Networking

Compiled by Gila Hayes

I had a nice conversation earlier this month that was remarkably parallel to many of the topics Michael Janich discussed in this month’s lead interview. It’s funny how sometimes concerns coincide that way.

The subject of campus security arose while I was getting better acquainted with our affiliated instructor in Albuquerque, NM, Dr. Lisa Orick-Martinez. She is NM DPS certified as a concealed carry firearms instructor and has a long list of NRA instructor credentials, including NRA Counselor for the Refuse To Be A Victim program. But the title that interested me the most relates to her “day job” as a Communication Studies professor at Central New Mexico College. In addition to teaching communication, Dr. Orick-Martinez serves as the faculty advisor for the college’s shooting club, which is the longest continuously chartered student activity in the college’s history.

We talked about guns and politics at the college and about campus security (by policy, students and faculty are prohibited from possessing even pepper spray and knives). A while back, the community college campus went on lock down after a bomb threat on a nearby bus. The reason for the lock down was not announced, so the professor had no idea what they were facing, but after securing her classroom full of students, she researched news online and learned about the bus bomb threat. She told me how she and her students propped tables up in front of their classroom’s windows, then took cover as far away as possible, hoping to mitigate glass injuries if the bomb went off. While waiting for campus security to give the “all-clear,” she was surprised when students and faculty from other classrooms began walking through the hallways at the end of the class period! Although she held her students back inside their classroom, it was surprising that the other professors weren’t very well trained in what to do during a threatening incident.

Dr. Orick-Martinez is an asset to the Network and to the Albuquerque shooting community, plus she’s a great role model for her students. You can also read more in a nice biographical sketch about her on the National Rifle Association’s Women’s division website at http://www.nrawomen.tv/home/document/dr-lisa-m-orick-martinez-handgun-shotgun-rifle. Email her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone 505-450-5472 to learn more about her CCW and NRA classes.

Over in Southern California, our affiliated instructor Riley Schrader is spreading the Network’s educational message to his students when he teaches his Use of Force & Self Defense Laws class. He reports that his January session was well attended and he has another scheduled in a few days, Sunday, April 10, starting at 9 a.m. at the Angeles Shooting Ranges; advanced reservations are required. He’s also available to present this class to small groups or other interested organizations.

Schrader retired from public service after a career in law enforcement that involved actively teaching a variety of firearms skills to patrol and plain clothes officers and upon retirement, he began teaching vital survival skills to the private sector in the greater Los Angeles area of Southern California.

“I enthusiastically endorse the concept of incorporating a wide variety of defensive skills, unarmed as well as armed, in my teaching curriculum to especially include detailed instruction on the legal aspects of using force...any force,” he explains. “In addition to private firearms training on handgun, rifle, and shotgun, I conduct regular seminars on the Use of Force & Self Defense Laws. From the perspective of a patrol officer who dealt with the physical aftermath of violent events throughout a career, I’m able to provide to my students first-hand experience and knowledge of the first-responding, law enforcement component of handling a violent event. This ‘Second Battle’ of litigation is arguably just as important as winning the first-tactical-battle. Paraphrasing Mr. Andrew Branca, I provide my students and clients with education, knowledge, and mentoring to help make them just as hard to convict as they are hard to kill.

“My firearms teaching involves a crawl, walk, run principle that is tailored to the client’s realistic needs. Most folks in the private sector do not have the duties of warfighters or law enforcement officers. I teach to the specific needs of my clients using proven adult learning methods...no boot camp here. For my regular training clients I add a Phase Training Manual that aids in planning and documenting the training progress. This also serves to document specialized knowledge that may be needed to legally educate a jury in the client’s future legal defense. The advance levels of instruction involve mental and physical stress to expose and inoculate the client to real world fight or flight stimuli and decision making problems.”

You can learn more about this highly credentialed Network affiliated instructor at his website at http://www.dfisocal.com where you’ll also find full course descriptions.

Network members, support these affiliates and all the others linked at http://armedcitizensnetwork.org/affiliates because they help the Network grow by giving clients a copy of a Network brochure or our Foundation’s educational booklet What Every Gun Owner Needs to Know About Self Defense Law while explaining the value of Network membership for armed citizens.

Affiliates, please notify me about programs, classes, open houses and other events you have scheduled in April, May and June so we can encourage members to attend. In addition, if you are getting toward the bottom of your box of our booklets or brochures, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 360-978-5200 so we can support your efforts to tell your clients about the value of Network membership.

Click here to return to March 2016 Journal to read more.