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It is often said that a liberal is a conservative who hasn’t been mugged yet. I can certainly attest to that. My road to Damascus moment happened in downtown Providence. I was a teen, doing some Christmas shopping, when a knife-wielding youth demanded my money. I gave it to him. But I’ll never forget the dead look in his eyes. He literally didn’t care whether I lived or died. So here’s the thing: pro-gunners wouldn’t want a liberal to get mugged to come to his or her senses. Or would we? Patriot Protection in Dallas, Texas has challenged antis to come to their training range and go toe-to-toe with a foe. [Press release after the jump.] What are the odds? So, short of that, what? . . .

Texas Firearms Training Facility Challenges Gun Control Advocates to Face a “Bad Guy” 

Patriot Protection in Plano Texas has issued a challenge for all gun control advocates to come to their range and actually face a “bad guy.” You often hear gun control advocates say “I don’t believe people should to be able to own guns” or “there is no reason someone needs to have a ______ type of firearm.” However, many, if not most, of these “advocates” have no practical experience with firearms or with situations where they might need a firearm.

“We want all of these people who are speaking without knowledge to come get some!” – Tim Dodd, Owner.

Bad guys do have guns and one look at some of the gun control meccas like Chicago, New York and L.A. makes that abundantly clear. At Patriot Protection, you come face to face with all manner of “bad guys” who may have a knife, a gun or just a really bad attitude in reality-based scenarios. How is this possible you ask? Patriot Protection uses Non-Lethal Training ammunition in their scenario based training, the same type of reality-based live fire training that law enforcement uses. In fact, Patriot Protection trains law enforcement and military personnel, so their training is not based on redneck Rambo fantasies, but on actual real life scenarios that law enforcement deals with on a daily basis.

They utilize Glocks, AR-15s, and Berettas, specially outfitted for the non-lethal ammunition, in their 10,000 sq. ft. indoor facility designed to simulate a house, a parking lot, a restaurant or a bank/store front. Patriot Protection will put you through real life scenarios such as; car-jackings, home invasions, muggings, and even nonviolent encounters that may be uncomfortable, but challenge your reactions. Not every scenario calls for discharging your weapon, being armed does not make every encounter a deadly force encounter and that is a key factor of their training, Good Judgment.

They challenge and welcome gun control advocates to come and experience a deadly force encounter, with or without a firearm. “We really want to give people experience and perspective through our training, only then can they truly have the knowledge to take a stand.” – Amanda Dodd, Owner. “Common Sense” and “Reasonable” regulation of firearms sounds good, and more importantly “feels” good, to many gun control advocates.

By issuing this challenge, Patriot Protection would like to bring reality into the discussion as well. The reality that law enforcement faces, as well as the reality that many Americans face every day, by putting their gun control positions to the test in real life applications. This challenge is meant to educate and advance the debate on guns and is not a confrontational challenge. In fact, the challenge is open to pro-gun advocates as well.

It is one thing to buy a gun and go to the range to shoot paper targets, but what happens when the targets shoot back? Could you really pull the trigger on that Glock with a living human target in your sites? Could you do it with your adrenalin pumping and shots coming back at you? The reality-based training that Patriot Protection provides is just that, reality-based.

The gun debate in America cannot be settled with statistics and scare tactics, reality will always trump good intentions and “feel good” politics. Safety is key at Patriot Protection, everyone passes through a metal detector prior to entering the range. This type of training is brand new to the market, in fact, Patriot Protection is the first company in Texas open to the public that allows this type of ammunition to be used. Whether you are pro-gun or anti-gun, there is much to be learned at Patriot Protection.

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57 COMMENTS

  1. Converting anti anything can be difficult. Even letting liberals shoot guns doesn’t always convert them. A lot of times it takes that feeling of hopelessness to make them wake up to the urgency of protecting themselves.

    • Probably easier to convert an anti-gun wacko to gun ownership than a Veganist cult member to meatatarian. Unless the anti-gun wacko is also a a Veganist cult member. 🙂
      Come to think of it, Veganist Cult members are probably anti-gun unless one is using a gun to perform an abortion.

    • “So here’s the thing: pro-gunners wouldn’t want a liberal to get mugged to come to his or her senses. Or would we?” The problem with the true hoplophobic anti-gun zealots is that they are emotionally invested in their position, not logically. So they need a major emotional shock to jolt them out of their reflexive “I hate guns” feelings. Getting their head bashed in for their smartphone or their wallet might work, and I lack sympathy for the “pain and suffering” of someone who wants to destroy my right to self-defense.

      Sometimes, to get a someone’s attention, they need to be whacked upside the head with a 2X4.

  2. I’m a believer that it’s more advantageous to expel resources on getting kids more into shooting sports and personal protection. Some crusty old antis might flip now and then but it’s a better use of time and effort to help a future generation understand an appreciate the benefits and risks.

  3. Just tookk a force on force course about three weeks ago. Good stuff!

    As for converting them?

    Knowledge is power.

    Bigotry is often more powerful though, so sometimes it takes them getting victimized, for real, for them to learn.

  4. I’ve gotten a couple of the more religious antis with “The most valuable gift God gives you is your life. Refusing to defend it is an insult to God.”

  5. I shot rifles and shotguns growing up. I had a .22lr at eleven years old that I kept in my closet. And STILL I was brainwashed to fear the idea of carrying a pistol for self-defense by my West coast liberal/progressive brainwashing.

    The only thing that changed that was almost getting severely injured or even killed when i fought a mugger.

    I can only thank G-d for the experience with actually getting just a few bruises and without needing to kill anybody.

    Without this, I wouldn’t have likely changed my conditioning; it was that strong.

    In the mean time. Introduce the children young to the shooting sports and bring as many adults to the shooting range as you can. Every little bit helps. .

  6. Being that it is in a safe, training environment, would the gun control advocates actually “see the light”?, I believe that they need a real world experience to do so- “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”. It still is a good idea though.

  7. I don’t worry about ’em. Why that’s what the Po-leece are for. What are you afraid of? Can’t you just use your fists? And(my favorite)…God will protect me. BTW the 700Club is running stories on armed security for churches and empowering women especially with GUNS today and tomorrow. The REAL war on women.

  8. I sometimes dream that a large, strong, but unarmed person grabs an anti-gun senator by the hair and ears and explains to them that they are going to bash the back of their head against the sidewalk until the senator decides that maybe having a firearm to fight back with is a good idea after all. The clock starts, the audience is silent as the thwacking sound of a melon hitting pavement starts, the scoreboard shows 1, then 2, then 3, 4, 5 and then a shout is heard, “Gimmee a gun!!!” The buzzer sounds, the scoreboard shows 5 thwacks in 8 seconds. The host says, “I’m sorry, but if this had been a real attack, you would be dead now. Johnny, tell our contestant what consolation prize they have won…..”

    • You do realize Diane Feinstein already has a carry permit. As I am sure most anti gun politicians do, and if not they pay a person to protect them with a gun.

      • DiFi gave up her California permit many years ago. San Francisco has only four issued CCWs, and none of them are for her. Further, it would do her no good in D.C. since the Capitol is a no carry zone. And the feds only issue CCWs to LEOs. Like all high profile politicians, she has armed guards instead.

  9. My method of conversion is to show them a worst case scenario, the kind of thing that can only be stopped with an excessive application of firepower.

    Picture this: a 7 foot tall, 350 lb man wearing leather and chainmail, with a 6 ft long sword strapped to his back, walks up to you and tries to strike up a conversation with you. This was me walking out of a renaissance festival near Houston. Just imagine a man like that, and then imagine how you could conceive of stopping me from taking what I wanted, when I wanted, if nobody had a gun. I’ve had this conversation before. I show people pictures of me in a renfest costume, fully armed and armored like a Viking berserker, and then ask them what could stop me except for a barrage of 5.56 NATO?

    One person asked me how likely such a situation would be. I asked him where the nearest liquor store was.

      • My people are also the reason why there are tall, Irish blondes.

        And tall French Blondes

        And tall Scots.

        We kinda got around.

        Also, I love me some 12 gauge. Nothing I love more than slapping a drum full of magnum buckshot into my VEPR 12 and just blasting everything in front of me into mulch. God may have invented the shotgun, but he gave it as a gift to the Norseman.

        • LOL, you and your barbarian friends were sure drinking your Ale Oct 16th, lots of scantily clad barbarian women abounded!

  10. Easy…with women. Hey man…me and some hot chicks are going to the range. Maybe hit up a bar afterwards. Wanna go?

    Once you get someone in the gun range…its easy. Guns are fun.

  11. Converting antis take time, patience, and great effort. Some decades ago, I found myself in a situation at my undergraduate university where guns were not allowed and there was a head in the sand mindset. Co-eds were being raped and assaulted. Male students were being mugged. Even to get the stubborn and denying administration to install lights along the walk paths from classrooms to dorms was a long hassle…until the granddaughter of the undergraduate dean was raped and robbed just a few hundred feet from her dorm. Suddenly, we had lights along all walk paths and parking lots on campus, we had roving security, and personal safety and firearm proficiency classes were offered by experts brought in by the university at no cost to students. Our local D.A. started/expanded the Stop Rape Crisis Center, which helped a huge number of women, removing the fear, and equipping them to live after their attacks. Good, even great things happened. I always regretted that so few would listen, and nothing was done until that young co-ed suffered the horror she did.

    It is sad, that few things change until there is a catalyst. All the ingredients may be there, but a catalyst is needed.

    • Actually, its more like this –

      1 – Convert to Islam.

      2 – Pay the tax.

      3 – Submit. (Ladies, yes, submit means your worst nightmare)

      Choose 1, 2, or 3.

      Or die by the sword.

      Isn’t ‘The Religion of Peace’ wonderful?

  12. It depends on the anti-gunner, of course. Some are divorced from reality who tell themselves:

    1. Bad things only happen to other people.
    2. I’m too smart to get mugged.
    3. Only police should have guns.
    4. If I get a gun it will just get used against me.
    5. Guns are too complicated.
    6. I don’t have enough training to use a gun.
    7. I could maybe use a gun, but I would never need more than 6, or 7 or 10 rounds
    8. AR-15s are hard to aim. Buy a shotgun. Buy a shotgun.

    If someone is open-minded, their attitude can change. Force on force training can change attitudes. It is a marriage of tactics, technique, mindset, and tools. It’s also helpful to punch and kick someone in a padded suit, and to operate in a confined environment.

    If I had the opportunity, I would challenge every anti-gunner to force on force training. I’m glad that Patriot Protection has done so.

    • “8. AR-15s are hard to aim. Buy a shotgun. Buy a shotgun.”

      I was told by an anti that ARs with pistol grips make them easier to shoot from the hip.

      I told him to get the fvck off Call of Duty.

    • To be fair, though, some of these apply to some on our side as well. Such as,

      “2. I’m too smart to get mugged.”

      Exhibit A: All the hew and cry over “Situational Awareness” remarks following just about any DGU story.

      We ALL run the risk of fooling ourselves with how we wish the world works vice how it really is. William Aprill (and his kind) call this “Schema.” He gives some insight on this in the podcast at Ballistic Radio.

      http://ballisticradio.com/2014/02/17/podcast-ballistic-radio-episode-49-february-16-2014/

      Well worth the listen…

    • Many would probably respond with referring to that bogus ABC (or whatever it was) video where they “showed” that cc-ers were deluding themselves about personal protection BEFORE they took force-on-force training.

      They’d probably justify their decision by saying “we’ve already proven what you claim is a lie.” It is unlikely that for this subset of the anti any amount of persuasive argument regarding the flaws of that video would change their minds.

      That is…their minds are closed. They dogmatically cling to an incorrect belief in a worldview divorced from rational, observable reality. So, they could easily dismiss this force-on-force challenge as a waste of time.

  13. If the anti is sincerely willing to listen to reason and look at facts and statistics, then getting them to see the light is possible.

    If the anti is the type to stick their fingers in their ears when they hear something that conflicts with their beliefs, then you will have a more difficult time.

    If you get them on our side that is a plus for us. Help them to see reason.

  14. Introduce them to a nice meth-addicted gang-banger to bring home to his/ her parents?
    Use the 50 Shades of Grey angle for the one’s that are Shannon’s age.

    Accelerated Darwin’s Law by proxy

  15. it depends on the “anti” person. some will NEVER admit they are wrong. Being Anti-gun, for the most part, requires you to be irrational and by definition anyone who is irrational cares not for facts or reality. so quoting facts and doing demonstrations means nothing to them.

  16. Some antis can be converted. For these, the best way to do it is take them shooting. Take them out and show them that this evil spectre is nothing more than a tool, something they can use for enjoyment and entertainment, not an evil killing machine that turns people into crazed lunatics.

    Or you could save them from being mugged, but that’s not a very reliable method. Unless you live in Detroit.

    Of course, some people can’t be converted. They’re True Believers. Their minds are made up and nothing you say or do is going to change their mind. Don’t even waste your breath on them; the more aggressively you argue your point, the more violently they will oppose you.

  17. My ex told me that she didn’t see the need to have a gun because “I feel like if I carried one I would be somehow saying, “show me what you’ve got world!” I feel like if I don’t have that type of attitude then nothing bad is likely to happen.”

    There are no words for that type of ignorance… Notice also how I called her my ex?

  18. Convert an Anti?

    I take their spoiled, delusional, “living the good life,” selves and take them north of 11th street and kick them out of my car. If they survive, they return better in touch with reality.

    If they are a fence sitter, I take them to the range and we shoot some guns. By the time we are done shooting they have had so much fun they are ready to begin buying, practicing, and training.

  19. Something I’ve been meaning to send in to Robert is an idea for a question of the day along the same lines.

    For anyone who used to be anti-gun or undecided: what caused you to change your mind, or decide on a pro gun stance?

    It seems to me that the best way to change minds is to look at what has already changed minds.

  20. Great article. We need more of the “how to introduce” and “how to convert” articles. It’s the right way to change the culture away from the illogical gun-control advocates.

  21. I have never been able to convert my wife–she is decidedly phobic, having been raised in a no gun household. She has softened to the point that she can accept my black powder revolvers (they are not “real” guns in her mind) and my Kahr, but will touch none of them. She was furious when she felt a gun in my pocket, but was mollified when I reminded her that with her multiple disabilities (she uses a walker or a wheel chair because of bad hips) she is walking around with a target on her back. For obvious reasons, she does not know about any of my other guns. Nor does she know that I gave my daughter a pistol for college graduation, or that I recently gave my son my XD9 and a shotgun.

  22. I converted one of my fence-sitter friends by bringing him to the range a few times. The one thing I find really helps is to keep politics completely absent from the entire experience; let them figure those out on their own to grow from within. I just kept bringing him to the range until he asked me “Hey what do I do if I wanna buy my own gun for next time?” I then proceeded to tell him all about NJ firearms laws and how atrocious they are. He was appalled, and now that he lives in a pro-gun state is a total 2nd Amendment supporter. Still saving up the cash to buy his first gun, but I think I did my job well. I’d be willing to try this with a dedicated anti, but the sad reality is many of them don’t see the light until they get mugged or some other tragedy befalls them that could have been stopped with some application of self defense to begin with.

    I always tell my convert friends that it’s not just a war on gun ownership we face, but a war on self-defense as well. Some facts, figures, and headlines about the farked up cases we’ve seen in the UK open their eyes mighty wide.

    • Sitting around like a clique with a “Join us or fvck off, the choice is yours” sign at the door isn’t going to bring in any newcomers. If we don’t actively try to introduce the fence sitters to the 2nd Amendment, what gun rights we have left will die out completely in two or three generations.

    • Why? The we are all being soaked in anti philosophy through mass media. The antis are on a ceaseless march to convert your friends, your children, even you and literally everyone. Why should we not advocate for what we know is right?

  23. If you attack someone’s belief system you’ll never convert them. They need to question their own beliefs.

    It seems to me that most antis are really anti-violence and thoughtlessly condemn guns as tools of violence. However, at the range there is no violence and guns can be curiosities of engineering and an opportunity to test one’s skills or just try something new.

    My whole approach to “conversion” is to make it known that I am a gun owner, then teach people about guns. I invite people to go shooting, to attend a gun show or to see a gun disassembled to learn how it works. I preach the fundamental safety rules, share things (especially asinine things) that I have learned about gun laws. Basically, I tell them why guns are important to me and invite them to share in my enthusiasm, no strings attached.

    This approach has been wildly successful. I’ve gotten plenty of people interested in guns and shooting, and a lot of people have had a good time. There have been no arguments, no politics, no dreary statistics. The vast majority of people I’ve engaged have at least listened respectfully and learned a thing or two. However, I think at least one “friend” has stopped talking to me; I feel sorry for anyone so rigidly afraid of guns that a mere invitation to go shooting (my ammo, at my expense) resulted in the silent treatment when a simple “no thanks” would have sufficed.

  24. Had a Tinder date ask me about the holster she saw when we were undressing. After hooking up, she said she’s never fired a gun (hur hurrrr hurrrrr), but she wouldn’t be opposed to being FWB and maybe some range time.

    We’ve let off a couple rounds since then. *cough*

  25. I’m not an operator so I have a couple of questions about the video for anyone who knows this stuff. First, why would you drop your mag and replace it after firing only 3 shots? And then do it again after 3 more? And what’s that dude that comes in around the minute mark wearing? Is that a cod piece or a fanny pack? Or is he just wearing his underwear outside his pants?

    • Gov,

      I don’t know about the video specifically. In general it is a good idea to practice magazine changes in a combat scenario. First of all, you could have a defective magazine and want to replace it. Second, there are times when you may want to be certain you have a full magazine after firing some rounds from your first magazine.

      Here is a scenario where you would want to change magazines. You fire three rounds of a 7 round magazine at an attacker who flees … but you suspect he has accomplices and/or he/they are getting ready for a counterattack. Rather than face a potential counterattack with only the 4 remaining cartridges in your magazine, you install a full magazine in your handgun for maximum capability. Whether or not you discard the partial magazine — versus keeping it so that you at least have four shots after emptying your full magazine — depends on the situation and whether you have additional full magazines on hand.

  26. But every anti knows that if we ban guns then butterflies would fly over our nation. No more bad guys because they cannot get a gun; just look at Washington DC.

  27. “How Do You Convert an Anti?”
    How do I convert an Anti?
    HA!.

    I don’t care to.
    They won’t be reasoned with.
    I am not going to waste my time.
    When the beaten or raped or someone in their family is murdered I take the opportunity to say, “I told you so”.

  28. You most likely can’t convert someone heavily indoctrinated, even with logic or facts. You have to plant the seed of doubt for them to realize the error of their ways. An inception without any hi-tech equipment, Leonardo Di Caprio, or plot holes you can drive a freight train through.

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