Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Reasonableness is the most subjectively measured “objective standard” in humanity. What you and I deem reasonable, surely someone somewhere would disagree.
Often, I see instructors and students spend a LOT of time on “the gun” but NO time on the whole kit and kaboodle of “defense”. We MIGHT need to defend ourselves and those that we love physically (preferably by avoiding or deescalating conflict) but we will certainly NEED to protect ourselves and our family legally, financially, and morally/emotionally if we use “the gun” to physically defend ourselves and those that we love.
Advice nugget: Stive to live in “condition yellow”.
Living in a constant condition yellow is impossible! This is just as impossible as being a “perfect” human… but we should TRY as much as we can.
Being disciplined to keep our eyes open, collect and process information, be aware of the people and things in our environment, and make smart decisions about where we put ourselves and our loved ones, (living in condition yellow) will go a LONG way to lessen the possibility of our needing to use a gun to defend ourselves and family. But what happens IF we are forced to use deadly force to stop a violent criminal attack?
Advice nugget: C-Y-A
Regardless of what popped into your mind when you read this, Massad Ayoob teaches that CYA means “Can You Articulate”. Everything we do as adult responsibly armed Americans revolves upon “can you articulate”.
Jim Stoker and Klint Macro with Massad Ayoob, November 2022
CAN you articulate why you carry a defensive firearm? Can you articulate why you store or stage your firearm the way you do? Can you articulate why you go where you go? Can you articulate what training you have received? Can you articulate how that training is documented?
COULD you articulate that you exhausted every known opportunity to avoid confrontation? Could you articulate why you believed you and your family were in mortal danger? Could you articulate that you were left with no other choice but to use deadly force to stop the attacker and why? Could you articulate why you shot the attacker where you did? Could you articulate why you shot as many times as you did? Could you articulate why you stopped shooting and when? Could you articulate why you used the specific ammo that you used? Could you articulate why you used the specific gun you used to defend yourself and/or your loved ones?
My partner in my podcast Meet The Pressers, Matt Mallory says, “The body has a hard time going where the mind hasn’t been”, so answering these questions now is pretty important.
First, let me say, anything you say in the aftermath of a defensive encounter, should be said through your lawyer. With THAT said, your lawyer is going to be tasked with articulating your “WHY”.
Will the prosecutor and potential jury agree that your “WHY” was reasonable??
One thing that greatly “betters” your chance of establishing reasonableness is documented training. Isolated gun safety training is very important. If you own a gun, you have an ethical responsibility to know how to handle and use the gun safely. As a family first responder you have a moral duty to have confidence in your ability to handle and use the gun safely in the context of personal/family defense.
Has your training helped you to understand the importance of being “aware”? Do you know the legal criteria needed to justify a use of deadly force in Pennsylvania. How about in any state you are traveling to, or traveling through to get there? Are you aware of studies and experiments that are regularly cited in court to establish the distances that an average human being can pose a lethal threat? Are you aware of what the body is likely to do during the “fight or flight”? Do you understand how the brain is likely to process information during a violent encounter? Have you trained in a way that incorporates the body’s most likely natural reactions? Does your training help you to recognize what it might look like when a violent attack ends? Does your training teach you that the instant that you recognize an attack ceasing you need to stop pressing the trigger? Do you know what to say (and not say) when you call 911 and when the police arrive? Do you have a pro-gun criminal defense attorney on speed dial to represent you immediately following a defensive encounter? Do you have money set aside to pay that lawyer?
If all you do is train “the gun”, and you cannot answer these questions, you are setting yourself and your family up for a failure.
Your documented training should reflect “WHERE” you got your “WHYs” from. Help your lawyer say:
“It was because of my client’s training that he/she recognized that using deadly force was necessary to defend his/her family. The moment he/she recognized that the threat had ceased my client stopped defending him/herself with the firearm, got his/her family to a safer place and called 911.”
Advice nugget: “It was because of my client’s training….” Is more likely to establish reasonableness.
FOAC-ILLEA is and always will be against mandatory training. However, training is a very important thing to obtain if you want to be “well regulated” as well as armed. If you are a new gun owner or have never taken a class, go take a basic gun safety course. If you are a family first responder, seek out proper defensive training. Remember… if we defend ourselves physically, we will very likely need to defend ourselves legally, financially, and morally/ethically as well.
Here is your homework:
Advice nugget: Document your training!
Create a training log. Notate when you watch the videos and read the articles. Note the date, the length of the video, the link to where it can be found, and who the source was. Notate when you attend seminars and who presented the information (the instructor and host organization/company). Notate the class you attended, and the topics covered, time in the classroom, time on the range, the instructor and host org/co. Keep copies of your certificates. Do this for every class, article, podcast, video, book, online course, classroom course, seminar, and live fire training class or personal coaching. Notate it ALL!
I have talked to a lot of prosecutors over the years, and I’ll ask, “Why did you prosecute Guy A and not Guy B.” The answer has consistently been, “Guy B had documented training… Guy A did not.”
If your training is documented and you can articulate (through your lawyer) that you did X-Y-Z based upon your training, then your lawyer will more likely be able to argue that your actions were reasonable. If the prosecutor, jury and or judge agree with that reasonableness, then you are more likely win the legal phase of your defensive encounter.
The gun bash ticket sales are under way! CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE A GUN BASH TICKET. They can be purchased on the FOAC-ILLEA website. The gun bash is a tremendously great time of food and fellowship with some of the finest guns available in a bash! Tickets are selling fast, so be sure to pick yours up TODAY!
If you would be willing to volunteer and help with the Gun Bash, we can use extra man and woman power! We need more volunteers to help. If you can donate your time, please contact FOAC-ILLEA Secretary/Treasurer Dale Brackin 412-913-1057.
By Stephen LaSpina – FOAC-ILLEA Board Member
I had the opportunity this week to attend an NRA-ILA (National Rifle Association – Institute for Legislative Action) Political Update Meeting on the eastern side of Pennsylvania. There were three presenters with around 30 people in attendance.
David Conte is the Grassroots Field Coordinator for NRA-ILA in Pennsylvania. He began the presentation explaining all the different departments within the NRA. He made mention of their hotline number, which he said President Trump would sometimes call in to so he could ask about a specific Second Amendment policy issue. David spoke about the Eddie Eagle program, their collegiate outreach program, as well as the campaign outreach programs coming to states in October.
David mentioned that during a recent Presidential election, the NRA knocked on more doors than the GOP, and they also made more calls than the Trump campaign itself.
He covered many other departments and initiatives, mainly focusing on the federal level.
Up next was Darin Goens, the NRA State Director for Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
Darin touched on the makeup of our state House and Senate, and the struggle to get pro-gun bills signed by our Governor.
Darin rightly stated how concerned he is about Pennsylvania going the way of New York or New Jersey. He highlighted the four anti-gun bills that were presented in our House earlier this year. He spoke on the importance of elections and getting others who share our values to come out and vote. He also talked about the importance of introducing others to shooting and educating people about firearms by taking them along to the range.
Darin made a key observation that the strategy of the Left is not to outright confiscate guns; it is to make so many restrictive and prohibitive laws that people voluntarily disarm. He said he sees this clearly in his home state of New Jersey, especially in their tyrannical responses to the Bruen Decision by SCOTUS.
Finally, Todd Ellis closed out the meeting by announcing the formation of the Keystone Rifle and Pistol Association, which hopes to host competitions and have its own newsletter for Pennsylvania members.
Overall, I found the meeting to be very informative, and the presenters were well-appraised on what was happening at both the federal and state levels. I would be remiss if I did not say that I have serious misgivings about Wayne LaPierre and his leadership, as well as how notably absent the NRA has been to date in Pennsylvania gun rights initiatives. However, I am hopeful that at least the latter is beginning to change, and I was glad to see people here on the ground who care passionately about our Second Amendment rights. If an NRA-ILA Political Update Meeting comes close to your neighborhood, I would certainly encourage you to attend.
FOAC-ILLEA Volunteers, Tony Patti and Dave Steen manning the booth at the Oaks Gun Show
FOAC-ILLEA Volunteers Ken Nakutis, Kevin Jackson, Dale Brackin, Lisha Mihalko, Jim Stoker, Klint Macro, and Augie Macro, at the Pittsburgh Gun Show
FOAC-ILLEA President Jim Stoker appeared on the Conservative Voice Radio Show on WWDB-AM Talk 860.
CLICK HERE to listen to the PART 1 of the broadcast. CLICK HERE to listen to Part 2 of the broadcast.
FOAC-ILLEA VP Klint Macro on WPXI Channel 11 News discussing changing the PA Game Commission Policy allowing Semi Auto Centerfire Rifles for Large Game.
CLICK HERE to watch the broadcast.
The first episode of the new FOAC-ILLEA Podcast is available to watch on YouTube and Facebook.
FOAC-ILLEA President Jim Stoker and Vice President Klint Macro kick off a new video series that discusses current legal, legislative, and educational actions across the Commonwealth. In this episode Jim and Klint discuss the pending litigation regarding the PICs Delays, and the Lower Merrion Two Preemption violation. Jim and Klint also discuss a bit on their background and how they became involved with FOAC-ILLEA. Lastly, they discuss the upcoming Gun Bash on September 30, 2023.
CLICK HERE to watch Episode 1 on YouTube. CLICK HERE to watch Episode 1 on Facebook.
By Jim Stoker - FOAC-ILLEA President
The enemies of the Constitution are at it again. Whether you want to use the U.S. Constitution, or the Pennsylvania Constitution, there are more suggested violations of the 2nd Amendment or Article I, Section 21 in the PA. House of Representatives than we’ve seen in decades. All the same bills are being pushed forth, but what’s worse is they’re making it to the floor. The anti-Constitution people have guaranteed the committees vote in accordance with the party line and they don’t really care what the Constitutions say.
House bill 912 (Rep. Shusterman, D, District 157, Chester County) is called “Prohibiting Firearms in Court Buildings”. What it should be called is “Ensuring criminals can re-victimize their prey safely within reach of the judicial system”. This outrageously misguided bill was sponsored by Shusterman and of course supported by multiple Democrats to strip the rights of the law-abiding citizens of this Commonwealth away.
At first glance, the average citizen may often think “Well, yeah... people shouldn’t be taking guns into the courtrooms anyway”. The issue is that this bill doesn’t address that, as it is already illegal! This bill makes it illegal for anyone to take their firearm with them TO the court, not just inside the court. In effect, disarming the people already obeying the laws while their attackers, rapists, attempted murderers show up to the same location doing whatever they want to their unarmed victims.
Have we lost our collective minds? What on earth convinces these fools that the bad guys are suddenly going to obey a law stating they’d be guilty of a misdemeanor if they violate the statute when they’re already there BECAUSE THEY VIOLATED A STATUTE??
Then blowhard Tim Briggs (D, District 149, Montgomery County), sits there and tells the media that the change would not prevent courts from offering lockup services, just no longer mandates them. Excuse me Rep. Briggs, do you mean the part of the law requiring all courts to provide safe storage options for all residents upon request that’s been the law nearly 30 years and has yet to be provided for? Isn’t it YOUR party parading around the capitol calling for what you so love to call “common sense” safe storage laws?
Hypocrites… When the anti-Constitution crowd can find a soap box to stand on to preach against our rights to self-defense, they do so loud and proud, not to save lives, but to raise campaign contributions and votes at the polls. They don’t care about safety! They play on the ignorance of the average citizen who is unfamiliar with firearms or true common sense regarding them. This is one more example of the duplicity of their efforts, trying to mandate safe storage in the home while denying safe storage at the courtrooms. SHALL NOT BE QUESTIONED!
FOAC-ILLEA in the News Recently, Trib Live published an article about the historic coalition of like-minded organizations push to change the PA Game Commission policy to allow semi auto centerfire rifles for large game hunting. This effort started with FOAC-ILLEA, ACSL, BCSCL, and USP issuing a statement letter pushing for this change. CLICK HERE TO READ THE LETTER. CLICK HERE TO READ THE TRIB LIVE ARTICLE. By the way, on the article is a survey asking, “Do you think people should be allowed to use semi-automatic rifles for big-game hunting in Pennsylvania?” Please complete the survey after you read the article.
FOAC-ILLEA believes that what firearm you use to hunt with is a matter of freedom of choice.
Larry Keane from NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation) penned an article about preemption fights in Ohio and Pennsylvania. In the article he mentions the FOAC-ILLEA litigation in Lower Merion Township, and he also mentioned the FOAC-ILLEA Preemption win in Pittsburgh. Although he does not explicitly mention our name, he does mention the plaintiff, a FOAC-ILLEA Member. CLICK HERE TO READ THE NSSF ARTICLE.
The Babylon Bee is a parody news service that too often points out the ridiculousness of anti-Constitutionalist rhetoric. They describe themselves as “fake news you can trust.” There are hours and hours of videos and articles to enjoy. This particular video used a lot of actual statements made by anti-Constitutionalists, showing their ignorance and passion for tyranny. THIS VIDEO IS PARODY. Sometimes we can laugh at the truth and use humor to advance the cause of liberty. CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO.
Recently, I had a new article published on Personal Defense Network called “Un-Predicting the Unpredictable on a Square Range”. I am very pleased with the article and with the response it is receiving on the interweb. Writer John Petrolino penned a “review” of the PDN Article that was published on bearingarms.com. Later, Michael Bane featured the article on his On the Radio Podcast.
Training frequently and realistically is a key to your becoming “better well regulated” as your own family first responder.
CLICK HERE to read the original article on PDN
CLICK HERE to read the John Petrolino “review” on Bearing Arms
CLICK HERE to listen to the Michael Bane TV – On the Radio Podcast
FOAC-ILLEA EventsFOAC-ILLEA presents Concealed Carry Seminars with Pro-Liberty Elected Officials, works with County Sheriffs at Satellite License to Carry Events, provides information tables at Gun Shows, and organizes for Pro-2A Rallies, gun bashes, and special events. To see the most up-to-date schedule of FOAC-ILLEA events and meetings, CLICK HERE.
We need volunteers for the Washington County Gun Show on Saturday and Sunday Sept 23-24, 9am-4pm. Please contact Kevin Jackson 412-302-3544 if you can help.
This newsletter is pretty “full”… maybe not as many pages as when Kim Stolfer (God rest his soul) wrote the newsletter, but this edition is still pretty lengthy. So, I will be brief in my closing thoughts. Ponder this nugget…..
The anti-Constitutionalist elected class is so against excepting responsibility for their lawless cities, that this just happened. The Mayor of Chicago and others in the elected class are suing car companies for the rash of car thefts in Democratically run cities. They can’t look in the mirror and recognize that their pro-crime policies are to blame… instead they are blaming the companies that make the cars for the acts of car thieves and they blame the law-abiding gun owners for the acts violent criminals.
This doesn’t seem very reasonable to me at all ….. What do you think?
Stay Frosty, Armed, and Be Well Regulated!
Klint Macro
FOAC-ILLEA VP
FOAC-ILLEA is continuing to fight for the hearts and minds of our fellow Pennsylvanians to promote individual liberties and freedoms. We are steadfast and resolute and dedicated to protecting our Constitution and advancing the cause of the 2nd Amendment and Article 1 Section 21 of the PA Constitution.
FOAC-ILLEA’s educational efforts are expanding across the Commonwealth. FOAC-ILLEA volunteers are teaching more concealed carry classes each month and additional virtual education events are forthcoming.
FOAC-ILLEA is continuing to fight in the courts. Whether this means new litigation to challenge local tyrants, fight the bureaucrats that make it harder for Pennsylvanians to exercise their most basic rights, or the funding of amicus briefs to support others who are already involved in court battles, we are actively helping to establish case law that will help advance the cause of liberty.
FOAC-ILLEA volunteers research proposed legislation, consult with experts, and offer advice to elected officials about legislation as well as educate the public on the strength or folly of legislation that could have lasting positive or negative effects upon our liberty and the liberty of our children.
I urge you to help me spread the word about FOAC-ILLEA. Share this newsletter and the website with your sphere of influence. Get a fellow gun owner to join FOAC-ILLEA.
Contact your Legislators HERE.
Read previous newsletters HERE.
The FOAC-ILLEA website is a wealth of information. Track current legislation, contact legislators and elected officials, look up gun laws, read easy to understand synopsis’ on stand your ground, castle doctrine, and legal use of force. Keep up to date with current gun related news. There is all this and more on the FOAC-ILLEA website.
Get involved!
If you have read this entire newsletter and made it here to this statement… you are already interested and vested.
Donate your time, your talents, or your treasure. VOTE pro-2A and get your friends to vote pro-2A as well. Become a member and get your friends to become a member. If you are already a member, consider “upping your membership” to a higher level. Join us at the gun bash; purchase a ticket. Volunteer to help at the bash. Volunteer to join a committee to send emails, write letters, make phone calls… NOW IS THE TIME TO DO. DON’T PUT IT OFF. “We the People” have been sitting on the sidelines too long.
An Armed and Educated Citizenry is the true check and balance in our Constitutional Republic and the ultimate homeland security!