Modern Self Protection Podcast

For this podcast, I got with Rob Morse of the Slow Facts Blog, Self-Defense Gun Stories, and Gun Freedom Radio.   We talked about some of the terrorist attacks in Israel and what you can do if those come to our shores.

When should you change your carry ammo?  Is it necessary? Will carry ammo go bad?  What could make it go bad? Check out show notes at ModerSelfProtection.com for anything you might have missed. P.S.  I'm riding to raise money to fight Alzheimer's and would love if you could throw a couple bucks at it.  Click here to help me and the Alzheimer's Association out. Get some ammo here. Stay Safe,  Ben

Be the leader now so that you can learn to be better if you ever have to defend yourself or your family.

Like every skill you have for self-defense, de-escalation should be practiced any time you can.

I'm here to tell you that tactics are more important than the gear and the skill you have with the gear. Your understanding of what is going on and your move toward what you want to happen is your tactics.   A definition of gear is obvious, it's the stuff you have. The definition of skill is how you can use that gear. Your tactics are the overall mindset and how to employ your skills towards a goal. It's just bigger thinking... See the rest at ModernSelfProtection.com Tactics over Skills  

I spent 10 years in the Marine Corps including a combat tour and being part of an anti-terrorism force. I left the Marine Corps to return to Iraq as a private contractor for the U.S. Government fighting terrorism. I gave a large portion of my adult life to fighting terrorism and the horrors that most people don't want to deal with. To me, a terrorist is about the lowest scum on earth.   Then in 2008, I was called a terrorist for the first time by then-President Obama. The term domestic terrorist had just started and I was on the list. Being a white male, military-aged, former military, contractor, Christian, and gun owner I was on the top of the list. Everyone thought I was crazy for saying the United States Government could do such a thing. The truth is they have been doing it for a long time. Welcome to the party!   Through the years it has only gotten worse. I know I'm on every watch list the government has which makes me both sad and proud. Yes, I will associate with the deplorable's, that is almost half the country. Yes, I cling to my religion and my guns. Yes, I'm proud to be an American. Yes, I think our government f's things up a lot. At least I'm not on the no-fly list... yet.   All of these lists that you don't know you are on, how you got there, or how to get off are a threat to every free person in the world. And I don't know how to fix it.   It is not time to fight the great boogaloo (which is now a terrorist word as indicated by a leaked FBI memo). I'm trying to get more involved at my local political level because I know local politicians grow up to be state and federal politicians.   This blog is about self-defense. So you might ask how all that plays into your self-defense. Well, the "Justice System" hasn't been not been impartial for a long time, it has gotten worse. If the "they" of the world think you are on the wrong side it appears unlikely you will get a fair trial.   Do you remember the Austin protester during a BLM protest that was carrying an AK openly and gave a weird interview with his rifle right before the shooting? Then an Army Sergeant driving for Uber, carrying a concealed handgun with a license smoked him after ending up in the crowd by mistake. The Army Sergeant got convicted of Murder early this year over three years after the shooting.   I've known since I was a teenager that the deck was stacked against me if I have to use deadly force. It was what I was taught in Law Enforcement and it didn't take much research at the time to see that if the U.S. Government wanted you, they were going to convict you.   So, you are out there, just trying to protect yourself. Take extra care in what you do. Be more mindful to stay out of places that might put you and your family in danger. Be more careful about where you insert yourself into other people's problems. And be more careful about who you argue with. All of this could end you up in prison for the rest of your life... and is more likely to happen now than it was five years ago.   In conclusion, welcome to this shitty party that somehow we all ended up in.   Stay Safe,   Ben First published on ModernSelfDefense.com

Going against the grain takes humility, guts, and the chance to lose. Courage, like most things, is a muscle that you have to exercise in life.  If you don't practice courage, it will atrophy and die.   How often do you practice courage?  Moral and or physical?  Do you do new things that you are going to look foolish at?  Do you accept challenges when others ask you to do something that should be possible?  Do you do things that are hard that others say are hard, shouldn't be done, or is impossible?  Do you do different hard things on purpose because they are hard and scary? Take a challenge. Do something hard.  Say something when you know something should be said.  Practice your courage.  If what people are saying in the firearms/2nd Amendment culture is true, we are going to need courage both moral and physical soon.  Now would be a good time to practice.   Stay Safe,  Ben Branam ModernSelfProtection.com 

If you have to defend yourself should you give medical aid to the person that just tried to hurt you?  No.  Is the simple easy answer and should be the end of it. Three things to consider when making this decision:  The Tactical Situation; will this act put you further in danger?  Morally; is it the right thing to do?  Legally; will this make your actions more or less defendable in court?  See the entire discussion on https://modernselfprotection.com

Habits are good and bad, but Training Scars will get you in trouble. Start with a good war story to show you had training scars creep into all of us. What training scars and bad habits do you have that will "get you killed in the street?"  I know you have at least one, we all do. Check out the full notes at ModernSelfProtection.com/habits-good-bad-and-training-scars

Last weekend I participated in a church mass shooter training event. Most of the time I’m the instructor or coordinator, but this time I actually got to participate. My church got a bunch of volunteers to volunteer to be actors in the scenarios. Our head of church safety organized and ran the training. It was a lot of fun, and I got to mix it up with the bad guys more than once. Didn’t even die this time. Not bad…. but… Most of the scenarios were normal church shooter events; one domestic violence, one attack on the pastor, one run of the mill mass killer, but the last one was an attempted hostage scenario. I say attempted because the safety team ended it before it could begin. A couple was arguing during church service and the guy was instructed to get up, pull a gun, and do a Hollywood gun to the head back against the wall thing to see how we would work together throughout the situation. Turns out most of us on the team are default aggressive... See the rest at ModernSelfProtection.com/BePrepared

Should you get involved in a crime in progress? Yesterday on the way home from work I saw a crime in progress or what looked like one. I was driving down a busy street that has a large homeless problem and high crime. It's a shortcut to miss some traffic through downtown San Antonio. It is a shortcut I use a lot. As I stopped at the light I saw one guy running full speed from around the back of a business and someone hot on his heels. The second guy gave away that a crime was probably in progress. He was holding something inside his pants right above his right front pocket. His pants were too big and it looked like if he let go, he would lose whatever heavy thing he was holding there. The way he was holding it, I couldn't tell if it was a lead pipe, gun, or big knife. Should I have gotten involved? Check out more at ModernSelfProtection.com Get some ammo at: My LuckyGunner Affiliate  Get More Contact at: Shooters Club Members   

Check out the book The Gift of Fear to learn more or go to MSP Blog post, Trust Your Instincts and the Girt of Fear.

If you get caught in the aftermath of a mass shooter what should you do?  Yes, mass killer would be a better description now that vehicles and knives are becoming popular.  If you are in the area of a Mass Killer what should you do after the killing has stopped?  Here are some things to think about. See all the bullet points at ModernSelfProtection.com/2022/01/30/caught-in-the-aftermath-of-a-mass-shooter/

Do you really need to vary your schedule to be safe? Common knowledge around varying your schedule and where it came from. Why you might be safer by not following the "common sense" here. Book mentioned on the podcast:  "Left of Bang" by Patrick Van Horne and Jason Riley To read more about this podcast got to ModernSelfProtection.com/Changing-Schedules Stay Safe,  Ben Branam

Do the simple shit first.  Then worry about becoming John Wick. Start with what you know you should do and the advertisements you see everywhere that you ignore. Lock your doors and windows at home all the time Lock your doors, take your keys, and hide your belongings in your car, all the time, every time. Go places in groups and with a friend Look up from your damned phone  Move with a purpose  "Don't do stupid things, with stupid people, in stupid places" -John Farnam "At stupid times" - Bob Mayne  Stay Safe,  Ben  See the rest of the tips at ModernSelfProtection.com/Self-Defense-mechanisms

Self Defense is one of the most serious things we could ever talk about. It's all about doing combat with another individual where your life hangs in the balance. Seems like it should be serious all the time. Right?

Like most disasters, it’s not the actual event that changes things, it’s the reactions to the event. I sat at home for two days waiting for my call to report. By the third day, I went back to life. Life had changed in America, for the better. Somehow we were all Americans again and all the little things, I call them “1st world problems”, were no longer a problem. People appreciated each other and wanted to help. Check out the rest at ModernSelfProtection.com

NRA Cancelled Not a surprise with what is going on in Texas and Covid, but their letter to people showed their true colors and they should be ashamed of themselves. Broken Gun I've been having more and more issues with my carry gun and think I figured it out. But how do you spot problems with your gun and what to do about it. Heat Injuries It's been hotter than crap lately and I was not doing well at the competition yesterday until another shooter noticed and gave me an extra bottle of water. I go and go until I fall out. Don't be like me, notice this stuff coming so someone else doesn't have to save you.  Stay Safe,  Ben  ModernSelfProteciton.com 

Get all the links from today's podcast at ModernSelfProtection.com/327 Carrying every day is an art. It's one you have to work on all the time. And sometimes you can't always carry an optimal way. When I worked for an armored car company I carried in an optimal way. And I carried two 1911's. One on my right thigh in a tactical rig before tactical rigs were popular. The other was in a pancake holster on my left side high just behind my hip. Then there was a third gun no one knew about in my left back pocket. Everything was optimized for what I did for a living and did every day. My left side 1911 actually set further back behind my hip than you would think was optimal. But it fit perfectly there under my body armor because it sat just behind the piece that wrapped around my side. This way the gun didn't get caught by my body armor and pinch my skin or get caught on the draw. It took me almost three years working on my setup to come up with my perfect carry methods. Then my company changed the policy and thigh rigs were no longer permitted. Then it changed again to say 1911's were no longer permitted. Things always change, and you should be open to new things if they continue to let you carry a gun daily.

Do you go to the square range to practice self-defense? Should you? Last week I went to the square range and worked on my self-defense shooting with my friend from Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, John. We shot his new Colt Python (if you want to hear about that you will have to become a Shooter's Club Member) and I worked with my self-defense gun. Read the rest at Modern Self Protection.