The first shot.

I'm not (usually) one to give a lot of inordinate attention to talk about "the second American revolution."

 Quite frankly, I don't think we have the balls.

Someone at the VFW, however, pointed out that during the first American revolution, it was only something like five or six percent of those able to who actually took up arms and kicked the redcoats' collective backsides.

And since the latest statistics today show that less than ONE PERCENT of all living Americans have any military service. . . .

I make no illusions about being young and fit enough to go running and jumping through the woods and urban forests and skulking with face paint and exotic black guns in each hand. As the more experienced (read: aged/"been there, done that") of us relate over cold adult beverages, that is a young person's role.

Us older folks will still be there, however. If the government and left-wing loonies only knew just how organized many of the former military types actually are, and how quickly we can actually organize, arm ourselves and deploy, there would be an explosion in the sale of Depends undergarments.

Several years ago, I was at an event in Oklahoma where the overwhelming majority of us present were veterans. We had all five branches of the service represented and "war experience" ranging as far back as the Korean War. Somehow or another, talk about "what could we do?" began, and within an hour, we had "organized" ourselves into a rather formidable force.

The younger infantry and Marine guys bore the weight-bearing roles, a couple of former Army SF guys (Ranger, Green Beret) who were of the Vietnam era did offensive and recon mission planning, some of us "non-infantry" types organized into supply and logistics and transportation and intelligence roles, one of the Navy guys was a retired machinist and opened his shop to fabricate and repair anything we might need. Etc etc.

This was less than four-dozen veterans of all ages and we organized far quicker, more efficiently and with better immediate resources than the majority of SWAT teams within a two-hundred mile radius.

Bear in mind, there are millions of us scattered throughout America.

What makes us a formidable force is the fact that we have all served and because of that, we instantly understand discipline and chain-of-command and the need to either lead or be led. No arguing, no egos, no whining--just doing it.

It's something, as any vet will tell you, that you never forget. It becomes part of your DNA in boot camp and it never leaves you.

The other thing that bonds us together is the fact that we desperately do not want a war on our soil ever again, especially a civil war. But to protect peace, one must constantly foster strength.

But if a civil war is going to happen, a situation such as what is happening with a family-owned business in Colorado will be the catalyst.

 In a nutshell, the Newland family started and built a small business in the HVAC industry and over the years, built it into a thriving success story that now employs around 250 workers. The problem is Obamacare and the Newland's religion--they're Catholic. Obamacare is requiring that the Newlands provide abortion services, sterilization, birth control, etc to their employees even though such actions are in direct conflict with their religious doctrine.

The Newlands, standing on their religious freedoms, declined and Eric Holder's DOJ filed suit, in essence telling the Newlands "you can keep your religion or you can keep your business. Choose one."


An injunction was granted, but the government's argument against such was the following:

According to the Obama Administration, however, the free exercise of religion is something done only one day a week in a house of worship. It argued that the “Plaintiffs’ free exercise claim fails at the outset because for-profit, secular employers generally do not engage in any exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment.”

This is unbelievable. It's also frightening.

It's also a perfect combination for "the first shot" to occur.

I'll go on record as stating that I will not stand idly by and watch an American's religious freedoms being trampled by a thug administration that routinely defecates on the Constitution for no other purpose than to further empower itself.

A word to the government: None of you ever wore a uniform or badge. You're sole "authority of enforcement" comes from those who do or who have. We swore an oath to the Constitution--not you. We'll defend the Constitution against any and all enemies.

Don't forget that.

Of course Obama talks "more gun control."

Face it, our president is as clueless as the lapdogs in the media that are constantly jock-sniffing his backside like the dogs in heat they are.

In the wake of a mass-shooting, the clueless politicians and cowards--aka, liberals--clamor for more gun control, with Obama now spouting off on the issue himself. Tighter background checks. AK-47s in the hands of soldiers, not civilians. Blah blah blah.

What a bunch of stupid SOBs.

Two words on how well government-mandated gun control works:

Eric Holder.

That's right, the nation's top law enforcement hack is also the nation's top perpetrator of gun crimes, ala Fast and Furious. What's more, the chief Idiot (Obama) apparently had full knowledge, thus his enacting "executive privilege" to keep the records and papers from Congress, ala the American People.

The International Association of Police Chiefs has always been a testicle-challenged organization in which there has never been any need for functional urinals at their convention halls since these chiefs all squat to urinate. So no surprise on their stance.

However, as we move closer to a police state in Amerika, consider that it is the police (their chiefs) who clamor for increasing gun control for everyone BUT the police.

That should scare the hell out of everyone reading this.

The first chapter of my novel, Above Reproach, illustrated what happens when a deranged individual/s intent on causing as much harm can do when their targets are unarmed and basically helpless. But later in the book, when they are confronted by armed and prepared citizens, the outcomes are drastically different.

By the way, that's not fiction. The National Rifle Association published The Armed Citizen every month in their flagship publications--and all those events are lifted from various newspapers across the country.

Being armed can save your life. Being  unarmed can cost you your life.

Just whose damned side are the politicians and police chiefs on anyhow?

Once again we see that criminals ignore signs and laws.

(re-posted from jdkinman.com)

Typical.

Didn't we see this in the Omaha (Nebraska) mall shooting a few years ago? Another "safe, gun-free zone" in which some criminal totally disregarded the law (isn't that what criminals do, by definition?) and started thinning the herd of sheep.

This almost mirrors the opening chapter in my book (Above Reproach) in which armed terrorists targeted "gun-free" zones and cities in which guns had been outlawed for law-abiding citizens. Wholesale slaughter resulted.

Much like Aurora, Colorado.

Where were the police? Where were the military?

Since liberal sheep insist that only police and military need or should have guns, then where the hell were the police or the military in Aurora? Never mind the fact that the military, by law, is prohibited from "enforcement" actions in domestic matters.

So where were the police--even off-duty police?

Contrast this with a scene a few months ago in a grocery store in Salt Lake City where another deranged animal started slashing a fixed-blade knife at patrons, cutting several of them until a law-abiding citizen with a concealed handgun license stopped the attack.

Contrast this with a scene in Ocala, Florida where a couple of scumbag punks walked into an internet café armed with a gun and a baseball bat and attempted to rob everyone until a 71-year-old pulled his legally concealed handgun and fired on the thugs.

I know a lot of folks in Colorado and even in the Denver area who are CHL holders, who are cool under pressure, many of whom are veterans, some of whom are past law enforcement and some of whom are regular sport shooters.

I also know that NOT ONE OF THEM would ever set foot in that theater because it advertised itself as "gun-free" and prohibited firearms.

Looks like that policy was an epic fail.

I REFUSE to patronize any place, business or organization that does not trust me to responsibly exercise my Second Amendment rights. Those same places, businesses and organizations somehow trusted me to carry a firearm when I was wearing our nation's uniform, but they no longer trust me now that I'm back home and a civilian.

So I will not, repeat, not patronize them. It's their right to refuse me service. It's my right to insist on having a fighting chance when some scumbag thug robber or nutjob decides that "today is the day" and wants to go on a killing spree.

Armed citizens could have, and would have prevented the melee that occurred in Aurora, Colorado.

But instead, liberals--which I classify as COWARDS--insist on blaming guns, NRA, Rush Limbaugh. . . anyone but themselves for their cowardly policies denying the masses their rights in order to feel "safe."

The opening quote in my book says it all:

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Benjamin Franklin)

And while the cowards (liberals) are crying about the dangers of guns and all the guns we have in this country, when is the last time a massacre of this note occurred at the NRA convention, or the SHOT show, or a gun-show, or at a Bass Pro Shops or Cabela's or any other outdoor/firearms/sporting goods store?

Liberals are to blame for the massacre in Aurora. Not conservatives. Not gun-owners. Not Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin or the NRA.

Think about that for every shopping and purchasing decision you make.

Is there a showdown coming between law enforcement and the public?

*Sigh* I just read another one of "those" stories, and I'm waiting on my blood pressure to decline.

Deputies from a Florida sheriff's department do the usual o-dark-thirty raid on a house--the wrong house--and kill the occupant who comes to the door with a gun in his hand.

I worked in law enforcement a long time ago. Not once--repeat, NOT ONCE--did we ever knock or bang on a door without announcing that we were the police.

Not once.

Yeah, we went looking for people at o-dark-thirty because even scumbags sleep. But at o-dark-thirty, most scumbags are out at scumbag locales doing scumbag things.

At o-dark-thirty, most law-abiding, righteous citizens are sleeping so that they can work another day and pay another day's worth of taxes to help keep dumbshit sheriff's departments up and kicking in doors in the middle of the night without announcing who's kicking in the door.

What really grates the living hell out of me in this story is the sheer arrogance of the ass who is defending the murder of this citizen. I quote:

"When we knocked on the door, the door opened and the occupant of that apartment was pointing a gun at deputies, and that's when we opened fire and killed him," Lt. John Herrell said. "Even though this subject is not the one we were looking for when he opened the door. He was pointing the gun at the deputy and if you put yourselves in the deputy's shoes. They were there to pick up someone who was wanted for an attempted homicide."

Not sure about you, but if/when my doorbell gets rung or my door gets knocked on at 1:30 a.m., I answer the door with a gun in hand. I'm not a criminal--I'm an American citizen for who the Constitution guarantees me the right to answer the door at 1:30 in the morning with a gun in my hand.

Especially when whoever is doing the knocking does not announce who the hell they are.

Another example of police arrogance and stupidity resulting in the death of an innocent citizen.

And, another example of some asshole police "commander" trying to blame it on the innocent citizen exercising their rights to defend themselves against whatever scum may come pounding on their door at 1:30 in the morning.

This final "justification" quote from the jackbooted deputy pretty much sums up why law enforcement across America is falling into the same favor as trial lawyers and politicians:

"It's just a bizarre set of circumstances. The bottom line is, you point a gun at a deputy sheriff or police office, you're going to get shot," Herrell said.

OK, Mr. Herrell, think about this. The bottom line is if you go pointing a gun at innocent citizens, badge or no badge, you're liable to get shot. And having shot in many matches with cops, I know who the better shots are.

And the police ain't them.

Police: Get your act together and start putting a muzzle on idiots like this Herrell and you damned well better start identifying yourselves when you pound on people's door.

Otherwise, we're going to start shooting back.

Bullying. You know the solution.

It dismays me to no end that there is a growing legion of people in this country that rely on the government to do everything for them.

Everything.

I keep reading and hearing of this "bullying" problem, and quite frankly, I don't see where the problem is.

Actually, I do and it is with the person or people being bullied.

It's called cowardice. But here is a nice video showing the reality of 99% of all bullying situations.
Bully gets his ass kicked.

That's the way I was taught to handle bullies when I was growing up five decades ago. It worked then, it works now.

It's not necessarily "laying hands on someone" that is the point--it's standing up to the bully and giving it right back to them with the implied PROMISE that you will kick their ass by and with whatever means necessary to end the harassment or threats or bullying they are laying on you.

I was a pretty small guy growing up and the bigger, older neighborhood kids kicked my ass now and then just for the hell of it. My grandad, a WWII vet, encouraged judo lessons. From there, I added karate and in a couple of years, I found myself going after a couple of guys who'd shoved down a kid on crutches.

It infuriated me, and I went after the two guys without thinking. About fifteen seconds into the brawl, it dawned on me that this judo and karate stuff really DOES work. When you focus your discipline and power into your punches and kicks and use your opponent's momentum (and ignorance) against him, you can deliver a fearsome ass-kicking.

But today, we as parents run to the principal's office crying and sobbing and demanding that THEY do something about the bully who is bothering our precious Percy or Priscilla. As adults, we go crying to human resources or EEOC demanding THEY do something about a bullying co-worker or supervisor.

Bullies do what they do because they do not respect the person they are picking on. Fear generates a healthy dose of respect. If you don't believe me, ask any veteran who went through boot camp. We feared our drill instructors and knew, without a doubt, that they could kick our ass seven ways sideways to Sunday.

But because THEY also knew it, the need to "bully" wasn't there. By the end of our eight or twelve weeks of basic military training, mutual respect had been achieved.

You can achieve the same thing in the civilian world in eight to twelve seconds if you simply stand up to the SOB who is bullying you and promise what we called "violence of action" and have every intention of following through.

It's a mindset you have to acquire, which is why we're such a spineless nation ruled by bullies. It's much easier to run whining to the government to make more laws against bullying than it is to stand up to them and/or teach our kids how to stand up to them.

Spare me the talk about lawyers and courts and police. Simply STANDING UP to a damned bully will win three-fourths of the battles. Tell them to kiss your ass and howl at the moon.

If you live in fear, it is because you choose to live in fear. Bullies are nothing new, nor is standing up to them.

But again, we choose to be spineless.

And to prove it, our U.S. Government is the biggest bunch of bullies there are, and we don't even have the guts to vote their asses out of office.

Step right up and join TSA!

Step right up, folks!

Bullied as a young person growing up in your middle-class neighborhood?

Ridiculed in the gym locker room because of underdeveloped/non-developed reproductive organs?

Failed your ACT or SAT tests?

Unfit for military duty?

Is your IQ the average of that of a wilting houseplant?

Do you have strong leanings towards sexual predation?

Unable to pass a bonafide background check?

Are you otherwise unemployable in this age of Obama?

Have zero concept of Constitutional freedoms, in particular the Fourth Amendment?

NO WORRIES!

Join TSA, where our motto is: "The worse you are, the better we become!"

You can thank our absolutely gutless elected officials, going back to George W Bush and his stupid-assed Patriot Act and creation of the Department of Homeland Security, for this travesty.

They did, after all, have the option of bombing the terrorist back into the Stone Age, allowing passengers to fly armed, profiling terrorists instead of toddlers and 87-year-old grandmothers in wheelchairs.

Like I said, GUTLESS elected officials.

But I'm convinced the majority of America doesn't care.

Who's on American Idol tonight?

It wasn't free then. It isn't free now.

Freedom.

Independence.

It came with a price. 

Never forget.

There is still light in this world.

 Maybe we need more of this and less of the governments mismanaging the world.

Sometimes, it really is that simple.

I found America this past weekend.

Some folks in Natchitoches, Louisiana invited me to an EAA (Experimental Aviation Association) fly-in, dinner and shooting get-together at the local range--and they asked me to bring some books to sell and sign.

Let's think about this for a minute. Airplanes (I'm an EAA and AOPA member), guns, Louisiana cooking and the opportunity to make new friends.

I'm in.

I loaded up the Cessna after lunch on Friday, waited until the heat of the day was peaking, made sure headwinds would be at their strongest and departed. (Pilots understand how conditions rarely favor you on outbound legs of trips.)

ATC had me on a departure route west of Fort Worth. I'm always amazed--and dismayed--at how big Cowtown has become.

To the immediate west of my heading was the Fort Worth Joint Naval Air Station. Us local pilots have learned to keep a wary eye out for the Navy jocks. They have a difficult time reading "2,500" on their altimeters--which is the minimum altitude they are required to fly on inbound approach from the north.

Remember: They have parachutes and we don't.

It's always a relief to be clear of ANY class bravo airspace, and even though DFW is home and I know it like I know all the weeds in my backyard, it's always good to have it behind you.

It was 102F when I cranked up and took off. This was to be a VFR trip, so I'd filed for 7500'. Naturally, there was a cloud layer at 7500' and just as naturally, there was one at 5500' so I had a choice: fly at 3500' msl and sweat and get bounced around, or climb above it all.

Took me no time at all to decide, and I snapped this picture as I was clearing 9000' msl. At altitude, the outside air temperature (OAT) was actually in the low 40's. Nice calm and cool skies from that point on eastward.

Looking down at Tyler, Texas--one of my favorite east Texas towns.

It was hot, humid and hazy down below, but that is Toledo Bend Reservoir--the largest enclosed body of water in Texas and it sits on the border between us and Louisiana. Long, big lake.

They have a fantastic airport at Natchitoches (KIER) with first-class people operating it. Here, I've got the bird unloaded and tucked in for the weekend.

Saturday morning, my host, Ben Rushing, asks me if I want to see Louisiana as seen from one of the coolest bi-planes in the universe--a Hiperbipe. He even foolishly let me fly it. Said he needed to get his heart rate up a bit for the day.

View from the front office of the Hiperbipe.

Cheated Death once again and brought a heavier-than-air flying machine safely to the ground.

Here is a beautiful Taylorcraft that showed up for the fly-in. Flying doesn't get much more fun than in these fabric airplanes.

Then there was the Stearman. When you combine the old low and slow fabric birds with bi-planes, you get the classic Stearman. Of course, that big radial engine up front stays constantly thirsty.

After the birds had all come in Saturday morning, there was fellowship and hangar flying and food. A huge swamp cooler had been set up in the hangar along with a lot of long tables.

Some of my Louisiana gun buddies and readers had driven over for the festivities and we had some great conversations. Other attendees sitting at our big long table chimed in. Between us all, we solved the issue of Obamacare--just get rid of Obama and every son of a bitch that voted for it.

We fixed all gun control problems--toss out every son of a bitch that doesn't understand the Second Amendment or who doesn't like it.

Illegal immigration was solved rather easily--pistols began appearing and we admired each other's hardware. I saw some really NICE purse pistols from the ladies. Of course, this also solved the petty crime problems.

Imagine that, a bunch of good southerners gathered together and in less than half an hour, we'd solved 90% of our nation's ills just like that.

How long does it take those dumb asses in Washington, and then they still don't get it right? In fact, they make it worse.

Maybe they need to start attending more fly-ins and book-signings and shooting range events.

At the shooting range in Natchitoches, any remaining problems that we faced in America were dispatched in fine fashion and with a variety of calibers and firearms. We had some poker targets, but we were all too old to see the cards printed on them and had to keep moving closer just to tell the Ace of Spades from the Ten of Clubs.

At least, that was my excuse. Must've left my reading glasses back at the airport. . .

As with all good things, after all the books had been sold and signed and addresses and e-mails and phone numbers exchanged, it was time to head back to the airport to load up the plane and return back home.

On most trips, I look forward to getting back home. On this trip, I wanted to stay.

I'd rediscovered America.

America is in our small towns. The fruits of freedom are often found in large scale in the big cities like Dallas and New York and Los Angeles, but the engine that drives America, the backbone that keeps us free and safe, the morals and values that MAKE us America. . . they're found in ample abundance in Small Town, USA.

Maybe we should reverse how we elect representatives and give more weight (ie more seats in the House) to the rural areas, and less for the urban areas.

More country folks up in Washington, and we'd have these problems licked.

It was something to think about as I flew into the sunset.