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You Must Take Responsibility for Your Own Safety

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By Teerawit Chankowet @ Shutterstock.com

You know that Your Survival Guy wants you to get your gun and your training now. There’s no better time. Here’s the story of one woman from Rhode Island who has seen exactly why she needed to protect herself, and actually made the right moves to do so. She writes:

Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with My Friday Email. It’s Free.

I recently decided to get a license to carry a concealed handgun for several reasons. One is the inescapable reality that violent crime is sharply on the rise. The other is decades of personal experience with the rougher side of life.

After college, where I studied sociology and criminal justice, I was excited to follow my goals in criminal justice, so I joined the Newport auxiliary police. Following that I worked with juvenile boys who had been placed in residential care for sexual assault treatment pending family court decisions. I moved on to become a court advocate working with domestic abuse victims. This often included having interactions with their violent partners.

Needing another challenge, I became a Behavior Specialist within the Newport and Middletown school systems, working with students with disabilities and students with explosive sometimes violent outbursts. Now, I work in the Newport district court. So, I have seen firsthand—unlike most people—how seriously confrontational life can be.

Early on I realized I had to take responsibility for my own safety. With more time, now that my children are grown, I decided to join the Newport Rifle Club and take their Basic Pistol class. The one-day course emphasizes firearms safety and provides shooting skills with one-on-one instructors.

I took the class with my daughter who will soon be relocating to a large city. I feel strongly she needs to be prepared and confident in defending herself in a potentially dangerous encounter.

Once a week, I meet several other women at the Newport Rifle Club, partly to socialize and partly to improve my firearm skills. I am currently putting in many hours of preparation for the shooting proficiency qualification required for a concealed carry permit. Based on my training, personal experience and being the wife of a retired police officer, I’m convinced the gun control laws proposed this year at the Statehouse would make the public less safe. Police statistics clearly show that violent crime is committed overwhelmingly by criminals who illegally possess a firearm—people who care nothing about laws. More gun control laws will only make it more difficult for good people to legally own and use firearms to protect themselves. According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly every major study on defensive gun use has found that Americans use firearms defensively, as many as 3 million times a year.

Today’s realities, my work experience and credible crime statistics make getting a concealed carry permit a comfortable decision. I strongly urge women to consider joining a gun club to educate themselves so they don’t become a statistic.

Action Line: Inertia is one of your toughest enemies. It will beat you when nothing else can. If you don’t take the first step toward achieving your goals, your chance of failure is 100%. If you are serious about beating inertia and achieving your goals for personal and financial security, click here to sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive newsletter. I’ll help you fight inertia and achieve success. But only if you’re serious.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.

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