This is from guest writer Rick Saxby.

I think it would be safe to say that pretty much all civilians who have a carry permit carry folding knives as backups to their pistols. If I were to bet, I would put money on the probability that the majority of them never train with their knives. In this article, I go over some points and make the argument that you should train with your folding knife so you can make it your primary weapon if need be. In my opinion, that is the best self defense. There’s a statement that I regularly read on forums which I believe is a poor answer to an important question. People say that carrying a pistol is a lifestyle and they avoid places that forbid them to carry a pistol on their person. This is not a solution nor is it possible if you are a member of this society. Here are a few of the places were civilians are forbidden to carry their firearms. 1. Post office, courtrooms (Jury duty), DMV and other government establishments 2. Colleges (Including Sports events) 3. Commercial airline travel 4. High schools (Including sports events) 5. Work: Most companies do not permit their employees to carry firearms to work Unfortunately for the public at large, shooting rampages commonly take place in places such as these. Most people who carry a firearm on a daily basis pretend that they can just make a habit of avoiding these places. But the thing is, for the majority of the people in our society, this is impossible. And if all you have is firearms training then when you are forced to leave your pistol behind you are completely letting your guard down for just a moment in places we typically associate with mass shootings. There are studies showing that someone armed with a contact weapon like a knife can travel approximately 7 yards in 2 seconds. 1.5 seconds is the average time it takes someone who has their pistol holstered to take out their firearm and get off a shot or two. So unless someone is very aware of their situation and also looking for attack cues, they are going to get stabbed. I would never tell anyone to bring a knife to a gun fight but my point is that I try to never underestimate what someone with intent is capable of doing to someone if they have a knife. Especially if that person has the right kind of training. I also have some facts that women and fathers who have daughters will be interested in; girls who are ages 16-19 have the highest rates of being victims of violent crimes in America, followed closely by women 20-24. In cases of rape, the ages of the average victims are younger than that, with half of the victims being under 18. One third of all the rapes in this country happen to girls 12-17. So it’s kind of funny to me when a grown man can get a permit to carry a gun but the population segment in this country who has the highest potential to be a victim of violent crime is strictly forbidden by law to carry firearms on them. And don’t forget about all the politicians out there who are dedicated to total and complete gun control.

• Senator- Dianne Feinsteine Democrat-California: Interview with 60 minutes (1995) “If I could have gotten 51 votes in the senate of the United States for an outright ban picking up everyone of them (Firearms), Mr. and Mrs. America turn them all in, I would have done it”.

• Rep. William L. Clay (D-St. Louis, Mo.), said the Brady Bill is “The minimum step” that Congress should take to control handguns. “We need much stricter gun control, and eventually we should bar the ownership of handguns except in a few cases”

The tragedy of it all is that every time there is another shooting rampage that takes place in this nation’s schools or workplaces, these politicians use these tragedies as fuel for their fire. And there is nothing anyone can do to stop these shootings from happening. They are just byproducts of a society that is spiraling out of control. To top this off, according to the IMF’s latest forecasts, China’s economy will soon surpass America’s in real terms by the year 2016. And the sad thing is we are also in debt to this massive communist superpower who does not allow any of its population except the police and military to own firearms. China is also beginning to strongly influence our financial policies as well. Maybe they have already started to influence some other policies here. I know that’s pretty far-fetched but look what happened in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. There was a massive gun confiscation in the aftermath of the hurricane. Here are some of the victims of the gun confiscation and how they described that day:

• Buell Teel- “Automatic rifles pointed at you, you don’t have any choice… They didn’t care what your rights were, they were going to deny them. It’s not America as we’ve known it before; it’s changing”
• Richard Styron- “They took ’em, and they didn’t have a right to take ’em, they didn’t even have a reason to take ’em.”
• Robert Zas- “Heed the warning of what this was, it’s like Australia. All the sudden, boom, they’ve got our rights.”
• Wayne Schum- “We are living proof that all they have to do is say, ‘look- this is the law’.”

What if you and your family found yourselves surrounded by men with M16’s pointed straight at you with one in the chamber and the safety off? Make no doubt about about it, when the cops come for your guns the tough talk stops and you give them up. God forbid this happens to anyone but people in this country shouldn’t believe this type of situation will never happen to them. So what I’m saying is people should incorporate knife and club training into their firearms training. This makes for the most practical self defense training. This is not the “one true answer” that will save you and your loved ones from all harm but it is far better than just gun training by itself. Make no doubt about it; an awesome folding knife, some combat boots, a bulletproof vest and a billy club can go a long way when you keep a low profile.