GUNS/RLTD There are "NO" safe places!!!

= "No Safe Places" ==

by Don Myers

http://www.newsnet14.com/2008/06/24/2-men-killed-for-2 Recently, there were two Christian musicians who were leaving a recording studio and were murdered for two dollars and their car. Initially, I paid little attention to the news reports nor did I listen to the names of the two victims. Three days later, I received an e-mail from a woman friend who had received her CHL by taking my course along with her son and daughter. The e-mail read, "Hi Don, my son, Steve, was murdered Thursday. His funeral is at...."

I sat there stunned. Steve had been licensed through my instruction. I had been to a couple of activities that he and his mother attended - in both cases they were armed. I knew Steve's mother believed as I do that you never go anywhere unarmed if it is legal to carry in those places. I did not know Steve as well as I did his mother, but I found him to be very likable and smart. In fact, I later discovered that he was probably a genius. Of course after getting that terrible news, I couldn't help wonder if he was armed that night. I assume that he wasn't because of the deadly results of his encounter with two heartless thugs. Both criminals were captured the next day. A television interview showed that one of them was almost proud of what they had done. Apparently, he is feeling good about being a "gangsta" now."

I attended Steve's funeral wishing that I could ask if Steve had been armed that awful night, but knew it would be totally inappropriate to ask such an insensitive question. After the funeral service was over, I watched as the ushers allowed the family members to leave the sanctuary first. I couldn't help notice that Steve's mother and sister were carrying handbags made of nylon that were an odd shape. Of course, it was obvious to me why they were carrying those bags and what was in them.

I waited my turn to give condolences to Steve's mother. Then as I approached her, she said in a voice that was a mixture of crying and disbelief, "Don, Steve didn't have his gun! He always carries his gun! When he comes to my house, he has his gun on him under his shirt. He doesn't go anywhere without his gun! Don, he didn't have his gun! In fact, when the police were telling me about the shooting, I asked them where Steve's gun was. They said that they had not found his gun so I told them that the criminals have it. Later, we found it at his home."

I was sick. The tragedy was bad enough, but for him to be killed on one of the few nights where he had forgotten to take his gun seemed to rub salt into the wounds of those of us who cared for him. I am always amazed at how many people who have taken my CHL class do not carry all the time. Some almost never carry a pistol. And yet, here was a case where someone who practically always heeded my advice to be armed at all times was killed while the others who continue to walk around in an un-armed condition, in a mental state of white, don't pay the price that Steve did. No, I don't want those others to pay that price. It's just that they are more likely to be hurt or killed than those who do carry where it is legal. The irony cannot be ignored.

One of the reasons that I became a CHL instructor was because of a conversation I heard during my first renewal class. An elderly gentleman asked the instructor, "I live in a nice neighborhood. My wife and I go walking nearly every evening. Do you think I should take my gun with me?"

Incredibly, the instructor replied, "Well, that's a personal decision that you will have to make for yourself."

I wanted to scream, "Of course, you should! There are no safe places!" In fact, I was so stunned at the stupid answer that I didn't say what I was thinking. I still feel guilty about not speaking up. However, I do speak up now. Throughout the classes that I teach I use examples, many of actual shootings, to show the need to carry all the time. One such example is an appeal to logic. I ask the students if you could turn off and on your fire insurance at will, would you ever turn it off because there was little chance of a fire on a particular day? Of course, you wouldn't! But, that's exactly what you do if you decide to leave your home un-armed. You have chosen to let yourself be vulnerable to a mean world that can take you or your loved ones from this world for two dollars or for your tennis shoes.

There are no safe places! One woman who took my class has for many years worked as a contractor in federal housing, i.e. high crime areas. Unfortunately, her employer will not let her carry her gun in her car (she can't go in the federal buildings armed), but she has never needed a gun in those high crime areas. On the other hand, she has needed a gun for protection three times in "safe areas."

She started carrying a gun at seventeen because the police would not believe that she and her boyfriend had been robbed and that she had nearly raped (she said that she was in her menstrual period or she would have been raped). The police did not believe her because at that time there had never been any crime in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens (this occurred in the 1960's). This "safe place" soon became a hot spot of rape and murder during the following year causing it to be fenced and closed at night. Fortunately, the gang of youths were caught and convicted of multiple rapes and murders.

Those of you who are instructors have probably had many stories of similar need for a gun for protection told by your clients. I use real life stories as much as I can, but I am still frustrated at how many people have the "it won't happen to me attitude" and don't carry all the time. I have finally decided that few people really take to heart my cajoling and warnings. Fortunately, many have, but I want to be even more effective in getting that point across since not only are they safer being armed, but we are too.

Since many of you who are reading this newsletter are instructors, I invite you to e-mail me if you have found effective methods to get the point across that it is important to be armed. Hopefully, there will be enough information that I can pass it on to others via this newsletter. If you have something that will help, please e-mail me at happydad1@sbcglobal.net. If I do write another article on that subject I will give you credit for your ideas.

I truly believe it is important for us to teach our clients and friends that CHL holders should be armed whenever possible and this safety advice is just as important to teach as it is for us to teach conflict resolution and the use of deadly force required by the state. I hope you agree. Be armed; be safe.

Don Myers
Texas Concealed Handgun License Instructor
7624 Hightower Dr.
N. Richland Hills, TX 76180
happydad1@sbcglobal.net
817 929-6060
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So very true on the "there are no safe places". Complacency even with a CCW will get you killed as quick as if you weren't carrying a permit. If ya got it, use it! Just think of your permit and carry piece as a hot mistress (ladies, insert your word of choice as well) that you never, ever want to be separated from...you always want it near you, safe at your side, with alot of fond memories and practice time under your belt so that you know exactly how to trip it's trigger to get the fire(power) rolling, resulting in a harmonious explosion of power and grace.

Guess that sounded sorta wrong, huh?

Carrying a gun can improve your chances if there is a warning sign, but I suspect Steven would have been shot even if he had been carrying. If someone pulls a gun on you at point-blank range, you're not likely to be able to draw and fire in time.

That being said, I always carried in WA and usually in PA, where I had licenses. Sometimes it's not worth the trouble though in a low-crime area during the summer.

This article has been a wakeup call for me... I have a carry permit but sometimes I go out without my piece.. "NO MORE" I will carry with me at all times now no matter how uncomfortable..Complacency will get you killed.. remember we are basically at war and a good soldier always has his or her equalizer......

ELK................
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People must realize there are no safe places.

People also have to realize that they cannot schedule their emergencies- there is no making deals with trouble. "

"I'm going to church. I won't need a gun."

"I'm only stepping out for a minute. Nothing will happen."

"It's a really nice restaurant."

And so on.

It really is simple. There is only one way to have a gun when you need one- and that's to carry it ALL THE TIME. That means from the time you get dressed in the morning till the time you put your pistol on the nightstand in the evening and go to bed. I call it 'pants on to pants off' carry.

CARRY ALL THE TIME. At least where you are legally allowed. And where you can't carry a gun, carry what you can- a walking stick, pepper spray, a knife, a seriously bright flashlight. Learn to use every tool at your disposal.

And remember the most important lesson of all- THE MIND is the weapon. Everything else is just a tool.

Stay Safe,

dd

"there are no safe places".

Also means your very own home, too. Don't forget about all the 'home invasions' happening around the country. That's why, even right now, my Star is within easy arm's reach.

Dear God. Literally. What has this world come to? "Stop the world, I want to get off" takes on a whole new meaning nowadays.

Unfortunately, I have to add something else to this sad story.

Both suspects planned to go out and rob "some rich white people". They got high...then rode public transportation (your tax dollars at work) out to Garland where "all the rich white people live".

The two misunderstood youths were later heard bragging about "hitting a lick" which is thug-speak for robbing someone.

Even worse, in a jail house interview...one of the thugs talks about "shootin' they bitch ass"...and then when asked by the reporter if he knew they were dead...the thug replies "I made sure they was dead". When asked what he wanted to say to the families of the two men he killed...the thug replies..."Fu$k 'em...straight up!"

Here's a link to the youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPPS2Lz1hl4

There is no safe place...if anyone ever asks me why I CCW everywhere...I intend to direct them to this video. If anyone asks me why I feel the way I do about the segment of the population that live and act like animals...also refer to same video. I'm sick and tired of PC.

Hansa44,

The world is pretty much as it has always been. Fortunately we in the USA have been largely shielded from 'the ways of the world' for a long time. That era seems to be coming to an end, along with several others I could mention.

dd
======
http://www.olimu.com/Readings/GodsOfTheCopybookHeadings.htm

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place;
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four—
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man—
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:—
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

i live in one of the most crime free populated places in the country and i still carry 24/7. i carry at work which, if i were caught, would result in my immediate dismissal. when i shower the gun is within 2 feet of me. when i sleep there are THREE handguns and 11 rifles within 10 feet of me...all loaded. other than those times my gun is carried open on my side (open carry acts as a deterrent so hopefully i won't have to actually use my firearm against another).

Hermit said:

Carrying a gun can improve your chances if there is a warning sign, but I suspect Steven would have been shot even if he had been carrying. If someone pulls a gun on you at point-blank range, you're not likely to be able to draw and fire in time.

That being said, I always carried in WA and usually in PA, where I had licenses. Sometimes it's not worth the trouble though in a low-crime area during the summer.

Click to expand...

My question to the above is, why would you let someone get within point blank range. I understand there are times where it is unavoidable, but those times are rare unless in a crowded public place. Out on the street where this stuff usually happens, it is complacency that lets someone slip inside your guard.

As for carrying in the summer....I'll carry a weapon to a friggin' police convention. If you think you live in a nice crime free area think about this: where do you think burglars go shopping? The ghetto or somewhere people have nice things and nothing bad ever happens?

Winter...Summer...Spring...or Fall,
My gun's, my companion, throughout them all.
While watching television...my handgun is always nearby.
When I answer a knock at the door...it's in my waistband, at the small of my back.
When I go to the grocery story...it's there by my side.
Hell, I'm sitting here at my computer, and even as we speak, it's within arm's reach!
Carrying a concealed weapon, is a life-choice...(literally)!
You have to be willing to dress 'around' your weapon, if you want it to protect you.
It's not going to do you one lick of good, sitting unloaded, in the bottom of your sock drawer!!!
Personally...I never go ANYWHERE without my pistol,
And it really doesn't matter what other people think...
It's my choice...it's my life...and I choose to go armed...24/7!
And soulless dimwits, like the killer in this video, are EXACTLY why I carry a gun!
"You know what I'm saying?"

Zulu Cowboy
www.GunsUSA.org
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Dozdoats said:

Hansa44,

The world is pretty much as it has always been. Fortunately we in the USA have been largely shielded from 'the ways of the world' for a long time. That era seems to be coming to an end, along with several others I could mention.

dd
======
http://www.olimu.com/Readings/GodsOfTheCopybookHeadings.htm

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place;
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four—
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man—
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:—
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

Click to expand...

thanks for posting that. you know, i've seen it before countless times, but never read it till now. and it reminds me why some poetry is food for the mind and soul. this was at the site you linked to (and worth knowing about rudyard):

The Gods of the Copybook Headings

by Rudyard Kipling



Published in October 1919 when the poet was 53 years old, "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" has proved enduringly popular, despite the fact that copybooks disappeared from schoolrooms in Britain and America during, or shortly after, World War 2. A copybook was an exercise book used to practice one's handwriting in. The pages were blank except for horizontal rulings and a printed specimen of perfect handwriting at the top. You were supposed to copy this specimen all down the page. The specimens were proverbs or quotations, or little commonplace hortatory or admonitory sayings—the ones in the poem illustrate the kind of thing. These were the copybook headings.

Kipling had lost his dearly loved son in World War 1, and a precious daughter some years earlier. He was a drained man in 1919, and England, with which he identified intensely, was a drained nation. Though he was no atheist, was in fact a Christian of an eccentric sort, Kipling seems to have found little consolation in religion. From Andrew Lycett's biography:

For spiritual values, Rudyard was still looking for accommodation with Christianity, his instinctive religion. He explained to Haggard [i.e. the novelist Rider Haggard, his friend] in May 1918 that occasionally he felt the love of God but 'that the difficulty was to "hold" the mystic sense of this communion—that it passes.' True to form, Rudyard told his friend that God meant this phenomenon of the soul to be so—'that He doesn't mean that we should get too near to Him—that a glimpse is all that is allowed.' In recording this in his diary, Haggard noted: 'I think R. added because otherwise we should become unfitted for our work in the world.' Rudyard's reliance on Masonry [i.e. Freemasonry] as a prop, as an 'average plan of life,' was clear when, that very same month, he, who had taken little active part in Masonry since Lahore, joined the Correspondence Circle of the Quatuor [sic] Coronati Lodge No. 2076.

At the time he wrote the poem, Kipling was embarked on his two-volume history of the Irish Guards—his son's regiment—in WW1. The project took him three years, and was, he remarked, "done with agony and bloody sweat."

With all this as background, it is hard to disagree with the general opinion that "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" is a clinging to old-fashioned common sense by a man deeply in need of something to cling to.

The world is pretty much as it has always been. Fortunately we in the USA have been largely shielded from 'the ways of the world' for a long time. That era seems to be coming to an end, along with several others I could mention.

Click to expand...

Absolutely! Although that shield has been completely destroyed especially since 1965. Thanks for posting that Kipling masterpiece. Ironic how advanced and "progressive" we supposedly are yet we have not learned much and as "man" are continually forced to relearn the same lessons over and over again.

and it reminds me why some poetry is food for the mind and soul.

Click to expand...

Indeed. Kipling has been largely banished from "public education" in the Western world because he is considered "racist".

More common sense from RK


THE STRANGER

THE Stranger within my gate,
He may be true or kind,
But he does not talk my talk —
I cannot feel his mind.
I see the face and the eyes and the mouth,
But not the soul behind.

The men of my own stock
They may do ill or well,
But they tell the lies I am wonted to,
They are used to the lies I tell.
And we do not need interpreters
When we go to buy and sell.

The Stranger within my gates,
He may be evil or good,
But I cannot tell what powers control —
What reasons sway his mood;
Nor when the Gods of his far-off land
Shall repossess his blood.

The men of my own stock,
Bitter bad they may be,
But, at least, they hear the things I hear,
And see the things I see;
And whatever I think of them and their likes
They think of the likes of me.

This was my father's belief
And this is also mine:
Let the corn be all one sheaf —
And the grapes be all one vine,
Ere our children's teeth are set on edge
By bitter bread and wine.

Achilles said:

My question to the above is, why would you let someone get within point blank range. I understand there are times where it is unavoidable, but those times are rare unless in a crowded public place. Out on the street where this stuff usually happens, it is complacency that lets someone slip inside your guard.

As for carrying in the summer....I'll carry a weapon to a friggin' police convention. If you think you live in a nice crime free area think about this: where do you think burglars go shopping? The ghetto or somewhere people have nice things and nothing bad ever happens?

Click to expand...

I've known a few burglars in my time .... most of them are drug addicts who don't have the tools to steal things in nice areas, and they'd stand out, plus the alarm systems are usually much better than in ghettos. Only a few are professionals, and those are very unlikely to be stupid enough to kill anyone.

From what I remember, the incident in the OP was in a public place with witnesses around, and it happened at close range. They might not even have seen the thugs if they were approached from behind.

Even in ghettos .... well, I've walked the streets of ghettos and slums many times over the years, and I've never seen a gun drawn to commit a crime, not even at night. I think one can get an exaggerated view from the news of how often this stuff happens outside of the very worst areas in the country.

To me, the chance of getting mugged or shot during the daytime in a low crime area, aren't usually worth the troubles of concealment and sweating all over the gun. Simply look around and avoid large groups of young men, especially blacks and hispanics, but even whites or asians if they give off a bad vibe.

Other than that, your chances of dying in a car accident are vastly greater, and yet I find it inconvenient to practice total safety at all times on the road. I don't come to full stops, sometimes I speed a little, etc. That kind of sloppiness in driving is far more likely to get me killed than not carrying a gun in a low crime area.

My DH and I did our CCW training at a facility that is run by two brothers.

One will teach the class and the other one...well, we are warned before the class begins that the one who ISN'T running the class will at some point "rush" the instructor so you can see just how much time you can get to respond if attacked.

So the class goes on and of course we are all taking notes and paying attention and WHAM! The other brother comes in running and the instructor brother (ALL GUNS ARE UNLOADED FOR THIS DEMONSTRATION) tries his best to quickly pull his gun, but to no avail.

It really does happen a lot quicker than one would think.

I've come to realize that it's all a crap shoot. Sometimes you get a chance to respond to an attack, sometimes you don't.

So I suppose the best you can do is BE AWARE of your surroundings and those who lurk and slither around you.

Both brothers also urge all class participants to practice pulling your gun out as quick as you can on a regular basis and draw a bead on some object.

My gun has a safety (which is good for clumsy people like me). I can easily practice. My DH has a gun with no safety and he's a careful soul, so he can practice with an empty gun just to be on the safe side.

I have a friend whose brother was a police officer (now retired) who was doing just that kind of practice on his lunch hour and accidently squeezed the trigger. He blew out the tire on the car he was beading in on. LOL! No one was hurt and he never admitted that it was he who popped the tire on the car.

Pretty wild site.

"Nobody would have thought North Carolina brothers would have stepped to the plate the way they have, says new Ghetto Bragging Rights editor Julius Perkins. Perkins is referencing the top line of heroic Robin Hood like thugs emerging from the To Be Rather Than to Seem state. “North Carolina is only one quarter black, but the blacks who are relegated to the state’s institutional poverty there have embraced its motto: Esse quam videri (To be, rather than to seem) and are demanding there recognition.” Who’s North Carolina’s hottest celebrity Ghetto Black Male Felon? “There’ s no doubt,” says a Durham Ghetto Bragging Rights community member. “His name is Lawrence Lovette Jr! Love profiling in his new ride set the ‘hood on fire! Every nigaro on the block is trying to strike a profile like that!”
The new history of the new generation of North Carolina thugs, some say, starts with Michael Currie Graham. Graham, who was nominated as for the Sexiest Young Thug award is currently awaiting trial for the robbery and slaying of Fayetteville’s Emily Haddock. Many in the GBR community hold Graham in high regard for choosing not rape Haddock although it is allegedly what the girl wanted. Amid a quandry of other GBR potentials who have surfaced in the state, along came Lawrence Lovette, Stephen Oates and Demario Atwater. Lovette, whose popularity among some GBR members is already rated at Lemaricus Davidson levels, has almost dwarfed Currie in regional popularity.
“I believe Lovette’s popularity has grown so rapidly for three reasons,” Perkins says. “First of all, the profile of him sporting Eve Carson’s 2005 Toyota Hylander quickly became a GBR favorite. Secondly, there were some suggestions that Eve Carson’s family may have owned slaves. The mere suggestion caused ripples in the GBR standings nationwide with some even elevating Lovette to the Michael Thorpe level. Finally, his clean cut appeal and sweetheart personality touched the hearts of thousands. For example, before turning himself in, he updated his MySpace page with a new set of photographs that could be used for promotional purposes. And, even his lawyer, Karen Bethea-Shields, has spoken politely about his demeanor: Lovette was a smart person and “is probably one of the nicest clients I’ve had in a long time. He was living with his mother and was going to return to school before he was arrested on the murder charges.
All these factors combined speak to Lovette’s character, integrity and genuity."


“He’s no fraud,” said North Carolina rapper and artist Criminally Insane. “He’s the real thing. All the niggas in the hood love him. Eve Carson couldn’t have been killed by a better person.”
http://digitalmonkeys.wordpress.com/...a-better-ngga/

http://ghettobraggingrights.wordpres...-216-328-7631/

Looks like they're on to something. More men should institute this in their groups of friends and churches. And don't forget the women!! P.............


Target-shooting small group aims to make disciples

By Kaitlin Chapman, Communications Intern
Published: July 08, 2008
http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8233&Itemid=53

shooting_group8
Members of the shooting small-group ministry of Colonial Hill Baptist Church in Snyder who participated on a recent Tuesday evening included (left to right) Daniel Winterholter, Johnny Irons, Dusty Ashby, Mike Post, Tyler Westerman, Henry Holley, Ernie Armstrong, David Speegle, Miller Robinson, Mac Ashby, Clay Giddens and Roy McClendon. Not pictured were John Billings (a former Texas Ranger), Tommy Wright and Troy Lilly. (Photo by Barbara Ashby)


SNYDER—Toting a gun in one hand and a Bible in the other, a group of men gather on a ranch right outside of town. The pistol-packing group meets for fellowship and spiritual growth—with a little target practice in between.

The men, part of the small group initiative at Colonial Hill Baptist Church of Snyder, meets every other week to practice their gun-handling skills, participate in competitive team-shooting, fellowship with Christians, be challenged by Scripture and eat freshly baked cobbler.

“One of the things we wanted to do is to have a place where men can come and build relationships with other men,” said Clay Giddens, minister of education at Colonial Hill Baptist Church.

Mike Post shoots into “the box”—where paper targets are hung and metal targets are mounted. Post, a welder, made the target- shooting box for the small-group ministry of Colonial Hill Baptist Church in Snyder.

When Giddens introduced the small-group initiative to the church a year ago, he looked for natural connections to form groups focused on encouragement and spiritual growth. Since then, the church started five small groups.

“When I came here in August 2007, I met Mac and Barbara Ashby, a deacon and his wife, at the church who were involved in competitive pistol shooting,” Giddens said. “He invited me to come out and shoot at his homemade gun range. Others began to join us, and we incorporated that small-group concept to our shooting group.”

Mac Ashby presents gun-safety tips to a small-group Bible study sponsored by Colonial Hill Baptist Church in Snyder.
The group began meeting in March. It draws about 15 men of all ages, including some church staff, a former pastor, a retired Texas Ranger and college students working in the area. Most of the men have been members of the church for years but desire deeper fellowship. They also use this group as an outreach to other men in the community.

“There are people from other churches and our church,” said Mac Ashby, group member and owner of the shooting range. “We invited people who we think might be interested. We show them a good time. … It opens up the opportunity for building relationships outside of the conventional church environment.”

After the group spends an hour or two in target practice and competitive shooting, the men sit down to talk about life and their walk with God. During the last 13 weeks, the men took turns leading discussions and lessons on relationships.

The casual atmosphere allows men to be themselves, showing their personalities while deepening their relationships with each other.

“Normally the environment is such that they open up pretty quickly,” Ashby said. “There is a lot of good-natured harassment.”

After taking part in the group, the men have something interesting to discuss when they see each other in town or at church or at work, Ashby said.

Since the men meet on Tuesday nights, it allows church staff and leaders who are typically serving in other capacities on Sundays to participate.

Ernie Armstrong, a district judge and chairman of the deacons at Colonial Hill Baptist Church in Snyder, demonstrates his target- shooting ability during a small-group meeting at a ranch on the outskirts of town.
The group “helps me have contact with other folks,” said John Billings, a small-group member. “Since I am a Sunday school director, I haven’t been apart of a class in years because I have to do the paperwork.”

Since the beginning of the small-group initiative, Giddens has encouraged church members to discover the activities they enjoy. Then he said to use them to start a discipleship group.

“Any outreach and discipleship tool is trickle-down enthusiasm,” Giddens said. “I’ve really been excited about Mac’s excitement—the fact that he can take something he enjoys and use it to grow the kingdom.”

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There are no safe places ...

Damn straight!

I consider myself potentially prey anywhere I go, and keep a lookout.

But, I'm able, nimble and have a good car.


Home is safe, and defended, and y'all won't catch me on the road.


nanna

This past week has reinforced to me stronger than ever before that we need to be prepared and aware at all times for anything. It is one thing to know and understand that things like this are coming. It is quite another to have them happen where you can see them with your own eyes and it is tangible. It takes things to a whole different level.

This past Monday, the pharmacy where I used to work was robbed. Employees were forced to the floor at gunpoint, though Thank God nobody was hurt. It hit close to home though; but for the grace of God it didn't happen when I worked there.

This past Wednesday when driving from work, I happened upon a scene involving at least a dozen police cars and an overhead news chopper. I have yet to find out what happened, but there were people on the ground and it looked pretty bad.

Then this past weekend, a murder in our apartment complex, just a hundred yards or so away! http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=295864

All of this happened in what is usually a fairly quiet middle-class to upper-middle class area. Like the OP says..."We live in a nice neighborhood."

We've learned in a very real way this past week that those "nice neighborhoods" are not immune. We knew that, we aren't naive.

But, let me tell ya, "knowing" and "realizing" are two very different things!

As this thread discusses, you truly are not safe anywhere these days. Sure, we read of things and see things like this on the news all of the time. But, I have to tell all of you, I am really unsettled by having three major things happen literally in my backyard within a week. It really is different when it involves your AO and home turf.

Many of our TB members are LEO, former military, etc. These folks have seen things with their own eyes. They know what to expect and how they will react.

For those of us lacking that experience (many of the ladies here, like me, probably fall in that category) you may be surprised by how you react.

On the positive side, when we heard from other neighbors on Saturday afternoon that the killer was still at large, we immediately took action to protect ourselves just in case. We have prepped and we had a plan, and arranged with neighbors to watch each others' backs until we confirmed he was apprehended.

When we were awakened by police choppers hovering above the building this morning, we also were surprisingly alert and prepared. We were ready, and were able to even warn and protect some of the DGI's. (One of them was standing outside watching the goings-on while holding her newborn infant for criminy's sake!)

On the negative side, once the adrenaline calmed, my emotions have been all jumbly after the fact. I wasn't totally prepared for how to deal with that, and I've learned some real lessons that I'm going to need to toughen up a bit more.

With all that is happening lately...the economic situation and the banks, the upcoming elections, the ongoing WoT, these types of things...robberies, murders, riots, who knows what all else...are going to be coming down the pike more and more. One day it may come to your door. Be ready...not just physically, but be ready to deal with the emotions, too.