30.343
again like it has in the past.

00:20:30.503 –> 00:20:34.963
But, you know, dry firing is something that you can be doing in your home on

00:20:34.963 –> 00:20:36.643
your own and do so for free.

00:20:36.963 –> 00:20:41.383
Make sure your firearm’s free and clear of ammo. Leave it in a completely separate

00:20:41.383 –> 00:20:44.023
room actually is a better policy.

00:20:44.283 –> 00:20:48.343
You should be doing that when you clean it to just put the live ammo in a completely

00:20:48.343 –> 00:20:54.543
separate room and you could practice most every aspect of shooting doing dry

00:20:54.543 –> 00:20:59.083
fire sight picture sight alignment if you don’t know what those two things are

00:20:59.083 –> 00:21:02.123
how they’re different that tells me you need training you see what i’m saying.

00:21:03.228 –> 00:21:07.948
You know, not all gun ranges even allow you to draw from concealment or from holsters.

00:21:08.168 –> 00:21:11.668
So you can be working on that, working on your trigger pull.

00:21:12.168 –> 00:21:18.348
Obviously, if you elect to carry in some kind of funky holster or belly band

00:21:18.348 –> 00:21:22.088
or bra holster or in a purse, this is your opportunity.

00:21:22.228 –> 00:21:26.068
Dry firing in the privacy of your own home is not only free,

00:21:26.108 –> 00:21:30.248
but allows you to practice some things that depending on the gun range that

00:21:30.248 –> 00:21:34.108
you have in your area, you might be able to do that you couldn’t normally do.

00:21:34.748 –> 00:21:39.188
And so, you know, not having ammo, yeah, it sucks not to be able to go to the

00:21:39.188 –> 00:21:44.208
gun range, but it’s not an excuse not to stay as sharp as you can and dry firing helps that.

00:21:44.548 –> 00:21:49.408
Okay, with all that being said, that’s all training with the tool, right?

00:21:49.948 –> 00:21:54.008
Learning how to use the gun safely, getting it figured out, shooting regularly

00:21:54.008 –> 00:21:55.868
and seeking out professional training.

00:21:56.848 –> 00:22:00.808
Now, let’s talk about the win and some other training you absolutely should

00:22:00.808 –> 00:22:02.588
get for yourself. Legal.

00:22:03.068 –> 00:22:10.008
For your state and any local laws that you have, you need to learn your state laws.

00:22:10.328 –> 00:22:12.708
Now, do you have to know everything and become a lawyer? No.

00:22:12.908 –> 00:22:17.488
But you need to seek out that information, read it online, ask a friend.

00:22:17.868 –> 00:22:21.208
In a lot of cases, when you go to get professional training,

00:22:21.528 –> 00:22:27.208
sometimes those classes will include a legal element because knowing the basics

00:22:27.208 –> 00:22:30.208
of legal will tell you a lot, if nothing else.

00:22:30.868 –> 00:22:35.208
When and when you cannot use a firearm in defense of yourself.

00:22:35.568 –> 00:22:41.388
You’ll learn that just simply saying, I feared for my life is not really going to cut it.

00:22:41.488 –> 00:22:43.968
And that’s another fallacy I’ll dispel right here.

00:22:44.108 –> 00:22:48.008
You know, I’m hopeful that you’ve heard all these things before now,

00:22:48.188 –> 00:22:50.588
or you’ve given it some thought before now.

00:22:50.708 –> 00:22:55.208
But if not, that’s another fallacy I want to tell you, which is why you need

00:22:55.208 –> 00:22:58.568
to get the legal knowledge in addition to the shooting knowledge.

00:22:58.988 –> 00:23:05.048
So seek out some legal. Do you have to pay a lawyer to have them spout law to you? No.

00:23:05.548 –> 00:23:12.208
But you need to ideally find professional training that includes some aspect

00:23:12.208 –> 00:23:16.508
of legal, or you just need to go online and look at laws for your state.

00:23:17.148 –> 00:23:20.288
Laws here in Georgia are different than they are in Texas or different than

00:23:20.288 –> 00:23:24.008
they are in California. So it’s important you know the law for where you are.

00:23:24.268 –> 00:23:27.768
And if you travel a lot, it’s important that you know the laws for those states

00:23:27.768 –> 00:23:29.968
that you are traveling to frequently.

00:23:30.508 –> 00:23:33.408
Florida’s laws are different than Georgia’s laws, for example.

00:23:34.348 –> 00:23:38.548
And the other part of training, the other type of training that you should absolutely

00:23:38.548 –> 00:23:41.268
seek, and I think everybody needs this training.

00:23:42.352 –> 00:23:45.512
Is some basic first aid and basic trauma. You know,

00:23:45.592 –> 00:23:50.312
there’s a program out now called Stop the Bleed that will teach you very easily

00:23:50.312 –> 00:23:55.032
and simply with some simple gear that you can get for yourself and build a kit

00:23:55.032 –> 00:23:59.692
how you can save a life by stopping severe bleeding, hemorrhaging.

00:24:00.312 –> 00:24:06.852
Severe bleeding is the number one cause of preventable death in trauma cases.

00:24:06.872 –> 00:24:09.772
And we all can do something about that.

00:24:09.912 –> 00:24:14.432
So basic first aid and trauma care, I’m always on board with and would encourage

00:24:14.432 –> 00:24:17.612
you to get for yourself, to seek out for yourself.

00:24:18.492 –> 00:24:23.072
And look, the last point that I want to leave you on is when you get a gun,

00:24:23.212 –> 00:24:28.432
that doesn’t mean you get to stop following all other good personal safety practices.

00:24:28.992 –> 00:24:33.352
Like you, you don’t get to stop avoiding the bad places, right?

00:24:33.432 –> 00:24:36.532
You don’t get to stop locking your doors to your house at night.

00:24:36.652 –> 00:24:39.572
You’re not looking for trouble just because you’re carrying a gun.

00:24:39.712 –> 00:24:42.772
You don’t want to invite trouble just because you’re carrying a gun.

00:24:42.952 –> 00:24:45.932
Because now that you’re carrying a gun, like I’ve already said,

00:24:46.132 –> 00:24:48.772
your responsibilities go way high.

00:24:48.972 –> 00:24:54.752
You know, Spider-Man’s uncle said it best, right? With great power comes great responsibility.

00:24:55.092 –> 00:24:57.992
And much like learning to fight, once you learn how to fight,

00:24:58.192 –> 00:25:02.432
you realize you don’t want to be in a fight. The same with carrying a gun.

00:25:02.612 –> 00:25:07.912
When you’re carrying a gun, you should be working extra diligently to avoid

00:25:07.912 –> 00:25:09.992
conflict and to avoid situations.

00:25:10.352 –> 00:25:16.372
So again, that’s where that situational awareness and staying alert and avoiding comes into play.

00:25:17.112 –> 00:25:22.372
So, you know, we’ve talked about how a gun is not the key to your personal safety.

00:25:22.592 –> 00:25:25.252
So what are some keys to your personal safety?

00:25:25.532 –> 00:25:30.312
And, you know, with that being said, any tool, you know, your personal safety

00:25:30.312 –> 00:25:35.072
does not end at the purchase, at the point of purchase of some tool,

00:25:35.072 –> 00:25:38.772
whatever it is, gun, knife, mace, kubaton.

00:25:39.840 –> 00:25:43.960
Thing with pointy ears on it to stab in someone’s faces, which is another reason

00:25:43.960 –> 00:25:47.700
why you need to know legalities in your area because a lot of those cool,

00:25:47.900 –> 00:25:51.660
interesting tools are not even illegal, kind of like brass knuckles, right?

00:25:52.560 –> 00:25:57.040
So what are the keys to your personal safety? Well, I think first and foremost,

00:25:57.220 –> 00:25:59.040
like we’ve talked about today, is mindset.

00:25:59.500 –> 00:26:05.080
Having a never-quit attitude and figuring out ahead of time whether or not you

00:26:05.080 –> 00:26:09.120
can do what’s going to be required of you to do when and if something gets to

00:26:09.120 –> 00:26:12.160
the point where you need to employ deadly force.

00:26:12.940 –> 00:26:17.640
Second, and I think most important, is training. You know, if you’re looking

00:26:17.640 –> 00:26:20.620
to use a tool like a gun, you absolutely need that.

00:26:20.780 –> 00:26:23.660
You should get some physical self-defense training.

00:26:23.840 –> 00:26:30.060
And again, the legal aspects and the first aid trauma are, I think,

00:26:30.380 –> 00:26:32.160
an absolute necessity as well.

00:26:32.420 –> 00:26:36.140
You need to keep practicing. Whatever it is you elect to do for yourself,

00:26:36.200 –> 00:26:38.260
you need to practice and practice regularly.

00:26:39.000 –> 00:26:41.240
You need to stay situationally aware

00:26:41.240 –> 00:26:46.720
and keep avoiding things as best as possible, right? Just the basics.

00:26:47.480 –> 00:26:51.540
And, you know, for yourself, when you’re sitting at home and not outside the

00:26:51.540 –> 00:26:55.600
house where things can go wrong, you want to take some time to think through

00:26:55.600 –> 00:26:59.240
scenarios, think through crazy things, someone kicking down the front door of

00:26:59.240 –> 00:27:00.480
your house, whatever it is,

00:27:00.760 –> 00:27:04.120
someone approaches you at the grocery store parking lot whatever

00:27:04.120 –> 00:27:06.860
it is and think how would i respond to this what am i going

00:27:06.860 –> 00:27:09.760
to do when that situation comes just thinking

00:27:09.760 –> 00:27:12.900
through those scenarios will put you miles ahead the

00:27:12.900 –> 00:27:18.200
next person and then lastly and i’ll leave you on this is the last thing you

00:27:18.200 –> 00:27:24.260
need to do is make sure those around you especially your family have a plan

00:27:24.260 –> 00:27:28.960
and know what to do so with that i hope you’ve had some takeaways from today

00:27:28.960 –> 00:27:31.680
i’m sure you have if you’ve listened all the way through.

00:27:32.860 –> 00:27:36.640
Hope you had some takeaways and if you like what you’re hearing here at the

00:27:36.640 –> 00:27:41.240
self-initiative project podcast we’d love it if you told your friends and family

00:27:41.240 –> 00:27:45.580
and give us that five-star review when you give them the opportunity and with

00:27:45.580 –> 00:27:48.420
that we’ll see you next time thanks so much for listening.

00:27:50.160 –> 00:28:08.526
Music.