31Dec04

The Wisdom of Tom Givens

My friend and colleague, Tom Givens, runs Rangemasters, a wonderful retail gun shop and indoor range in Memphis, TN. Tom's students have been involved in more self-defensive shootings than have those of any other instructor I know, including me! Tom is a top-drawer teacher, among the best in the business.

Memphis bears the dubious title of "Crime Capitol of the South, =9D with a homicide rate higher than many towns three times its size. The local PD is

politicized, top-heavy, incapable, hopeless. When in Memphis, you are trul y "on your own."

Tom recently wrote an essay about the importance of carrying concealed consistently. His wisdom merits emphasis. He describes two of his student s who were recent homicide victims in two separate and otherwise unrelated incidents. Both were mercilessly murdered by armed criminals. At the time of their deaths, both were unarmed! All their carefully learned and continuously practiced skills with firearms were of no use to either one. Both held val id CCW permits and owned suitable pistols, ammunition, holsters, etc. They were n ot armed at the critical moment, because of nonchalance, laziness, carelessness, or a deliberate decision not to be armed. We'll never know. However, in one-sided gunfights, it comes as no surprise that both faired poorly.

Tom correctly points out that you will never get to decide which times are the dangerous ones. Someone else will decide that for you, and you'll probably become aware only at the last moment! Since we therefore cannot k now when personal readiness and valor are going to be critical to our continued good

health, we must be "ready" all the time. In Memphis (and pr obably where you live too), that means being well trained, audacious, and constantly armed.

We cannot live victoriously when we are continuously unprepared. Tom is right! Be prepared, or go back to eating grass.

Happy New Year to all!

/John