W.D.C. Makes Headlines
Delaware Online reporter, Anitra Johnson, dives into the WHY behind training with Scott Taylor from Delaware Tactical and Women’s Defense Coalition Board Members, Deborah Remer and Erin Chronister.
The politicization of firearms has manipulated the general public into viewing lawful gun owners just as harshly as the gun wielding criminals should be. Maybe, even more so.
Illegal firearms in the hands of gang members and drug dealers, domestic violence perpetrators, or those with severe mental health disorders in no way compare to those who utilize defensive tools to manage the safety of their families against those threats.
According to Senator Sarah McBride, lawful gun owners equate to “vigilantes of the wild, wild west.”
Isn’t THIS more like a modern day wild, wild west?
We digress.
Is it even reasonable to fear citizens who have never committed a crime at all?
To be completely forthright, is it really such a horrible thing to think the life of a violent criminal may be lost in order to save an innocent mother, grandmother, father, grandfather, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, or child who is facing an imminent threat of serious bodily injury, death, kidnapping, or rape?
SELF-DEFENSE IS NOT DIRTY. Say it louder for those in the back!
The Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation Behavioral Analysis Unit compiled several reports that completely refute the emotionally charged and agenda driven claims being made by Bloomberg funded anti-gun members of the Delaware House and Senate. These locally elected lawmakers are active volunteers of his organization, Mom’s Demand Action, and are intentionally supporting the passing of laws that create barriers to accessing a right for low income families, minorities, and single parents.
“Mr. Bloomberg has become the single most important political donor to the Democratic Party and its causes. His personal fortune, built on a financial information and news company, is estimated at over $60 billion. It fuels an advocacy network that has directed policy in dozens of states and cities; mobilized movements to take on gun violence and climate change; rewritten election laws and health regulations; and elected scores of politicians to offices as modest as the school board and as lofty as the Senate.”
To justify the massive misconception that self-defense is just like any other form of violence, our pro gun-control lawmakers heavily rely on preventable tragedies made worse by complete failures within the system to transform fear into a false reality. Pages 20-24 of Making Prevention Reality points out these failures.
This lengthy report has been used to train local businesses, banks in particular, in picking up on the indicators that aid in preventing mass casualty incidents. It explains in detail on page 18, “In fact there is no evidence in the research to date that “snap” mass murders occur at all.”
The hundreds of shootings per year in Wilmington aren’t without prediction either. The 2023 Threat Assessment for the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware proves this through extensive analyzing of data compiled by multi-agency investigative efforts.
As far as domestic violence is concerned, there are often a plethora of indicators prior to abusers taking the lives of their victims, or attempting to.
To quote the Delaware Dept. of Health and Social Services, “Domestic violence, also described as intimate partner violence, is a pattern of abusive behavior and coercive control that can happen in a dating, marital, or live-in intimate partner relationship, according to the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence (DCADV).” <——- Click here for the full press release.
What do all of these have in common? PATTERNS. Recurrent behaviors repeated over a span of time- Days, weeks, months, or years.
It is because we know the real data, having read all reports with the intention of truly listening and understanding their findings, and we know first hand the flaws in the system that enable violence that we have a passion for taking steps that will actually aid in stopping
The massacre of children in schools
The murder of women living in or fleeing domestic violence
The rape of young women on college campuses
The cycle of violence in our communities
We are able to advocate from an unbiased and non-partisan perspective because surviving an attack is not and should not be political.
The first step in preparedness is accepting the fact that monsters do exist and it is okay to survive, by any means necessary.
Teaching some of the most vulnerable members of our communities the WHY behind appropriate and adequate training, no matter what tool they choose for defense, is a start to that acceptance.
We heavily preach mindset as the most important tool for survival. If you go into something thinking you can’t do it, the majority of your energy is spent convincing yourself nothing you could do would be enough. That kind of self-doubt causes uncertainty, intrusive thoughts, hesitation, and failure.
In a situation where your life depends on your ability to DO, all energy must be directed into that fight. Education and training play a huge role in gaining and maintaining that “I CAN” attitude.
If you know you are legally justified in defending yourself, physically and skillfully capable, have built trust in the tool you have chosen, and conditioned yourself mentally to 100% believe you are worth defending, then, your subconscious mind isn’t divided into multiple fights.
This is why we emphasize mastering the basics and fundamentals of defensive tactics, no matter what tool is chosen. This way, your conscious mind is free to take in information, process that information, and act on it quickly and efficiently enough to save your life or the lives of those you love.
Knowing when that tool works, why it works, when it doesn’t work, why it doesn’t work, and the the parameters in which this all would or could apply is key to freeing your conscious mind to focus on what’s happening in the moment.
Understanding and respecting the speed and fluidity of an attack is also a factor. Data shows, 45% of individuals given a new task will freeze for approximately 30 seconds, trying to figure out just a starting point.
Much like a fire drill, those who train allow themselves to think “what-if” and plan out possible ways to handle that situation should it occur. These plans are based on what we are physically capable of, the limitations of the tool(s) we have chosen, and our level of training.
New firefighters learn how fire “works” before they rush into their first call. They understand what stops it, what fuels it, and they train with the tools necessary to put it out in differing scenarios with various circumstances.
If they didn’t, they would be
Baffled by any attempt that didn’t work and freeze, attempting to figure it out in the moment and under immense amounts of pressure
Hard pressed to figure out the how and why of fire as the flames intensify
Struggling to operate the tools they have at their disposal, wasting valuable time that may be needed to save the lives of those who may be inside
Similarly, going into a fight for your life without having learned, practiced, trained, and mastered certain skills hinders your ability to remain fluid and make split second decisions when facing an imminent threat, making it difficult to be successful.
In the video above, reporter Anitra Johnson participated in a home invasion scenario based training where her abusive ex came to her home, looking to “make her pay” for leaving him.
After learning the safety rules for force on role player exercises and participating in a hefty discussion about mindset, she completed the scenario once unarmed and a 2nd time armed.
Anitra was asked to think about what her options were based on her physical abilities, level of training, and the defensive tools she had at her disposal each time she completed the scenario so she could identify the differences and possible outcomes.
This scenario is one that happens frequently around the country. In Delaware, 5 lives were lost between 2 separate incidents in Smyrna & Clayton just days apart in April 2021.
We believe a firearm in the hands of trained individuals provides the best possible chance of survival when facing an imminent threat who is capable, willing, and eager to cause harm.
However, we do not force that on those we meet or work with. Rather, we push mental preparedness so that every skill we teach can be applied by any woman and with any tool she chooses.
Our advocacy for the 2nd Amendment is driven by 2 factors; Our rights enshrined in the Federal and State Constitutions & a woman’s right to choose how she defends herself from violence. The key being, ALL OPTIONS must remain easily accessible to everyone, not just to those who can afford access to lengthy and expensive permitting processes.
Our mission is simple. We educate and empower women to live with less fear and more freedom by equipping them with knowledge, confidence in their abilities, and skills that give them an advantage over evil.
