Urgent Alert from the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL):
quote:
February 20, 2018
Last weekend, while doing what seemed to be a regular interview, I discovered that a movie is being made with the intent to discredit gun-rights leaders across the country.
No, this is not a joke, it is real and we need to get the word out to other gun-rights organizations, gun-rights leaders, and prominent firearms trainers across the country and we need to do this FAST.
Back in 2014, alleged Hollywood sexual predator Harvey Weinstein said he was going to make a movie “that would make the NRA wish they weren’t alive.” (All gun organizations are the NRA in his mind.) And he was dead serious. Michael Moore has been attempting to discredit gun owners and leaders for years by tricking people and using creative editing techniques to make them look foolish or idiotic.
Who’s behind this effort isn’t clear, but they are EXTREMELY WELL FUNDED PROFESSIONALS. For example, to reel me in and to try to make me feel beholden to them, they laid out the red carpet, by providing luxury accommodations, limousine service, and providing a generous monetary allowance to cover meals and other expenses for two days.
They use psychological manipulation, as well as lies and tricks to put their victim into comedic situations that subject them to public shame, embarrassment, and ridicule. I believe the intent is to destroy reputations and even lives.
I did some detective work in the days immediately following the “interview,” and I managed to find out they had targeted at least one nationally known firearms trainer and I know there are more. They appear to be setting up near gun shows. I also found out they covered their tracks carefully to avoid revealing their true identity.
It started when VCDL received an email last week from a company called “First Freedom Television” to do an interview with an “Israeli security expert” on the “shared security interests of like-minded countries, such as the U.S. and Israel.” It went on, “Unlike the misguided position of American liberals, who aim to eradicate guns altogether, Israel has proven that universal gun training and widespread gun ownership actually leads to a safer society.”
I do interviews all the time, and this one didn’t seem to be all that much out of the ordinary.
On Sunday, February 11, 2018, I did the interview in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. About 5 minutes into the interview, my radar turned on big time when the interviewer was making claims about Israeli schools training selected children to use firearms from age 17 down to age 4 (!) as a last ditch effort in stopping a terrorist attack on a school if the teachers and security staff had been killed. The children would have codes to unlock secured firearms in such a case.
When I balked at 4-year-olds being able to do that, he showed me an alleged newscast video on his iPad. The text was in Hebrew, but with an English-speaking narration, talking about how a 4-year-old boy had indeed stopped a terrorist attack at his school. The newscast said that he killed two terrorists using his dad’s gun, which he had brought to school in his backpack to show a friend, in violation of school rules. Israeli Premier Netanyahu was touting him as a hero in the video.
While I’ve never been to Israel, I do know they have some serious terrorism concerns, especially at schools and other public gatherings. The way they handle some of their security can be very different from what we have in the U.S. But that news story just didn’t look right, and 4-year-olds can hold a gun and fire it with supervision, but not take on terrorists, and especially manage to shoot and kill two of them.
Because of this and various other odd things I noticed during the interview, I was now convinced that something wasn’t right. This wasn’t real and probably some sort of a set up.
I could only think of Hollywood’s threat. At a minimum, it could be a comedy which would play only in Israel, but it could be a more damaging attempt to make a “mocumentary,” by someone like Michael Moore, or, even worse, a Sacha Baron Cohen-esq “Borat”-type of shock comedy meant to be devastatingly embarrassing and humiliating to the victim in the crosshairs.
As the 15-minute interview terminated, the interviewer asked me if I, as an English-speaking firearms trainer, would help him make a “gun safety” training video for children of various ages. This had to be the “kicker,” I thought.
For better or for worse, I decided that I would play along with the scheme so I could find out who was behind this and where this was going. I figured if I was right about this being a set up, I could blow the whistle and get a warning out to the gun-rights community across the country to protect as many people as possible and maybe derail this attack. If it turned out to be nothing, then no harm, no foul.
We recorded for almost 3 hours using Airsoft guns as props. They even had a teleprompter!
I was right – it was a set up - and it was much worse than I could have imagined. If you’ve seen the 70’s movie, “The Sting,” it was much like that. It was a well-orchestrated, well-choreographed, psychological manipulation, with a production cast of at least 10 people, to slowly lead a person down the primrose path.
We went step-by-step with a ready, and seemingly logical, answer every time I balked at some crazy part of the training. They seemed to have thought of every thing that a person might question. All I can say is that these people were extremely good at deception and manipulation. And no matter how stupid the things the interviewer and I were doing (we were side-by-side the whole time), no one else cracked a smile or laughed once, and I was watching. The professional actors were keeping up the appearance that this was a serious project.
The end goal was to get the victim to make a “training film” teaching 3 and 4-year-olds how to shoot guns hidden in toy animals at “bad” people, to sing little songs and make gun noises during the training to make it “fun for children,” and even teach little kids how to shoot a rocket-propelled-grenade or a squad automatic weapon at an approaching suicide bomber vehicle!
It all sounds unbelievable. But everything was elaborately and expensively staged; every contingency planned for, with explanations that make unbelievable things seem plausible (fake documents and videos about how Israel handles security in their schools, for example). The interview moved along at a pace, designed not to give the “mark” time to reflect on where things are going. The craziness factor very gradually got more extreme, like cooking a frog by slowly heating up the water so he doesn’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late. It’s a con game, a sting, plain and simple.
I don’t know if they have other scenarios or they will use other company names to continue concealing their identity, but anyone doing an interview dealing with gun rights where they sense something odd should terminate that interview. Or, better, bring a recorder and tell the other party you are going to make your own recording of the interview. If they say “no,” then walk out. I am going to make that my own policy going forward to protect against any future fake interviews. BTW, they had me leave my cellphone in an office “because it might interfere with the recording devices,” but I think it was so I couldn’t take any photos of them or make any video or audio recordings on that phone.
In the end we played each other and I confirmed what I feared this was all about. Sadly for me, I’m sure I’m going to be in whatever crazy film finally comes out, looking really stupid and, just as sadly, I’ll probably be in good company. A few of us will no doubt get hammered, but if we can get the word out IMMEDIATELY, we might be able to save the reputations of many other good people.
Finally, looking at the possibilities and what I saw while making the “training film,” I’m betting this is going to end up being a “Borat”-style film and it’s going to be vicious on the victims.
Please share this alert far and wide.
Philip Van Cleave President Virginia Citizens Defense League
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VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL).
VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
I Know it looks a bit silly with the legs drawn so far up into the torso. The tops of the thigh protection ( Cuises ) is almost up to the armpit hole, while in use there's a gap between the point of the hip covered in metal, and the torso protection of about an inch.
That's because the armor stand was proportioned to fit inside a tent and is only about 5 foot tall. For proportion, the rubber headed axe is six foot even.
Not very well polished, I admit, and well used. The part just above the multi-piece knee joint, and the short piece below it, is Aircraft aluminum alloy for speed, all the rest of the visible metal is 316 stainless steel. ( not counting rivets and buckles )
I'm particularly proud of the arm harness. It's not easy making arm armor that gives protection and still allows easy movement. Everything is hand hammered out of sheet stainless.
You might get some insight into my attitude on Antifa thugs from my party duds.
Btw, bullets go right through that gear. Except maybe knees/elbows and helmet. But most will penetrate them too. 7.62x39 steel core and 5.56x45 NATO zip right through 14 ga. Stainless. I've tested with scrap bits. Does an ok job on stopping buck shot.
Mixed bag on flint lock arms. A .69 smooth bore musket penetrates at 90 deg. At 60 deg. It sometimes does. At 45 deg. It glances. A .50 Hawken with Minie bullets sails through.
Alloys aside, it's late 14th century gear, a transition period between mail & plate. The 15th century jousting armor will stop lead balls, but high velocity "modern" ammo, like 7.92 Mauser, will penetrate at 90 deg. Easily. And that's 1/4" thick or more at the breast bone.
Again not hearsay. Tested. I haven't done a comprehensive test with pistols. One of these days.
A similar program is in effect in England. If you don't arrest them, they aren't a bad statistic, and the politicians can claim to reduce crime. But they didn't. They just made lying about crime mandatory. A police officer that doesn't go along? They will fire him or punish him, usually with a bad desk job until he quits.
In July 2012, the Obama administration formalized the pressure on school districts with an executive order warning school districts to avoid "methods that result in disparate use of disciplinary tools." The White House focused on black students in particular and headlined the press release announcing this dubious stroke of racism "President Obama Signs New Initiative to Improve Educational Outcomes for African Americans."
Same thing. Obama's "Let's Lie About Problems to Pretend There Are None" program has had the result you'd expect. More dead people. Mostly the ones they pretend to help.
Posted on Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - 12:11 pm:
That American Thinker article has a lot of good factual info, but for people swayed by recent mass shootings, it is woefully tone deaf, until the closing seven paragraphs. Those should have been the lead.
Informing people that the 5.56x45mm cartridge is not very powerful is so dumb when scores of children were just slaughtered using it.
quote:
Banning AR-15s is not the answer to school shootings. Neither the Columbine killers nor Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho, nor University of Texas shooter Charles Whitman, used AR-15s, and all of them managed to commit terrible crimes.
It would have been entirely possible in, say, 1875 to murder 17 schoolchildren with 19th-century technology, such as a brace of Colt revolvers and a Winchester lever-action rifle – or, for that matter, with a broadsword or double-bladed axe. Why didn't it happen then? Probably a couple of reasons. As the Supreme Court ruled in 1892, back then, the U.S. was a Christian nation. It isn't any longer, and today we're dealing with the negative consequences of our 21st-century neo-paganism. And back in 1875, children were not compelled under penalty of law to attend government schools (where self-defense is legally forbidden, ensuring that they will be sitting ducks) until late adolescence.
School shootings are absolutely unacceptable. But banning modern firearms is equally unacceptable. Nor would it be effective: Norway's stringent gun control failed to stop Anders Breivik from killing 77 people; France's ban on "assault weapons" didn't stop the Bataclan shooters from killing 130; and Egypt's rifle ban didn't stop the massacre of 305 worshipers at a Sinai mosque last year. Britain's total confiscation of handguns and semi-automatic rifles failed to prevent Derrick Bird from shooting 23 people (12 fatally) with a bolt-action .22 in 2010.
In Federalist #10, James Madison warned us about the tyranny of the majority, in which a faction "united ... by some common impulse of passion ... adverse to the rights of other citizens" vies for power and control. That is exactly what we are seeing today, with emotionally charged teenagers, skillfully manipulated and amplified by the liberal media, braying for a majority of the public to acquiesce to the abridgment of the gun rights of the sane and the decent.
Sorry, I'm not buying it. And anybody who does is a fool.
What we need instead is a cool-headed and sober analysis to find out why so many people, in the prime of life, in the wealthiest and most prosperous society in history, are willing to casually murder scores of strangers – and usually kill themselves in the process.
Until we answer that question, massacres are going to continue, with or without AR-15s. So long as they do continue, the rest of us need all the self-protection – and freedom to defend ourselves – that we can get.
Isn't it amazing how many are demanding action from the federal govt. The community of that school have NO ONE to blame but themselves for the lack of security provided for their children. They pretend they never heard of rampage school attacks before.
Looking to the federal govt to look after your children is pure folly.
Darn right we can do better. It's mostly school security, I'd say. Too many schools have already successfully adopted basically the same measures that big corporations and govt office buildings employ.
With good security, and no ludicrous "GUN FREE ZONE" inducements to mass-slaughter any negative effect of lacking gun regulations won't matter.
Seriously, I do understand the habit of having a hammer, and everything looks like a nail. It's not all nails. It's not even all screws.
The Shrink Profession seems to see the world as a mental illness, and evil politicians have for over a century, used the accusation of mental illness as a way to shut up, punish, and murder those who would oppose them.
If you are a Shrink, then you're going to have to ask & argue for an apology, it's not coming gratis. I'm well aware that it's a profession that helps a lot of people. It's also a weapon in the hands of evil men.
Not every bad person is mentally ill. I'm not even sure that all mass murderers are mentally ill. Is there No Agency? I wonder.
It is NOT about guns. Or security. Or safety. Or politics. Or any of that stuff.
Those are band-aids.
It IS about RESPECT. Respect for human life. Respect for self. Respect for others.
THAT is the root cause of all this. Not medications. Not guns. The root cause is a total lack of respect for human life. We can argue whether its parenting, or video games, or politics, or our educational system...but we can argue that LATER. First, we need to get these kids (and people at large) to RESPECT EACH OTHER.
Respect for other humans breeds respect for the laws of humans.
Sure, we need safety and upgraded security in the interim...but we need to go after the root cause, or things will just get worse, and worse, and worse.
Ever since I got shot . . . . I have been anti-shootings.
The date . . . since 1971 . . . not a damn thing has been done to diminish the likelihood of a school kid getting shot.
50 years of therapy and repressed horror . . . . you know, the kind of thing you get when someone shoves a S&W 386 in your mouth and pulls the hammer back . . . and these 98 remaining #4 shot all over my body . . . and the pic of my sister, who spent 3 days in a coma after taking a load of #4 in the face from 25' . . . has helped shape my thinking . . . . fortunately the stabbing, the Marine Corps and my time with The White House have diluted lots of my memories.
But . . . I probably do view handguns . . . ownership and deployment . . . a bit differently than some folks.
I can understand that, Court. All things considered...you're a relatively well-adjusted and "normal"(ish) guy!
But - and not to diminish your past - I think we're ALL "anti-shooting". When I learned to shoot at 6 years old, that was the first thing they taught us - nobody WANTS to use a gun on another human. It is strictly a "me or them" response; when there is NO other option that will allow you to save your own life...that is the only time you use a gun. Hell, it's the only time another person even SEES that you have a gun. They are, absolutely, a last resort.
In my mind, a good gun owner - a "responsible gun owner" in the words of the NRA and 2A advocates - is a person who never lets on that they have a gun. And I believe that is the message that the NRA needs to focus on - not just the "we have a right to own", but also "we have the RESPONSIBILITY to be safe when we own".
"Nothing as scary as a man with a gun. Nothing as helpless as a man without a gun."
I find it interesting that high school kids across the country are protesting. The two high schools in my home town had walks yesterday in protest. The kids at the Florida school were this took place are being vocal and demanding action on their behave by the government.
The question I would ask of all of them. How many of them have befriend a fellow student that was not one of the "cool kids" How many of them have stepped up and defended a fellow student that needed a friend. How many of them valued this young man that did this act? It sounds like the kid has has a terrible hand dealt to him. Both of his adoptive parents recently passed away. He was living with family friends. He had been expelled from school. How many of his peers reached out to him, how many of them tried to be his brother, his sister, shoulders to lean on, to let him know he mattered to them and the world? Tried to help him? Had they taken action....truly small actions that could have been huge, could they have saved him and all the other victims, could they have altered the path he took? It's NOT ABOUT GUNS! Of course they will never get that.
"...since 1971 . . . not a damn thing has been done to diminish the likelihood of a school kid getting shot."
If you watch the President's "listening" meeting with the folks the other day, the local DC school representatives described how they've tackled the issue, and a number of states and schools have implemented similar improvements to security. Others have eliminated the "GUN FREE ZONE" inducement to mass-slaughter. The NRA itself has a program (re Dana Loesch in video above) to help schools implement improved security.
It is on each school district to look after its own security. God help those with political hack county sheriffs like the one in Broward county, who's only answer is "vote for Democrats so we can start the gun grabbing."
The parents have a solid case suing the school leadership for gross negligence.
China says we should protect human rights like they do by restricting guns.
So only the Army and the cop that puts a bullet in the back of your head for.... well, anything, would have guns.
For certain Christians would be restricted from having guns. Otherwise it would be inconvenient to the police who come and arrest your congregation before they burn your church down.
And.you'd restrict all subjects from having guns. No more pesky citizens.
Now that we've been advised on human rights by the Red Chinese, I suppose we should call someone to tell us how to run an economy. And we need advice on agriculture. Zimbabwe!