A Modern Woman's Perspective On The Kingdom of God on Earth


December 16, 2014

Securing My Personal Safety

     The title of today's blog post comes from the emergency warning issued by the U.S. consulate in Sydney, Australia, after an Islamist terrorist took hostages in a Sydney cafe yesterday.  American citizens were urged to "maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance [their] personal security".  I would like to suggest that it is a good idea for ALL Americans, EVERYWHERE, to follow that directive ALL THE TIME.  And since the Supreme Court of the United States has decided that our Second Amendment rights are vested in Individuals, I exercised that right this past weekend, and took definitive steps to secure my personal safety.
     It has been awhile since I've written anything about my decision over the last few years to add firearms training to my set of skills.  I've especially encouraged women to think about stepping outside their comfort zone and being responsible for learning how to defend themselves.
     It has not been easy for me.  Besides being among a minority of women in the classes, I am easily one of the oldest students on the range, and I'm not always efficient in the physical requirements of the courses.  But that is no reason to hinder myself from learning skills that could some day save my life.  In the final analysis, I am there for myself, and no one else.  Age, previous experience, or apprehension should not prohibit you from learning these skills.  Your life, that of a loved one, or an innocent person could someday rely on your ability to master a firearm.  If you still think that someone is coming to rescue you, or that nothing harmful will ever happen to you -- that's probably what those good folks in that coffee shop in Sydney thought yesterday morning, too.
     That is the reason why I signed up for my first Defensive Carbine class.  Now, you might think that women have no place in a Carbine class; nor could they possibly be as proficient with an automatic rifle as a man.  But, I'm here to tell you that me and my three women teammates held our own with the other 9 men in the class.  We covered the gamut in platforms -- from AK to AR to Sig 522, and we handled them well.  We matched the men when it came to learning basic skills, such as trigger reset, clearing malfunctions, tactical and combat reloads.  And we definitely kept pace when it came to shooting on the move and the various reactive drills and relays.  We learned to be effective shooters while reacting to a threat, as well as how to work under pressure as part of a team.  At the end of the two-day course, we could hold our heads high when it came to speed, stamina, and accuracy; and we can now be more confident that we can increase our chances of winning a gunfight, should we ever find ourselves in that situation.
     So, I'm sure there are still those who question why women should not simply be satisfied with handgun training.  I'll give you several recent reasons ... Moore, Oklahoma; New York City; Sydney, Australia; and Lower Salford, Pennsylvania  -- all within the last three months; and the latter two in the last 24 hours!  In case, you haven't noticed, the world is not as safe as it used to be.  And the threats come in many different forms ... beheadings, hatchets, "lone wolf" attacks, and random rampages.  The threats are domestic, as well as international.  ISIS is encouraging stateside attacks ... and no one can predict when or where they will occur.
     Yes, my handgun training is beneficial and highly important, but living within a couple hundred miles of the Texas/Mexico border, I can tell you that a handgun may not be enough to stop the potential threats we face.  More often than not, the unknown enemies will use carbines in their attacks; and in that instance, my pistol is not going to be as effective.  As several of our excellent trainers have taught us, "Your pistol is used to fight your way to your carbine."  In order to rise to that occasion and be skilled in defending myself, it only makes sense to learn this weapons platform as well; and learn it to the best of my ability.
     I am very lucky in that I am married to a man that is not only willing to teach me and train me, but he encourages me to know how to defend myself.  I don't want to sound like "Chicken Little", but the instability of the world, and the rise of Evil, demands that we all take the notion of "securing our personal safety" in a very serious manner -- men and women, alike!  Oftentimes law enforcement will only be reactive, and they arrive on the scene after the damage has been done.  It should be obvious that we cannot rely on someone else to come to the rescue; we must prepare and train in order to be proactive when it comes to our personal defense and safety.
     I am also extremely fortunate to have easy access to one of the best firearms training groups in the nation.  They are especially responsive to women wanting to learn defensive firearms training, and they help us develop the necessary mindset to learn these important skills.  It is important to note that these skills are not intuitive; one must train until they become second nature -- and then train some more.
     Unlike the women at the founding of our nation, or those that survived Indian raids on the frontier, Society has taught us that we should lay down and wait for someone to save us; instead, we must learn to save ourselves.  And me and my Sisters-in-Arms have just taken another important step down that road, just as the women throughout our history have done.  Thank God for self-reliant women and the Second Amendment!

Proverbs 31:25    "Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come."


   
   

5 comments:

  1. Hi Belle,

    This post was perfect timing. I have been trying to encourage others to do exactly what you have and are doing. I would like to ask this question to everyone. All of these attacks within and out of our country, are we going to make a stand and get our heads out of the sand??? Today or tomorrow? Tomorrow being too late. To put it nicely, I'm really burnt up with others and those others are the ones that got their heads in the sand and I'm am truly sick of reading comments on other blogs always complaining and saying what they will do if they come to their door, etc., etc. Really!? How exactly are we to protect ourselves and others when so many won't listen or always think that it won't' happen in this country and when it does, which it already has, who are they going to think that is going to save their behinds and kids? What happens when they go to your neighborhood and start going house to house, or how about your child's school? It starts with the PEOPLE in their own country taking control of the situation if their governments won't stand behind them and give support for ridding these human parasites. Just because someone is Muslim or other certainly doesn't mean that they will bring harm to us, but with all of the intelligence and funds, we should be able to do better than what is presently happening. ACTION....NOT WORDS will tell and send a message to those who wish to bring harm to others will pay dearly because of their force for trying to make others submit to their beliefs and their god. God did not intend for us, any of us to put up with this kind of disrespect for life! Belief in God or not, still, if any of us cherish the life that was given to us, the children we brought into this world and your grandchildren, you better start looking beyond what is on the TV and start paying attention, start getting others to learn what to do to protect themselves and gather others that will say and state what is to be done and for pity sake, quit worrying about being a racist, etc., or hurting someone's feelings. Hey, I could care less what country you come from or what color you are, but there are rules for life and if someone doesn't play nice, then all of us globally need to do something about it. My heart goes out for those people who lost their lives in Australia and Pakistan and other countries who would not submit to this evil. This is pure EVIL, the devil in the streets. This is not going to go away, so I'd suggest everyone quit dreaming and wake up and do something, please. Make your voice heard and put some action into protecting our families......Good post Belle. Keep spreading the word.

    Your friend,
    Lisa

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    1. Thank you, Lisa! I am actually going to post some videos to my YouTube channel and give everyone some links so they can see how we women are capable of protecting ourselves. You are so right ... it's time to quit talking and get some real training ... Evil is more than ready to take advantage of all our procrastination.

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  2. I just hung up the phone from talking with my mother. We were talking about the Sydney incident and the Pakistan incident. She said that she thought that firearms should be illegal. I explained that they are illegal in Chicago and there are more murders there every weekend than any other city in the United States. I also told her that firearms are illegal in Sydney, Australia and perhaps if they weren't, there would have been a better outcome. She said that a handgun would have no contest against the guns that the criminals use. I told her it only takes one shot to lay someone down. My son is a policeman and he is all about citizens owning guns and knowing how to fire them.
    You have been an inspiration to the rest of us!

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  3. Belle , I knew you were a bad ass but Dang. You really scare me back into reality. I know a Day of Wrath event is coming but I don't even know where to start on finding out how to get trained. OK OK IM MOVIN !

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    1. The best thing is to research what training is available in your state. If you need help, email me. Then after getting some basic training under your belt from a qualified instructor, save your pennies and sign up for a Travis Haley class (haleystrategic.com). What ever you do, just take that first step!

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