Are you aware?
Did you stop for fuel this morning? Can you recall if there were people around you? Do you even remember if there was a car or truck next to you?
If you have no awareness, you have little chance to survive an attack.
If you are not mentally “in the game,” your chance of engaging and winning a violent encounter (Surviving is often a by-product of winning.) are greatly reduced.
Four (4) persons were murdered this weekend in Phoenix. (Probably by the same miscreant.) While we have no insider information as to how the attacks occurred, my guess would be that the victims did not think “Today might be the day.”
The world is increasingly violent. You must be cognizant of this and take steps to prepare yourself and your loved ones for it. You must think: “Today could be the day I face a violent encounter.”
What have you done to prepare yourself and your loved ones for “that day . . . that event?” A good start is to (re)read “Principles of Personal Defense.” Have your family read it as well. Poor planning leads to poor performance.
It is the beginning of the warm season at the Gunsite Ranch. (Remember that we are not as hot as Phoenix in the summer. Subtract about 20 degrees from the Phoenix temperatures.) The ice water and Gatorade are downrange for the students and the Rangemasters are watching for symptoms of the heat. A 350 Pistol and a 270 Rifle are underway this morning. The increasingly popular Range Days continue this Saturday with a two (2) day “Carbine Range Day.”
The new Church Defense course begins in a week. It is a near full course. The students attending are preparing for “when” it happens, not “if.” There is also the popular 223 Carbine followed by the 556 Advanced Carbine in mid-June.
We will also host the Stephanie Calams Scholarship Combat Match on June 30. Stephanie was the daughter of a retired LAPD Officer and Gunsite Graduate. She passed away unexpectedly. She was a teacher and her family honor her by fundraising for a scholarship fund. The monies are returned to the localities that host them. This is our second year. You need not be a Gunsite graduate to participate. Register here: https://www.stephaniescholarship.org/2018-gun-combat-competition.html
A concern in Arizona is wildfire. We are in a terrible drought. If you smoke, do it in a vehicle and do not discard your butt out the window. Make sure your trailer chains are twisted and not dragging causing sparks. The rainy season should begin in the next month or so, but we must be cautious and fire-wise.
Social media is afire with the video of the federal agent dancing in the nightclub and losing his pistol. As he recovers the pistol, he has a negligent discharge, shooting another club patron. Again, it is social media so the facts are not all available. It does bring up some good learning points:
If alcohol is involved, gunpowder and alcohol do not mix.
Make sure you have a holster that securely retains your pistol.
Practice safe gun handling each and every time you touch your firearm. (Rule 3!)
The Gunsite Alumni Shoot (GAS Match) is not too far away. (October 6, 2018) It is time to get registered! The prizes continue to pile up with guns from various partners (S&W, EAA, Mossberg, Remington, Glock and more), equipment from Wilderness, Blade Tech, Hawg Holsters and others. The Gunsite Staff have, as always, come up with devious stages of fire. Remember you must be a graduate of a 3 day or more Gunsite Pistol Class to participate.
Please pardon our dust . . . (Pun intended). We are replacing the sand in our backstops over the next few weeks. Also, the target turning systems on the ranges have exceeded their life expectancy (Despite valiant efforts by our great facilities management staff.). So, over the next several months we will be replacing the turning target systems. It should not impact any courses.
Many of you have learned of our difficulties with Intuit. A few months ago we chose Intuit as our credit card processing company. All was well until they realized we are a firearms related business. They held our monies because (they assumed) we sell guns over the internet (not face-to-face) and they can be sold to children. We explained how our industry is one of the most regulated industries in the Republic and all gun transactions are required to be face-to-face or you are committing state and federal felonies. (To be fair, there is a clause in the contract that we missed saying all firearms (and tobacco and liquor) sales must be face-to-face. However, we still believe all our sales are face-to-face.) As a result, Intuit did not want our business any longer. Frankly we don’t want to do business with a company that is opposed to the Second Amendment. We could have quietly walked away from each other. Unfortunately, Intuit chose to return to our clients the thousands and thousands of dollars that they were holding for classes provided as well as products sold. This cost us untold hours of work with our staff and accountant determining who to contact, explain the situation and ask for “repayment.” Being good Gunsite family, we have recovered the majority of the monies owed us. It is unfortunate Intuit chose this path. We have now found a Second Amendment friendly processing company and hope to have it installed yet this week. We are also divesting any Intuit related product that we use (“Quickbooks, “Tsheets,” “TurboTax,” etc.) Thanks to the Gunsite family for their understanding and patience with us as we worked this situation out.
On another matter, Gunsite has been very generous on our cancellation policies. Unfortunately, we have had to cancel a few classes at last minute and hold some classes with few clients as a result of this kindness. When you cancel at the last minute, we have contracted with our great instructors, paid for travel, etc. This unreasonably increases our costs for that class. If we must cancel a class, it negatively impacts the other clients. If you must cancel, please do so timely and in accordance with our policies. (https://www.gunsite.com/about-us/cancellation-policy)
Finally, watch the Gunsite website closely as we are beginning to add the 2019 training calendar. Some classes fill quickly, you need to get enrolled. The Defensive Lever Action Rifle/Single Action Revolver course is one of those we believe will be popular.
Watch for us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for additional updates.
DVC,
Ken