By Michael Brown

It is my belief that 99% of people who carry guns are not prepared to survive a violent assault (including police officers). While this may offend a lot of carriers, I feel its important to address.

So I ask, is your gun truly a weapon to you or a talisman that will hopefully ward off those who will bring you harm?

To answer this question properly, I propose a series of ten questions with sub-questions. They are not all-encompassing but should give you some ideas to ponder if you are really interested in self-defense and not just busting caps (as fun as that is). There are other issues such as first aid and other issues, but I think this list does a pretty good job questioning the basics of your plan.

1. Do you train realistically with the gun and gear you actually carry with the clothes you actually wear? What does "realistic" mean to you?
2. Will your gear hold up under the stress of a physical encounter? How do you know?
3. Do you regularly train against a live, resisting opponent?
4. Could you physically hold up against an all-out assault from a determined adversary? How do you know?
5. Do you actively train your mind for violent conflict? How?
6. Do you carry less-lethal options when you carry your gun? Have you practiced regularly with them?
7. Do you EVER go anywhere unarmed where you are not legally prohibited from doing so?
8. Have you assessed how long it would take you to access your weapons from any point in your home? Have you checked it against entry from various points in your home?
9. If you have spouses/significant others or children, have you trained them in how to respond if it all goes down? Would they replicate this behavior if you asked them to do it RIGHT THIS MINUTE?
10. Do you become task-fixated in public places? Balancing the check book in the parking lot? Talking on the cell phone while walking across the parking lot? Be honest with yourself.

It doesn't matter if you do all of these things or none of these things. What is important is that you understand where you stand and decide what you want to be.

Nothing we write on a keyboard will save us, but we do want people to start thinking.

Michael Brown

For a Discussion on this topic, you can go here: http://www.okshooters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=511