Page 1 of 27

Including ... The Value of Training • How the Armed Citizens’ Network Works • President’s Message • Vice President’s Message • Letters from Members • Attorney Question of the Month • Book Review • Networking Column • Editorial • About this Journal



Get eJournal PDF here or click Read More link to the far right to view journal online.



by Marty Hayes, J.D.

It is my belief and opinion that most of our members are reasonably well trained beyond the information they receive through the Network’s educational DVDs. That’s because each month the majority of new members signing up indicate that they heard about the Network from one of our Network Affiliated Instructors, which means they likely heard about us while they were participating in a class. These students are exactly the type of members we want in the Network: well trained, law abiding citizens.

We do not aggressively advertise the Network. Beyond the fact that we would have to raise membership dues if we spent a boatload of money on promotions, we believe Network participation is something special. The Network needs to be comprised of well-trained, lawfully armed citizens who take their personal security and responsibility as an armed citizen very seriously. With that in mind, this article is geared more towards the non-Network member who occasionally reads this journal, and perhaps has been thinking about joining the Network.

If you are intelligent, well read, and already a good pistol, rifle or shotgun marksman, why do we recommend you take training? First and foremost, good training in gun safety, marksmanship and legal issues is the pathway to the “not guilty” verdict we want to hear at the end of a month long court case. Here is how it works.

Training the Reasonable Person

In every state in the land the jury will judge your self-defense actions against the standard of the reasonable person. What would a reasonable person, knowing what you knew at the time, have done under the same or similar circumstances? The jury will receive jury instructions from the court, but when it is decision time, when that juror votes “guilty” or “not guilty,” they will be asking themselves, “Would I have done the same thing, in his or her shoes?”