Episode 80 with Ben Branam
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Rob- Introduction- I’m Rob Morse and welcome to episode 80 of Self-Defense Gun Stories. This podcast is for the people who think they might want a firearm.. and those who already have one. We’re joined this week by self-defense instructor Ben Branam.
I know you volunteered to do some Hurricane cleanup with your church. You were down in Rockport, Texas. Thank you.
Ben- Hi, Rob. I drained the savings account, bought supplies, and took the truck down to the coast. That is what we do.
Rob- Two of our instructors went through the eye of hurricane Irma. Jeff and Robyn Street live in Naples Florida. They prepared well and did well. They have water and power, so they have air conditioning, but they don’t have phone or internet yet. Best wishes to Jeff and Robyn.
Ben- Hi to our new listeners, and welcome back to our regular listeners. We report and analyze three examples of armed civilian defense. We hope you use these reports as part of your exercise program.. to use your imagination today so you can defend the people you care about tomorrow. Please leave us a message on our facebook page with your questions or comments.
Ben- Our first story took place last week near Seattle, Washington.
Rob- First story- Are you armed at home in the middle of the day?
You’re at home with your mom and your kids. Your older kids are at school, but your young ones are at home taking a nap. You’re not expecting visitors, but you hear someone knocking on your front door. Before you can answer it, you hear a tearing sound coming from your children’s bedroom. You grab your gun and run to your kid’s room. A man has torn out the window fan and is climbing through the window next to your kids. Another man is standing next to him with his hands on the sill ready to jump in. You shoot him the nearest intruder. Both men run away. You call police.
Ben- That isn’t exactly what happened. You don’t “get your gun”. Those few words hide something that can take half a minute. Let’s be realistic. You have more time to fight a fire in your kitchen than to fight an intruder in your childrens’ bedroom..and I keep a fire extinguisher on the kitchen wall. Please have a gun with you.
Rob- Why did this man need a gun?
Ben- he was outnumbered and his children were in immediate danger. Our armed citizen had an intruder in his home within feet of his kids and another intruder next to him.
Whew. I’m a dad, and that gets me excited.
Let me explain. You had intruders break into your home by force and without your permission.
They had immediate access to your children.
You were outnumbered.
Rob- You don’t have many options.
Ben- Not any good ones..and you don’t have time to think. You have seconds to act, and you put your children in danger if you delay.
Rob- So what did our dad do right?
Ben- He grabbed the tool he needed. He used it. He stopped using it. He probably took care of his screaming kids, because I’m sure they were freaked out by the break in. Then, someone got their brain back online and called the police.
Rob- That sounds so simple.
Ben- Yeah, it does, but it isn’t. You have to break it down to really simple steps, because even doing simple things is hard when your family is at risk and you’re going a little crazy inside yourself.
Rob- Wow. Keep breathing. I’m getting wrapped up in it, and it’s only a story.
Ben- Yep, breathing helps. Having a plan helps a lot.
Rob- You call it a plan.
Ben- A checklist. Have your tools with you. Recognize an immediate threat. Defend the people you love. Treat the injured. Call the police. There are not a lot of moving parts. Just a few steps.
Rob- Have a plan.
Ben- Yep, have a plan, and ready or not, our second story happened last week in ALBUQUERQUE, N.M
Rob- Ok, Ben.
Rob- Second Story- Are you armed at work?
You’re a mother with two children and you’re working in a Circle-K gas station. A customer tells you that a nearby 7-11 has just been robbed af few minutes ago. You’re concerned, so you walk to your car and get your gun. You don’t have a carry permit, so you open carry with your legally owned gun in your pocket. You also lock one of the side doors to the convenience store.
It is the usual busy time at 4 in the afternoon. There are several customers in the store and at the gas pumps. A man walks in wearing a ski mask, carrying a bag, and holding a gun. He screams that everyone is to get down on the ground.. except you. He waves his gun at the customers, and then points the gun at you. The robber tells you to put the money into the bag. You do. You hand him the bag, and draw your gun. You shoot him once in the chest. The robber drops his gun and runs from the store. Police find him behind the building. They are looking at the surveillance video to see if he robbed the other store as well.
Ben- Good for her. The first lesson is to be armed.
Rob- she was.
Ben- Better yet, spend the $100 for a permit so you can concealed carry.
Rob- Why is that important?
Ben- You want to act when you have the best chance to win. There is no advantage to communicate that you’re armed in this situation. I don’t want this young lady to be shot if the robber sees her gun.
Rob- at least she was armed in time.
Ben- Yes. Once you have your gun, then, I want you to have tactical patience. I want you to cheat. Don’t get into a fast-draw contest if you can avoid it. I’m fast, but I want all the good guys to cheat if they can. If you are in a “fair fight” you did something wrong.
Show some tactical patience until you have an advantage. Then act as violently as you can. Surprise, Speed and Violence of action will win all the time.
Rob- Really? Be as violent as you can?
Ben- Is it the life of your spouse, your child, or your friend that is on the line? They don’t deserve to die. You don’t deserve to die either. Do as much as you can to stop a lethal threat. Keep going until the threat isn’t there. Is that running away, or emptying your magazine and reloading? I don’t know. I won’t be there. That is why I’m begging you to do your mental homework now.
Rob- But Ben.
Ben- But nothing. This woman was terrified because she thought she was going to die. She didn’t start the fight. She didn’t want the fight. When the fight comes to you, then fight for your life. This woman saved the life of her customers. I hope she waved the bag in front of her. Set the bag on the counter, and then drew her gun and fired as she stepped to the side.
Rob- And..
Ben- And if the bad guy runs away, then stop. Starting is hard. So is stopping. Maybe stopping is even harder. It is hard to tell. The clerk was pretty shaken up, but call police if you can.
Rob- There is more to say. There is, but that is enough for now.
Ben- Our third story happened last week in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Rob- Third story- Are you armed when you’re at home?
You and your wife are at home in your apartment on a Saturday afternoon. You’re both in your late 70s. Your wife answers a knock at the door, and she is thrown back into the room as two young men smashed their way inside. Before you know what is happening, the two intruders start beating you with a club. You fall down, but you grab the gun in your waistband as you fall. You roll to the side and shoot the attacker standing over you. Both attackers run. You call police and EMTs. You and your wife go to the hospital.
Ben- The man was an army veteran. He had a gun on him, at home, on a sunny weekend afternoon. And he needed it.
Rob- He was on his knees with two attackers beating him, and he won.
Ben- He had the physical tools and he had the mental tools to use them.
Rob- Down but not out of the fight.
Ben- He wounded one attacker. They ran. That stopped the attack on him and his wife. Great job.
Rob- What would you tell your students?
Ben- He did a great job, but I wish he could have avoided the fight. I ask my students to buy an electronic doorbell so they can see who is outside.
Rob- That would have kept the bad guys outside?
Ben- It would have bought our good guys more time as the thugs had so smash their way into the house.
Rob- Anything else?
Ben- I wish that they had both been armed because I don’t want either one of these nice old people beaten up.
Rob- That would make a difference?
Ben- If they were both armed and had worked together even a little bit, then these two young guys wouldn’t stand a chance.
Rob- Really!? Even if it were two guys in their 20s against a couple in their late 70s?
Ben- You know how hard it is for one person to fight off two attackers. Now imagine how hard it is to hurt two people who can defend themselves at a distance. It is so much of an advantage that it makes the bad guys look silly. I talk about it on my podcast. The male homeowner yells. The bad guys move toward him, and his wife has all the time in the world to stop the problem. She can draw slowly and aim..and she’ll own them.
Rob- If they work together and have a plan.
Ben- And if they are both armed.
Exit- Rob- Thank you, Ben. That wraps up this episode. Where can our listeners learn more about you?
Ben- Our listeners can find me at Modern Self Protection.com. I live in San Antonio, and most of my classes are in central Texas. Listeners can see my complete class schedule at my website, and they can also listen to my podcast Modern Self-Protection.
Rob- Please donate to Ben’s Hurricane fund by Paypal at Ben@modernselfprotection.com Our listeners can share their thoughts with us by leaving a message on the podcast facebook page.
Ben- We share this podcast with you for free. Please share it with a friend and give us a rating on I-Tunes and Stitcher. We’re also available on Google Play Music.
Rob- Our download numbers are headed up, so that you for sharing the podcast with your friends. I’m Rob Morse. We’ll be back next week with more Self-Defense Gun Stories.
Ben- No we won’t.
Rob- We won’t? Oh, that’s right. Next week, Ben and I will be in Dallas at the Gun Rights Policy Conference. This will be my 7th conference.
Ben- And this will be my first one. I hope to see our listeners there.
Rob- See you there, and we’ll be back in a few weeks with more Self-Defense Gun Stories.
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