by Skip Coryell
The brave and noble King Arthur comes to a bridge, which is defended by the Black Knight. He asks the Black Knight to join his court at Camelot and to help in his quest for the Holy Grail. The Black Knight turns him down, so King Arthur begins to move by on his way across the bridge. The Black Knight finally speaks.
“None shall pass!”
“What?”
“None shall pass!”
King Arthur tries to reason with him.
“I have no quarrel with you good Sir Knight, but I must cross this bridge.”
“Then you shall die!”
King Arthur is surprised but quickly turns indignant.
“I command you as King of the Britons to stand aside!”
The Black Knight stands his ground.
“I move for no man!”
Resolved to cross the bridge, King Arthur and the Black Knight become locked in deadly sword-to-sword combat. But the king gains the advantage by cutting off the Black Knight’s left arm. Blood gushes out for a moment, but quickly subsides. The king assumes victory, but the Black Knight refuses to yield.
“Tis but a scratch!”
“A scratch? Your arms off!”
“No it isn’t!”
“Well, what’s that then?”
“I’ve had worse.”
“You lie.”
“Come on you pansy!”
They continue to fight until the king hacks off the knight’s other arm. The king assumes victory again, but the knight begins kicking him for all he’s worth. King Arthur tries to convince him to stop, but the knight refuses to give up.
“It’s just a flesh wound”, he says.
The king is forced to cut off the Black Knight’s right leg. The knight, undeterred, continues to hop on one leg and come at the king with head butts.
“Come here!”
“What are you going to do? Bleed on me?”
The knight replies.
“I’m invincible!
The left leg is hacked off and the Black Knight’s torso and head plop onto the ground. The Black Knight looks up and says.
“All right. We’ll call it a draw.”
The king rides away with his servant as the Black Knight screams after him.
“Oh, I see. Running away? Come back here and take what’s coming to you! I’ll bite your legs off!”
So I say to all of you, never give up. Your attitude must be that of Major General Oliver P. Smith, USMC, Korea, December 1950.
“Retreat Hell! We’re just attacking in another direction!”
It has been said that attitude is 90 percent of everything in life. I think it’s closer to 95. I’m not saying to be stupid, like the Black Knight. I’m saying be brave. Bravery is not the absence of fear, it is the presence of courage in the face of danger.
Choose your battles wisely, but once you choose, never give up. There’s no future in capitulation. Bite their legs off! Win!
”A friend of mine came to me, one of my long-time Second Amendment buddies, and told me that he was going to walk through downtown main street openly carrying his pistol, daring the Chief of Police to arrest him. My first thought was: “This doesn’t sound like a good idea.”
Open Carry Vs Concealed
Open Carry – Is America Ready?
Three years ago I wrote the following in the last version of this book:
“I teach my students that there is no advantage to anyone knowing that they are carrying a concealed pistol.”
And then later on in the book I said:
“In my very humble opinion, in most scenarios, open carry is a bad decision. Open carry is stupid carry. Concealed carry is smart carry. Keep it hidden. Keep it smart.”
For the past 8 years I have consistently taught in my classes that open carry is a very risky proposition, but I have re-evaluated the severity of that opinion. I am always gathering new data, new experiences and new technology and then applying it to my everyday life. I think this is the best way to go, and I’m not so dogmatic as to think that nothing ever changes. Some things change. Some things don’t.
In my book, I described two reasons why open carry is stupid carry:
1. There is no tactical advantage to open carry.
2. It scares people. America is not ready for open carry.
I believe that the first reason is open to debate and probably always will be. Open carry gives away the element of surprise and many people don’t want to do that. Here’s what I wrote in the first edition of this book:
“As a former Marine Infantryman, I understand that the most important asset in a battle is the element of surprise. I know full well that if I can retain that equalizing “surprise element”, then I can overcome most other odds, be they superior firepower or superior numbers. If I open carry, that advantage is gone. But if I carry concealed, I have a greater number of options that are open to me. I can wait and see what happens. I can duck behind cover. I can draw my firearm and surprise the bad guys with a hail of deadly gunfire. I can wait for them to make a mistake, then act decisively and with conviction.”
Of course, Open Carriers are quick to counter by saying a bad guy is unlikely to attack an armed citizen, since they prefer soft targets. They’re probably right.
However, despite my earlier bias against open carry, something happened last year which caused me to re-evaluate my strong stance against open carry. Let me tell you what happened.
A friend of mine came to me, one of my long-time Second Amendment buddies, and told me that he was going to walk through downtown main street openly carrying his pistol, daring the Chief of Police to arrest him. My first thought was: This doesn’t sound like a good idea. In fact, several years ago I had spoken with the Chief in that town, and I knew that he was dead-set against open carry and even concealed carry by private citizens. Once, in a private conversation in his office, I asked him what he would do if I were to walk through town wearing a pistol and a holster. He told me in no uncertain terms that he would arrest me. I believed him.
So when my friend came to me, I was concerned about his plan. I was convinced that he would be arrested. But then he asked me to join him and I didn’t have the heart to tell him no. He was too good a friend and we’d been through the political activist trenches during the concealed carry debate, so we started making plans for the event.
Now you have to understand that I seldom do things small. It’s just not in my personality. Besides, if I was going to walk through a city with a pistol strapped to my side, I wanted company. So I told a few friends, and they told their friends, and then their friends told their friends – and then it hit the internet – all over the country. When I told Ted Nugent he was all for it and told me to put it on tednugent.com, which I did. From there it migrated to other websites and soon I was getting emails from people all across the country.
This two-man event was growing out of control. And then the media started to call.
I figured since I was going to be interviewed by channel 3, channel 8, and the Detroit Free Press, that I might want to know something about open carry before I actually did it. So I emailed the guys at www.opencarry.org and they were very helpful, pointing me to videos of previous open carry events and other news sources. But I have to tell you, that even after I’d educated myself, I was still as nervous as a frog in a blender.
Just to be safe, we contacted the County Prosecutor, the State Police and the Attorney General, just to make sure what we were doing was legal. To my surprise, they all agreed that it was. They even pointed me to several legal sources: Attorney General Opinion 7101 on brandishing, and MCL 750.234d. I was reassured, but still nervous. As an additional precaution we recruited an attorney to attend our event, just in case.
All this happened in the span of four days, and on the night before, I didn’t get to sleep until 4:30AM. I emailed Ted Nugent for moral support and asked his advice. He emailed back in typical Tedlike fashion:
“YOU are in charge!! Carry on! Sincerity delivers the day.
Godspeed”
Quite frankly, that’s what he always says. Be sincere! Speak from the heart! Take control! He’s such an alpha male. I secretly wished he could fly up and walk with me on this thing, but he had some lame excuse about a concert tour in Canada.
So I went to the event the next day with my wife and three of my kids. On the way there I called Dave Stevens and asked him how many people had come. He said he was still there alone. That was less than a half hour before the event. It was then I began to curse myself for being stupid enough to think that others would put themselves at risk alongside me. To top it all off the kids were fighting in the back seat, and my nerves were stretched tighter than a gnat’s butt stretched over a barrel.
We got there and I saw TV cameras out front. I kicked into public relations activist overdrive and gave three interviews before even entering the building. When I got inside I was shocked to see the room was packed with about 50 Second Amendment supporters. Some of them I knew, others I didn’t. But it was good to see them all. They were my backup.
I talked to the troops, telling them to keep smiling, say good things, and do not touch their firearms no matter what. Number one rule: Pistols never clear leather. Number two rule: Be nice, smile, live the golden rule.
My business partner, Larry Jackson, (co-owner of Midwest Tactical Training) came up and told me there was a group of anti’s who might give us trouble. I thought to myself, Great! Just what we need. Idiots bent on making us look bad! I told everyone not to talk to them, just let them make fools of themselves. Any altercation would undoubtedly be blamed on us and defeat our mission which was to educate the public that open carry was both legal and constitutional and that gun owners need not be feared by the general population.
We walked outside, the TV cameras following our every move. We walked down mainstreet, two blocks to city hall. Shopkeepers came out of their stores to watch, and people on the street took pictures with their cell phones.
A strange thing happened to me. I was no longer nervous. In fact, I was downright happy, gleeful even, just a tad shy of giddy. It felt good to no longer have to hide my pistol beneath my shirt. At that moment, with all eyes watching, I felt more like a free man than at any other point in my life.
We walked the two blocks back to the county courthouse and gathered at the Veteran’s Memorial in front of the fountain. I told them the story of how Dave Neeson and I had crashed the County Gun Board meeting back in 1999, subsequently opening it up to the public. Then I gave a five-minute speech. The Detroit Free Press called it a “red-meat speech”, but I’m not even sure what that means. Here’s a small excerpt:
“We have been given a birthright of freedom, and that birthright was passed on to each one of us from our father and our father’s father and his father before him. The right to keep and bear arms, the right to protect our families, the right to ward off the wolves is as old as creation itself. It was infused into our spiritual DNA, into the everlasting consciousness of humanity and it forever runs deep in the race.”
Call me a literary carnivore, because I like red meat. Afterwards people lingered, not wanting the moment to end, and an hour later people were still there and still talking. Finally, I left, totally exhausted and my spirit fulfilled.
What we had done was risky, but the risk had paid off. Barry county was now open to “open carry”. I’m glad we did it.
So, in retrospect, I find myself re-evaluating my stance. Obviously, many people still believe that concealed carry is the best tactical choice. Nonetheless, I suspect that many in America are ready for more. I believe that open carry, when properly practiced, is a useful tool in educating and desensitizing the public to firearm usage. For decades the anti’s have taught that guns equals crime, therefore gunowners equals criminals. That couldn’t be farther from the truth, and last week, in a small town in Michigan, forty plus gun owners proved it.
What I Believe Now
I hate the taste of crow, even with garlic, butter and a few choice herbs and spices; it still doesn’t taste like chicken. But on this one topic, I ate some crow, a full helping and then went back for seconds. I hope I never have to eat it again.
I had always been adamantly opposed to open carry, but something happened in my life that questioned my view. I was forced to re-evaluate and then to modify my position. It seems that all of life is a journey of adaptation and change. Some things change - some things don’t. The trick is to recognize the difference between the two.
I was able to meet a lot of good patriots because of this open carry venture: people like Brian Jeffs (Author of the book My Parents Open Carry) and John Pierce the co-founder of www.opencarry.org. Regardless of the tactical argument against open carry, I firmly believe that carrying a firearm is a choice, and whether you conceal it or openly display it is no one else’s business. It’s your God-given right whether hidden or revealed, so wear your gun with pride. Personally, I prefer to carry concealed in urban areas just because I don’t want to bring attention to myself. But when I’m out in the country close to home, pumping gas, mowing the lawn, or walking in the woods, I just don’t want to be bothered with extra clothing. I believe that your choice of carry method is just that - your choice, and no one should ridicule or judge you for it.
A Word of Caution
As of this writing, open carry is legal in 44 of 50 states, so be sure to check it out before carrying in the open. The best source of information is the national website www.opencarry.org. I recommend you register on the forum, talk to people there, and study up before jumping in.
“Our society puts a stigma on guns that really shouldn’t be there. It’s not good for kids to view guns as a naughty and forbidden object, because human nature will drive them to it, like a moth drawn to the flame.”
Children, Parents, and Guns
To listen to the anti-gunners talk, you’d think that half of all children born are accidentally shot to death by their parent’s firearms. This couldn’t be further from the truth. To the contrary, the vast majority of all firearm owners are responsible, safe, and ethical in every aspect of firearm ownership. But you’ve heard the old saying: “There’s always that ten percent.” So I’m writing this chapter primarily to those few morons who just don’t get it, in hopes of reducing their numbers.
That last sentence reminds me of a story I read in the “Darwin Awards” a few years back. I believe they now have this story listed as an urban legend, but it’s still a great story. If you’re not familiar with this award, you should go to www.darwinawards.com, and read them every year just to remind yourself of the price of being stupid. On their website, the award is defined like this:
“The Darwin Awards salute the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who remove themselves from it in really stupid ways.”
Or, more succinctly put, “Good riddance to bad rubbish!” The story that comes to mind went something like this:
Two rednecks were coming home from a frog hunt. And I use the term redneck with all the affection one has for roadkill on a hot, sunny day. After all, I “are” one. (Redneck, not roadkill.) Where was I? Oh yes: “Rednecks on parade.”
Two rednecks were coming home from a frog gigging expedition (only us rednecks will know what that means) when a fuse burned out in their truck, causing the lights to go out. A replacement fuse was not available, but one of them noticed that the .22 caliber bullet from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet, the headlights again began to operate properly and they were on their way again. After traveling approximately 20 miles, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged and struck one of the men in the right testicle. The vehicle swerved sharply to the right, exiting the pavement and striking a tree. The first man suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident but required surgery to repair the other wound. The second man sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released.
Now that’s an interesting story on the human cond
ition. So you’re asking: “What does this have to do with children and guns?” Not a thing! But it sure was funny, so I wanted to pass it along. Laughter is medicine for the soul. Reminds me of Jeff Foxworthy: “You might be a redneck if . . . there’s a hole in your right testicle.” Just kidding, but I’ve always believed that in every legend there’s an element of truth. As such, there’s probably a man down South, perhaps in Arkansas, who still favors his right leg.
Now back to children and guns. Let’s get serious now. In my NRA classes, I teach my students to keep all firearms out of unauthorized hands. And unauthorized is defined as anyone you decide should not have access to your firearms. Some on the list are cut and dried: small children, burglars, your mother-in-law, etc. I’m sorry. Did I say that last one out loud? Serious. Yes, I can do it! (Actually, my mother-in-law is a real sweetheart, but I couldn’t resist the joke.) But let me remind you that we all live and die based on the decisions we make. So be careful when you make out your list. If it’s too short, people who would otherwise protect you will be unable to do so. If it’s too long? Well, let’s just say that accidents can and do happen. Be careful.
