RECCE ROOM

Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, TN, has decided to stay open and conduct church services during the pandemic. Here are some pictures from last Sunday's service. The hate and vitriol online has been more than usual, unfortunately. Of the comments spewing the hate, the ones that are most ironic come in a few flavors. A number of people encourage Pastor Locke to do services online. A number of others say he should "obey the law of the land" - and they often quote scriptures to that effect. And a number of others say everyone should just stay home - and many of these suggest it is a crime to meet. Let's break these down. Online Service. The folks that say he should move his services online have absolutely no clue. Global Vision Bible Church has a YUGE online following every week. Thousands of people, from all over the globe, tune in to Facebook at every single service. Clearly, the people that suggest Pastor Locke move the services to online are clueles...

When there is a difference of opinion, and you wish to add evidence to support your thoughts (or feels), here is a free tidbit. Don't include a link to Snopes, PolitiFact, Fact Checker, CNN, or MSNBC. That will immediately discredit the point you were trying to make.  There are at least a dozen others, but these stand out the most.  Exception - when engaging a #LibTard and the CNN (or whatever) article is in direct, clear contrast to what they are saying.  This doesn't mean the CNN (or whatever) article is accurate - it just means they won't be able to say your source is suspect.

Corona Virus - COVID-19 - what aren't they telling you? Mortality Rate According to the CDC as of the morning of this article, fewer that 5% of reported cases result in death.  What they aren't telling you is that a vast majority of those confirmed cases are people who are already sick - sometimes very sick. This means the true mortality rate is much less than 5%. Perhaps (probably) a fraction of 1%. Severity of Symptoms The people you see on TV or the newspaper are always saying how devastating this virus is.  And for them, it probably feels that way.  A good number of these people- dare I say a majority - already have a compromised immune system. Asthma, infection, diabetes, smokers, etc. Naturally a respiratory virus is going to hit them harder.  A good number of these hit hard are just sissies.  There, I said it.  Fight me.  What they aren't telling you is that according to reasonable estimates by multiple doctors, a majority of people wh...

It seems I owe readers of this blog a huge apology! It has been a while since I had received a notification of a comment on a post. I just figured I pissed off all the wrong folks. Well, I searched the SPAM box tonight and lo and behold - nearly two years of comments (and SPAM). Only one or two trolls or folks who cannot or did not read. Most of the good comments were, in fact good. I have replies up, as well now. Carry on.

NRA Rifle Instructor certified. Pistol coming next...

Because the firearms instruction industry does not have national standards (thank God!), a common question is "who is qualified to teach and who is not?" Many people have many opinions on who is and who is not qualified to teach. Indeed, there are many qualifications - formal and informal. But how do you sort it out? Furthermore, what experience and training makes a good teacher? “Qualifications” that are NOT qualifications to teach firearms: · Military service. EVEN Combat related and experience. · Police background. · Whether the person has been shot at. · Whether the person has had to shoot someone. Qualifications that are recognized: · NRA Certifications · USCCA Certifications · Here are some individual schools of good reputation, that issue teaching certifications (including, but not limited to): * Rangemaster USA * Gunsite * Mas Ayoob * Ken Hackathorn Understand that even the recognized qualifications will have detra...

Another entry to the wall of shame.  Some notes - * Not a Boomer.  Older GenX. * Former Army.

The State of Tennessee only certifies two firearms training classes: the Handgun Carry Permit and the Armed Guard License. While there are many HCP classes, most firearms classes outside of that are simply not "certified" or "licensed" classes. It must also be mentioned that law enforcement agencies often have Police Officer Standards in Training - POST - classes. Typically, these are not open to the public. However, the skills taught in their course material are no different than you might learn at a typical tactical class. The POST evaluations are often substantially similar. This author enjoys shooting different POST evaluations from different LEO agencies. Outside of State certification, there are few ways that firearm instruction is codified. Certainly, one can become an NRA Certified Instructor . The USCCA also has an instructor program. Certification in either would be a worthy credential. As much as anyone might have issue with the NRA, the fact is t...

It has been really interesting watching the Democratic primaries in 2020. After yesterday's polling results, Twitter had two hashtags trending - #ByeByeBiden and #ByeByeBernie . The party that claims to hate the rich old white men, is about to nominate a rich old white man. 1 who has heart trouble, and the other who has brain trouble. Both men are in their late 70s, have worked in Washington for over 40 years, and have never done anything productive in the private sector. The ire and angst that has been directed at Trump for the past four years, is now being shifted inward to the other candidate. Bernie fans hate fighting, and Biden fans hate Bernie. Make no mistake, neither man can beat Trump. Also, regardless of which rich old white man wins, he gets destroyed by Trump in the debates, as well. As it is right now, Trump is trolling the Democrat side very heavily. His barbs are sharp, and his wit is even sharper. But it doesn't stop there, Donald Trump Jr. is even more merc...

In the early days of my venture into professional gun instruction, I would make a Facebook event and invite people to come. I would not require prepayment - we used the "honor system." As an example, we would have 20 people select "going" on the event. Come the day of, 14 would show. Several messages that morning of "having to go in to work," or other excuse. Often, it was the same folks. After "John Smith" says "going" and fails to show six straight times, you no longer believe John Smith is going - even when he marks that he is. Even when he tells you he most certainly will be there. Believe it or not, that makes things difficult for an instructor. Making sure there are supplies and  targets for 20 people, then to have those go unused gets expensive. Not a good way to keep prices down. So, like other major training academies, I was forced to start requiring prepayment. Being in the marketing field made setting it up a breeze. ...

In most universities, it takes 128 hours of classroom time to earn a Bachelor's degree. If one was to do something for 8 hours a day (like a full time job), then 128 hours breaks down to 16 full days. A major usually requires 40 - 45 hours: or about five full days. The head firearms coach / instructor at  Patriot Training  has had 10 full days of firearms training for personal development and enjoyment in just the past two years ... and has more planned. All good firearms instructors continue their own personal education by taking classes with others. All good firearms instructors suggest that participants take multiple classes. All good firearms instructors suggest that participants take classes with other schools / instructors.

Any reader of this blog knows that it is most certainly a 2nd Amendment blog. This author is a firearms enthusiast and professional firearms instructor. As classes and attendance have been on the rise, and as  Patriot Training  has gained a steady foothold in the training market, last year a decision was made to offer students and participants more value. This author is, by day, a licensed Property & Casualty insurance agent and has worked in P&C Insurance since 2006. So, one might say that the research put into this decision was more thorough than most. Additionally, the author has a more in-depth understanding of the nuances, given his employment. This research and the accompanying decision took several months. If a person has to fire a gun in self defense,  there may well be a lawyer attached to every bullet.  Patriot Training has formally partnered with the  United States Concealed Carry Association  for the purposes of providing participa...

At about 1 am Monday morning, a tornado carved through  Tennessee.  Roughly speaking, it started in Carroll county, and worked east to Morgan county.  At the time this post goes live, there are a confirmed 19 dead and 50+ missing.  Most of the dead and missing are near Cookeville, TN - Putnam County.  Much of East Nashville, Hermitage, Mt. Juliet, and Lebanom were struck hard.  The Middle school my son attended and my daughter currently attends was destroyed . So was the Elementary school they attended.  My home has been without power   for 30 hours  or more.  It's the second longest I've been without power (went a week without in the  Blizzard of '93 ). More importantly, many people in the community have lost a lot.  A dear friend from church has lost everything, and was seriously injured, as was his daughter.  I am thankful that no children were in the schools when the storm hit - it might have been very, very bad....

This question was seen on social media. Below is the answer I gave. Question: When it comes to firearm training, would you chose someone with combat experience or someone that knows it but never been there? Answer:  The traits that make a good infantryman and the traits that make a good teacher are not mutually exclusive, but are rarely possessed by the same individual. Beware the individual who has been in a single gunfight, as they often try to want to win *that* fight, rather than the most common situations. Basics win fights. An individual who doesn't teach the basics is to be avoided. Even in the military, combat skills instructors do not always have combat experience. Just because the military does something a certain way does not make that method the most effective. Because of these facts, combat experience is toward the bottom of the list of things I would like to see in a teacher. Not irrelevant, but certainly not necessary. And for the record - those wh...

Boomer? Check.  Competing school? Check. Trying to hijack an ad? Check. Tacky.