Including ... Weighing Non-Gun Self-Defense Options • President’s Message • Attorney Question • Book Review • Editor's Notebook • About this Journal
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Weighing Non-Gun Self-Defense Options
Ungunned but not Unarmed
by Art Joslin, J.D., D.M.A.
This month, I’d like to discuss a topic I have given lectures on for several years. What do you carry for self-protection? If you can’t carry a gun in a specific situation, what do you do? I’ve heard many, many times over the years, especially from students, that they carry a gun and they’re sure they will be ready when they need it. That is very optimistic. What if you can’t get to your gun when you need it? What if you must enter a building unarmed (church, school, etc.) for just a few moments? Do you ever run up to the ATM for just a few minutes and leave your gun in the center console of your vehicle? If you do have it on you, what if you turn around and suddenly are pinned against the cash machine by a knife-wielding thug? Your gun is pinned, too, and can’t be accessed any time soon. How do you fight your attacker?
We normally train with firearms in an environment of a square range, three to seven yards from the target, on even ground, and in nice, sunny weather. Three yards can be close quarters, but that gap can close very quickly, bringing an attacker into extreme close quarters. Rarely do we train where the attacker is twelve inches from us or even closer. So, what other weapons can you possibly use instead of a gun in close quarters or where you’re prohibited from carrying a gun? I’ve listed a few options below in no particular order. Certainly, there may be other options, but these are at the top of my list of alternatives to firearms.
President’s Message
Round Three
by Marty Hayes, J.D.
The next phase of the Armed Citizen’s Legal Defense Network, Inc. v. Washington State Office of Insurance Commissioner is now fully underway. Our appeal of Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler’s May 2022 ruling will be heard in the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division Two sometime later this year or early next year. Until then, initial briefing, response briefing, response briefing to the response briefing and one last round of response briefing will be taking place. At issue will be the trial court judge’s ruling that what the Network was doing was selling insurance without a certificate of authority. Our defense is that enrolling people in the Network was only allowing them to join an organization that supplies educational benefits for the armed citizen to best be prepared to make decisions regarding armed self defense, and in the event that the member chooses to use force in self defense, the Network would, upon request, likely fund the legal defense of the member. Funding this defense was never guaranteed, but instead rests solely in the hands of Network leadership, after a review of the particulars by at least one, if not all of the Advisory Board (https://armedcitizensnetwork.org/defensefund/advisory-board).
Attorney Question of the Month
The past two editions of this column focused on alternatives to going to trial. The options vary a lot from state to state, and our affiliated attorneys were very generous, weighing in with many, many responses. We wrap up that question this month. If you missed the previous installments, please browse to https://armedcitizensnetwork.org/our-journal/2022-journals and read the July and August commentaries, in addition to our affiliated attorneys’ final responses to these questions:
Does your state offer the option of deferred prosecution or deferred judgment/sentencing?
How does it work? Does the person plead guilty or are charges filed only if they fail to meet the agreement’s conditions? Does the person report to a probation officer? Is the person’s record cleared after an agreed-upon time without any further incidents (of specific concern to Network members, are gun rights restored)?
Book Review
We’ll Be Back:
The Fall and Rise of America
By Kurt Schlichter
Published by Regnery, July 2022
303 pages, hardbound $25.32; eBook $14.99
ISBN: 978-1-68451-330-7
Reviewed by Gila Hayes
With the primary elections stirring up all manner of hate and discontent, I sought a book to help get me through the long, fractious months leading up to the general election. Will freedom-lovers regain a little clout in congress? What will happen at the state level? Will it make enough difference to salvage or even perhaps regain some of the liberties we have lost? On a whim, I decided to buy We’ll Be Back, released in July by retired Army infantry colonel, Los Angeles trial lawyer, columnist and fiction author Kurt Schlichter. Although I follow his columns on Townhall (https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/), I read neither dystopian nor action thriller fiction so I had not yet read any of his books. I was surprised to find some optimism in a book that suggested mostly pessimism.
Editor’s Notebook
What We’re Doing to Make Our Communities Better
by Gila Hayes
Regular readers may recall that several months ago, I invited Network members to share a little about what they and their associates do to expose the public to gun safety and to teach by example the responsible behavior required of armed citizens. Members in MN and NC contributed. Let’s start with the following from a MN member:
“I obtained my first CCW permit about a dozen years ago. What I learned after the completion of that course (from what I today consider to be a marginal training organization) was that I was not prepared to carry. I did not, and allowed my (MN) permit to expire after 5 years. About 7 years later, I came to a point in my life that I had the time to reconsider carrying a handgun again.
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.
Do not mistake information presented in this online publication for legal advice; it is not. The Network strives to assure that information published in this journal is both accurate and useful. Reader, it is your responsibility to consult your own attorney to receive professional assurance that this information and your interpretation or understanding of it is accurate, complete and appropriate with respect to your particular situation.