The Frightening Power of the Anti-Gun Media

Beth Alcazar - 06/25/2019
“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.”

This quote from George Orwell’s dystopian science fiction novel 1984 is very telling, terrifying … and true. Just look around at the amount of deception, misleading terminology and manipulation of recorded history (all major concerns directly from the book, by the way) that’s happening all around us. And most often at the heart of all this Orwellian disruption is a group with a whole lot of power: the media (or, might I clarify, the anti-gun media).

Media Bias Against Gun Owners

If you don’t think that the media is biased against you, the gun owner, look at some statistics provided by the Media Research Center. Its two-year study concluded that television reporters are overwhelmingly opposed to the Second Amendment. For broadcasts from major news networks from July 1, 1995, to June 30, 1997, covering 244 gun-policy stories, the ratio of anti-gun to pro-gun bias was 16:1. Anti-gun spokespeople were also given three times the number of sound bites than pro-gun spokespeople. And that information was from the late ‘90s! I certainly don’t expect that it’s gotten any better in the last 20+ years.

The media clearly doesn’t want anyone to support guns … or even have guns. So they make sure to treat guns as negative things and share overwhelmingly negative stories. That’s how they are reshaping minds all around us.

Media Distrust

Of course, this bias has contributed to the declining trust most Americans have in the mainstream media. A 2018 poll from Gallup and the Knight Foundation found that 69 percent of U.S. adults say their trust in the news media has decreased in the past decade. And when people were asked why they no longer trust the media, about 45 percent referred to things like bias, inaccuracy and “fake news.” A general lack of credibility and the concern that reports are “based on opinions or emotions” are two other reasons. And about 10 percent of those surveyed also mentioned sensationalism, “clickbait” and hype as negative factors.

Interestingly, twice as many young adults (ages 18 to 34) as older respondents said that politically focused coverage or partisan bias was a major factor in their lack of trust. It’s too bad that it’s not a major factor for their lack of media consumption too. After all, watching these stations continues to give them support, and continued support just gives them more power.

Media Fast

The frightening amount of power the media attempts to wield is one reason I have been on a “media fast” for more than two decades. I don’t watch the news — local or national. I haven’t caught a TV show on FOX or CNN since the early ‘90s. And even though I am technically a “communications professional,” I have barely touched a newspaper since, oddly enough, around 1984 (when it was extra credit to bring clippings of interesting events and happenings to class).

Why all the intentional avoidance? The media is corrupt. And, unfortunately, most people are rather naïve about the underhanded operations of mass media, the personal agendas of writers and producers, and the ultimate consequences to society of what these “powers that be” decide to portray. Just consider the media’s stance on responsible gun ownership. First of all, they wouldn’t even use the word “responsible.” And they would likely change “gun ownership” to “gun obsession” or just go straight to the overused (and completely misused) “gun violence.”

I don’t know about you, but if I want to find out about something nowadays, I do research. I avoid the mainstream. I try to seek out factual, reputable sources, and I look at a variety of different sides and options. And, honestly, I would suggest that you do the same. Don’t give the corrupt more power.

 

Training to Fight Should Hurt a Little

Kevin Michalowski - 06/13/2019
A couple of weeks ago I got my butt kicked. I finished the day bruised and bleeding but entirely satisfied that I had done right. Notice that I did not say I had “done it right” but rather that I had done the right thing.

I took a six-hour combatives class conducted by Waysun Johnny Tsai of the Combined Universal Martial Applications (C.U.M.A.) Survival School. The class I took was called “All Range Combat.” You snipers reading this will be a bit confused because “all range” means something different to people fighting with their hands. The ranges we explored were from contact to about 6 feet. But we worked all of those, first with empty hands, then with training knives (training knives that I thought should have been made from a softer material). But Johnny assured me that I would learn faster if the mistakes included a pain penalty. He was right. There was pain. It immediately led to realization and learning.

What I Learned About Hand-to-Hand Combat

Let me tell you what I learned. I learned that I have a lot more to learn about fighting with my hands. My training in Defense and Arrest Tactics through the police department really has limited application. Those skills are designed for de-escalation and taking control of a person who is being placed under arrest. Those skills are fine, but the skills taught by Johnny through his C.U.M.A. training really showed me where I was lacking. To be specific: My hand speed is slow, and I need to focus on learning the basic movements of effective blocking and counter-striking.

The realization simply reinforced something I had known for a long time: You will never get good at something without practicing it intensely. I am a pretty good shooter because I practice shooting. I’m not so good at close-quarters combatives because I don’t practice them. Some of the students in the class were repeat visitors. They had taken the exact same class two or three times in an effort to commit the movements to memory. This commitment to personal defense is something I would like to see in everyone who chooses to be a defender.

Details on the Combatives Class

Let’s get down to specifics. I really enjoyed the blocking and counter-striking portion of the class because repeating the movements over and over showed me where I was lacking. The pain penalties, which resulted in bruising and even some minor bleeding, showed me that if I was not committed to the movement and focused on the proper actions, I would get hurt. I often hear people talk about defending against a knife attack with shrugging. They say, “If you fight with a knife, you are going to get cut.” They then continue talking as if getting cut is no big deal. Nothing could be further from the truth. Getting cut IS A BIG DEAL! Johnny was teaching us to avoid getting cut and how to counter-attack to cut the other guy.

We then moved on to a discussion and practical application of pressure points. This is where I really got interested. As we kept going through the practical application of force to various pressure points, I kept thinking, “I could use this to break contact if someone grabbed me and I needed to get to my gun.”

I’ll very likely take this class again. I need the repetition. I need the skills and confidence it provides. The very best thing about self-defense training is finding out what you don’t know. I never want to realize in the middle of a fight that I don’t know what to do next.