Including ...2018 State of the Network Message • President's Message • Attorney Question • Book Review • Networking • Editorial • About this Journal
Get eJournal PDF: click here
2018 State of the Network Message
Happy 10th Birthday to the Network
by Marty Hayes, J.D.
This month we celebrate the tenth year of the Network’s existence. It all started with an idea and a few precious dollars out of the pockets of our Vice President Vincent Shuck, Gila and I, along with the very much appreciated support of Mas Ayoob, Tom Givens, John Farnam and the late Jim Cirillo, all who embraced the concept of the Network and signed on to the advisory board when it was launched. (Unfortunately, Jim passed away unexpectedly before seeing the Network born, but I think he is proud of us nonetheless).
For those first few years, things were pretty lean, but we made a commitment not to borrow money to promote the Network, but instead, use the most powerful advertising known to man, relying on word of mouth, to get out the message about the Network. So, instead of going into debt to promote, I reached out to about a hundred of my friends, colleagues and acquaintances in the firearms training industry to help spread the word, and the Network Affiliate Instructor program was formed: Instructors throughout the nation, recommending the Network to their students.
President’s Message
by Marty Hayes, J.D.
I start this month’s message sitting at a portable table on the private range of Herman Gunter III, who is a Massad Ayoob Group (MAG) staff instructor and host of MAG classes in the Florida Panhandle, near the city of Live Oak, FL. I just spent three days assisting with a Deadly Force Instructor course, certifying 17 firearms instructors through MAG to teach the nuances of use of deadly force by armed citizens in self-defense.
Attorney Question of the Month
This discussion with our Network affiliated attorneys is based on a hypothetical scenario: An armed citizen is arrested after use of force in self defense and his or her state-issued license to carry a concealed handgun is revoked. We asked our Affiliated Attorneys to comment on the following:
1) If charges are dropped before trial, in your state what is involved in getting the citizen's license to carry reinstated?
2) How (if at all) does that differ from pursuing carry license reinstatement after defending self defense in a trial and being found “Not Guilty?”
Book Review
The Best Defense: A Complete Guide to Personal and Home Defense
by Michael Janich
Martial Blade Concepts
ISBN-13: 978-1939467003
Softbound and eBook available on Amazon.com
Reviewed by Gila Hayes
Over the years, I’ve read quite a lot of Michael Janich’s writing and watched many of his videos and I’ve learned a lot from him. This prolific author has distilled many of the self-defense problems and solutions in 15 succinct chapters in A Complete Guide to Personal and Home Defense. His philosophy may be best distilled in a paragraph found toward the end of the book: “Before you start selecting weapons or planning tactics, it’s a good idea to remind yourself of the actual goal in personal protection: to keep yourself and your loved ones safe, period. It is not about winning fights, teaching the bad guy a lesson, or doing society a favor. Ideally, it means that you recognize and avoid problems before they happen. If you can’t avoid them, you use non-physical skills like verbalization to talk your way out of a situation. And throughout the entire process, you ensure that your brain is always stronger and smarter than your ego.” This absence of bravado characterizes the approach to personal safety the book teaches.
News from our Affiliates
by Josh Amos
Hello to all of our affiliates, members, and armed citizens everywhere! I know, I said this last year, but where did the year go? The Armed Citizens' Legal Defense Network had a great year of growth and achievement, and we thank you all for coming along with us. This growth benefits our members in that we have more in our Legal Defense Fund, we have more affiliated attorneys in more states and wider outreach with our Foundation’s educational booklets.
Our affiliated instructors and gun shops deserve a special commendation. When an affiliate takes five or ten minutes to give our booklet and recommend membership in the Armed Citizens' Legal Defense Network to students, customers, and friends, it really makes a difference. Not only do more people join the Network, but more importantly our affiliates reach the kinds of people that we want to join. You see, we have specifically chosen to grow the Network by admitting quality members who share the Network’s core values of responsibility, education, and good training.
Editor's Notebook
by Gila Hayes
Closing out 2017
I had the best of intentions: I’d decided to let our Network advertising taper down during the final quarter of 2017 to accommodate a staffing disruption that came up when Melissa, our team member in charge of new memberships, moved out of state to accompany her husband who has started a new job. We were very sad to lose her, but we figured we could cope.
We rearranged job duties to make best use of the great skills, talents and grit that Jennie, Josh, Belle and Linda bring to their roles on the Network operations team. Nowadays, when members and prospective members phone in, Josh or Belle answer their questions, address their concerns, assist with their membership orders and then, behind the scenes, Linda enters it all into membership records. Jennie expertly manages all the renewal work, and I fill in where gaps open up–as can happen when a team member lands in the hospital and is restricted to reduced work hours during recovery, suffers a bereavement, or simply spends a few days with school-aged children during the winter holidays. Unfortunately for me, all those disruptions hit simultaneously during the last two weeks of December, so it’s been pretty interesting. I’d have to say, 2017 is going out with a bang, certainly not with a whimper!
About this Journal
The eJournal of the Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network, Inc. is published monthly on the Network’s website at http://armedcitizensnetwork.org/our-journal. Content is copyrighted by the Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network, Inc.