BASIC MAKE-READY FOR URBAN UNREST (PART ONE)

I abide in my conviction that the Left was caught off guard by the victory of Donald Trump. I believe that is the reason why we have not seen mass violence yet, for violence has always been a centerpiece in their playbook.

As The Donald’s cabinet picks come up, it appears that, if the people he chooses do indeed get confirmed, and perform as they are capable of doing, then the array of Jacobins who have been screwing up the US for generations will be running like rats off a burning ship.

But they are unlikely to go quietly.

Let me repeat that—these our enemies will not go without a fight, and I mean that quite literally.  Before it is over, you and those around you could be facing violence, whether it is sporadic acting-out from leftist manchildren melting down in your businesses or other public places, or the more anarchic organized variety.

You need to start preparing now if you are not already.  I offer the following points for your consideration

This is a literal war and casualties are likely.  This means that you may do everything right legally in protecting yourself, your loved ones, and your property and still wind up on the wrong end of a liberal prosecutor or police department.   Ask Kyle Rittenhouse.  A prolonged battle against The Mob is guaranteed, regardless.

On the physical/immediate level, I can only tell you that whether you intend to simply run away or whether you intend to stand and fight, make your peace in advance with your course of action and have your correct mindset—prepare accordingly.

Know your limits and decide now what you will and will not do, and what risks you will or will not take.  Be honest in assessing your personal capacity for violence.

Evaluate everything—to include that if you are in a “blue” city or state, asking yourself why you haven’t gotten out yet.

Add to that a comprehensive risk assessment of your business, your property, the schools your children attend, and where you can “bug out” to in the event you are in a high-risk area and need to leave quickly.

I recommend you and your fellow like-minded citizens meet in advance to discuss any potential dangers.

Proactively meet with political and law enforcement stakeholders now and make sure they are on board with plans to protect your area if the worst happens.

Or are you facing a worst-case scenario with local or even state officials that are liable to be sympathetic to rioters and Communists?

What are the implications as far as your employee and site safety and insurance needs?

Consider membership in U.S. Law Shield or the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, which have great instructional materials and legal representation for armed citizens.  Read the fine print.

If you do have to use force to protect yourself, you need to have a continuum of options, the first being—if possible—not being in the way of (and having to fight your way out of) trouble.  If that fails, you need….

 1. Non-lethal options

You need to have, within your physical limitations, the ability to defend yourself physically without having to immediately resort to weapons.

Consider improving your physical fitness (the plan at the link is also widely available in PDF) as well as taking a combatives or martial arts program such as Krav Maga, Thai Kickboxing (Muay Thai), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or Filipino Martial Arts.  You do what works for you.

If you are a total novice, are on a budget, or are a 15-year old girl living in a house full of liberals in New Yawk, you might not have these options and might consider practicing and studying a basic military combatives program such as the U.S. Army FM 21-150 system, possibly with a friend.

If you can master some basic unarmed fighting techniques and put that together with a decent level of physical fitness, you will be further along than you may realize.

Confidence in yourself is very important.  There are many options in the Internet age to learn from reputable instructors.

Forget the Shaw Brothers films and popular martial arts entertainment for guidance here.  Remember, the military makes soldiers effective in a relatively short amount of time by focusing on basics.

I will close this point with one caution—train honestly and realistically.  If something seems wrong with a given school or instructor, move along.

 2. Intermediate options 

There are some situations that you could easily run into with organized rioters—such as multiple attackers—that might give you the unwelcome choice of trying to fight them ineffectively barehanded or risk upping the ante and using a deadly weapon against technically unarmed people.

That may be justified depending on your state laws.  But, as before, I suggest you pad your options.

The first is having copious amounts of defense sprays (these are great against bad individuals also, not just mobs).

Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray is the police favorite.  Also out there is older CS spray and tear gas, which are different chemically and are available from multiple companies.

I personally recommend Defense Technologies and Sabre Red.

Galls is an excellent source for good defense sprays and related security tools.

More recently, we have seen Pepperball projectile launchers and products from them and other manufacturers such as from Sabre (above) and Byrna that might give you more options against multiple bad people.

Know how to use these correctly.

Avoid stun-guns and Taser systems.  These are good for incapacitating someone for an arrest but not as good for an individual just trying to protect themselves.  Once you finish zapping them, they’re back at 100 percent.

At this point I need to throw in another legal caution—check your state and local laws regarding your best options.

If you’re in deep enough that you are waging a fight against multiple attackers, you need to be considering first aid for yourself and others as well as what you do with the bad people post-spraying.  They and their friends probably won’t mildly exit stage left.  Remember, it isn’t over until it’s over!

If you plan to use impact weapons, be warned—in most states, clubs are considered deadly weapons.  Some other states place size limits on defense spray canisters, such as Florida.  I guarantee that unless you are in Texas, your own state has a list of these dos and don’ts, and even Texas has laws you need to be aware of.

Know before you go!

 3. Lethal options

Save this for last resort.  If you mean to use deadly force, and you are (1) mentally prepared to do that (no bluffing) and (2) have yourself legally correct (because you took the time to learn the law), then you need to have these tools.

First, the one weapon almost anyone can afford:  a good handgun made by reputable manufacturers such as Ruger, Sig-Sauer, Glock, Smith and Wesson, Taurus, or Beretta.

Some of you know there are others that are good but I’m talking basics.  I will also make a half-ton of people mad by giving away this secret—What is the best self-defense handgun to carry?  Wait for it…. It is…

The pistol that you, personally (not Delta Force or the SAS) can afford and safely carry, handle, and shoot accurately and quickly under stress.

I don’t care if it is a lowly .22 rimfire pistol that will get you laughed at by legions of people with expensive sunglasses and sleeve tattoos. 

If you can handle more, great.  But if you are a 70-year-old woman with arthritic hands, you have no business (probably) buying an M-9.

The real operators will agree with me here, or at least be laughing at my delivery.  If I ever get a YouTube channel, I’m finished.

Recently we have seen the Left preoccupied with trying to ban “assault weapons” and I am confident that once they think about it more, they will get back to trying to ban pistols.  Why?  Consider:

• The pistol is concealable and can be carried almost anywhere. Forget the AK in the trunk of your car.  What do you have right now in the moment you need it?
• The pistol can, with appropriate shooting craft and tactics, be employed as an offensive weapon as well as a defensive one. The British SAS pioneered this and it has been since perfected by them and the world’s special operations and police units.  More on this some other time.
• A relatively small and inoffensive handgun can be used by Joe or Jane Citizen to “relieve” a hostile soldier of their Sturmgewehr and make it theirs. The Allies in World War II made a special behind-the-lines resistance pistol for this called the Liberator.
• After the shooting, you can hide your weapon while you act surprised and terrified like everyone else and run to safety if needed (while obeying all applicable laws). Try that with an M-14 slung over your back.

So, if you can, get a pistol that you can shoot well and that you are willing and able to train with.

This means being able to get ammunition also.  If it is a semiautomatic, only accept original equipment quality or manufacturer’s magazines for it that you can trust not to jam.

If you have a need/budget/ability to get more, fine.  You might consider having plenty of spare parts and a few extra magazines, and best of all, pick a highly reliable and economic pistol known for not breaking and being easy to fix if it does.

I guess I tipped my hand on that one.  Yes, that’s what I have been using.  But the others are good and you might shoot a given model better.

I would also consider other lethal options such as knives, the stiletto being a great option (Jason Hanson over at Spy Briefing sells a great one), as well as fixed-blade daggers.

Defense knives is a whole subject to get into, but the use of a knife is fairly intuitive—however, do invest some time in learning the finer points of handling one (the previously linked FM 21-150 from the US Army has a section on this).

Depending on your state, clubs (I will recommend blackjacks and similar small impact devices), and even brass knuckles may be possible.  Just understand these will, in the eyes of the law, be seen as deadly weapons like guns.

But in certain situations, cold-cocking a threat with a sap and running away, leaving behind a dazed thug with a headache might make more sense than putting a bullet in them—an action bound to bring out cops and guys in suits with cigars, involve grand juries, and possibly the coroner.

The same math applies if you use a blade.  Wearing someone out with a cudgel might result in serious injury depending on where you hit them.  Cutting, stabbing, or shooting them, will almost certainly cross that threshold.

Let me say again—if you are not ready to do this to another human mentally, then leave it alone.  You will get outed in the moment and the weapon taken from you.

We will get into tactics and possibilities more in Part Two, to include planning for things truly going worst of the worst-case.  It is not going to be pretty and it’s going to be the scariest Deuces Wild yet.  Expect a half ton of legal disclaimers up front!

Mark Deuce has had a life-long career in community law enforcement. He is the author of Deuces Wild for TTP.