In the wake of any terrible event, I try to get the basic facts while avoiding social media in general because of its shallowness (memes!), polarizing tendencies (echo chambers!), and openness to the lowest common denominator (name calling!).
I have been re-emerging a bit lately, and trying to find some good reading on the issues raised by the Orlando massacre. Since I don’t have the time or energy to comment myself, and others have done a good job of expressing many of my thoughts, I am going to post some links to other sites that I find helpful.
I have been a regular reader of Greg Ellifritz’s Active Response Training blog for a few years now, and enjoyed meeting him (if only briefly) at The Tactical Conference in Memphis in 2014.
I was really impressed by what Ellifritz had to say about “bridging the gap” between gun rights and gun control proponents amid the political “debates” going on in the wake of Orlando, and discouraged by people’s response to his thoughts.
For my right wing friends, the guy advocating for more gun control is not your enemy. He just doesn’t want his loved ones gunned down.
For my left wing friends, likewise the dude posting all the gun rights memes isn’t your enemy either. He also doesn’t want his family killed. He thinks the best way to prevent that is to take an active role in protecting them.
Neither side wants to see more people slaughtered. Neither side wants to feel the pain of a loved one killed. Neither side wants criminals, terrorists, or crazy people to have free access to weapons (of any type). Stop sniping at each other. In reality you all have much more in common than you might think.
Read more (especially about the response to these ideas) by following the link below.
Written by: Greg Ellifritz
Source: Bridging the Gap
Greg is one of the good ones. I took his one day knife class a few months back (AAR on my blog), and it is an excellent class. And I’ll be taking his extreme close quarters gunfighting course in the fall. He is an excellent instructor, but you can’t let his brawn fool you into thinking he’s a big meathead. He is definitely a thinking man.
His website is one of the best!
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He is a big guy! Can you post a link to the AAR here?
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Yep. He’s shorter than I imagined but his arms are as big around as my legs!
Here’s the link:
https://civiliangunfighter.wordpress.com/2016/02/19/aar-active-response-training-greg-ellifritz-basic-knife-skills-for-concealed-carry-manassas-va-02-14-16/
All the best!
–Robert
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Thanks, Robert. I took the liberty of editing the link to your AAR as it was misdirecting!
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Thanks. Sorry about that. Mist have missed something when I copied it.
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One last thing – would love to have an option to receive notification of new posts to Civilian Gunfighter in my email. I don’t see that on your site but I know it is a common WordPress functionality.
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Pick an article and then scroll ALL the way down to the bottom, past the end of the article and past the comment box. You should find the necessary button there.
I get your new posts via email:)
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[…] Bridging the Gap by Greg Ellifritz […]
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Sir,
You are only addressing the average citizen. It is the Political Class that is using every means they can to circumvent the Second Amendment. I know that we are not the problem. I know that our liberal friends are not the problem.
The Political “Aristocracy” is the real problem! Both political parties (Republicans and Democrats) are pushing “gun control”, and for the same reasons. You cannot force/control someone that is armed! First you MUST disarm them! And that is what they are doing now and have been doing since the 30’s.
Everyone should remember that the very people pushing “gun control” are the ones that all levels of government will Kill to protect! And they will use the very weapons that they want to take from us to do this.
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