######"The shot heard 'round the world". NRA Whittington Center April 21-22####

[TaosGlock]

The BBC is currently whining that "America needs to ban firearms".
They did not learn their 18th century history: The story of April 19th, 1775. 

Back then words like "Live Free or Die" or "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" were not just words
bandied about like 21st century bumper stickers.  It was a code that defined who they were as a
unified band of citizens that would resist tyranny at the expense of life and property.

If current day Britannia, predominately their politicos, had spent the weekend with our crew here at the NRA Whittington Center,
at the Jeff Cooper Range, they would not today be repeating a history that may well be far worse than the Revolutionary War. 
Their country may well be doomed.

Meantime, in America, it is still easier to sit around on the internet and complain about the loss of 'freedom'.
More correctly, it is that we have few Liberties left and we have allowed them to be confiscated in a piecemeal manner.
It has always been about Liberty and not freedom. It is Liberty or Death, Liberty and Union or Liberty that was emblazoned on the colonial flags. They got it right the first time.

However, despite it all, the flame of Liberty still burns here in America, especially when Project Appleseed is involved.

Group pic (minus 3) of the Patriot's Day shoot on the Jeff Cooper range:


There were fathers and sons present on Lexington Green on April 19th, 1775.
Here at the NRAWC we had 3 sets of fathers and sons this weekend.

33% of the shooters were young adults!


All of our Patriot's Day Riflemen! 4 out of 9!
Also 3 instructors got some time in to requalify! L-R (desert_diver, Jones and me)

Double huzzah!!
One Father/Son team in the middle pic above scored rifleman!


It all started with the evening of April 18, 1775 with a time tested method of disarming subjects for the greater good.
General Thomas Gage sent approximately 700 British soldiers out to Concord (about 18 miles distant) to seize and
destroy military stores and equipment known to be stockpiled in the town.
His orders to Lt. Col. Smith, the British officer who was to lead the expedition, were as follows:



Sir: 
Having received intelligence, that a quantity of Ammunition, Provision, Artillery, Tents and
small arms, have been collected at Concord, for the Avowed Purpose of raising and supporting a
Rebellion against His Majesty, you will march with the Corps of Grenadiers and Light Infantry, put under
your command, with the utmost expedition and secrecy to Concord, where you will seize and destroy all
Artillery, Ammunition, Provision, Tents, Small Arms,
and all military stores whatever. But you will take care that the Soldiers do not plunder the inhabitants, or hurt private property.



Under great pressure from his superiors in England to bring Massachusetts back under control of the "lawful government,"
General Gage sent the troops to Concord in the hopes that by doing so, he could convince the colonists to back down,
and thus avoid an armed rebellion.
General Gage also believed that seizing stockpiles of weapons was not only a military necessity,
but also his prerogative as governor of the colony.

The colonists actively disagreed. What would the militia's of Captain John Parker or the Minutemen of Isaac Davis do?
They did not just react and simply take a step back and redraw the line in the sand.
They acted. They shot them and shot them well...all the way back to Boston. 
They had marksmanship on their side as well as a strong spirit and the courage of their convictions to birth a nation.
By the end of the day, one of the world's finest fighting elite would be defeated by a bunch of determined "Yankee farmers".

The British Regulars finally reached Concord and the famous Battle of the North Bridge ensued.
This was where we got the phrase "the shot heard round the world."
Parker, later that afternoon, got sweet revenge for the 'shot in the back' murder of his "retreating" countrymen at Lexington in a famous ambush called Parker's Revenge.



And eh gads....Historians still get it wrong. The "shot heard 'round the world" is sometimes generically, albeit erroneously,
used to describe the first shots of Lexington. But according to Emerson, this famous "shot"
he was referring to, occurred at the North Bridge of Concord.

The Minuteman statue below represents the icon of Project Appleseed.
It is our avatar on the Project Appleseed forums.  It is emblazoned on all our instructor gear and accesories.



This statue is right at the entrance of North Bridge of Concord. This statue was designed by Concord resident
Daniel Chester French who was a sculptor. It was Ralph Waldo Emerson, also of Concord,
who suggested to French that he talk to the 1875 Centennial Statue Committee which was to honor the 100th
year of the Battle of Concord at the Old North Bridge. 
Emerson had previously written the Concord Hymn in 1835,
at the request of the newly formed Battle Monument Committee, to immortalize the North Bridge fight (minus the battle details).
1835 was to be the 200th anniversary of the founding of Concord.
It was the dedication one of the first monuments to military, the Obleisk that stands on the opposite end of the
Old North Bridge.  That was one of the Nation's first military type monument and was finally erected in 1836.

Much like John Adams' definition of the American Revolution, the Concord Hymn,  according to Emerson
was designed to live on in the hearts and mind of the people.
French was finally tasked to make a statue. French wanted the likeness of a Minuteman and settled on Isaac Davis.
He interviewed many relatives of Davis. The story of Isaac Davis is powerful and moving.
Isaac Davis was the first to die at the North Bridge of Concord and it is his likeness on this statue.

The words inscribed at the base of the Minuteman statue are from the Concord Hymn.
Again, this hymn was written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, actually the grandson of William Emerson.
When the fierce fighting broke out at the North Bridge of Concord On April 19th, 1775
William Emerson was a pastor trying to calm the local residents of Concord. Predominately the elders,
the very young and the infirmed.
As a tribute to the Concord Battle at the Old North Bridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote the Concord Hymn.

Those famous 6 words did not occur in that order until Emerson wrote the Concord Hymn.
The first stanza is written on the Minuteman statue at the North Bridge in Concord.
It is:
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
   Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
   And fired the shot heard round the world.

The entire Concord Hymn was first sung on July 4,1837. On the 200 year anniversary of the founding of Concord.
This was when the first Obelisk Monument (at the opposite end of the bridge) was dedicated to the memory of those
who fought at Concord.

The "flood" from the line "rude bridge that arched the flood", referred to swollen spring waters that were common to
all the rivers around the Boston area.
Below is a replica of the original "arched" bridge.



"The shot heard 'round the world" was clearly written for Concord and not Lexington.

[TaosGlock]

King George III and even our leaders today are now open about wanting complete control of the means of our Liberties.
Each atrocity committed by some deranged individual gives the enemies of freedom more fuel for their fire.
They have been taking that control incrementally for decades thru law and regulation,
they are now poised for the finale.  Do you understand what this means?

It is time to figure out what kind of country you are comfortable leaving to your children and grandchildren, because with today's lackadaisical attitudes, they will be able to bury us without firing a shot.

We have been spoiled by our own affluence and material success.  Ask yourself, how will you preserve your liberty?
Without Liberty, all of our material success and easy lifestyles means nothing.
Unless you have learned about the world of sacrifice, depredation, and concrete threats to our nation,  you can not understand how bad it can really get. What kind of Nation do you want to live in?
Our Founders knew the answer before the Revolutionary War began and later
John Adams answered this question again when he succinctly defined the American Revolution.
If we have the "hearts and minds" of the American people, we will never need our arms.  Likewise if we don't have the "hearts and minds'' of our countrymen, then all the arms in the world won't help.

"Arms discourage the and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property...Horrid mischief would ensue were the law abiding deprived of the use of them."-Thomas Paine

Our leaders have not learned from history and are content to criminalize anything that interferes with their presumed right to rule.

Have we learned anything from the sacrifices the Founder's made to secure our Liberties?

Liberty is not a cruise ship full of pampered passengers.
It is a man of war and we are all crew-Boston T. Party

What have you done to advance Liberty in America today?

Yesterday.....


Today, we may well be reaping the results of ignorance, laziness and apathy...



While the woman above answers quite matter of factly, a better response is a direct quote from Jeff Cooper:
"The rifle is a weapon. Let there be no mistake about that. It is a tool of power, and thus dependent completely upon the moral stature of its user. It is equally useful in securing meat for the table, destroying group enemies on the battlefield, and resisting tyranny. In fact, it is the only means of resisting tyranny, since a citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized."






Today...


The current outrage towards "gun control" isn't about that really. It is predominately a reaction by folks who already know they will comply.

People comply with and finance their own tyranny. Modern day slaves, to paraphrase Ezra Pound, "Wait for someone to free them".

Etienne de la Boetie in his Discourse on Voluntary Servitude from the 16th century discussed obedience to rulers. "Why is it that we have lords, he opined? The serfs outnumber the lord, but why does he continue to rule? It has to be that people consent to him." So what happens if one just walk away from the game.  If you think about it, that is how we divorced ourselves from King George III.

He points out:
"Obviously there is no need of fighting to overcome this single tyrant, for he is automatically defeated if the country refuses consent to its own enslavement: it is not necessary to deprive him of anything but simply to give him nothing… It is therefore the inhabitants themselves who permit, or, rather, bring about, their own subjection, since by ceasing to submit they would put an end to their servitude."- Etienne de la Boetie, Discourse on Voluntary Servitude

The Statists aren't dumb. It is more successful to turn up the heat a bit on the boiling froggie by simply passing "infringement" type regulations than go thru the powder keg of Concord style door to door confiscation. Modern day loss of all liberties will eventually be death by a thousand cuts. 

Liberty is not for the faint of heart.
America's founding ideas of freedom and liberty are ultimately unable to serve their intended telos without also emphasizing the value of personal responsibility. When we reflexively assign blame for the occurrence of almost every event, we implicitly relinquish the capacity to take control of our individual and collective futures.

Homeland Security is a Nation of Riflemen.
A free and independent nation should be well trained, well armed and have plenty of ammo to repel either terrorists, criminals and most predominately, a tyrannical government.
Thus the purpose of the Second Amendment.

"Make no mistake, when you cheer for the people of the American Revolution, you are cheering for traitors and criminals.
They broke the law, because liberty is always illegal"- Larken Rose



...more later as we are just getting caught up from a fantastic weekend.

[TaosGlock]

We arrived Friday afternoon during a blizzard but the storm quickly passed through the 33,000 acre wilderness known as the Whittington Center.


Just before sundown, Jones and BlueFeather set up a piece of AR500 steel that makes a "Regular" appearance at our Appleseeds.
A man size torso at 100 yards.


The storm eventually passed and the skies cleared.....


By the next day it was clear, but windy and this reveals why this is one of the most challenging and beautiful ranges in the world.
Project Appleseed in "The Land of Enchantment'!
The peak is Red River Peak and is an historic landmark along the Santa Fe Trail which passes right through the Whittington Center.


...more later!

[TaosGlock]

After the safety briefing we jump right into the first target of the day, "The Redocat".
This target answers that eternal question, "what is my effective range"?
desert_diver explains the COF with a bit of colonial history to add perspective.


Jones uses a laser on our California approved SKS, a fiberglass stock.
We teach Natural Point of Aim and Rifleman's Cadence with this effective teaching tool.
Each student gets a turn behind it to speed up the learning curve involved in finding your NPOA,
placing it on the target and finally, learning to trusting it.


The Jeff Cooper cabin is great way to escape the elements and provides a venue for year around events.
The Colonel would no doubt heartily approve of Project Appleseed's mission.
His monthly column, 'Cooper's Corner' in Guns and Ammo was a mainstay for many of us through the decades.


Out on the firing line....

[TaosGlock]

Rifleman come from all walks of life.


A Rifeman is a man/woman skilled in the use of a rifle. The true measure of the Rifleman is not how fast you can shoot, but how many targets you can hit per minute.
The Army Qualifying Test below will help determine that.



Sergey (L) is a former Russian citizen, now an American. He is a Rifleman too!
He knows the meaning of tyranny and oppression. 
BlueFeather (R) is a former British subject.  She now enjoys a life of liberty with her fellow Americans.


Nothing says citizen more than shooting your M1A!

[TaosGlock]

..."That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

To put it bluntly, the citizens have the right to overthrow a tyrannical government through violent means.

Project Appleseed is a CMP approved  course of fire. Attending a 2 day event allows one to
immediately purchase an M1 Garand and ammo. This will be delivered directly to your door!
This is one tool for "safeguarding liberty" as defined by our Founders. 
General George Paton aptly described the M1 Garand as "the greatest battle implement ever devised".
The "Greatest Generation" during WWII preserved everything the Founders fought for during the Revolutionary War.

[TaosGlock]

10 year old riflemen are rare.



Even more rare is a father son Rifleman team.
Congrats to Ryan (L) and Steve (R)!


...more later when I get caught up.