Range Minded Podcast

Armed Civilians Who Stopped Mass Shooters + Practical Situational Awareness You Can Use Today. In this episode, we examine real cases from the last decade in which armed civilians interrupted or stopped active shooters, then break down the situational-awareness habits that made those interventions possible. We start with the October 15, 2026 shooting at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, where a 16-year-old former student killed three children and a teacher before being stopped inside the building by a father of two students at the school. Police arrived roughly three minutes after the first 911 call and found the shooter already dead. We then cover other prominent cases—Sutherland Springs (2017), West Freeway Church of Christ (2019), Greenwood Park Mall (2022), and the Twin Falls In-N-Out shooting (2026)—along with the broader data from the Crime Prevention Research Center showing that armed citizens stop a far higher percentage of active-shooter incidents than FBI public reports reflect. From there, we move into practical training. Drawing on USCCA materials and Jeff Cooper’s Color Code of Awareness, we walk through Condition White, Yellow, Orange, and Red, the OODA Loop (Observe–Orient–Decide–Act), and specific habits you can start using immediately: reducing phone and headphone use in public, establishing baselines when you enter new environments, watching hands, improving your positioning, and running mental “what-if” scenarios. Crime Prevention Research Center analysis of armed-citizen stops: https://crimeresearch.org FBI Active Shooter reports (for comparison): https://www.fbi.gov Website: https://www.rangemindedpodcast.com Linktree: https://linktr.ee/range_minded_podcast eBay shop: https://www.ebay.com/usr/rmpshop

Episode 329. The straight-line “roadmap to confiscation” is a story, not a legal path. This episode rebuilds it the way a 2026 lawyer has to: under Heller, McDonald, Bruen, Rahimi, and the June 2026 Hemani decision. Six phases, and it branches. A prospective rule is not a down payment on taking guns people already own. Each prohibited-person category has to win its own historical fight. Registration is not a skeleton key. If the endpoint is still unconstitutional, the mechanism is an amendment, not another bill.The back half is how disarmament actually happened where it happened. Weimar registration and the November 1938 Jewish weapons decree. The December 1918 Soviet surrender order. Armenian disarmament in 1915. Khmer Rouge confiscation in 1975. Then the contrast cases: Australia’s 1996 compensated buyback, and Venezuela’s 2012 sales ban that produced neither a monopoly nor a drop in homicide. Emergency, loyalty, a list, and a deadline.The roadmap here dies in court. The roadmap that worked elsewhere was a list, an enemy, and a deadline. District of Columbia v. Heller (2008): https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/07-290 McDonald v. Chicago (2010): https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/08-1521 New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen (2022): https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/20-843 United States v. Rahimi (2024): https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/22-915 United States v. Hemani (June 18, 2026), opinion: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/24-1234 Hemani case page: https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/united-states-v-hemani/ Congress.gov essay on Hemani: https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/intro.9-4-8/ALDE_00000135/ Germany Disarmament of the German Jews, including the Weimar 1928 law and the November 1938 decree: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disarmament_of_the_German_Jews Text of the Regulation Against the Possession of Weapons by Jews, November 11, 1938: https://www.jugend1918-1945.de/ND/default.aspx?root=18383&id=31499 Soviet Russia Sovnarkom decree on surrender of weapons, December 10, 1918: http://istmat.info/node/31996 Cheka background and execution figures: https://www.worldhistory.org/Cheka/ Ottoman Empire Chronology of disarmament, labor battalions, and deportations, 1915: https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/extermination-ottoman-armenians-young-turk-regime-1915-1916.html Cambodia Small Arms Survey working paper on private ownership and 1975 confiscation: https://www.smallarmssurvey.org/sites/default/files/resources/SAS-WP4-Cambodia.pdf Australia and Venezuela RAND review of the 1996 National Firearms Agreement: https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/analysis/essays/1996-national-firearms-agreement.html InSight Crime, first year of the Venezuelan disarmament law: https://insightcrime.org/news/brief/less-than-1-of-guns-off-venezuela-streets-in-a-year-of-disarmament-law/ Homicide trend after the 2012 sales ban: https://crimeresearch.org/2016/04/venezuela-homicide-rate-rose-after-2012-ban-on-private-ownership-of-guns/ #2A #SecondAmendment #GunRights #SCOTUS #Bruen #Heller #Hemani #Rahimi #FirearmsPolicy #GunControl #RangeMinded #Podcast #Constitution #HistoricalDisarmamentWebsite: https://www.rangemindedpodcast.comLinktree: https://linktr.ee/range_minded_podcastebay shop: https://www.ebay.com/usr/rmpshop

Episode 328: The Fog of Information. Is Too Much Info Making Decisions Harder, or Just Killing the Vibe?More gun content does not always make you a better shooter, a smarter buyer, or a freer citizen. Past a point, it does the opposite. This episode is about analysis paralysis, the jam study, and why a firehose of 2A videos can freeze the decision to buy, train, and actually enjoy the Second Amendment.In 2000, researchers Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper set out 6 jars of jam and 24. The big display drew more shoppers. The small one sold more jars. People who stopped at 6 flavors were about six times more likely to buy. The gun counter, the optic rabbit hole, and the “best first handgun” search work the same way. Variety gets the click. Too much variety kills the decision.We also get into who is worth your time, what to skip, and how to cap the research so the range trip still happens. New shooters, longtime owners, and anyone watching from outside: the fog is normal. The right is simple. The catalog is not.Mentioned Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper, the jam study (2000) Barry Schwartz, The Paradox of Choice John Caile, “Research: Keep It Simple,” USCCA (2017) Darryl Worley, “Too Many Pockets” Lipsey’s Bulletin, “If You Want to Sell More, Show Less”Creators I come back to Four Boxes Diner, Guns and Gadgets, Christian Warrior Training, John Crump News, Mr. Guns N Gear, Garand Thumb, Kentucky BallisticsThe Range Minded Podcast. Firearms, liberty, and the stuff worth keeping.Episode 328: The Fog of Information. Is Too Much Info Making Decisions Harder, or Just Killing the Vibe?More gun content does not always make you a better shooter, a smarter buyer, or a freer citizen. Past a point, it does the opposite. This episode is about analysis paralysis, the jam study, and why a firehose of 2A videos can freeze the decision to buy, train, and actually enjoy the Second Amendment.In 2000, researchers Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper set out 6 jars of jam and 24. The big display drew more shoppers. The small one sold more jars. People who stopped at 6 flavors were about six times more likely to buy. The gun counter, the optic rabbit hole, and the “best first handgun” search work the same way. Variety gets the click. Too much variety kills the decision.We also get into who is worth your time, what to skip, and how to cap the research so the range trip still happens. New shooters, longtime owners, and anyone watching from outside: the fog is normal. The right is simple. The catalog is not.Mentioned Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper, the jam study (2000) Barry Schwartz, The Paradox of Choice John Caile, “Research: Keep It Simple,” USCCA (2017) Darryl Worley, “Too Many Pockets” Lipsey’s Bulletin, “If You Want to Sell More, Show Less”Creators I come back to Four Boxes Diner, Guns and Gadgets, Christian Warrior Training, John Crump News, Mr. Guns N Gear, Garand Thumb, Kentucky BallisticsThe Range Minded Podcast. Firearms, liberty, and the stuff worth keeping.Website: https://www.rangemindedpodcast.comLinktree: https://linktr.ee/range_minded_podcastebay shop: https://www.ebay.com/usr/rmpshop

In this episode of the Range Minded Podcast, we visit the latest injection from the 5th Circuit Court on interstate handgun purchases: will you be able to buy handguns out of state without the hassle of sending them back to your home state FFL?We also talk about one of President Trump's executive actions: "REINVIGORATING AMERICA’S HUNTING HERITAGE". It's all about making hunting great again in the USA! How could this affect your next hunting trip?And what grade does your elected official get from the NSSF? Every year, the NSSF gives out report cards; below is the link to see for yourself! I hope you enjoy this episode, and make sure you do all the normal things (Like-Sub-Comment-Share)! 5thCircuitCourt'sDecision: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/firearmspolicycoalition/pages/10076/attachments/original/1789762991/2026.09.18_083-1_OPINION.pdf?1789762991 Executive Order: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/reinvigorating-americas-hunting-heritage/ Congress Grades: https://www.nssf.org/download/?wpdmdl=62675 Super Dad votes: https://yoursuperdad.org/steve-zimmerman-oxYYWebsite: https://www.rangemindedpodcast.comLinktree: https://linktr.ee/range_minded_podcastebay shop: https://www.ebay.com/usr/rmpshop

Open mic in this episode. I speak from 3 simple bullet points, not a long list of show notes. I speak from the heart in this one. Like it or not, this is what it is!Website: https://www.rangemindedpodcast.comLinktree: https://linktr.ee/range_minded_podcastebay shop: https://www.ebay.com/usr/rmpshop