When he was teaching me to shoot, the Old Man used to caution against relying overly much on mechanical safeties on a gun. “Remember,” he told me, “The only safety you can always rely on is the one between your ears.” Some years later, when I left my rather idyllic and peaceful northeast Iowa home and started living in locales with higher crime rates, I discovered a corollary to that rule; “Don’t rely overly much on law enforcement or civil authorities. The only hands that you should rely on to provide security for yourself, your family, and your community, are your own.”