Federal Way's newest service club is the Armed Defense Training Association. We have over sixty members focused on our training objectives which include building an indoor shooting range in the Federal Way area.

We incorporated early this year and have now held three live-fire shooting events for our members. We had to cancel the Law of Armed Defense Class previously scheduled for April 2 but will be announcing the new date and location very soon. Watch the ADTA calendar page for this and other upcoming events.

Members of the Armed Defense Training Association recently participated in two live-fire events at Paul Bunyan Range in Puyallup. Dave Farrow and Bruce Wood, both experienced USPSA competitors and Range Officers, ran the courses of fire for the ADTA. Additionally, Dave is President of Paul Bunyan and Chairman of USPSA activities at Paul Bunyan.

On March 23rd, Dave explained the rules for using the action bays at Paul Bunyan and everyone particpated in a safety-check. Safety-checks are critical for any shooters that want to shoot on the move because there is so much to remember and things move fast! The competition-style shooting drills are more than many of of us have experienced in normal target practice and it is absolutely essential to understand the range commands, procedures and rules that keep everyone safe.

Choosing a firearm is an entirely personal decision. Nevertheless, .44 magnums, .22 pistols and .380s are not ideal for normal self-defense purposes. Most police departments require officers to carry a round that is at least .38 caliber. I have seen USPSA and IDPA competitors shoot revolvers much faster than most of us shoot semi-automatics. The speed with which a revolver can be reloaded would surprise most of the critics that want to ban high capacity magazines.

It is true, however, that most of us can reload a semi-auto faster than we can reload a revolver. If you choose to bring a revolver to an action shoot, you should have some speed loaders or moon clips and start practicing how to reload on the move.

Some of our ADTA members still did not have the right equipment and a few were not ready to shoot. If you decide to join us and register for an event think about your holster. Shooters show up without a holster. If you are on a budget, Uncle Mike’s has very good Kydex holsters for all calibers. Outside the waistband holsters are safer for action shooting and will be required by ADTA in most instances. You can invest in a good inside the waistband leather holster for everyday concealed carry. I have several but increasingly wear OWB under my suit coat. IWB holsters are often needed for casual wear during hot weather when you won’t be wearing a coat.

We work on ensuring that our muzzles are pointed away from the top of the berms. One accidental discharge that gets over the top of a berm will destroy years of hard work by many generations of shooters that built Paul Bunyan. We had twelve ADTA members participate in the second event, on Wednesday, March 30th, including a few that shot on the previous Wednesday. We had some very experienced shooters and some inexperienced shooters, too.

Bruce administered safety-checks and Dave got us shooting a course of fire that was very similar to a relatively easy USPSA course of fire. We engaged multiple targets and  reloaded while transitioning to a window. Then we engaged three steel targets with the strong hand from the window and proceeded to another series of cardboard IPSC targets.

There was good sense of fellowship and some frustration as we experienced some of the stress that is normal while developing proficiency and making transitions under the eagle eye of Dave Farrow. Dave let us know when we made mistakes that involve safety and also had some helpful hints for more effective shooting techniques.

The evening was not complete without taking turns on shooting at a star that spins around with five plate targets. Then we engaged in a “billet drill”- five shooters in front of five targets shooting six shots into a target as fast we could.  The ADTA Board will be meeting and formalizing our intent to donate some nine millimeter ammunition to Paul Bunyan’s youth programs.

Red County is a political blog so some readers may be asking what all this has to do with center-right political commentary. Our organization embraces folks of all political persuasions and we are actively seeking to recruit religious, ethnic and racial minorities.  It is sometimes surprising to realize how many gun owners wouldn't be caught dead any where near the Republican Party!  Large numbers of union members have always been members of the NRA, a nonpartisan operation, that was the first national association open to African-Americans at a time when discrimination was the rule in American civic life.

Defending our communities against violence is the core service that justifies the existence of government.  The recognition that our institutions of government, including the U.S. Constitution, serve higher values that are innately connected to the attributes of our Creator is fundamental to the roots of our American order.

Almost every politician gives lip service to the Second Amendment. Many Republicans and Democrats recognize that gun owners are a big constituency that needs attention and care.  After all, many politicians are gun owners, too! Nevertheless, neighbors that get out and start training together are engaging in the most meaningful political activity that can occur in a society like ours. This is because such training transcends party, ideology and abstract discussion of any kind.

To sum things up, think about the 1997 Kevin Costner movie, The Postman.  America has descended into chaos. A drifter is captured by an army seeking to gain power over its helpless neighbors.  After being forced to join, Costner escapes and finds a mail jeep with a skeleton wearing a postal uniform. The drifter also finds a mailbag and starts delivering old letters in order to instill hope in the people. Eventually, he rides across the war-ravaged landscape with an American flag, rallying his countrymen to the cause of pushing back tyranny- an incipient governmental regime enforced by armed thugs.  The moral of the story is that renewing society starts with action that brings neighbors together and that galvanizes action on the part of those that have lost hope.  Check us out at www.armeddefense.org.

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flickr photo credit: Little Zey