Including ...Training to Stop Active Shooters • President’s Message • Attorney Question • Book Review • Editorial • About this Journal
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Training to Stop an Active Shooter
by Marty Hayes, J.D.
This past month two active shooter/killer incidents, one in El Paso, TX, and one in Dayton, OH, put mass shooter interdiction in the spotlight. As news coverage breaks, questions arise about tactics and strategies for Network members who may be caught up in an active shooter attack. For several years, my school, The Firearms Academy of Seattle, has been teaching its own curriculum on how to stop an active shooter (See https://firearmsacademy.com/handgun/active-shooter-interdiction). For my own continuing education, this year I attended two similar courses taught by well-respected instructors. I came away from those experiences with both a clearer understanding of the problem and a newly committed resolve to keep offering this training, as it is critically needed.
President’s Message
No News on OIC Investigation
by Marty Hayes, J.D.
Many members have e-mailed and asked whether or not there is any new information regarding the Washington State Office of Insurance Commissioner’s investigation into the Network. The latest is we have heard nothing from them in over a month. I don’t know what to make of that, so I am just reporting the fact. Interestingly, I have become a reasonably well-educated person on the inner workings of the OIC, now that I have read over 2,500 e-mails and other documents sent back and forth between individuals working at the OIC. That material was not about the Network but were documents regarding their investigations of other companies, such as the NRA, USCCA, US Law Shield and others made available through the Freedom of Information Act.
I have also been reading court cases regarding insurance issues, both Washington cases and other state’s judicial rulings, and have found nothing that works against us. That is good news. Ironically, I imagine that there are attorneys in the WA Attorney General’s office who have been reading the same cases, but with a different goal in mind. One thing is for sure–if our case ends up in court, we will be making new law. I will keep you updated when I know more.
Attorney Question of the Month
This month’s Attorney Question continues a discussion started in last month’s edition of this journal, discussing the legal implications of gripping a holstered handgun while issuing verbal commands to stop an assault. If you missed the first set of attorney responses, we encourage you to read them at https://armedcitizensnetwork.org/august-2019-attorney-question as they are instructive. Here is the question we asked our Affiliated Attorneys:
In many states, a person has committed the crime of assault when he or she verbalized a threat of force accompanied by threatening actions.
This can create a problem when an armed citizen only puts his or her hand on the grip of the holstered pistol and gives verbal commands to stop a threat without actually drawing the gun. If a citizen in your area does that, with what crime are they likely to be charged? If convicted, what is the likely punishment?
What should a Network member do to avoid facing charges after that kind of situation?
Book Review
Guardian of the Republic
By Lt. Col. Allen West
The Crown Publishing Group
ISBN-10: 9780804138109
Hardcover: 224 pages
$11.60 at Amazon or Kindle $6.99
Reviewed by Gila Hayes
I have long been concerned by the trend of calling America a democracy and not a republic, although I have questioned my reaction, wondering if it really is as big a problem as it seems to me. After all, there are quotations in which the Founding Fathers seem to hold up democracy as the model for good government, so I’m moderately sympathetic to the younger folks like my niece who, a few years ago, asked, “Isn’t America a democracy?”
Editor’s Notebook
Responses
by Gila Hayes
Let’s start off with an interesting note I received from a Network member. We always enjoy it when Massad Ayoob has time to give an interview. Not only do we get to learn interesting and important things from chatting with him, but we often hear from members who enjoy what he has to say just as much as we do. Last month’s lead interview with Massad brought the following letter from a member:
About this Journal
The eJournal of the Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network, Inc. is published monthly on the Network’s website at http://armedcitizensnetwork.org/our-journal. Content is copyrighted by the Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network, Inc.