I wish you, your kids and your grandkids a happy and safe Halloween.  It has become our country’s purest “fun” holiday.

Unfortunately, there are some other folks planning on wearing masks, and trafficking more in tricks than treats, a few short days thereafter.

There has been a lot of talk about the events of this coming Saturday, November 4, and mass demonstrations planned thereupon.  Some say nothing is going to happen at all, and it’s all an alt-right hoax.  Others say a new American Revolution is slated to begin.  The truth seems to be in the middle.

One of The Usual Suspects is sending out a rather blatant call for revolution.

And many in law enforcement are – wisely, I think – taking it seriously.

Me? I’ll be surprised if it turns into anything more than another “Occupy Wall Street” sort of demonstration.  That said, there are some violent, armed psychos on both sides of this just itching for an excuse to aggrandize themselves by doing harm. One rumor has it that some of the antifas are going to wear “Trump” logo clothing or “Make America Great Again” shirts and caps to further confuse the issue.  Should violence break out, that will make it all the harder to tell “who’s who.”

My best advice?  If one of these demonstrations is planned in or near your community, DON’T GO.  I once again offer the advice of the comedic poet Ogden Nash: “When called by a panther…don’t anther.”

31 COMMENTS

  2. Nash was a smart guy.

    A different question, Mas. I took a daylong course in combat focus pistol training. The instructor uses only the isosceles stance, saying it is the current methodology. Does anyone support a Weaver or Modified Weaver or other stance I don’t know about? It’s the only course I’ve ever taken but I have a bunch of books from the old greats who disagreed, it seems.

    • I’ve often wondered if stance even comes to play in a defensive shooting given you will hopefully be MOVING and not in a fixed stance.

    • Depends on the circumstances. To me, the only benefit to isosceles is if you are wearing body armor, in which case a Weaver or Chapman exposes the gap in the side. It can also help for cross dominance. I teach all three, and advise the student to use whichever works best for them. I personally use the Chapman.

  3. Hey Mas, come to the GSSF kansas tournament in July at trigger guard range range at wellington. 30 min south of Wichita. Good tournament and lots of entries from all over the central USA. Kansas star casino just 15 min north with all the amenities. Good shoot. Range owner and good fellow friend of mine mike yoder. Retired LEO as I am. Keep up the good work. Rod Oldridge

  4. Mas, what are your thoughts about November 4th? My thoughts are if anything should happen it should be on the 8th. Should we be concerned?

  8. Great advice Sir.

    I figure nothing will transpire. These same dummies alleged they’d do plenty (including attacking the Sturgis SD Motorcycle rally). Yet nah, nothing happened.
    None the less, these “events’ or whatever they’re billed as are highly counterproductive and no good ever comes of them. Not attending is best. If anyone’s dragged into such a thing (at to or from work home or whatever else one might be doing on the day) I hope no harm becomes you!

    Speaking of fun – This blog’s been a riot lately. Hilarious, I love it!

    Happy Halloween All!!!

  9. Aye rabbi. The hard left and sharia types are also coordinating domestic attacks.

    https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/10/us-antifa-and-other-leftist-groups-met-in-germany-with-al-qaeda-and-isis-to-plot-trumps-destruction

    I’ve studied some of these hard left types, the apples don’t fall far from the tree – going back to 1920s CPUSA members.

    Perhaps it’s best if the way Soros is manipulating the lower IQ ‘neo Nazis’ types is better researched and outted in all media …

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-14/report-%E2%80%98unite-right%E2%80%99-organizer-jason-kessler-was-occupy-movement-obama-supporter-8-m

    As with delusional BLM believers they are just street trash to the organizers intended to froward seemingly at odds sharia, globalists, and far left agendas. The enemy of my enemy ‘eh?

  10. Good advice. The way I see it, if you go and you get involved in an incident, even if your actions are justified, there’s going to be an issue as to why you were there, and so it may go against you. Not worth it. Also, if the nut jobs wear Trump or MAGA shirts and hats to confuse who’s who, how will they determine who’s who too? Should be interesting.

  12. Steve from MA, there are lots of schools and instructors still teaching the Weaver stance: Gunsite, Front Sight, Thunder Ranch, ASAA, John Farnam, for example. At Massad Ayoob Group, we teach classic Weaver, Ray Chapman’s modified Weaver, AND Isosceles.

    Rod Oldridge, do you have the dates for that match?

    David Keough, what’s the prediction for the 8th? I have heard no rumblings about that date, but may simply be under-informed.

  13. To my knowledge, blocking a public thoroughfare other than by governmental authority has never been a legal act. To my knowledge, a pedestrian in the roadway other than at a marked designated crosswalk is violating a motor vehicle’s right of of way. A pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle travelling inside a marked lane of traffic will be charged with being the cause of the collision (at least on the accident report) unless the drivers actions showed it to be an intentional act on his part. All vehicles are required to carry insurance. Such “accidents” are handled as a civil matter in a civil court. Your insurance company handles the legal costs.
    If an unruly mob surrounds you on a city sidewalk, do you not have the right to use the force necessary to escape imminent harm? If your charging out of that mob results in one of the mob suffering a dislocated shoulder or worse, have you committed a criminal act or used reasonable force to protect yourself? If that mob chases you down, intent on doing you great bodily harm, don’t you have the right to use that force which is necessary to protect yourself?
    Just some thoughts to consider if caught up in such a situation. I don’t know of any exceptions in the law for pedestrians in the roadway or unruly mobs just because they are pissed about something. I do know how I will respond if threatened.

    • I “live” in communist governed California. Under California Law, any
      pedestrian, no matter where they are has right-of-way. I therefore don’t recommend running over anybody. Perhaps the only viable excuse is that you
      “feared for your life”. You better have had a Go-Pro recording at the time.
      NOTE: Don’t tell the cops you have video. Let your Lawyer decide If it needs to see the light of day.
      Also, Home and Auto Insurance polices EXCLUDE COVERAGE for riots.
      Take Officer Ayoob’s advice and avoid demonstrations (by miles).

      One last thing…..If you are not a supporting member of the NRA and or
      Cal Guns, write a check TODAY. They are your lobby for decency.
      Thank you Mas.

      • My comment was not intended to suggest running over pedestrians at speed if seen in time to slow. Slow rolling through a unruly crowd intent on blocking your passage and willing to sacrifice their body in order to do so stands, IF CAUGHT IN THAT SITUATION UNINTENTIONALLY. California’s pedestrian right-of-way laws would only apply to city and state funded roadways, not not Federal and Interstate Highways, which seem to be the target of these riots. Life member NRA and contributor to legislation action fund.

      • Does the name Reginald Denny ring a bell? Don’t know about you, but my instructions to my family has always been, and will always remain, do not allow yourself to be trapped inside a pack of predators, human or animal, especially if you are in a vehicle capable of overpowering their efforts. I retired after 34 years as a big city cop, was at ground zero of two major civil disturbances, in one of which I was trapped separated from friendlies by 10,000 plus malcontents. Such experiences predicate planning for future responses for myself and my love ones who might find themselves in similar situations. In my case, I was sent in response for a call for help as the riot was unfolding, on my police motorcycle, due to my ability to maneuver through the mass of humanity that was forming only to find my escape routes closed off.

        I was ordered in, Reginald Denny entered unwittingly. I refuse to be be a victim and advise my loved ones accordingly.

        Also a graduate of Northwestern Traffic Institute on whose training I based my comments on traffic laws. Not disrespecting your views, just explaining what I base mine on.

      • I asked my agent about insurance for homes and businesses damaged in riots like the ones that occurred in Ferguson, Missouri. He assured me that typical policies covered them.

  14. You can never be sure about this kind of thing, but until Mas brought it up here I, as a dedicated liberal with his ear to the ground, didn’t even have an inkling about it. Maybe they’ll get a lot of people, but their publicity department sucks.

  15. So… Do you remember from last January the “New Year’s eve protests—a ‘Festival of NO!.—across the U.S. Two weeks of rolling protests will follow, with NO! reverberating throughout society, culminating on MLK Weekend with massive demonstrations of many thousands in key cities, including Washington, DC, that grow to millions over the next week, protests that don’t stop… where people refuse to leave”?

    Can’t recall that? That’s because it didn’t happen, though this same organization planned it:
    http://revcom.us/a/471/cornel-west-carl-dix-alice-walker-david-strathairn-2000-more-issue-call-to-action-to-prevent-trump-pence-from-taking-power-en.html

    Tempest in a teapot. If law enforcement is watching for it bully for them, but I suspect that this is going to be one of those Million Man Marches where a few hundred people show up. Just as I’ve spoken here against any real possibility of secession or civil war from the right wing, it’s not any more likely from the left.

  16. The point that has to be remembered is the goal of Terrorists is to cause
    terror. And making a big announcement that this will happen on this day is the instrument they use to cause such terror. I don’t ignore such things, but I will not let a threat affect my everyday life. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Thank you Mr. Ayoob. I have learned much from you for many years.

  17. There won’t be another revolution in the USA until life stinks and many people are hopeless. We are heading in that direction, but we’re not there yet. Not even close. The only problem is that weapons today are so small, deadly and accurate, that a few idiots can do a lot of damage.

    Also, when life stinks, and many people are hopeless, we just might have enough “can do” people around, that Americans will simply work hard together to fix the problems. If the government fails to fix certain problems, Americans will probably team up and fix the problems themselves. We saw that recently with Hurricane Harvey in the Houston area.

    Now, if the economy collapses, and there is a food shortage, then we will be in a Mad Max, Zombie Apocalypse scenario. As long as we have food, only the crazy people will become violent, and we have the tools to deal with them.

    Compared with the rest of the world, nothing really super bad ever happens in America. Some day that may change, but when?

    • Bingo, thank you Roger Willco, the American culture and system of government is amazingly resilient. It self-corrects on a regular basis as long as the deck isn’t stacked too high against that correction.

  19. I saw a rioter-recruiting notice posted on a telephone pole in downtown Seattle a week or so ago for the 11/4 “event.” I live more than 10 miles away but that day will still be a 2 spare magazine carrying day, if I even leave the house. There is no way I’ll go into the city.

  20. Not to belabor the topic, but in the spirit of factual information, California’s pedestrian right-of-way laws, as I suspected, do follow the guidelines of the Northwestern Traffic Institute. They (pedestrians) do not have right of way over motor vehicles except at intersections and marked crosswalks. Drivers have the responsibility to avoid collision if speed and time permit in areas where crosswalks are not available (it remains incumbent on the pedestrian to make that calculation before entering the roadway).

    https://dolanlawfirm.com/2016/06/california-vehicle-code-division-11-chapter-5/

    A California tort attorney’s explanation of that section–

    https://www.mayfirm.com/blog/california-pedestrian-right-way-laws/

    Your claim that auto insurance doesn’t cover riots is also demonstrably without merit. Damage done to your vehicle is covered by comprehensive policies, damage done by the car is covered by the required liability insurance. That’s a risk the underwriter takes when agreeing to insure the vehicle. I could list many links, but google “car insurance and riots”. Exceptions would be the insurance company proving you purchased the policy for the express purpose of using it in a civil disturbance.

    Again, my comment was not to encourage mowing down rioters/protesters for sport, rather extricating yourself from an untenable dangerous situation.

  21. What if they gave a revolution and nobody came?

    Yawn. As I post this, it’s been at least an hour since the scheduled beginning time of the West Coast rallies and long after the beginning time of most of them in the rest of the country. There’s so little news that you can’t even find out about the events on the local newspaper and TV pages in most cities. But in Austin, apparently about 20 people showed up, in Los Angeles, that hotbed of radicalism, the crowd was measured in “dozens”, and photos of the Portland event suggest that the turnout was very small, indeed, probably about like Austin’s. One report says that 3 people showed up in DC. Larger numbers may eventually be reported for Boston and NYC, but the current indications is that the whole thing was a tempest in a teapot.

    I suppose something could still happen, but so far it would appear that my earlier comments were right on target. Not very surprising since it would now appear that the whole hubbub was a conspiracy theory/urban myth genned up by the right:

    https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/3/16602158/antifa-super-soldier-refuse-fascism-conspiracy-theory

    https://www.snopes.com/is-antifa-planning-a-civil-war/

    https://www.snopes.com/dod-drill-coincide-november-demonstrations/

  22. If the whole antifa/Nov. 4 thing turns out not to be A Thing, I’ll be as happy as you, Liberal Dave. So far (8:30PM Eastern), so good. 🙂

  23. Just because you plan a party and nobody shows up doesn’t mean there was a conspiracy by folks who don’t like you.

    Sorry Dave, the links to the sites you use for references on partisan issues would be similar to citing comments by Maxine Waters on racial issues. Don’t expect unbiased commentary. I loved how snopes gave it a big “FALSE” evaluation, then, later in the article, confirmed that the rallies had, in fact, been planned. The verge, did the same with the communications drill, to only confirm that the date had been chosen w/o knowledge of the planned anti-fa rallies.

    Sorry, but I, for one put no stock in sites such as InfoWars and others like it, but I do believe my eyes when I see repeated acts of violence committed by groups like anti-fa (have liberals ever studied fascist tactics and the similarities to anti-fa’s tactics?) and black lives matter. I saw the hate generated by the constant barrage of anti-police propaganda spewed by the left that spawned deadly ambush attacks on police officers across our country, including five of my friends and ex-colleagues dead and seven wounded in one attack.

    So Dave, pardon me when these violent, hate filled groups telegraph future actions, I take the warning seriously. Some folks calm their nerves with a retreat to Starbuck’s and the latest designer cup of coffee, I consider ways to protect my loved ones from the vile dregs the left has spawned should we be unlucky enough to find ourselves caught up in one of their hate filled tantrums. And no, that doesn’t mean engaging in a civil war, just making sure my family is protected from people making political statements with violence against innocents.

    Still friends.

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