Highlighted Stories that support self-defense philosophies
AbOuT ThiS SeCTion :-)
Home fortification for security
Home fortification for security
There are many stories, case studies and examples out there and our FB page highlights those on a daily basis.
This section is a collection of " Prime Examples" of the subject category. If I could pick one story, article or case to be an example of what we're discussing, this would be it.
Home fortification for security
Home fortification for security
Home fortification for security
The idea of home fortification or making your home, apartment or even campsite more secure is essential for mental health. If you don't feel safe, then you live in a state of fear. Home fortification would include locks, strengthening doors, alarms, motion sensors, pressure sensors, infrared sensors, lighting, remote monitoring alarm companies, cameras both door and high mounted, redesigning landscape, adding hardening overlays to windows and vulnerable areas.
Use of force levels
Home fortification for security
During a confrontation there is a use of force applied in both aggression and defense. The use of force is often considered a spectrum from low to lethal with things like pepper spray or verbal aggression somewhere along that spectrum.
It is to be understood that you can only use an appropriate amount of force to the situation. You can't break someone's knee cap because they try to hug you. Inappropriate use of force morphs into legal issues.
Gun handling failure
Because gun ownership is an essential part of good self defense, firearms training is essential to prevent these kinds of failures.
Gun handling failures are those that break the 4 rules of firearms safety.
Real fighting, not mutual combat
Intuition, gut feelings and red flags
This article will highlight the difference between a real fight and mutual combat.
Mutual combat is when two people agree to fight rather than one person is an attacker and one person is the victim. The agreement may not be verbal but instead two people squaring up.
Real fights are chaotic and brutal
Intuition, gut feelings and red flags
Intuition, gut feelings and red flags
There are many stories and collections of women who have trusted their instinct and proven right.
Awareness is essential
Awareness is paying attention to your environment whether it is physical or digital. This would be a prime example of where awareness has proven a successful tool.
Successful usage of a firearm
Because the successful use of a firearm is not often highlighted this is a prime example of it.
2 Men thwart a kidnapping of a 74 year old woman from a church parking lot.
What tool would you use ?
One of the great failures of the anti-gun group is to be able to supply an effective tool or alternative when the victim is faced with a really bad situation. This section highlights an example of "What other tool would you use ?"
This article highlights an increase in crime with the taking away of a tool
Scams and cons
DEAR ABBY: My sister-in-law, “Carla,” has had a “girlfriend,” “Susan,” for the past year who she has never met or spoken to. They only text. Carla says they plan to be married when they meet, which is canceled repeatedly. When I have asked, Carla has confusing reasons why they can’t FaceTime or speak on the phone.
Carla volunteered to come early for her yearly stay to assist us because I was having surgery. My husband bought her a plane ticket, but she decided not to use it, as Susan was going to come with her and could not travel on that date. When my surgery was done, my husband had little help. Carla did arrive a week or so later (without Susan). Yesterday she shared with me that she was looking for a particular gift card. I asked, despite knowing I shouldn’t, who the gift cards were for, and she told me they were for Susan. I don’t want to assist her in getting scammed. Is there anything I can do to help my sister-in-law? Do I just mind my own business? — WISE BROTHER-IN-LAW IN ARIZONA
DEAR WISE B.I.L.: There are so many red flags in your letter that it is alarming. Your sister-in-law may be being catfished or romance-scammed. A classic warning sign is involvement with someone who can’t or won’t converse on the phone or face-to-face. This happens when the person is not the gender or age they claim to be. Promising to meet and having to constantly postpone the meeting is another red flag. Carla is making a huge mistake by sending this “friend” money. Gift cards are a common conduit used by cat-fishers. See less
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GjiS2kwd3/
Defensive gun use versus criminal usage
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) estimates there were approximately 330,000 violent victimizations involving a firearm in 2021. That same year there were estimated 1.67 million defensive gun uses. That is defensive gun uses are 5.06 times more than firearms used in crime.
https://crimeresearch.org/2026/05/defensive-gun-uses-occur-about-five-times-more-often-than-criminal
Stun and run, don't engage
There is a foundational principle within self-defense of disengaging and running away.
It is simply labeled Stun and Run.
If a person engages in a confrontation bad stuff can happen. You can trip over your own feet, miss a block and get hit in the face, slip on something. The longer you engage the greater the risk is that the situation can turn against you.
Harassment
Mindset and preparedness
Harassment can be either annoying or frightening depending on the context.
Mindset and preparedness
Mindset and preparedness
It is the mindset of "doing whatever it takes' to stay safe.
Different threats need different tools to address them. Being concerned about your car being stolen will require a different mindset from firearms training.
Adopting the attitude of " I'll do whatever it takes to stay safe" will be the motivation to read a book, research a topic, ask questions, get training.
Relationship red flags
The Single biggest predictor of....
In relationships there are red flags that indicate future behavior
The Single biggest predictor of....
The Single biggest predictor of....
... future behavior is past behavior.
People will often ask rhetorically, " how could anyone have known?"
If you pay attention you'll hear about track records and past incidents.
Myths of selfdefense
Crime, aftermath and trauma
The are many myths of self-defense such as shooting the gun out of someone's hand, that violence is totally random, that crime can be solved within 24 hours, that law enforcement will go to great lengths to recover small stolen goods, or that you'll be the hero if you successfully defend yourself.
Crime, aftermath and trauma
Crime, aftermath and trauma
Crime, aftermath and trauma
Red lines or mental stops
Red lines or mental stops
Red lines or mental stops
When a person is considring self-defense there are
Improvised Weapony
Red lines or mental stops
Red lines or mental stops
Open
Open
Red lines or mental stops
Open
The will to survive and overcome
Experts routinely say that it is mindset and a will to live that creates success. Here is one such amazing story.
On September 6, 2006, 51-year-old Portland emergency room nurse Susan Kuhnhausen returned home after a long shift and was ambushed by a hired hitman hiding inside her house. The attacker, 59-year-old Richard Shulz, was approximately 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed more than 220 pounds, giving him a significant size advantage. As soon as she entered her home, he attacked and attempted to strangle her. The struggle lasted several minutes and moved through different areas of the house. Susan suffered bruises, cuts, and injuries to her face, neck, and body, but she refused to stop fighting.
Drawing on sheer determination and a survival mindset, Susan managed to reverse the attack, take the larger man to the floor, and lock him in a chokehold. She maintained control until he lost consciousness and died. Investigators later learned that the attack was part of a murder-for-hire plot arranged by her estranged husband. Susan's story has since become one of the most widely cited examples of civilian self-defense, demonstrating that mindset, resilience, and the will to survive can overcome even a determined and physically superior attacker
https://www.wweek.com/news/2016/08/17/a-hit-man-came-to-kill-susan-kuhnhausen-she-survived-he-didnt/
Open
OPEN
Mental health treatment in reality
This is exactly why people are fed up.
In 2021, Tyler Brown was convicted after firing at Boston Police officers. The DA’s office reportedly asked for 10–12 years. Judge Janet Sanders gave him 5–6 years instead, with probation and mental health evaluation/treatment attached to it.
And this is where the bullshit starts.
They sell the lighter sentence by saying, “Don’t worry, there will be mental health treatment.”
Okay. Where?
Because in the real world, what does that usually turn into? A few sessions? A few classes? A check mark on a piece of paper? Then everyone pats themselves on the back like the system did something meaningful.
That is not mental healthcare. That is paperwork pretending to be mental healthcare.
Now here we are.
A man who had already shown he was willing to fire at police was back out, and yesterday he allegedly walked along Memorial Drive in Cambridge with a rifle, firing dozens of rounds at random vehicles and innocent people. Two motorists were critically injured. Two innocent people are now fighting for their lives.
And here comes the predictable excuse:
“Oh, he’s mentally ill. We can’t be mean to him.”
Meanwhile, two innocent people are fighting for their lives.
Because of “compassion.”
Bullshit.
That is not compassion. Compassion is not putting a violent, proven threat back on the street and hoping for the best. Compassion is not giving someone less prison time, writing “mental health treatment” on the paperwork, and pretending the public is now safe.
Real compassion protects everyone.
It protects the mentally ill person by getting him real treatment, real supervision, and real accountability. It protects the public by keeping dangerous people away from innocent victims. It protects police from being forced into deadly situations that never should have happened in the first place.
What we keep getting instead is the typical liberal soft-on-crime fantasy: all talk, no action.
They talk about compassion.
They talk about rehabilitation.
They talk about mental health.
They talk about second chances.
But when it comes time to actually protect the public, it turns into slogans, excuses, and court paperwork.
Then when the person reoffends, everyone acts shocked.
This was not some unpredictable first-time offender. The warning signs were already there. He had already fired at police. The DA wanted more time. The judge decided less was enough and dressed it up with mental health treatment.
It wasn’t enough.
And who stopped him this time?
A Massachusetts State Police trooper and an armed civilian/former military member who stepped in while everyone else was running from the gunfire.
Thank God they were there. But those two innocent people should never have been placed in that position in the first place.
You can care about mental health and still believe violent offenders belong off the street.
That is not cruelty.
That is common sense.
Stop calling this compassion.
It is negligence with better marketing.