Be Prepared, Part 3 – the Black Hawk Down Rule – Movie Rule of Thumb 18

On April 28, 2011July 26, 2012 By Tom LindsayIn Movie Rules1 Comment

Over the years I have developed what I call my Movie Rules of Thumb, insights into how to deal with life’s situations, each one based on some event in a movie I’ve seen. The most recent addition is what I call the Black Hawk Down Rule:

18. There are NO half hour missions.

Both the book by Mark Bowden and the film by Tony Scott tell the story of the US Army mission to try to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid in Mogadishu in 1993. A lot of the soldiers on this mission got in trouble because they assumed the mission, taking place in the middle of the day, surrounded by his cronies, would take a half hour, in and out. Most took no provisions, no canteens, and minimal ammunition, because the plan said the mission would be too short for them to need it, and they would be back soon. Instead, things went terribly wrong, and the mission lasted all day and all night. 19 Americans died.

So what does the Black Hawk Down Rule mean to me? It means there is no ten minute jaunt to the convenience store for milk. There is no half hour walk around the block. There is no quick run through the drive-through for dinner. Because in all those situations, things can and do happen that can turn that quick trip into a long nightmare, and you need to be prepared.

This means dress for the long term mission. When I make a run to the ice cream store, I take off my sandals and tee shirt and put on running shoes and a shirt that can conceal the handgun that I always take with me. When I run or walk at 5 AM, I carry a Glock 19 in my fanny pack along with my ID and Georgia Weapons License, and a tactical flashlight in my left pocket.

It means I fight my wife to get her to bring her ID and cell phone when we go to pick our son up at a friend’s house, since if we ever got into a wreck and she needed to be treated at the hospital, it would be a great thing if they knew who she was and who to call.

If you’re one of those who hops in the car and goes (and believe me, I was that way once) then I hope you will reconsider that, and think about a worst case scenario as part of your planning. Because no one gives the Medal of Honor to crime victims.

Be Prepared, Part 2 – Getting Home

On April 27, 2011July 26, 2012 By Tom LindsayIn Planning, Training3 Comments

I’ve talked here about the need to plan for emergencies. In the course of my planning I ranked possible scenarios, and made plans to deal with the most likely ones.

My Day Job is a great gig, but it means commuting 30 miles one way. My planning showed a number of possible scenarios where I could find myself stranded on the road. And, having lived in the Texas Panhandle, where getting stranded in your car by a snowstorm is almost a certainty, I knew the value of having emergency provisions, and a plan. I decided, though, to extend that to any scenario where I needed to survive on the road without my car, most likely having to walk home.

This leads us to the idea of the Get Home Bag. This bag is meant to support any number of people, for however long it takes to get to the safety of a better location. You keep it in your car, and when you need to, you grab it and go. For me, this means I planned for 2 people for a 3 day walk home.

Here is what I keep in my Get Home Bag. Naturally it contains all the things I used to keep in my cars for getting stranded by Texas winters, along with what we would need on the road. I check the contents at least monthly, and I put the bag on every now and then, and carry it around a while, to be sure it is manageable.

Granola bars
Water
Change of clothes (2 shirts and 2 pairs of socks)
Work gloves
Poncho
Shoelaces
Bandana
Rubber jar opener
Cell phone battery charger
AA Batteries
LED flashlight
Light sticks
Ammo
Lighter
Candles
Purel
Germicidal wipes
Bedroll and fleece blanket
Space blanket
Entrenching tool
Multitool
Trash bags
Map
Compass
Whistle
Pen & paper
Rope
Drugs – Aspirin, Immodium, Sudafed, Antacids

In addition, my plans would be to grab my gun, my cell phone, and the First Aid Kit out of my car. In the winter, I have a couple more blankets in the car any way, so I would grab those, too.

For you, you might find that your most likely scenarios don’t take you as far from home as mine do. If so, you can pare your contents down to a bag in the trunk. And, a simple Google search will find other suggested bag contents. Do some research and come up with what you would need. Then do it, because you never know when these things happen. If you did, you could stay home that day.

Make a Difference Locally

On April 26, 2011July 26, 2012 By Tom LindsayIn Uncategorized

Tip O’Neill, Speaker of the House during the Reagan presidency, once said, “All politics is local,” and nowhere is this truer that with gun rights.

For most people, the gun laws and regulations that are applied by your state and local governments will affect your day to day gun life far more than anything the Congress will do on a national level. That’s why, once you are a member of the NRA, you need to seek out and join your local or state gun rights organization.

In Georgia, that group is GeorgiaCarry.org, or GCO. GCO has been instrumental in changing a lot of things that were wrong with Georgia’s gun laws, including the removal of a 140 year old law tha prohibited the carry of concealed weapons at “public gatherings,” even by license holders. They have also been successful in forcing Probate Judges, who are the ones in Georgia who issue Weapons Licenses, to issue licenses within the time frame mandated by law. Thanks to GCO, I wrote a lot of letters in the last couple of years to my state legislators, letting them know where I stood on the gun issues they faced.

So, I urge you to join your state gun rights organization, and your local organization as well, if you have one. A list can be found here. Then get involved. You’ll be glad you did

Join the NRA and Make a Difference

On April 25, 2011 By Tom LindsayIn Uncategorized2 Comments

I first joined the NRA in 1993, by sending in a card that came with my first pistol. A couple of years later I decided to become a Life Member using one of their time payout plans.

The National Rifle Association is the largest voice for the Second Amendment and the rights of law abiding gun owners in America, with over 4 million members. It’s not the only voice we have, but it’s the loudest, and just about the only one that Congress and the anti-gun lobby both pay attention to.

Yet, most gun owners decide not to be members of the NRA. Whenever I meet a gun owner who isn’t a member, I ask them why. Here are some of the answers I get.

* I don’t want to be on any list for anybody to come after me for my gun.

Really? Don’t you think you’re on a few lists already? Have you bought a gun or ammunition using a credit card or debit card? Besides, what make you think, when the time comes, whoever is going to confiscate guns or round up gun owners is going to use a list? With over 75 million gun owners in the USA, door-to-door sounds a lot more effective. We’ll all be on the same list, then.

* I’m a hunter. Gun control doesn’t affect hunters. (A lot of these guys have Ducks Unlimited stickers on their trucks, too.)

What makes you think that? Ask Canada and Australia. Besides, there is nothing in the Second Amendment about hunting. And, what happens when they start confiscating “dangerous” rifles, and someone points out – correctly – that the average .270 deer rifle delivers a bullet with about 4 times the kinetic energy of the .223 Evil Black Rifles.

* I was a member once, but all they did was send me a bunch of mail asking for more money.

Okay. Either send them more money, or drop the mail in the trash. I do a little of both. Or, you can call them and tell them not to send you any more fund raising mailers. And, unlike a lot of organizations, they’ll stop.

* The NRA is so political now, about all they do is argue.

If you think that’s all they do, ask the Brady Campaign. Besides, every PTA in America is political, too. Unless you want to join the Board of Directors, the politics won’t affect you at all.

If you are a gun owner and you’re not a member of the NRA, shame on you. Visit http://membership.nrahq.org/ and join.

If you’re a gun owner and you think you have a good reason why you’re not a member, I’d love to hear it. But I’ve probably heard it before.