U.S. Concealed Carry
“Armed American Report”

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July 17th, 2009

Dear Friend,

Although I am humbled by the wonderful growing membership of the United States Concealed Carry Association, I am not at all surprised at the steady rate of new subscribers added daily. The whole team here at USCCA strives daily to truly live up to our motto of being “The Ultimate Resource For The Armed Citizen.”

With forty-eight states permitting citizens to be armed with firearms in one capacity or another, we are here to provide the information needed to become better trained, better informed, and better prepared as responsible citizens who carry firearms. With our online forums we are also the ultimate resource for the armed citizen who would like to get to know other armed citizens. Since our forums are only available with a paid subscription, this automatically stops the Internet Rambos from trying to add their rhetoric.

Our print magazine, Concealed Carry Magazine, is jam-packed full of articles and information specifically for the armed citizen. The magazine isn’t about hunting game, it isn’t about tactics for law enforcement, and it isn’t just a showcase for the latest gadgets that are available. Concealed Carry Magazine is solely for citizens of these United States who are permitted to carry a gun concealed, enabling them to be better trained, better informed, and better prepared.

New members have such a huge volume of resources available to them that they often act like a starving person standing in front of the biggest and best buffet ever to be seen—they don’t know what to try first! I’d suggest starting out with an article or two at the website then maybe reading some forum posts. Follow up by introducing yourself with a post to the online forums, and maybe download a couple of back issues of Concealed Carry Magazine to read until your first printed issue arrives by mail.

It won’t be too long and you will find yourself armed with the information and answers to help others who wish to become a responsibly-armed citizen. Join today. You won’t be sorry that you did. I guarantee it!

== USCCA Laugh of the Week ==

See all of Chaim’s Cartoons at his website:
http://www.chaimcartoons.com/

Sunday, on Armed American Radio!

Armed American Radio continues its march across the United States of America now as a NATIONALLY SYNDICATED RADIO PROGRAM adding affiliate stations to the growing list of cities every week.

This week we add new listeners at 99.1 KKTF, the station with Nevatitude in Carson City Nevada, KBYR in Anchorage Alaska and Mountain Talk 97.1 in Mountain Home Arkansas as well as our flagship Intelligent Talk 920 WGKA in Hotlanta, GA.

Help us get AAR in YOUR city by calling your local talk station and ask them to FEED YOUR HEAD with the nationally syndicated Armed American Radio Network! Until then, listen live every Sunday at 8 PM Eastern on www.920wgka.com. Armed American Radio Network with host Mark Walters, brought to you every week by the USCCA!

Subscribe to, and download our podcasts here: www.ArmedAmericanRadio.org

“Personal Boundaries:
Where Do You Draw the Line?”

“…I will not kneel. No one is going to execute me.
If I die, I’ll die fighting…..”

by Kathy Jackson

The last few weeks we have been republishing some articles from past issues of Concealed Carry Magazine to give everyone a taste of what they are missing if they aren’t a subscriber to the United States Concealed Carry Association. This week’s article is from the Web Only Articles. We have way too much great info to squeeze into the issues of Concealed Carry Magazine, so we publish the additional articles on the web. New articles are added every week.

Listed below are some conditions under which I intend to fight back even if I don’t think I can win.

I have made this list for myself because I understand that the natural thing to do, when something bad happens, is to deny that it is happening: “This can’t be happening to me!”

Even if you get past that thought (a lot of victims never do), the other natural tendency is to tell yourself that if you wait, if you do what the other person says, things will get better. The situation will work itself out. All you have to do is cooperate. The attacker will take your wallet, your car keys, whatever, and leave you alone. Just wait, do what he says, and everything will be okay. That’s what most people who are attacked tell themselves — and in most cases, that is exactly what people should do. Even if you are armed, why kill someone if you don’t have to? It’s only stuff!

But while waiting for an opening and cooperating with the attacker might be the best survival strategy in many situations, there are a few very specific situations where waiting and cooperating are the worst things the victim can possibly do.

A woman forced into a car by an attacker, for instance, has a 95% or higher chance of getting killed if she complies. Even if it seems highly likely the attacker will kill her right there if she doesn’t get in the car, the fact is that right at that moment, the odds are the very best they will ever be for her. They might be lousy odds, but they aren’t going to get any better. So I have decided, in advance, that if I’m ever in that situation, that’s when and where I will fight back no matter what my frozen brain and in-denial guts are telling me about my odds.

Similarly, a man forced into a back room on his knees, with his back to the attacker, has just been put into the execution position. Most of the time, when someone is forced into this position, what comes next is a bullet in the back of the skull. Once you are on your knees, you don’t have any more choices left, even if do you suddenly realize what is about to happen. If you’re going to save your own life in such a situation, you have to make the choice to fight back before you’re on your knees.

The purpose of analyzing this stuff beforehand is to make sure that even my frozen brain and my in-denial guts cannot lull me into cooperating if I am ever in one of the extreme places where a victim really needs to fight if she is going to survive. Because I’ve thought about this stuff in advance, if something like it ever happens, even my frozen brain will have a definite decision point.

Some of my personal boundaries are:

* I will not go anywhere at gunpoint. If the bad guy wants me to go somewhere else, it’s because he will be able to do something to me there that he is unwilling or unable to do to me right here, right now. Therefore no matter how bad the tactical situation seems right here and now, right here and now is the absolute best chance to fight back I will ever have and I intend to use it.

* I will not be tied up. If the bad guy wants to tie me up, it is because he wants to do things to me that I would be able to prevent if I were not tied up. Therefore, I will resist while I am still able to do so.

* I will not kneel. No one is going to execute me. If I die, I’ll die fighting.

* If someone tries to take one of my children, I will fight even at the risk of my child being killed in the resultant firefight. I plan this not because I have positive assurance that I would be successful, but because I would not be able to live with myself if I simply “allowed” my child to be taken, brutalized, and his body perhaps never found. I’d rather watch him die in front of me. (Yes, that’s harsh … but given those two options and only those two, which would you choose?)

My point is not that your boundaries should be the same as mine. It is simply that even though you can wait until the very last moment to make the final decision about fighting back, you should have certain things already set into your decision-making machinery beforehand. If you don’t, and if you are ever attacked, you may not have enough time to do anything but stand there with your brain frozen solid while your attacker takes all your choices away.

***

Kathy Jackson is the Managing Editor of Concealed Carry Magazine.

Looking for a good reason to JOIN USCCA?
The membership benefits have never been better!
Read what Scott has to say below.

Dear U.S. Concealed Carry,

I consider your publication the most informative and focused on the issue of concealed carry. Having it in my house has allowed me to address several individuals’ questions about concealed carry and what their responsibilities are as citizens. Most importantly, my wife’s opinion about carrying for herself has been turned around totally, such that now she is scheduled to take a CCW class after the holidays, and she has begun going to the range with me to practice. Given her travels around the busy city of Houston in her occupation, knowing she can protect herself gives me a lot of peace of mind. I attribute this change in her attitude entirely to your publication.

Scott Meador
Richmond, TX

Optx 20/20 Hydrotac Lenses

written by Cody S. Alderson

USCCA GEAR REVIEW

I’m forty-five and my distance vision is excellent. I can see objects beyond arms length clearly and in vibrant detail. Now bring those objects up close or present me with print smaller than newsprint, and it all gets out of focus. I can actually feel my eye muscles trying to bend that lens to read small print. It just doesn’t work though, and if I don’t have my reading glasses on, I say to my wife, “Would you please read this for me?”

I have cheap pairs of reading glasses that I leave at work, at home on my work bench, in my Bug Out Bag, and I have a pair of prescription readers that I carry with me. Now that’s all well and good, but out in the sun I like to wear my Revision Eyewear Hellfly sunglasses. I can get a pair of prescription lenses for them for another hundred bucks, but I only need readers to see things up close. I don’t have any other vision issues, and a hundred bucks is way too pricey for what amounts to a fancy magnifying glass for what I need. If I had different vision issues I could possibly justify the expense.

Readers are pretty much like having a magnifying glass in front of your eyes. My prescription readers are of the bifocal type that lets me see stuff at a distance out of the top of the lens, and when I need to see objects up close or read fine print, I look down through the bifocals.

Awhile back I was thinking of a lens that I would like to see for sunglasses that would just turn them into readers by adding a stick-on bifocal made of some sort of flexible plastic. I didn’t know if such a thing existed, but I figured that I wasn’t the only person who thought of it so I did a Google search. A wonderful thing about our human species is that when a need exists, there are many great minds out there who are working on solutions.

The only viable option for stick-on lenses turned out to be the Optx 20/20 brand so I figured I would give them a try. I am very glad that I did. I must say before I go any further that the user must follow the application instructions exactly in order to get good results. I know how some folks like to take shortcuts, or just dispense with instructions altogether. Do not do that with this product. In fact, don’t do it with any product!

The flexible Optx 20/20 lenses stick on by what the manufacturer calls Hydrotac. The method for placing the lenses is simple, but needs to be followed exactly. The Optx 20/20 lenses are great to add bifocal capability to a favorite pair of sunglasses or a dive mask. To apply the Optx 20/20 lenses, the receiving lens needs to be clean and oil and lint free.

The manufacturer recommends warm soapy water to clean the receiving lenses. I used liquid dishwashing detergent since it will strip away any oils. I also made sure that my hands were clean and not oily when I was applying the flexible stick-on lenses to my Hellfly sunglasses. I used paper towels to dry off the sunglasses after cleaning them, but the paper towels I was using left behind lint. A paper towel brand like Viva is much better suited for the task. If the lint just won’t go away, try waiting until everything is perfectly dry then blow away the dry lint fibers.

The next step is to put a drop of water on the receiving lens followed by placement of the stick-on lens over the drop of water. Then press the lens into place squeezing out the excess water between the receiving lens and the stick-on lens. Squeeze out any air bubbles too. Then use a paper towel or cloth to squeeze the stick-on lens again and soak up all of the water that comes out.

Make sure that the lenses are in the correct position. They can be moved around a bit while they are still wet. Put the sunglasses on and look at something up close. The lenses will be a bit blurry until all of the water dries out, but it is easy to tell if one is actually looking through the stick-on lens or is looking through just the sunglass lenses. Don’t be discouraged at the blurriness of the lenses at this point. Once they dry out (about 24 hours), they will be clear. I was actually worried about this when I first applied them.

It’s a good thing that the flexible Optx 20/20 lenses can be trimmed to fit because my Hellfly lenses don’t have a lot of surface area from top to bottom, and the Optx 20/20 lenses are big. They are made that way so that the user can fit them to whatever glasses or dive mask that they want to use them on.

I got a sharp pair of scissors and cut them across the top. It actually took me three tries to get the size and placement of the lenses just right to suit my needs. I really think that it was only an issue because of the size of the Hellfly lenses. I had to cut the Optx 20/20 lenses small enough that they didn’t interfere with my distance vision, but not too small in that I didn’t have enough magnified lens to see things up close. By being careful and methodical, I got it just right.

I know lots of folks who are in a real hurry to get things done. It seems as if it takes more than three seconds to do something they start to get nervous. If you are that type of person, you can mess up your Optx 20/20 lens application. Don’t blame such an error on the product. If I can get them to work for me on a pair of Revision Eyewear Hellfly’s, then there shouldn’t be too many types of other lenses where there would be a problem applying them. There has been some reports of them not sticking well to sharply curved lens shapes.

The Optx 20/20 Hydrotac Lenses can be peeled off by simply using a fingernail. This actually concerned me a bit. I was worried that they would fall off while in use. Hydrotac is a fancy term for using water to enable adhesion of the stick-on lenses to the surface of the receiving lenses. The adhesion is due to the inherent properties of the stick-on lens material and not an externally applied adhesive. It’s sort of an upgraded version of the vinyl cling-on window “stickers” that are sold for just about every sport and holiday.

I wondered what would happen if I left the Hellfly sunglasses on the dashboard of my Jeep out in the hot sun with the Optx 20/20 lenses attached. Well, nothing happened. They were fine. I had to cool off the sunglasses before putting them on by holding them in front of the air-conditioner vent—they were that hot. I thought I would find the Optx 20/20 lenses lying on the floor of the Jeep, but they weren’t. They were right where they were supposed to be.

I really like it that I can wear my sunglasses now without having to switch to readers to see something up close. The lenses of my Hellfly’s are safety lenses and I like wearing them, and I didn’t want to spend another hundred bucks to get prescription lenses for them.

The Optx 20/20 Hydrotac Lenses are available in six magnifying strengths—1.25, 1.50, 1.75, 2.00, 2.50, 3.00. If you don’t know which magnifying strength that you may need, just visit the Neoptx website to utilize their online eyechart.

The retail price for a pair of Optx 20/20 Hydrotac Lenses is $20.00. However, a quick look around the Internet showed me that various distributors are offering the product at different price points. Of course you should buy from who a trusted source. Then again, maybe you might want to become a distributor yourself!

Go to www.optx2020.com to learn more.

I would like to hear from you. Email me at: cody@uscca.us. Twitter me.

I am not writing to ask a question, I am writing to say thanks for the Beat the Ban. I thought I was ahead of the curve, but only realized I had been putting off buying what I may need and what I really wanted before the Obamanation takes place. I wanted to beat the ban.

I was going to joke and say your Beat the Ban cost more than 17.00 dollars, hell I bought a Saiga 12 Shotgun overpaid but got it anyway and to 2 RRA AR15s at retail cost due to having a gunsmith relationship. I also bought some fantastic 5.56 ammo and over 2k rounds of practice ammo.

My next purchase will probably be an SKS or AR47. I have read a great deal more about my rights to arm myself and to protect my country from a threat.

Thanks for placing me ahead of the curve and your book only cost me over 2800.00 dollars in guns and ammo. Well lets just say it was a good investment in my family’s future! Best to you and your family and may you continue with success and great health.

-Mike P.
Proud USCCA Member
Proud Member of the NRA
Proud American!

This is a DIGITAL PRODUCT on PDF and MP3, so you get this timely information instantly delivered to your inbox, so you can Beat the Ban ASAP!

== USCCA Members-Only ==
Forum Highlights

Every paying website member has complete access to the USCCA forum, which is constantly being accessed by members sharing information, knowledge, insight, and fun. With well over sixty-thousand posts and growing by the hour, this is one heck of a valuable resource!

If you have never logged in but are a member, visit THIS location to watch help videos, including how to find out your username and/or password!
************

Opening a shooting range

Good morning.

I would like to open a shooting range in CT.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience in the business plan writing and planning process thereof.

Additionally, if anyone has any thoughts on how they can “better” their shooting range, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I am planning on an open air range.

Regards and appreciation,

GBA
************

Carjacking Attempt?

I live in cleveland ohio I am female and 22 and the other night I went out to the CVS to pick up some stuff. It was around 11 p.m and I was done shopping and got into my car.

My windows were partially open my doors locked as i unholstered my gun tucked it into the front of my pants( my preferred way to carry when i drive) and lit up a smoke. I was waiting on my friend a chef in a nearby restaurant so I figured I would chill there for awhile.

A guy probably around 25 years of age approached my window and politely asked if i had jumper cables. Something about him didn’t sit right and i saw no other cars nearby so I told him “no i don’t.” He didn’t leave. He asked “with a car this nice you don’t carry cables?” I looked up and saw two of his buddies one by my passenger side and one by the rear passenger door. Now I really was uneasy so I discreetly slid my hand to my gun and politely but firmly asked him to leave.

His friend thinking i was distracted tried to slip his hand in my window and unlock my doors even as i was closing the windows. I pulled my .45 and said “you all had better leave right now your starting to p*** me off.” They jumped back and the guy by my door said ” oh we didn’t mean to upset you” I said “well you did the safety is off and i will use this”.

They proceeded to hightail it out of there. Now only after upon telling my friend what happened did he look at me and explain they were trying to car jack me. They wanted me to step out and they were all positioned to get in. I don’t know if they wanted anything to do with me but either way i’m glad i did what i did.

I don’t want to know how this story could have ended. I’m also glad i got a good test run to see how i acted with my adrenalin pumping and fear in my heart. But my voice did not quiver my mind did not shut down. I was confident in my ability to defend myself and to me that means everything in the world.

== Video of the Week ==

USCCA VIDEO OF THE WEEK

== “Tim-spiration” of the Week ==

USCCA PHOTO OF THE WEEK

All Photos of the Week are taken from Mr. Oleg Volk’s
website: http://www.a-human-right.com/. It is a
FANTASTIC site. Please check it out!

USCCA QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Sometimes a good quote will inspire or motivate you. Sometimes, they’ll just put a smile on your face! Here is the quote for this week…

“Make (your attacker) advance through a wall of bullets. I may get killed with my own gun, but he’s gonna have to beat me to death with it, ‘cause it’s going to be empty.”

-Clint Smith

Self Defense Story OF THE WEEK

Every day, thousands of Armed Americans use their firearms to preserve human life. Let this section of my newsletter serve as a record of this fact!

July 14, 2009
Lexington, South Carolina

From: The State

Again, A pizza, A Robbery, A Gunshot

A Papa John’s pizza delivery man shot and wounded a 17-year-old who called in a pizza order and then robbed him at a vacant house with a fake handgun, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said.

The incident occurred July 5, but deputies delayed announcing it until Monday — a day after the teen was charged with robbery, and eight days after the shooting.

It was the second time in recent months that a pizza delivery man in Lexington County has shot someone trying to rob him.

The other incident was March 7, when a Pizza Hut delivery man shot and killed a 17-year-old assailant who was beating him. Deputies have arrested three other teens in that Irmo-area incident.

But neither pizza delivery man is facing charges, since authorities have ruled both shootings were in self-defense. The two delivery men carried concealed-weapon permits, deputies said.

In the most recent shooting, Sheriff James Metts is withholding the name of the pizza delivery man. He said Monday through a spokesman that deputies feared for the man’s safety — but would not give details of any threats.

The suspect, Raymond Antonio Metze, 17, of 212 Crestridge Drive, Lexington, was booked Sunday at the Lexington County Detention Center on charges of armed robbery and possessing a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. He is in jail under $100,000 bond.

A black BB pistol that resembled a semiautomatic handgun was used in the robbery, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.

Metze was at Palmetto Health Richland for more than a week, though details of his treatment were not released. He got out of the hospital Sunday night.

The July 5 shooting occurred in the Red Bank area of Lexington County, about a mile west of White Knoll High School.

According to warrants and reports from deputies, shortly before midnight, the 29-year-old delivery man — from Papa John’s on 3937 Platt Springs Road — brought pizza to 236 Crestridge Drive. The home was vacant.

After the delivery man knocked on the front door, a man came from the side of the house with what appeared to be a handgun and demanded cash.

The pizza delivery man gave him a little more than $200.

As the pizza delivery man left, the suspect kept pointing his fake pistol at him. Not knowing it was fake and only fired BBs, the pizza man pulled his handgun. It was real, a 9mm semiautomatic.

He fired one shot, wounding the suspect in his chest.

The suspect fled and the pizza delivery man called 911. Acting on a neighbor’s tip, deputies found the suspect within minutes, lying on a porch of a nearby house.

The suspect was airlifted to Palmetto Health Richland.

Metts said the unidentified pizza delivery man was not charged because he acted in self-defense. Deputies and the 11th Circuit solicitor’s office made the determination.

In the March shooting, pizza delivery man Christopher Miller, 43, from an Irmo-area Pizza Hut, voluntarily agreed to have his name released to the public, the Sheriff’s Department said.

The Papa John’s pizza man, a spokesman added, wants confidentiality.

Closing Thoughts

Hi Tim, I just got my concealed carry permit, and I was at a local gun shop looking for a carry handgun.

I had pretty much decided to look for a .38 revolver because of the simplicity and reliability of revolvers (I am a newbie and just learning about guns; but have taken the required handgun safety course in my state). I also thought that a double action would be best for a concealed carry piece.

The gun shop owner let me try shooting a S&W .38 revolver. I mentioned that the double-action took quite a lot of pressure to make it fire. He told me I should cock it with my thumb and just use the trigger to fire it.

He said that I wouldn’t be able to hit anything using the trigger to cock and fire, anyway. My question is, isn’t the plus of a double action the fact that you don’t have to cock it first, especially in a moment of crisis? Or do I need to plan on learning to cock with my thumb before firing, until it becomes automatic. (I am an almost 57 year old female.)

Thanks for your thoughts! Carol

Carol, GREAT QUESTION, and you have my highest praise for deciding to go armed.

First of all, do not- I repeat, DO NOT let a guy at a gun shop tell you what you can or can’t hit. What I want you to do, is six months from now, when you are shooting all five rounds through a 3-inch circle at 7 feet in rapid, double-action fire, is this:

Go back to that gun shop and rub it in… hard.

Honestly though, you are exactly correct- the whole point of a double action is to be able to shoot quickly without having to pull the hammer back.

The trigger on these revolvers is very stiff indeed, and it feels like you have to pull it back a quarter mile before that gun goes bang. But after that first shot, you’ve already done most of the work- now the trick is to learn where your trigger “resets”- in other words, exactly how far you have to let it up before you can begin pulling again.

After a little while, this action will become as automatic as putting on your seatbelt when you get into a car.

The next trick, which you will also find as automatic as breathing, is to find the exact point during the trigger pull at which your hammer is in the “cocked” position. If you pause for a millisecond at this point, you are able to re-align your sights and apply the final hundredth of a pound pull to the trigger which will break the shot.

Carol, I know these both seem like challenges right now, and the weapon you are holding seems as foreign to you as a copy of “God’s Honest Truth” feels to Al Gore, but you will master it with just a little bit of practice.

I believe you can do it, Carol, and to help you out, I’d like to mail you a free copy of one of our all-time best selling books, “107+ Handgun Accuracy Secrets“. It’s a $47 value, and I think you will find it to be extremely helpful. It’s helped thousands of people since we released it last year.

I don’t have your contact info however, so you’ll have to email me at this address: aar@uscca.us

Good luck Carol, and stay safe!

Do you have a pressing concern? Use the ‘Ask Tim’ contact form found at this page to let me hear your advice. Just use the graphic below!

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