By: Paul Foreman
“Do you feel lucky?” is the infamous line from the original “Dirty Harry” movie. The hero, Harry Callahan, played by Clint Eastwood, has interrupted a bank robbery during his lunch break. One of the bank robbers is down, but still alive. The robber’s gun is lying next to him on the sidewalk and as Dirty Harry approaches, the robber glances toward his gun. During the shootout, Dirty Harry had fired his .44 Magnum, numerous times. He says to the robber, “In all the excitement did I fire five or six times?”
The bad guy is not sure and decides to back off and take his hand away from his gun. Dirty Harry lowers the hammer and is about to take the robber into custody when the robber says, “I need to know.” “Need to know what?” Dirty Harry asks. “Your gun, is it still loaded?” Dirty Harry points the .44 Magnum right at the guy’s head and pulls the trigger, “CLICK!” The gun was empty.
Yes, there was a gross display of firearms safety rules being violated, but this was Hollywood.
Is your gun loaded? I am constantly talking to people who say they do not feel safe with a gun in their home, let alone a loaded one. GET TRAINED on safe and proper gun handling! Guns do NOT go off by themselves. There is NO such thing as “Gun Violence.” You are a whole lot safer if you are professionally trained in the safe and proper use of a gun, than you are with an empty, unloaded gun.
The fake news along with the far left anti-gun crowd are constantly misquoting statistics about children being killed by guns. The truth is, a vast majority of children being injured or killed takes place in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, or Detroit where juvenile gangs rule the streets. If you take these three cities out of the equation, the statistics showing children being injured and dying from firearms, drops dramatically. Check on true firearms stats by going to the Center for Disease Control’s web site and other sites like the NRA.
If you have children in your home, yes, you do need to take some common sense security measures to make sure the children don’t have access to them. Are your children well trained in firearms safety? What about their friends who may be visiting in the home? In most states, you can be charged with a crime if a juvenile gets access to your firearm and uses it.
There are numerous very well engineered gun safes on the market that will keep unauthorized hands away, yet still allow fast and easy access when you or another trained person needs the firearm in a “self-defense” situation. Those big massive gun safes are great for safe storage of your “long guns” and other valuables. They are not so good for quick access when some thug is kicking in your back door.
You might also want to think about a product line of furniture known as “Hiding in Plain Sight.” This style of furniture can still provide quick and easy, locked access to your firearms. They have wall-mounted cabinets, shelves, bookcases, coffee tables, mantles, bed headboards, and just about anything else you can think of. They all have hidden compartments to hide both handguns and rifles. They have either built-in locks, RFID chips, or hidden latches so you can access your firearms quickly and still keep them safe from unauthorized people.
You really do NOT want to be like Dirty Harry or the bank robber and depend on “feeling lucky.” You need to feel safe and prepared when it comes to self-defense and security. Being prepared will make you feel safer, and being properly trained to safely and correctly use a firearm is a huge part of feeling safe instead of just feeling lucky.
As many of you may already know, due to my present battle with cancer, I am not currently doing firearms and self-defense classes. I really miss doing them and will certainly do my best to answer questions if you e-mail me at Captureman@PaulForeman.com
As for the classes, I have a gentleman to whom I am referring people, who is also an NRA certified Firearms Instructor. Give me a call, I love to talk firearms and self-defense.
Paul Foreman is a retired deputy sheriff from Lee County Florida, now living in Athens. Paul is an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor. For questions about self-defense or firearms training. Paul can be reached at his web site, www.Paulforeman.com, or email at Captureman@PaulForeman.com
To join the NRA and protect your 2nd Amendment rights, go to Paul’s web site and click on the NRA Eagle.
