The one year anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas mass terror attack on Israel is coming up. Men, women, and children, including infants, were slaughtered by jihadist monsters. Women and girls were raped to death. Let that sink in for a second.
The monsters who planned and carried out the 10/7 attack were able to mentally justify the brutal murders of over one thousand, two hundred innocent people, people whose “crime” was being alive within the borders of Israel. In the aftermath of the pogrom, numerous stories of armed individuals fighting off the monsters surfaced in the weeks and months after the attack.
The $64,000 question is this — at a moment’s notice, could you put up enough of a fight to stop monsters like those from killing you and your family? Could you stop jihadist vermin from raping your daughter to death? As you ponder that, keep in mind that your distaste for the question or your unwillingness to acknowledge the danger won’t alter the outcome.
Is the United States in a better position from a safety standpoint now than it was on September 10, 2001? Did running away from Afghanistan like our asses were on fire reduce the level of danger to America or increase it? Did the multi-billion dollar Global War on Terror eliminate the terrorist threat to us?
Your Responsibility is to Be Ready
Recently, I had a conversation with a person who is part of a hiking group. They enjoy hiking the mountain trails here in the west. I asked if they had traumatic medical training and carried first aid gear. The response was, sadly, “No, we have never thought about that.” They hike miles and miles off the beaten path, often in areas with no phone service, but they didn’t think about what they’d do if someone is injured. I didn’t even bring up the threat of bear and mountain lion attacks.
Before you talk about guns and gear, you need to first address your mindset. My dearly departed friend, James Yeager, signed off every video he did for years by saying, “Your responsibility to be ready for the fight never ends.”
That fight could be against a cracked out maniac with a knife, a group of jihadis inside a grocery store, or struggling to keep someone from bleeding to death after a high-speed collision. The first place to start is to acknowledge that danger is real and that ignoring it or refusing to consider it because it makes you uncomfortable won’t save you if and when the worst happens.
Somewhere in the World, a Man is Training to Kill You
When I was a young United States Marine in infantry school at Camp Lejeune, one of our instructors offered us some advice. He said, “Right now, somewhere in the world, a man is training to kill you.” To which he followed up, “There is nothing that you can do to change that fact. However, what you can do is train harder than that son of a bitch so that one day when you do meet, you will destroy him.”
There are monsters in this world who hate you just because you exist. Nothing you can do or say will change this fact. The United States government has been forced to admit that there are terrorists within the borders of the US and they don’t know where they are. There is nothing that you can do to change that fact.
What can you do? You can and should be training harder and better than those monsters. If you own and carry a gun for self-defense, but have never taken professional training because you’re “good enough,” you are deluding yourself.
You can’t stop a deranged criminal or jihadi from entering your church, your grocery store, your shopping mall, etc., but you can make the mental commitment to be prepared to deal with that situation if it happens. That commitment begins by deliberately enrolling in a reality-based firearms training program. Shooting games aren’t the same as training to fight and defend yourself.
Never Allow Cowards to Disarm You
If you’re trained and carry a gun, you need to make the mental commitment to never allow cowards to disarm you. I should not need to tell you that plastic signs and policy statements do not stop killers. Israel paid a horrific price on October 7th for their restrictive gun laws. Disarmed citizens and “gun-free” zones are killing fields for monsters.
When people tell you that you must be disarmed for “safety” what they’re saying is “we don’t care if you are killed or maimed, what we care about is virtue signaling.” If cowards attempt to force you into being disarmed, make the choice not to go there. If you have a favored business that puts up No Gun signs, politely tell them that you are no longer going to give them your money. Being a responsible, armed citizen has nothing to do with convenience. It has everything to do with protecting your own life and the lives of those who depend upon you to protect them. After all we have experienced as a nation, it is insane that I should even have to write those words.
The Fundamental Four
Make the mental commitment to yourself and those you love to never leave your home without the Fundamental Four secured to your body. The four include something; something lethal, something sharp, something bright, and something medical.
If you do not know how to deal with traumatic medical emergencies, you need to get that training and do it soon.
During the summer of 2022, we put on our Beyond the Boo Boo, traumatic first aid course which includes understanding tourniquets and how to properly use them. Less than two weeks later, one of our graduates had to use a TQ to save a man’s life. The ER doctor commented, “If it would not have been for that tourniquet, he’d be dead now.”
Yes, you can carry traumatic medical gear on your person everywhere you go. The Pocket Lifesaver kit has all the gear you need to address a traumatic injury and keep someone alive until the ambulance has time to arrive.
Four Possible Outcomes
Returning to the book, The Four Pillars of Fighting by James Yeager, James pointed out that in the event that you’re faced with a lethal attack, there are four possible outcomes. You will be seen by those who remain alive as either a living hero, a dead hero, a living coward, or a dead coward. That’s it. Your cognitive dissonance or distaste for the situation has zero bearing on the outcome.
There’s good news here. As a citizen of the United States you get to decide, based upon your deliberate actions, which of the categories mentioned you will fall into. You can get training. You can make the mental commitment to always be ready for the fight. You can make the decision to never allow cowards to disarm you. Or, you can decide not to do any of the above. Remember, if you choose not to decide you still have already made your choice.
Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.
Thought provoking.
And true.
I have to admit that I got a bit lazy and complacent this summer. I had a prolonged strenuous, hot, and sweaty task that made it all but impossible to carry a full-size semi-auto handgun in a holster on my hip along with several spare magazines. Instead, I carried a lonely Ruger LCP (chambered in .380 Auto) in a pocket holster in my cargo shorts front pocket (and one spare magazine in the other front shorts pocket). Granted, I was in a pretty safe venue and never more than about 50 feet from my car where I may or may not have kept additional firearms at the ready.
After I completed that hot sweaty strenuous task, I had several more hit-or-miss days where it was again next-to-impossible to carry a full-size handgun and spare magazines on my hip. Coming to terms with the limitations of carrying a single Ruger LCP, I jumped aboard the “New York Reload” train and started carrying a second Ruger LCP in a pocket holster in my other front pocket. Thus I often carried two Ruger LCPs in pocket holsters in both front pockets. That gave me 14 shots without having to reload. Obviously, that is less than ideal in terms of handgun combat facing multiple determined attackers. Nevertheless, being able to shoot with a handgun in both hands at the same time offsets some of the disadvantage of the “mouse gun” platform.
Now that external conditions are changing to favor carrying a full-size handgun and spare magazines once again, I have to recommit to that. Although, having some experience now on the New York Reload train, I am probably going to start carrying my full-size “everyday carry handgun on my hip” and a compact semi-auto chambered in 9mm Luger on my other hip, with a smattering of spare magazines as well. That should provide 15+1 capacity on my full-size semi-auto chambered in .40 S&W and 12+1 capacity on my compact semi-auto chambered in 9mm Luger. Needless to say, having 29 shots of “respectable” calibers, without having to reload, makes me a bit harder to murder.
Now my conundrum is deciding on spare magazines. Do I carry spare magazines only for my full-size in .40 S&W? Do I carry spare magazines only for my compact 9mm Luger? Do I carry two spare magazines for my full size and one spare magazine for my compact? Or two of each spare magazine? Meh, with that much added weight on my belt, I might as well start carrying a cop on my back!
Always on target, Paul Markel is THE Man.
Be like PM!
Excellent article , sadly one has to always look in the shadows , evil is always there waiting
Somewhere, there is someone practicing his powered hang glider skills and he is going to swoop in and getcha! You can believe that it’s true. Plus, we need to send more money to Israel because they don’t have any armed forces.