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Sad Days, and the result of Idiocy

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Over the past couple days I have received word from different friends regarding people I knew and graduated from high school with.

I was informed by a friend that Kris Irving and Tanner Mounts, both in my graduating class, have passed away. Kris died in a car accident and Tanner died from a drug overdose.

Now for the people I have more information on…

First is Jackie Loffer. She and I had a few classes together our senior year, and had known my wife since elementary school. She was a sweet and caring person with a love for music. She sadly passed away on the anniversary of her mother’s death from an aggressive cancer at the age of 24.

Lastly is the person that actually kicked off this blog entry, David Clark. He was shot and killed April 26, 2008 in a police standoff. Clark died from a gunshot wound to the back. He had previous incidents with law enforcement over threats, displaying a weapon in public, as well as following a Whatcom County Sheriff’s detective. All of these incidents ended up with his right to own a firearm being suspended. It disturbs me that this occurred without his appearance in court; however in this case I can NOT say that it was unjustified.

Police eventually were called to his house after a call for disorderly conduct. Three other individuals that were present left without incident. Clark instead of acting like the three other individuals brandished a weapon, resulting in SWAT being called in. During the standoff officers ordered him to exit his house, this by no means was unreasonable. When he did exit his house he was again brandishing the weapon at which time officers instructed him to put the weapon down, again not unreasonable. Evidently he eventually attempted to charge police with the weapon, at which time they shot him with bean bags attempting to immobilize him, this by no means exceeded the level of force shown by Clark, and actually they were remaining below it. Evidence from the medical examiner also showed that Clark had been tased by police twice, again evidence of the attempted use of non-lethal force. While I will most certainly debate that tasers are not 100% non-lethal, they are certainly less lethal than a firearm. In the commotion two other officers discharged their weapons.

What has many people outraged currently is that his weapon ended up being a pellet gun. While it is saddening that he died over a pellet gun, we must remember hindsight is always 20/20. The pellet gun in question:

was manufactured to appear as an authentic Desert Eagle.

“The design, heft and size of the weapon appeared authentic and deadly, even when it was actually handled by the investigators,” Bellingham police said in a prepared statement.

Those of us who have been raised around firearms and weapons are raised to know and understand that the assumption by anyone is that weapon is loaded at all times. This weapon was manufactured to look real, and as such was presumed to be real as well as loaded. As a civilian on the street if someone pointed it at you, it would presumed to be locked, cocked, and ready to rock. As can be seen by the hammer being back, safety off, and nothing else about this weapon indicates that it is merely a pellet gun. I can say that if a man approached me on the street and I saw that in his hand, I would draw my weapon immediately and place it at the ready to my side and attempt withdraw myself from the situation. While I would not point it at the individual, he is presenting himself as a threat, if it was holstered, who cares, however it is in his hand implying intent to immediately use it if necessary. My weapon being concealed this raised the question of why I am a threat. Should he raise that weapon towards me, I would consider him hostile just like any other thug and engage just the same. The weapon is designed to look real, and as such when handling it, you must expect that those around you will treat it as such.

I found a blog containing more information mainly just complaining that the police didn’t do enough. The main point of this article is the claim that David Clark was mentally unstable. While from what I remember this is most likely the case I have a few problems with some of her statements. Most specifically with this one:

He was sick and needed help. He struggled to maintain his hold on reality and we (friends and family) gave as much support as we could.

With the number of things he had done recently a trip to the court house was most certainly in order to get him professional help whether he felt he needed it or not. Brandishing weapons in public presents a safety issue to himself as well as the public. I am a very big concealed and open carry supporter. However brandishing weapons does nothing but cause larger more dangerous problems. Another comment she makes is regarding the fact that he was shot in the back. Actually from the ME’s report he was shot in the lower right back, and that the bullet impacted his liver and the lower lobe of his lung. They didn’t just wait until he was running square away and take a clean shot. What occurred from my reading of the evidence I have been able to find is that when non lethal force did not stop David, two officers responded with lethal force to protect the people he was charging at. With the level of force that David was presenting against the officers, the two officers who shot were perfectly justified.

While it is extremely sad to have lost a friend I knew from high school, I in NO way blame the police officers involved. From what I have seen their efforts to end the situation peacefully could be fully commended. While we always hope for a better outcome, it doesn’t always occur. Even more importantly than that, both parties must desire that outcome for a 100% chance of success.

Notch another one!

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Often I find myself depressed about the sad state of affairs within our country. Rarely anymore do I see people who believe in personal responsibility for their own actions. Often people attempt to blame someone else or usually more specifically something, when they have done something wrong.

New York recently tried to sue gun manufactures blaming the crimes committed using firearms as their doing. Since when has a tool ever magically done something on its own? I’ve never had a hammer just hit a nail into a wall, never had my computer just magically type a paper for me. Even just looking at the gun, I have never had a miraculous discharge; every discharge a human was involved. A gun is merely a tool, which is why law enforcement carries them, the military carries them, and many law abiding citizens carry them. They are a tool with which to defend ourselves. If someone wants to hurt someone else they will, gun or no gun, they will find the means to accomplish their goal.

Thankfully a Federal Appeals court Wednesday threw out the New York lawsuit against 37 gun makers. It is moments like these that make me think there is still hope for this great country.

Hopefully we can start to swing college campuses away from their forced disarmament of students. Self-defense is a natural born right, no one, not even god has the right to take that away. While there are many ways to defend one’s self, the most effective and best at leveling the playing field is the firearm. I cannot run away from being attacked, it is not because of a philosophical issue, it’s because I have metal in both legs. My wife doesn’t have full use of her right hand; however using her left she can put two in the chest one in the head. Lastly though, it allows you to deal with the threat from a distance, and most likely without a shot fire depending on the circumstance. If someone breaks into my house, odds are there’s going to be shots fired; my assumption is you’re armed. I reach that decision because well, I’m armed, and what moron would break into my house unarmed.

I was thinking about heading out to the range again this weekend but I think I’m going to save it for next weekend. Weather’s not looking to great and frankly I’d like to have a comfortable day at the range, especially since I’d be heading down to Lapwai.

Boomershoot 2008

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For pre-finals stress relief I decided to pursue something that I have wanted to do for the longest time since I moved to Eastern Washington.

I went to Boomershoot and the precision rifle clinic. There’s some really nice pics inside!

Above is the opening to the shoot. Joe had to get close because he winged one of the jugs of gas and couldn’t get the boomer to detonate.

I learned a lot from the two days at the clinic, also got some reminders of things that I haven’t had to worry about shooting pistol lately. The only real comments I have to anyone interested in coming to Boomershoot is that you need a spotter. Shooting at targets 700 yards away, 4 or 7 inches across depending on the target is difficult if not impossible without one. For those who don’t know the math, that is 1 MOA at the largest. Without your spotter you will have no real consistent feedback of your impact. You’re not shooting at a paper target that will have a hole in it. If you’re lucky you might see a change in the dirt surrounding the target. I’m defiantly going back next year for both sections. I’m already working on what my goals are going to be. Friday was miserable for weather, but I look at it now like a baptism by fire. Shooting long distance in winds was never something I had really done. On Friday we had sleet and a win out of 3 O’clock between 7-12 MPH, with gusts to 20 MPH.

The anvil shoot after lunch was awesome. I had a nice sequence(site is down) of pics that shows the whole thing but I’m just going to post the most impressive ones here.

That thing flying up is a 75lbs anvil. And yes ACME is written across the side. Below on the is the anvil at its peak height. Estimates put the anvil at about 110 feet. Next is the impact with the nice spurt of dirt. At the very bottom is the hole left in the ground by the anvil. Yes it’s still in the hole.

I also got to have some other fun. There was a M1917 Browning water cooled machine gun. Not only was I able to take pictures of it…. They also let me shoot it.

After lunch they put up a low flow toilet, packed it with about 6 pounds of explosive, filled the bowl and tank with gas, put up some flares and the following videos were born! The second video can be found here.

The weather was quite nice after Friday. It was so nice in fact that I turned a bright red with a toughening of the skin on my nose. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, this weekend was totally worth it. Please note the circle on my forehead for my hat, along with the coon eyes from my glasses.

Anyone who met me that weekend feel free to drop me a line. Large thanks to Eugene and the other clinic instructors. Your advice was quite helpful. See you all next year!

About the Motto

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Waiting for someone else to solve your problems is not a solution. I came to this realization in high school when I worked as a lifeguard at scout camp. If a swimmer went missing it was at least 15 minutes before a rescue dive team could be on site. After 15 minutes odds are you’re recovering a corpse to give his parents to bury. During those 15 minutes though the lifeguards are still actively searching and working to find the missing swimmer. Though not as effective as scuba divers, it’s better than nothing. The idea that help is on the way never enters the mind because who cares about 15 minutes from now, they need help NOW.

While one could say being a lifeguard obligated us, that doesn’t change the fact though anyone can train to help in an emergency. If someone attempts to rob myself or my wife, my first instinct is not going to be to grab my phone and dial 911 for help. Statistically by the time they show up they’ll be placing me in a body bag. Instead I will react in defense of wife and myself. Why, because I can not tell the attacker to wait while I call the police, and then to wait again while they respond. Waiting for help just allows the problem to continue getting worse.

In dive training you learn to control your instinct to panic and think problems through. Why, because at 60 feet all that is there is you and your dive buddy. Panicking will most likely get you and your buddy killed. I had good instructors who regularly threw unexpected failures at us including things that would cause panic. By the end I learned to recognize panic much like when people realize they’re “behind the power curve.” More importantly when you’re panicking you’re doing the same thing as waiting for help.

Why The Minuteman

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For those who know me this title fits me to a tee. Not because of my “rebellious spirit” but because at a moments notice I am moving and acting to help those around me. Whether it be taking up arms in defense of someone who cannot defend themselves, or hopping in my truck and going and pulling someone home that just broke down two blocks away.

The statement of who and what the militia and minutemen were is long and drawn out and a cause for great modern debate as supposedly now it’s the National Guard. I’m here to tell you it’s not, it is any and every citizen that is willing to do what is necessary to protect those around them in their own community.

Many ask why I feel this way and the answer is always the same, history. I’ve studied it, learned from it, and found things that embodied the best in humanity, and things that were the worst. Truly one of the best and most iconic of the American spirit was the Minutemen.

About Me

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I grew up in Western Washington south of Seattle in a small town. That town has since been over run and turned into a suburb of Seattle. Going home to visit friends and family is quite depressing, especially as crime has increased since I grew up there. At least now I can carry a concealed weapon.

I was extremely active in Scouting all throughout my youth. Most summers I was gone from home about two thirds of the time during vacation on trips and events. I Received my Eagle Scout just prior to my 18th birthday.

After high school I attended the University of Washington. After two years I was informed that I wasn’t good enough for their engineering program and fled Western Washington to Washington State University. The sad thing is I am by no means the only person who has been through this experience, there is also a common thread amongst those who have been through the experience, but if I say what it is I’d be called racist. I graduated in 2008 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, or applied mathematics as I call it. If you have an EE you get the joke.

After moving to Eastern Washington I decided I wouldn’t move back. The Peoples Republic of Puget Sound is just too much. The people are too self centered and not friendly. While many would say that the people out here are unfriendly I have one comment. They’re unfriendly because you’re probably being an ass. This also includes aggressively driving like you’re from a major metropolitan area.

In 2005 I was in a massive car accident which resulted in severe injuries to both my wife and I. It took us over 6 months to recover and I now have a metal rod in each leg. That accident resulted in a ding on my record which has provided me with a point of view of the system that not many people see. That accident also provided another view in that my wife is permanently disabled due to nerve damage in her arm. Currently we are writing a long post on the subject. Suffice it to say, any attempt to limit the features or capabilities of a rifle does not sit well in my house.

I currently write software for embedded systems as well as partake in my own pet projects on the side. I also actively help and participate in Boomershoot and I highly suggest that you make an attempt to attend.

That is the rough overview of who I am and a few of the major items that have provided me with the glass I use to view the world.

TMM

Disclaimer

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I figured I should add this to provide solid clarification to anyone that may think otherwise.

The views and opinions expressed within this site are entirely the opinion and view of TMM or TMW and no one else. These statements in no way reflect the views of my employer, or those around me. To ensure this, at no time will any employer, past or present ever be stated directly on this site.

All quoted content is copyrighted and owned by the original creator. If your work has been quoted and you would like it removed, please contact me.

While many may disagree with our views, the bottom line is that we both strongly believe in the individual freedoms and the idea of personal responsibility that this country was founded upon.

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