Rogue Elite

I have a few family members that grew up knowing where Dad kept his gun and some of them have even informed me that they use to play with them and friends knew where they kept them.   I believe that I would be accurate in saying that children back then were more aware of what real guns did and that even if they knew where they were, they were not as dumb as some children are today and ended up shooting themselves.  Back  in my Grandparents day, guns were left in Dad’s closet or by the nightstand and everyone knew that it might be loaded.  That era of gun handling seems to have disappeared from Urban thought these days.   I always keep track of the number of gun accidents I hear about on the radio and use them in my teaching sessions.

I would never tell you that you shouldn’t have a gun in any place that you feel confident that it should be, but I will tell you that considering the number of people that may be in your home, especially if you have children it’s a good idea to keep all of your guns locked up.   Gunvault gun safes are hands down the best and fastest gun safes to open, you can easily bolt them  in hard to reach (from a child’s hands) and harder to steal if properly mounted.   If you want to put a gun safe next to your night stand or on it, you should sleep better knowing that it is as easy for you to get to as a push of 4 or 5 buttons or spend the money for the Biometric safe and know that only your hands or other authorized hands can open it.

When I think back to the first Gunvault gun safe was that I picked up and how much I liked being able to store loaded firearms in easy to open storage, I can’t believe the technological improvements there have been to an already original idea.     I work in and out of various locations where sometimes I have to actually take my firearm off and on 3 or 4 times a day.    Various security and Government buildings that I’m in don’t allow this so I have to think about the type of gun holsters I am wearing and how easy it will be to get things off and on.   I still mostly use paddle  holsters or clip on IWB holsters because they are so easy to get off and on.

One issue that has been been happening to several of my computer friends is they can’t leave things in their car at all anymore.   I know of 2 smash and grab incidences in recent weeks where lap tops were stolen, but even though I know better than leaving my stuff in sight, you never know when it could happen.  I have been looking more and more and getting a Gunvault gun safe bolted to my car floor or in the trunk just so that anyone that gets into the car would have a heck of a time trying to pry the safe out.   Getting my lap top is one thing, but a criminal getting my firearm is something I want to avoid at all costs.   The difference between the biometric gun safes and the regular ones is about a 100 bucks, but I’m not really looking to pay that price for quick access when the gun is really only being stored there for anti-theft reasons.

I must have a pile of trigger locks in my  house that all came mandatory with various firearms that I have purchased.   There is absolutely no logic in having firearms with locks on them.  I have seen plenty of video demonstrations where firearms can still go off even if a trigger lock is installed.  Will a trigger lock prevent your firearm from being stolen?  Absolutely not.   Will it keep a loaded gun in a safe position so that a child finding it will not be able to shoot it?  Possible not.    I do  not think we need laws making it mandatory to lock up your firearms, but common sense says we should.  I know there are people in some situations where they may want quick access to a firearm, but modern gunvault gun safes are so fast that you can access a firearm in less than 2 seconds.   If you factor in the 2 second rule for CCW engagements, waking up, getting out of bed, and getting your gun from a gun safe in less than 10 seconds is very reasonable.

I am a strong believer in taking young children to a firing range even if they are not old enough to fire guns.  It may be a good idea to make sure they know that Mom and Dad have real guns and that the guns that they can play with are toy guns and let them see the difference.    Give your trigger locks to your kids for locking up their bikes, but do yourself a favor and research the various GunVault gun safes that are out now.   They are very impressive and can help keep your wife’s jewelry locked up and out of sight also.  The Gunvault gun safes that are being used for firearms can easily be bolt to hard to get to locations and be used for jewelry.

Whenever I go away on vacation, I have to pay attention to the States that we are crossing into because some of the States are not CCW friendly at all.  As a matter of fact, I’d be a criminal and get thrown in jail if I carried a gun in some States.   Every once in awhile I hear about a story about someone that crossed into a State with unloaded firearms and ran into a bad cop and ended up not knowing how to deal with the person and got into problems.   One way to avoid the situation is to keep your guns out of sight, avoid getting yourself into a situation where it’s obvious that you have a car load of firearms.

Another thing to think about is actually putting small gun safes like the Gunvault gun safes inside your car for added security.   There were a few major incidences in recent years of gun owners getting their cars broken into in and around gun shows because criminals would wait for them to stop and go into a restaurant or food store and then make their smash and grab.   A gun show vendor actually lost several thousand dollars of firearms because of something like this.  Conceal you firearm when you are carrying and conceal and lock up your guns when travelling.

I am very much aware that not all of us live in the safest neighborhoods and some of us have jobs  or careers where we are at a higher level of personal safety than others.   I have seen on numerous news stories about how children can and do find out where hidden guns are and depending on whether or not the child new it was real or a toy, some children are not developed enough to fear real guns.   I have a lot of experience in dealing with new students and young adults and there are reasons we have to start slowly when teaching a novice shooter on how to handle a firearm.

The reality is this, children can get into things and if you think you can hide your guns from a child and not have it locked up, you are taking a risk that in this day and age, isn’t worth taking.   I feel comfortable that the young family members that dwell in my home know what real guns are, but when the dumb friend of your kid shows up and starts messing around when the parents aren’t around, Well…  GunVault gun safes are easy to bolt down and hide in closets, bedside, floors ect. and if  you think a finger keypad is too slow to open, try one of the gun safes that has a biometric print reader.  Considering how small these gun safes are, you really should consider ending the liability of not locking up your firearms.

The vast majority of M4 Carbines I see at the range have optics that are top of the line.    Aimpoint and Eotech along with the Trijicon ACOG are probable the top 3.   All of these are good for a certain purpose which is mostly for close up fighting.   The Trijicon ACOG is more of a medium range combat optic depending on the type of reticle you choose.   They do have a line of red dot or even green dot optic options, also.   If you are are a weekend warrior and new to defensive shooting and tactical gear, I would suggest you think about this next statement, whenever you attach an accessory to your Carbine, think about what you would do if that accessory mount broke or the actual item failed.

When you mount your rifle scope, please do some research on how to properly level and mount it.  A properly mounted combat optic should not be over torqued and should have loctite on the screws.  I have yet to see a mount come loose on a gun that used loctite.   When you go out an spend $1000 on a combat rifle scope, ask yourself, what will you do and how will you remove the scope and aim it if the optic goes down.   If one your Trijicon rifle scopes takes a bullet, are you going to be able to see through it and still be able to lay down effective fire if you can’t see through it?  Even if you have a rifle scope that does not allow for co-witness, would it be a good idea to still attach flip up sights to the gun if there is room for them?  Always have a backup plan for your defensive carbine.

There seems to be a new craze in competition shooting in recent years.   I’ve seen more high school boys coming home from class with Zombie survival guides, the recent 28 Days later type movies and the doomsday virus outbreaks.    I guess IDPA has lost some traction to the present generation, but I’ve attended a few Zombie survival competitions and they were very good training events.   The best thing about it was the amount of tactical gear that I watched fail, and the number of really novice mistakes people made.   Out of the 5 stages I attended, there was 1 stage that we saw about 18 firearms go down.   About half of those were AK variants and they were mostly magazine related.  Some guys never knew how hard it was to do a tactical reload on an AK if there was a round in the chamber and a fully loaded 30rd magazine.  People found out what happens after firing off the 1st round and the magazine falls out.

Do search for gun clubs and shooting ranges in your State to find out if anyone is holding a Zombie shoot.   They usually occur in the September to October months.   Having some good tactical clothing that will securely hold your gear.   The Eotac Style 201 pants are my favorite because they hold 6- 30rd PMAGS and they are easy to run in.   Tactical vests like the Style 101 are not heavy and don’t make you feel like you are wearing a flak jacket.   There is a time and a place for different types of tactical vests, but mobility is important.  You may want to try getting your magazines loaded up with all of your gear and then try running 100yds with it and see what it feels like and if stuff starts to fly out of your pockets.   Mobility is extremely important.

After Sept 11th and the Hurrican Katrina News cyles, many people have opened their eyes to the fact that their is evil in our generation and that any one of us could face it in our home or our way to work.   There have been a lot of people opening their eyese to gun owner ship.   I can’t tell you the times I’ve heard women say that they “will never allow a gun in their house” and how that mindset has been disapating ever since the Hurrican Katrina havoc.   I had a liberal female friend who was willing to atleast come to a range with me say that “just the existance of a firearm in a home is a deterant, you don’t even have to fire it to prevent bad people from coming onto your property.   Although bad people come in different flavors, most of them will skip your house if you spray paint a warning on your front door informing looters that you will shoot them if they come near you.

I understand peoples fears of having guns around with children, I do believe that if you have children in the house, all guns should be locked up.   I can remember all of my friends that got access to firearms when their dads weren’t around and although they never mishandled them, it’s not a good idea for kids to have access to them until they are proven to be competant and emotionally stable enough to have access.  When dealing with people that are concerened about this, I skip discussions about handguns, and just talk about various types of gun safes that are available and explain to people that push button keypads and finger print scanning technology is here and there is zero chance your kid is going to have access to the gun.  I also strongly suggest hiding and bolting the safe down in an area that is not highly visible.  For $80-$300 you can buy a handgun safe that can be accessed in seconds and there is zero chance your kids will ever have access to.

Gunvault gun safes has a new gun safe called the GunVault Microvault.  This gun safe is the answer that many have been looking for.   For several years I have heard about issues concerning storing guns in a car or bringing them on the road for travel.   There are times when we can not bring our guns with us and the idea of leaving a gun out in the open and not locked or hidden away is a bad idea.    Many of us that carry and are going on business trips may not like the idea of hiding a gun in a hotel room just to find out some  thug got a hold of it and may use it against us.
Sure that given enough time any criminal will be able to break a safe open, but atleast know that they won’t be standing in your hotel room with one of the handguns you left in a suitcase is going to be used against you when you walk into a room.   There is a Biometric version of this safe for even more security model MVB500.  These can easily be used for the Mrs. Jewelry, too.   The gunvault microvault is the size of a notebook and weighs about 5lbs.

For a successful hunting trip, it’s imperative that you have all the necessary hunting gear. If you’re spending multiple days on your particular trip, the most important items are the proper clothing, your gun, and all your camping gear, which can include sleeping bag, tent, and camping cookware. But once all these basics are covered, there is an entire world of hunting extras and secondary accessories that will serve to make your trip more successful and more pleasant.

To that end, there is a huge variety of rifle accessories on the market. One of the most useful accessories is a tactical gun case. These padded cases will help ensure that your gun is safely packed for travel and storing. There are also a number of flashlight mounts, which attach directly to the rifle and allow you to place a light on the gun itself. Increasing your visibility at night or in other low light situations, this accessory can actually improve your chance at landing that big score.