Welcome to the Community! Please Introduce Yourself

Welcome @James1330.
Different opinions/beliefs/stances are welcome so.long as they are not presented in a trollish manner. I look forward to hearing from you, and possibly discussing with you.

4 Likes

Doesn’t this state other wise. I am still not getting it. Doesn’t Heller apply to civilians.
Dick Anthony Heller was a D.C. special police officer who was authorized to carry a handgun while on duty. He applied for a one-year license for a handgun he wished to keep at home, but his application was denied. Heller sued the District of Columbia. He sought an injunction against the enforcement of the relevant parts of the Code and argued that they violated his Second Amendment right to keep a functional firearm in his home without a license. The district court dismissed the complaint. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed and held that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep firearms in the home for the purpose of self-defense, and the District of Columbia’s requirement that firearms kept in the home be nonfunctional violated that right.

4 Likes

That’s comforting, I suppose.

3 Likes

Heller very clearly states that the 2A protects an individuals rights to keep and bear arms. Not the rights of individual militia members. Though some here would argue we are all militia members anyways.

What Heller doesn’t clearly state is what limitations Congress and the States are allowed to impose on our uninfringed right. That was left to future rulings.

But we have many threads were these discussions are ongoing. This is the place for introductions. So welcome to the community! Do a search and join in the conversations or open up a new topic. I look forward to continuing this discussion in a more appropriate thread.

5 Likes

By-By. :door:

4 Likes

I’m willing to continuing the discussion here:

I don’t believe I am master and sole key holder of “the facts” so like to discus my point of view with others who may hold different points of view.

4 Likes

Oh là là… :roll_eyes: I’ve just wanted to say hello… but seems I will say adieu as well… :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

9 Likes

Now I will never get the answer to my question.
Did I do something wrong?

3 Likes

Greetings and Salutations from the Great State of Texas.

I am going to use the questions posted on the Community Welcome page as they appear. They beckon the most in-depth information to satisfy my introductory post. This post will be long, so grab a beer or beverage Dejour and get comfortable.

Who are you?

I am Bruce, and I am an alcoh…wait…wrong group.

From my greeting line above, one can definitely see I am Texas proud. I was born here and I was raised here. I have lived in many other states and other countries during my tour of duty in the USAF (12 years - Staff Sargent). I have seen and experienced things from those locales that I will never see or experience again. I have been back in Texas for a little over thirty years and I don’t plan on living anywhere else. I am going to die here.

I am older than most, younger than a few, and I am very set in my ways, so unless there is rock solid proof I need to think another way, I will probably NOT change my mind. Just sayin.

Married. Divorced. Married again. Lots of kids, Her’s, Mine and Ours. A few Grandkids. A used car lot in my front yard. Six cats. No dogs. Not a dog hater, just don’t have any at the moment. That could change tomorrow.

What got you interested in carrying and self-defense?

There have been a few times through the years where I have needed a weapon to ward off evil spirits. I have not ever had to shoot another human in my civilian life. There have been a couple times I was glad to have the weapons I did have at those times. Those are stories to be told at a later date. Maybe.

The one time that sticks out in particular to the question goes like this…

My Second Wife was about 27 months pregnant with our first Son together. Ok, she wasn’t 27 months pregnant, but she felt like it. Very rough nine months, she was so over it and I felt all the anguish every minute of every day. She is the love of my life and She was carrying our first child together, so I endured it because I am That Guy. The Attentive Husband all Wives want. The Always There Father all children want. Too bad for all of them because I have my own family and I am THAT guy for them.

We were out one evening. I was trying to bring here spirits up because it had been a very rough nine months. She was complaining that my old red Ford pick-up wasn’t the family vehicle we needed. Yes, Dear. It doesn’t get very good mileage. Yes, Dear. It’s too loud, it will wake the baby. Yes, Dear. The list went on.

I escorted her to her side, opened the door, helped her in and was about to close the door when I heard the voices. A pair of dubious characters making fun of me for helping my Wife into the truck.

One of them pulled a knife and said something about taking the truck off my hands and don’t worry, we’ll take care of her too. The only thing I had to defend with was a shovel, but it proved enough.

The one with the knife made the wrong move and ended up on the ground bleeding from several places with more than a couple broken bones. His partner ran off. Mall Security saw the commotion and called the police.

The short version is I got lucky and I made myself a promise to never be in a situation like that again where I was forced to defend myself with whatever I could find. Chance does favor the prepared mind, but I would still rather have a firearm of some type.

How long have you been training for your self-defense?

I suppose I have been training since that night. The Son in question is 18 now and will soon be out of the nest on his way to bigger and better things.

What formal training have you had?

I have always been a fairly good shot with a pistol and long rifle having grown up out in the sticks. I had all the good training Uncle Sam could give with my yearly qualifications and it served me well during my enlistment.

I have attended a few training classes here locally after becoming a civilian again but I always felt a little let down because I felt the information provided was too generalized. I do not live in a large city and many times we have to “make due” with what we have. I would have to drive a couple hours one direction or another to get to REAL training.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten regarding your self-defense?

“CHANCE FAVOR THE PREPARED MIND.”

One of our small arms training instructors Back at Cannon AFB in Clovis, NM, started all his classes with that statement. He also said “When the ■■■■ does hit the fan, the cream will usually curdle instead of rising to the top. Your brain will default to your training.” I took it to heart and trained every chance I got, but being an airplane mechanic and not law enforcement or security police, I got that training once a year.

What’s your favorite gun?

Having one favorite gun is an impossibility for me because there are different guns for different applications. I will say that my favorite EDC pistol is my Beretta 92A1. It fits my hand, eats anything I feed it, accurate, dependable and I don’t feel like I’m going to break it like so many of it’s polymer cousins. I’ll be damned but it is very difficult (impossible) to conceal.

How often do you train?

Range training has fallen off dramatically over the last couple of years due to having to change jobs. I lost $21k a year at the job I had for 18 years when the company decided to make my position an entry level position. I couldn’t feed my family, so I packed my toys and left. I have a job now that only manages to pay the bills, so range day comes about twice a year. I watch a lot of training videos,

How have you gotten your friends and family involved?

My family is involved with our personal defense. My Wife does have her own pistol, but with her medical conditions, she doesn’t have the strength anymore. All our sons shoot and train we have the opportunity.

What do you hope to learn from others in the USCCA Community?

I hope to learn all the juicy bits of information other members have for their particular defense strategies so I might be able to apply some of it to our own. Mostly what I want (need) is a forum of like minded individuals so I can openly chat about things I like.

Thanks for reading all the way through and very many thanks for allowing me to join.

11 Likes

Welcome to the family, and thank you for your service! We are glad to have you with us! Something you can do at home to train on multiple facets of self defense is dryfire drills. I’ll practice draw, aim, grip, and trigger control on an empty firearm while we watch whatever show my wife has on. It’s easy and free. I get a lot of things like “wanna be quieter?”, “Why did I marry you?”, and “you have to do that now?” but it’s worth it sometimes :rofl:

5 Likes

@BruceE Welcome to our community we are glad to have you. :slightly_smiling_face:

5 Likes

Thank you for your service! Welcome to the USCCA community!

6 Likes

Hello and welcome, and thank you for your service🇺🇸 @BruceE , great opening post.

5 Likes

Levi2, Your Wife’s responses are classic. Mine, however, would not allow me to do that while watching TV. I do practice my draw, grip and aim when I go to the toilet and sometimes do a field strip on my Beretta.

5 Likes

Hello and welcome to the community @BruceE glad to have you here!

4 Likes

Welcome

5 Likes

Welcome to the family brother @BruceE and thank you for your service. Great introduction. Glad to have you here.

6 Likes

Awesome resume.I’m a 20 year Army Veteran myself.Look forward to seeing future posts…

5 Likes

Hi everyone! My name is Adrienne,im a 45 year old Mother of three,a homemaker,& I just saw a video on another platform(tiktok) where several people were dueting the anouncement of #walkabout2023 & I of course got nosy,& jumped to my browser to find out about it.I had no idea Id find this awesome community! I stumbled in here,& have no defense training of any kind,I have my little 25,my Dad taught me to shoot when I was very young,but we didnt practice regularly & its safe to say I have ALOT to learn.My fiance’ on the other hand has quite a collection of firearms,& loves to tatget practice any chance he gets,which has been none since we moved right over the city line from the country. Its 2 a.m.,so tomorrow Ill start spreading the word as soon as I get the sleep out of my eyes…Im excited to be here,& I hope to learn as much as I can,& hope to buy my membership asap! :smiley: Godbless you All!

12 Likes

Hello @Adrienne111! And welcome to the community! We are glad you are here!

5 Likes