High School Football—A Terrorist Threat

By Kellene Bishop, Women of Caliber

Between the fall of 1997 and the spring of 2002, FIFTY-THREE high school students were KILLED playing high school football. (National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, Feb. 2001) The lives of the spectators and the fellow students of these players will never be the same. And I want something done to make sure that such needless deaths never happen again. Fifty-three deaths! Where is the outrage?! Where’s 20/20 or 60 Minutes when you really need them to shed light on a problem? Why can’t we have Football Free Zones?! Something must be done to STOP these needless football playing deaths. In fact, I think that the schools should all adopt a strict “no play zone” policy. Someone could poke an eye out with one of those footballs, or choke on it. A teacher could be emotionally and physically harmed for life if a student hit them with a football! If you see someone drawing a picture of a football, I don’t care if it’s a fifth grader in St. Petersburg, FL, that person should be arrested. If a drawing of a football is used at school, even if it’s two eight-year olds, they should be have criminal charges filed against them and be considered a terrorist threat. If a child is caught pretending to throw a football, they should be charged with felonious assault. Take down those pictures of football players and coaches! Stop glorifying them. These types of activities KILL KIDS! And if they get caught with a Nerf ball on school property—that’s just unacceptable. Such a criminal should be jailed in Fort Meyers, FL—I don’t care if they ARE a National Merit Scholar. There should be an aggressive and zero tolerance policy to this kind of extreme in order to ensure that no such football players are ever killed playing football again. In fact, this problem is so pervasive, I demand that the National Education Association offer a FREE $150,000 insurance policy to be paid in the event that a teacher ever dies from a football incident.

No. I haven’t lost my mind. “They” have lost theirs. And the previous paragraph will point out to you just how extremely off-base they are.

Between the fall of 1997 and the spring of 2002, 32 students were killed by an incident involving a gun at an elementary or secondary school. (National School Safety Center) This total includes gang-related activities, crimes committed on school properties (even after hours), shooting accidents, as well as the highly publicized school shooting incidences. During this same period of time there were over 128 million children enrolled in such schools. This equates to 1 death per 4 million students.

During this same research period, four teachers were shot and killed at these same types of schools. (National School Safety Center) That equivocates to 1 teacher shot and killed per 3.3 million teachers.

It’s interesting to note that in 2001, that yes, The National Education Association did indeed offer all of its members a FREE $150,000 death policy, payable only under such circumstances. (San Diego Union-Tribune, July 28, 2001) Hmmm… Of course it was free. The likelihood of it happening is 1 in 3.3 million! But you can bet that the press didn’t give you those statistics, did they?

Why have they done so much to attempt to curb the deaths of children from school shootings, but have done nothing to alert them to a situation which takes the lives of more children than “school shootings” do? We have gun free zones to avoid school shootings, why don’t we have “football free zones” as well? The sickening aspect is just how extreme the schools have gone to punish the very non-infractions that I used to illustrate my point in the first paragraph.
A fifth-grade in St. Petersburg, FL was indeed arrested for drawing a picture of “weapons.”
A National Merit Scholar student was jailed in Ft. Meyers, FL because a dull kitchen knife was found under her car seat—it was dropped while her family was moving from one apartment to another.
Two eight-year olds had criminal charges filed against them and were identified as “terrorist threats” in Irvington, New Jersey for playing cops and robbers with a paper gun.
A seven-year old was charged with three counts of felonious assault for pointing a toy gun at three other children during recess in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Ann Arbor News 2)
Elementary students throughout Texas and Louisiana have been suspended for pointing pencils and saying “pow” and have forbidden the children from drawing pictures of soldiers.
School libraries throughout the U.S. have even removed references to the military.
See: http://opinionjournal.com/extra/?id-95000486, and Chicago Sun-Times, June 20, 2001, and NBC Saturday Today, NBC News Transcripts, May 26, 2002

Instead of criminalizing children for being children, schools should participate in sound measures of gun safety education and the U.S. Constitutional Amendments. No wait. Sorry. I must have left the earth for a moment there to even make such a suggestion. I forgot that education in schools is reserved for gay marriages, abortion, and the use of contraceptives.

Any death of a child, young or teen, is tragic. For those who have lost a child to ANY death is unacceptable, of course. Emotionally speaking, I feel that homicide is an even more difficult death to accept in these cases. Any death or harm of a child that can logically be prevented, should indeed be prevented. I’m a huge advocate of seat belts, car seats, and adults not exposing their children to second-hand smoke. To me, these methods pass the “stupid test” in my book. Meaning, they are just plain stupid NOT to employ. And while seat belts and car seats may have been known to even cause the occasional death of a child, but they are logical. However, the media harping on school shootings as if they are the ultimate killer of the children in our world is mal-practice in its truest sense. It’s fear-mongering. It’s a dissemination of false information and it prevents responsible parents from focusing on the true dangers in our midst.

Conservatively speaking 2,000 of our nations children are sexually assaulted by illegal immigrants—EVERY year, and yet we can’t seem to instill an “illegal immigrant free zone” in our nation. (http://www.newswithviews.com/Kouri/jim94.htm)

On average, over 1,700 children die every year as the result of a drunk driver, and yet mandatory accountability for such actions is minimalistic and seriously flawed. (http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html)

Four percent of all pregnant women use illicit drugs and extreme amounts of alcohol, and yet there is absolutely no accountability for such actions. (http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1169.asp)

These are just a few examples of genuine threats to our children. Fight the real enemy, folks, not a fictitious enemy that the media and some government officials perpetuate in order to accomplish other horrible agendas.

May you be victorious in your REAL battles.

Kellene

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.
You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Children and Guns Part IV

What’s Really Responsible for the Deaths of Our Nation’s Children?

This is part of a four-part blog series addressing Children and Guns. Part I – want to ensure your kid never commits a crime? Give him a gun. Part II addresses myths of gun safety – what you must know in order to truly protect your children. Part III addresses when it is safe to educate your child on firearms. Part IV explores what’s really responsible for the death of our nation’s children. If you enjoy what you read, please comment and share on your blog or Twitter. Thank you.

This is the final part in a series I’ve been writing on Children and Guns.

I’ll start right off with answering the question, “What is Really Responsible for the Deaths of Our Nation’s Children?” This is specifically posed to the deaths that result from guns being inappropriately used by children, and not all of the other more deadly causes of death discussed in Part II of this series. The answer is the somewhat naïve position that parents take regarding “toy guns” and the entertainment that we expose our children to. Allow me to show you why this is indeed the case.

As you well know, the media and overwhelming political powers have successfully positioned in the minds of caring parents that children and guns simply don’t mix--when in fact, children and guns collide whether you like it or not. In this regard, the only decision you really get to make is if you prepare for it by making this a positive concert or a deadly clash.

The other night I was at a family gathering watching 12 raucous boys ranging in age from 3 to 12 in the back yard. There were all kinds of “boy toys” back there such as foam swords, balls, and even a plastic gun. I was livid however, when one of the boys picked up a toy gun and began “shooting” his cousin with it. Clearly this child has not been taught anything about the proper use of guns in his environment (Yes, I did intercede and took the moment to educate…not that it will do any good unless it’s reinforced in his home as well).

Let me speak plainly. While I firmly believe and have even provided you with statistics that guns are not the “bad guy”, and are not the killer that the media and political diatribe would have you believe, they still are—100%—to be fully respected and confined to their proper perspective.

It may sound odd to some parents to know that my husband and I—who are avid shooters and in full support of their use for self-defense—have agreed that we will not have ANY toy guns in the home. A child’s desire to play with a toy gun is merely a mimicking and acting out of what he has seen on T.V. or at his friend’s home. However, the creation of toy guns is actually our nation creating a promise for disaster. In actuality it’s downright shocking that more deaths of children combined with guns do not occur. Think about it. A perfectly dangerous combination exists with all of the inconsequential violence that your children are subjected to in video games, movies, and other social activities, combined with the fact that there are over 300 million legally held guns in the U.S. and over 73 million children under the age of 18. So if we were to actually believe the picture that the media feeds us, shouldn’t there be MORE deaths involving children and guns? I mean seriously, if the media painted overeating and refined sugar as the villains that they really are the same way they portray guns in the presence of children, we’d have a very different health status in our American youth. It’s hard to uncover any other way that children die which receives more focus by the media in America. Regardless, one life lost unnecessarily is too many in my opinion, especially when it truly is so easily avoidable. The key aspect of this problem is that our nation has come to accept a dichotomous position, yet the two sides of this position simply cannot coexist and still foster gun safety with children.

There’s NO Such Thing as a “Toy” Gun
It defies logic to think that we can simply teach children that “play” guns are acceptable but “real” guns are not, when “play” guns always instill the physical action of pointing and shooting! Parents have an even tougher challenge in this regard when we consider that “play” guns are expertly mimicking the appearance of real guns today. Parents, you simply cannot have it both ways. You can’t successfully have a world of toy guns and a world of real guns. Remember, you can’t control what your children will find outside of your home. The rules for guns need to be consistent, and deliberate whether it’s a “play gun” or a “real gun.” Teach your children that there’s no such thing as a “toy” gun. Non-real guns can be used to teach skills, safety awareness, etc. But every gun your child comes into contact with should be viewed with the same safety rules and respect as a gun which shoots real bullets and can take another’s life, otherwise it’s playing Russian Roulette in it’s truest form. There’s too much else that your child is exposed to which is relentlessly fighting against your message to your children of gun safety. As such, you can’t afford for there to be any confusion on the subject. You are either going to teach your children unequivocal truths about gun safety, with no exceptions, or you are going to fail miserably. Does this mean that you shouldn’t teach you children how to shoot, how to clean a gun, how to hunt, how to enjoy shooting sports, and how to defend themselves? Absolutely not. In fact, quite to the contrary.

When a child is old enough to pick up a toy gun and begin playing with it, this is the perfect time to take him into the education process of teaching him the REAL world of guns. Start teaching him how to clean them. Teach him the safety rules, all of them, again and again. Take him shooting. Take him to a REAL gun training class (like the kind that Women of Caliber offers to children 5 and up with a parent present). My husband and I even bought our niece a BB gun when she was 5 (with her mother’s permission, of course) and taught her how to shoot it. Bottom line, you can’t successfully outlaw all guns, period, because of what they will be exposed to elsewhere. So you’ve got to educate them with one set of rules which applies to all guns.

From the beginning of the 1800’s and through the 1970’s you rarely heard of accidental shootings with children. Why? Because the combination of gun usage and children was a necessary and integral way of life for a significant portion of our youth during that time. Children had to regularly learn to shoot on their farms, for hunting, in sporting events, and yes, even to defend themselves. Don’t you recall the abundance of “children” that attempted to enlist during the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and even World War I? It was also custom at the time that when a boy turned 4 years old, he was taught how to shoot rabbits to put food on the table. Additionally, children were not exposed to the kind of “entertainment” and pervasive television like they are now either. Guns weren’t vilified during these years as they are now. Think about it. Our nation lasted over a century without this prevalent kind of problem in our midst. Why is that? Because guns had their proper, respected place in society.

I wholeheartedly encourage parents to teach their children about guns, consistently, and to be sure that their rules apply to ALL kinds of guns. This will ensure your safety and that of your children in many more ways than one.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.
You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Children and Guns—Part II

This is part of a four-part blog series addressing Children and Guns. Part I – want to ensure your kid never commits a crime? Give him a gun. Part II addresses myths of gun safety – what you must know in order to truly protect your children. Part III addresses when it is safe to educate your child on firearms. Part IV explores what’s really responsible for the death of our nation’s children. If you enjoy what you read, please comment and share on your blog or Twitter. Thank you.

The Myth of Gun Safety

By Kellene Bishop

Wow! Our first installment in this series reaped the most feedback, e-mails, and responses than all of our other posts from Women of Caliber. I hope that you will find this installment at least as equally beneficial.

In this piece I’m specifically addressing real gun safety. I’m referring to the avoidance of accidents, and putting the safety of guns around children in its proper perspective. I’ve read far too many statistics which inflate the danger of guns around children. My objection to this is not only that it’s false information, but that such information is the foundation for many women who would otherwise elect to possess a firearm and the accompanying self-defense skills. So let’s provide the real facts so that we can make an educated decision, shall we?

Myth #1: “Children are constantly killed by accidental gun usage.”

The fact of the matter is that the reason why the media highlights the deaths of children via gun accidents is because they happen so rarely. Obviously, it’s much more headline worthy when an innocent child is killed via a gun than a headline reading that a child is 6 times more likely to die in a car wreck than by a gun. In fact, the likelihood of children dying via a car wreck is 14.5 times more likely than from a gun.

There are approximately 300,000,000 guns owned legally by 94 million people in the U.S. There are approximately 40 million children in America. In 1999, the last year for which a detailed breakdown was available, 31 children younger than age 10 died from accidental shootings. The Center for Disease Control only noted 4 children under the age of 10 dying from accidental gun deaths. With 300 million guns and 40 million children, you would think that there would be a lot more deaths if the firearms in our homes were as dangerous as the media makes them out to be.

Based on statistics in the same year, roughly 550 children ages 0-14 were run over by cars, 800 drowned, 660 were burned to death in fires, and 1,850 died inside cars. Most of the 800 drowned were as a result of unattended children in a swimming pool, 93 drowned in bathtubs, and 36 died in 5-gallon buckets, yet we have no "mothers against bathtubs, buckets and swimming pools" organizations to speak of.

Eight times as many children die from non-gun violence acts than from gun crimes. (Kids and Guns, 2000, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquincy Prevention)

82% of homicides against children age 13 and under were committed without a gun. (1997, FBI Uniform Crime Statistics)

While less than 0.1% of all deaths for children between the ages 0-14 are from firearms, 0.6% are from motor vehicles, 5.3% are from being struck in beatings or bludgeoning, 6% from poisoning, and 42.6% from suffocation. (1997 National Center for Health Statistics National Vital Statistics Report)

Why aren’t more children dying at the villainous hands of 94 million gun owners throughout all of America? Because, with few exceptions, law-abiding gun owners are conscientious of educating children on gun safety and likewise practice it themselves. And yet so many parents, and particularly women, relinquish their freedoms to defend themselves based on the warped reality spoon-fed to them by the media.

While one would think that enough has been said about the exaggerated accidents involving children and guns, I still feel it’s necessary to address this next myth.

Myth #2: “If I don’t have a gun, my children are safer and better protected.”

This concern is falsely founded for so many reasons. For starters, if you are not familiar with the workings of a firearm, how are you able to appropriately stop an accident from happening? Suppose you walk in on your child who’s holding a firearm in his hands. What do you do? Do you grab it from him? Do you instruct him to put it down? HOW do you grab it? HOW would you instruct him to put it down? Do you know when a firearm’s safety is actually engaged on every possible gun your child could get their hands on? Do you know the proper manner to TAKE a firearm from an unauthorized child? Why should you NOT holler at the child, even to “freeze” and put the gun down? If you don’t know the answers to these questions then you could actually CAUSE a firearm accident by simply trying to prevent one. (I’ll answer these questions specifically in a further post as the instructions for such an instance are an entirely separate piece.) Additionally, is a child’s exposure to a gun solely relegated to your own home? Not teaching your child (and yourself) about firearms doesn’t protect them, it exposes them.
If they don’t know what a gun really is, then how are they supposed to respect its deadly power or to even be an influence among their less educated friends who may possess a firearm in their presence? Parents who choose to ignore the reality of a firearm in the midst of their children only promote a greater percentage of danger to them.

If you are not in favor of possessing a firearm yourself and teaching the accompanying rules with such a responsibility, then at least teach your child these 4 simple rules when they come in contact with a gun.

STOP!
Don't Touch.
Leave the Area.
Tell an Adult.

(Eddie Eagle Education Program sponsored by the NRA)

When the only exposure to guns that children have is on video games—where they “kill” people who get right back up to play some more—you are increasing the chance of them or their friends being injured in a gun accident whether you possess one or not.

Now, let’s address the last myth. I warn you in advance, this is going to get a bit dicey as it will address a topic that most parents do not want to even think about.

Myth # 3: “Waiting until my children are grown so that they can make their own decision on using a firearm is the best policy.”

First of all, let me ask you this question, when has your child EVER waited according to your time-frame to do anything? They grow up too fast, date far too soon, get married when you swear they are still only 8-years-old, and make you a grandparent while you’re still feeling in your prime. So let’s debunk the myth that they will actually wait until YOU are ready before deciding for themselves about firearm usage. The best thing you can do is to give them proper knowledge and education early on so that when they do make that unprecedented decision for themselves, they do it fully informed.

We communicate regularly with a lot of single moms on the topic of gun ownership so I’m going to create this scenario specifically for you, Super Moms.

Suppose a criminal enters your home just as you’re about to put your 3 children down for bed. He’s got a knife and he’s holding it at you and making vile threats against you if you don’t give him money. He’s also made it clear that he intends to fiercely violate your virtue in the presence of your children. Sounds a bit melodramatic, you may think, but unfortunately this is exactly the situation that numerous children have faced throughout the nation (See examples below). Of course as a mother you don’t want to ever have to think about your child needing to defend your life with a gun. That’s a natural instinct. But if this same scenario is thought out rationally, think about the alternative. Would you rather that your children have to witness a heinous attack on their mother, then her death, and perhaps even be subjected to more violence to themselves afterwards? That’s obviously an even more disturbing thought.

So what do you do? You train your child not to be a victim and to handle a firearm properly. Why a firearm? Because out of all of the championship karate matches I’ve ever been to, I have yet to see a “power pint” who is truly capable of kicking the butt of a drug-enraged criminal intent on causing death and mayhem.

If you do not prepare them mentally for such a situation now, they won’t be ready if such a horrific event does occur and you’ll risk more than one life being lost. By preparing them for such an instance you are NOT emotionally scarring them. You are preparing them to win with the best possible situation. You’re not treating them to bully others. You’re treating them to heroically defend the lives of those around them. Such a mental fostering has a much more powerful effect on their lives than fearfully and helplessly reacting to a crisis. If they don’t decide when they are young, they may not be able to make a decision when someone’s life depends on it.

See:
Boy shoots home invader http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/308864

Son uses shotgun to defend mother against armed home invader http://www.cbs12.com/news/intruder_4709600___article.html/home_alleged.html

17-year-old disarms armed robber and shoots him saving his mother http://wwwtmrcom.blogspot.com/2007/06/17-year-old-disarms-shoots-robber.html

Bank robbery and hostage situation thwarted by a teenager in 1915
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070702_1_A4_Kingo54280&breadcrumb=state

17-year-old thwarts home robbery with shotgun http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou061228_ac_crosbyshooting.547846d3.html

In closing, I want to reiterate that the maximum way to ensure your children are safe is to be an involved parent. We can’t control what they are exposed to, but we can have a great influence in what happens when they are exposed. While I’m fully aware that parts of this article are quite uncomfortable to consider, I believe that even putting yourself mentally “there” goes a long way to assist you in your progress to be fully capable to defend yourself and your loved ones. I simply don’t want you to NOT make that decision out of misguided information fed to you by the media. As I’ve said before, I respect individuals who elect not to possess a firearm, so long as that decision is based on sound knowledge. I hope this piece has assisted you in making wise decisions regarding your own self-defense as well as that of your children.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Children and Guns—Part I

This is part of a four-part blog series addressing Children and Guns. Part I – want to ensure your kid never commits a crime? Give him a gun. Part II addresses myths of gun safety – what you must know in order to truly protect your children. Part III addresses when it is safe to educate your child on firearms. Part IV explores what’s really responsible for the death of our nation’s children. If you enjoy what you read, please comment and share on your blog or Twitter. Thank you.

I have been shooting firearms for about 8 years now. As a woman who’s convinced this is the best method of self-defense, I regularly communicate with other women on this topic and frequently hear 3 primary reasons why women are fearful of owning a firearm. The most common reason is the safety of their children. Rather than seeing a firearm as a method of defending their children, they see it as a willful danger that they bring TO their children. Rather than simply telling them that such wasn’t the case and they were simply falling for the mainstream media story of the day, I decided to do some very, very specific research on what really happens in this nation when it comes to children being around guns. Frankly, my research astounded even me. So much so that while I intended to write one article about it, I realized that there was far too much information to cover in just one. So I’m breaking it up into a 4 part series as follows:

Part I—Want to Ensure Your Kid Never Commits a Gun Crime? GIVE Him a Gun.
Part II—The Myth of Gun Safety. What you must know in order to truly protect your children.
Part III—When is it Safe to Educate Your Children on Guns?
Part IV—What’s Really Responsible for the Deaths of Our Nation’s Children?

Part I—Ensure your child never commits a gun crime by actually giving him a gun? Sounds crazy, but it’s true. Of course you would NEVER hear the media spout off such a statement, but in a GOVERNMENT study conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention revealed the following bit of valuable information.

Fact: Children who get guns from their parents don't commit gun crimes (0 percent) while children who get guns illegally are quite likely to do so (21 percent).

Fact: Children who get guns from parents are less likely to commit any kind of street crime (14 percent) than children who have no gun in the house (24 percent) – and are dramatically less likely to do so than children who acquire an illegal gun (74 percent.)

Fact: Children who get guns from parents are less likely to use banned drugs (13 percent) than children who get illegal guns (41 percent.)

Fact: Boys who own legal firearms have much lower rates of delinquency and drug use (than boys who own illegal guns) and are even slightly less delinquent than non-owners of guns.

This study covered a period of 3 years (1993-1995).

When you take the mystery out of a gun, you take the mischief out of the child.

Presenting a firearm in an appropriate manner, as a tool of critical self-defense, along with the appropriate safety rules, means that you don’t have to worry so much about your life being turned upside down by your child living a life of a gang-banger criminal. Why? Legal gun owners tend to take their right of owning a gun very seriously. As such, they do not want to do anything that will compromise that right. They are typically a very law-abiding people. Bringing your child into that culture will enable them to associate with other like-minded, law-abiding people that you can count on being an example to them even when you’re not around.

Now, let’s talk about the other aspect of gun ownership… a sound knowledge of appropriate safety rules. Whether your child has a gun or not, this should be taught to them ad nauseam until they truly get it. Every single “accidental shooting” that has EVER occurred has done so as a result of a violation of one of these gun safety rules.

First rule: Always keep your firearm pointed in a safe direction.
Second Rule: Always keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot
Third Rule: Always treat a firearm as if it is loaded
Fourth Rule: Always protect your firearm from unauthorized use.

Learn for yourself and teach these rules to the children in your life to ensure their safety and to foster a respect for firearms. It is also important that you teach these rules in this particular order as well. One leads to the other.

Stay tuned for Children and Guns – Part II.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

News Flash

This is simply one of those things I just can't keep to myself. While it does involve a bit of “she said, she said” I still believe it’s credible and wanted to pass it along to all of you. As a forewarning, this issue may be considered disturbing by many, so you may want to wait to read this message on a blasé day.

Yesterday, (March 11, 2009) I went to get my nails done. As soon as I walked in, Heather, the gal who has done my nails for nearly three years, got a call on her cell. Seeing Heather regularly over the last couple of years has allowed me to meet and come to know her family and even friends of the family. When Heather looked who was calling, she noticed it was her daughter, then apologized to me for the delay and took the call, while she readied herself for our appointment. As I waited patiently, I could easily hear her side of the conversation.

“What?!
“When?!
“Are you SERIOUS?!
“Why isn’t this on the news here?!
“OK. Just calm down. There’s nothing we can do about it from here. I’m so sorry!
“No. It’s not even on the news here. I’ve seen no coverage of this.”

The conversation was brief, but clearly disturbing. When she got off the phone she shared the conversation with me. Keep in mind that after three years of doing business with her, Heather knows me and my firm beliefs. (After all, what else is there to do while you’re getting your nails done but talk, right?)

The Story the News is Not Telling You DOES Affect Your Life

Heather's daughter’s best friend is from Mexico, who I’ve met on several occasions at Heather’s. Part of her family is here legally in the U.S. while a great many more are in Mexico. Apparently her Mexican friend had just recently spoken with her family in Mexico. They conveyed to her some atrocious facts that have serious bearing here in the U.S. Heather’s daughter was clearly shaken up by a recent conversation she had with her Mexican friend which was relayed to Heather.

The drug cartel are attempting to take over the Mexican government…all of it. They are on the run throughout parts of the country and are intent on their design, senselessly killing Mexican citizens in their wake. Entire small cities have been completely abandoned as many have left their homes and fled in hopes to find safety from the power-crazed drug cartel. Along the path of flight from these cities are piles of decapitated bodies.

Here are some of the ramifications of these atrocities. As you know, illegal immigrants have become more flagrant in their attempts to enter our nation. With the drug cartel's actions to compel them, obviously fear will spread throughout areas of Mexico. Our borders are not prepared to handle or defend against a mass exodus of fearful Mexican citizens. If sufficient communication is conducted between the U.S. and Mexico government officials prior to a completed coup, I suspect that our nation may even intend to permit a massive flight of Mexican citizens across our borders. If that were the case, how do we differentiate between the innocent citizens trying to flee for safety, albeit illegally, and the blood-thirsty members of the drug cartel? If the cartel successfully takes over the Mexican government, what kind of international neighbor will we have on our hands? I don’t know about you, but it makes me very concerned to think we may have a tyrant for a next door neighbor who has committed Nazi-like atrocities on its own citizens.

While I was able to find one piece of news on the 11th of March about the “improving drug cartel crack down in Mexico,” the article stated that “90 percent of the killings in Mexico are drug related.” This would have you believe that only “bad guys” are being killed. Bad guys, even in Mexico, don’t get decapitated by officials, folks, and they certainly aren’t left in piles on deserted city streets. This is certainly NOT the report being conveyed by citizens of Mexico seeing it first-hand. Innocent citizens in the vicinity of the attempted coup efforts are indeed suffering heinous deaths. These violent gangs are apparently increasing in their level of–and demographic spread of—sheer violence. In Arizona, kidnappings at the hands of Mexican drug cartel members have increased significantly in the first part of this year along with the number of all-out assaults on the U.S. border. In Mexico, reports show that twice as many deaths have already occurred in the first 8 weeks of 2009, compared to the same time last year, with over 1,000 deaths reported. Some of the decapitations are reported in the cities on the U.S. / Mexican border like Tijuana and Juarez and surrounding cities. A small online newspaper reports that a note attached to a pile of decapitated bodies said, “For each one of mine you kill, I will kill 10 of your soldiers.” The beheadings were also accompanied by serious mutilation of the bodies.

Considering that Mexico has an agreement (albeit highly unconstitutional) with the U.S. government to use Mexican forces on American soil to aid in anticipated massive civil unrest and the event of the declaration of martial law, this is even more frightening in my opinion. These “aiding military” members could be corrupted officials by the drug cartel, or could be the cartel members personally.

I’m also concerned about a potential mass exodus (illegal or not) and an escalation of violence in our neighborhoods here as a result. At present, over 60% of all violent crimes are committed in the U.S. at the hands of illegal immigrants. Over 90% of all criminal shootings throughout our nation are committed with a weapon illegally imported into our nation from Mexico!

Over 90% of the cocaine in the U.S. comes from the Mexican drug cartel. 90%! This means that the drug cartel has been alive and well within our own borders for some time, and with the financial pinch they are feeling from heightened attempted crack-downs by their government—as indicated by fighting in a never-before-seen manner in Mexico—you have to believe it’s going to affect you here as well. The drug cartel is clearly becoming more desperate and brazen.

So, what is my point in telling you all of this? It is not to make you afraid. It is to make you aware and thoughtful of the consequences of the violence in Mexico and its effect within America. A crisis of significant proportions can be at our doors much sooner than you think. So here’s the question: are you ready for it? Do you have appropriate food, water, and medical supplies should your normal way of life be interrupted by chaos or other unexpected events? And most importantly—DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELF? If you have martial arts training, great, but that’s simply not going to help you in a street fight or a violent domestic break in. Women especially, since they are the top of a criminal’s list of easy targets, MUST learn how to protect themselves and not rely on someone else to do so. That requires women to become familiar and skillful in the use of a firearm. Such a tool is the only appropriate equalizer against the level of violence that the Mexican drug cartel is willing to wield to get what they want. Your peace of mind and safety can no longer afford to be the result of your perceived environment. It is the result of the environment of safety you proactively create for yourself. If you have not fortified that environment with the skills and mindset that will better protect you, then you will not have the peace of mind you seek. Simply having fired a gun out in the field or on a gun range doesn’t cut it either. It’s important that you take the acquisition of such a skill just as seriously as you would a babysitter for your children. Get expert training that you can use in a real-life situation which will undoubtedly involve an emotionally climatic situation. Contrary to some common notions, preparing yourself to fight such a battle doesn’t give you nightmares; it gives you peace—peace, knowing that if the time did come for you to use such skills, you’re going to know exactly what to do and how to do it in order to protect you, your family, and, if necessary, your community.

To your peace and safety,

Kellene Bishop

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Media Hype or Firearm Facts—You Decide

Fact: 100% of ALL firearm “accidents” occur as a result of someone violating one of the four most critical safety rules in the ownership and use of a firearm. Firearms don’t kill people as the media would have us believe, any more than pencils are responsible for making spelling mistakes. Your ability to STOP an firearm accident is strengthened by your knowledge of a firearm. In contrast, if you are not familiar with the workings of a firearm, you may actually encourage a deadly accident if you encounter one in the hands of an unauthorized person. That said, why don’t we ever hear a news report that says something like “There are over 80,000,000 gun owners in the nation today, and only 5 accidents were caused as the result of error on the part of the gun owner”?

Fact: Every person in the U.S. has the right to defend themselves, their family, and their property. Fit or fat. Blonde or brunette. When a drug-crazed criminal has a gun point at you, your political affiliations do not lessen the impact on your body or your mind. A bullet will sufficiently kill you regardless of whether you voted for McCain or Obama. So how you supposed to fight back under such circumstances?

Fact: According to FBI statistics, over 5,500 violent crimes are PREVENTED EVERY DAY by the mere presence of a firearm. So why are our newspapers and television screens only reporting the horrific scenes of crime and bloodshed at the hands of “crazed gunmen”? All we ever hear about are the terrible and criminal uses of firearms – school shootings, gunmen clipping off innocent bystanders one by one in a mall or a neighborhood, or gangs who murder and plunder with guns. Why aren’t we being given a clear picture of the use and importance of firearms in America? Why aren’t we hearing the real stories from the media – like the 83-year-old woman who shot a would-be rapist in her home. Or the woman who was raped, then given a rifle by a friend, and when the rapist RETURNED to her home she was able to defend herself and killed the rapist. Or about the female convenience store employee that was able to save her fellow co-workers from abominable acts at the hand of a robber by grabbing for the gun, and shot him. Or when a concealed-carry permit holder was able to thwart a massive shootout between police and a liquor store robber because he was willing to draw his gun and shoot the body-armored gunman squarely in the skull. Violent crime rates have fallen dramatically in right-to-carry states.

Why do we only hear about the terrible encounters with firearms? Because blood and sex sells. And it can’t simply be just anybody’s blood. No, it needs to be the blood of an innocent person, not a violent criminal. Yes, the so-called education of the facts of gun use for self-defense in America is being steered by money and mindless sheep, plain and simple.

Why aren’t we hearing about the real firearm stories from the media? Follow the same money that goes abundantly to the media and you will see that many members of our government fear the legal possession of guns by its citizens. Why? Because the government have committed acts in violation of the U.S. Constitution and thus have reason to fear reprisals from its citizens. The majority of the media act as mindless minions to our government. And since the government has trampled mercilessly on the freedoms and liberties guaranteed to us through the U.S. Constitution, left to their own designs with no accountability required from the media, it is clear that the media is a willing accomplice in these acts. Violation after violation have occurred at the hands of each administration that have stripped many of our Constitutional freedoms in a clandestine manner, and yet the media and entertainment industry have failed to produce any headline which even questions such acts. Do the media even know what’s it like to actually be courageous Americans anymore? Or do they merely write about it in hopes that it earns them lauds of glory from their peers?

Fact: Having a firearm and knowing how to use it does not make you a violent person. In fact, you will find that responsible gun owners are peaceful, law abiding individuals because they are able to function without fear hanging over them. Yet firearm owners are never portrayed such an image in the national news.

Instead we hear the irresponsible and oppressive mantra of, “Don’t resist.” “Don’t fight back.” “Just give them the money, it’s not worth your life.” What they forget it that while money may not be worth your life, the freedom to be free IS worth your life. Ironically, what Thomas Paine and his associates did to the king of England to protect free speech (particularly of the media) is actually being used to give us a false education and thus strip us of other freedoms because of the false and criminalized picture of gun owners that we are confronted with every day.

According to Thomas Jefferson, history has proven time and time again before us, the ability of the citizens to arm themselves is what ensures protection against a “tyrannical government.”

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms
is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”
(Thomas Jefferson Papers p. 334, 1950)

You see, not only can this type of “preservation of property” give you peace in your ability to defend yourself against violent acts, but it also gives you peace in defending your nation against the loss of freedoms as well.

"Forty years ago, when the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great
Britain, the British Parliament was advised… to disarm the people; that it was
the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it
openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually, by totally disusing and
neglecting the militia…” (In Virginia’s Ratifying Convention, Elliot
p.3:379-380)

“The militia may be here destroyed by that method which has been practiced in
other parts of the world before; that is, by rendering them useless - by
disarming them.” (Elliot, p. 3:379-80)

The men and women of America are not only the sole stewards over their own lives and that of their families – they are also the sole guardians of the Constitution. In the ultimate act of freedom, specifically for the women of our nation, I say that we must take on a more proactive stance in order to fulfill our roles appropriately. With the increasing numbers of women raising families single-handedly, the extended hours our husbands are forced to work to sustain us, the increasing threat of brazen crimes being committed against women and children in broad daylight, the consistent attacks which are made on our freedom, for all of these reasons, women need to become informed and skilled in the use of a firearm—not just in matters of self-defense use and safety, but also as a Constitutional right. We cannot relinquish our safety, our lives, or our freedom to the hands of strangers who may or may not be available to defend us when the need arises. We must take this responsibility for ourselves. After all, when all of our liberties are gone, there will be nothing left to protect.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Why We Fear Guns

If guns are good for us, then why are they so controversial? Why are we afraid of them?

Well, the answer is short and sweet—manipulation.

Even in the movies we love, guns are typically portrayed in a negative light. They are used by “bad guys” to commit unspeakable horror, and they are used by “law enforcement officers” to fight the bad guys, they are used in times of intense war, or they are used by decent people who mistakenly take the law into their own hands.

Additionally, the media in general has cast an ugly skewed shadow on the consequences of having a gun in the home, the stereotype of those who carry guns, and the supposed harm that such items cause to an otherwise civil society. In fact, even the word “assault weapon” was created by the anti-gun individuals and the media as an accomplice to impose a derogatory and frightening mental picture associated with any firearm resembling a rifle (The phrase “assault weapon” is clearly one of many mischaracterizations of a firearm. The word “assault” denotes an act of aggressive proactive behavior. If that were really the case, perhaps we should call all fishing rods an “assault rod”).

In other words, the first reason why we’ve come to fear guns so badly is because the only education we receive typically is at the hands the media or the movie industry. Now that I think about it, with the exception of the movie The Patriot, I don’t recall seeing any movie that promoted the right to keep and bear arms and the necessity of such to ensure a free country in an appropriate light. In a movie we see and hear the big blast of a firearm, see the ensuing (and predictably obligatory) blood splatters, and that’s the picture we have training our mind about guns. We never get to see and thus to better feel the relief one would have in truly being able to defend themselves from a violent crime on the big screen. And rarely, if ever, do we hear in the media of all of the crimes that are prevented by the use of a firearm in the hands of a responsible and competent citizen. Nope. The only way you can find out about that is to join some kind of 2nd Amendment activist group or purchase books which look like they were produced with a small budget.

Do you have any idea of how hard I had to search just to find the FBI statistic which states that the mere presence of a firearm in the hands of our citizens prevents over 5,500 crimes PER DAY? Nope. You’ll never see a mainstream newspaper put that in their headlines.

In other words, all of our firearm education is through the stunning special effects and loud professional voices of manipulation by those who would have us believe that the use of a firearm for self-defense is a barbaric tactic.

Not to say that your parents were wrong in the choices they made in raising you, but they have a great deal of responsibility in your feelings towards gun as well. In their defense, they were fed the same “state of reality” growing up through the movies, media, etc. I’m curious how far back in history I’d have to go to find a time when we actually taught about all of the components of the Constitution in elementary or middle school. Regardless, your parents didn’t have such education. AND they weren’t raised in a time where thousands of gangs roam our nation committed to wreaking terror and death throughout, periodic invasions from foreign terrorists, a stark imbalance between law enforcement protection and the citizens, record numbers of overcrowding in our jails, rampant substance abuse, the highest level of violent crime in the history of our nation and a laissez faire attitude and naïveté that opens us to even more crimes. I could point out many more societal changes which may dictate that we have more reasons to take personal responsibility for our own effective self-defense today rather than yesterday, but I don’t really want this to appear too doom and gloom. I guess I could have summed this part up by simply saying that your folks were raised in a different time of violence and crime and thus the likelihood that you were raised unaware and uneducated in matters of firearm defense is very likely. They were subjected to the same glitzy, high-budget media and movie education that everyone else is.

Now I don’t know about you, but when I find that I’m being manipulated, I tend to resist—fiercely. In fact, when I’m listening to a professional speaker on a stage who is so predictably trying to get the audience to bob their heads in agreement or to contrive a laugh from the audience, I personally rebel and refuse to submit. So, when I see that I’m being manipulated by one side of the topic, I make it a point to get the whole story…full education. As a result, I’ve come to believe strongly in the necessity of learning how to use a firearm in self-defense AND ensure that such a right as a citizen of this nation is never threatened.

The myths are that guns are symbols of violence, whereas I now see them as a symbol of enduring peace in a violent world around me.

The myth is that guns are used by insecure, mentally deranged people. I find that my ability to competently use a firearm eliminates fear in my life and thus I’m able to replace that fear with confidence and unmask other positive attributes which I possess.

The myth is that guns kill lots of people every year. The fact is they do, but typically in the hands of criminals. The biggest killer of our American citizens is medical errors, followed by heart disease, and then cancer. Seriously, statistically, doctors who cause death by dereliction are 9,000 times more dangerous than guns held by legal gun owners! And yet no one has ever run a news story that paints doctors and hospital staff in the same barbaric light as gun owners.

Additional consideration is the number of violent crimes that are committed by illegal immigrants in our country. Illegal immigrants kill over 8,000 legal American citizens in our country every year, and are also responsible for sexually assaulting over 2,000 of our children every year and yet we can’t seem to lobby against them.

Lastly, there’s the myth is that a gun in the house will result in a fatal accident among children or others. The fact is if you don’t know how to use and be safe with a firearm, your chances of an accident happening are sky-high – not just in your home, but in the home of your neighbors whom your children visit. If you don’t know about firearms and their workings, how do you know you’ll act appropriately if you walk in on a child who has one in their hands? Education is the key. Curiosity and ignorance is a deadly combination and is what causes accidents. Not guns. Attempting to say as much is like saying that pencils cause spelling errors.

I’m completely accepting of the fact that someone chooses not to have a firearm so long as that person makes the decision with full knowledge of the facts rather than the myths. So please, get informed and then make your decision. If you do choose to get educated on the USE of a firearm, Women of Caliber will be here for you with the most expert training available for women—by women.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.