4Freedom

With Cooper cutting funding for the police department, the new slogan will be when seconds count, the police are only hours or days away.. Look what happened in Seattle with the attack on auto repair shop that was outside the "CHAZ" zone. The owners had to defend their own store with guns as the police and even fire department refused to show up. Seattle's police chief completely denied it, which is nauseating. Great shoot and we need more armed citizens to stand up and defend themselves now more than ever. At this point, I rarely go into Nashville and it gets a little dull now since I am stuck in suburbs with not much to do.. I go into Murfreesboro but the city is like shutdown at 9PM.. Looking to maybe relocate to Chattanooga or Knoxville that has a more sane city government and not overrun with so many thugs. I heard even before all this chaos the Nashville PD didn't even respond to armed robberies in many cases, they tell people to come down to station to file a report. I've met too many people who have had guns pointed at them in this city.. Too many people are too concerned for protecting the criminals in these cities these days than trying to help law abiding citizens who get terrorized by the criminals.

The use of confederate flags (in Michigan of all places) and pictures of Whitmer as Hitler or a Nazi were what I was most opposed to , because I knew how it would be spun. Bringing guns to a rally about ending a lockdown is also senseless. I am not against people bringing guns to a rally for gun rights, as long as they are responsible and don't act stupid. Media story : Groups of Confederate flag, Swastika waving Neo-Nazi White Supremacists raids Michigan Capitol with guns .. However, anyone thinking that us appeasing the liberals, left-wing media and acting docile is more effective than the other extreme of what these belligerent boneheads did is also being very naive. A good number of media outlets are also funded by major anti-gun Democrat politicians, so thinking they will just come to our side due to popularity also may be wishful thinking. They are the voice of their political ideologies and financing. If you just sit back and be polite and quiet, they will quietly and politely come and remove all your rights. I am from Pacific Northwest and nobody was pro-active enough and people just sat back and behaved as politely as possible and we lost a significant amount of gun rights and we are looking at losing more. Look at Virginia not too far away that seemed to learn from mistakes that Washington state made. It is just a matter of time before that state ends up with New York gun laws. It was the vigilance , open carry rallies and outspokenness of people in that state and others who came to the protests that influenced even Democrats in the state to vote against Assault Weapon Ban. In my opinion, people in Tennessee have lived under the protection of a conservative/pro-2A government for a long time and feel secure. Too secure, in my opinion. But, many don't know that Oregon use to be one of most conservative states and was more like Wyoming/Montana in the day. Even Montana now has a Governor who says he wants an Assault Weapon Ban in a state that I know cherishes gun rights and freedom. One city, Missoula (where gov hails from) is the big problem. Washington state , e.g., was the second state to legalize conceal carry in the country after Alaska (I believe). Then came a huge invasion of outsiders and they started chiseling away at the laws one by one. To be honest , I don't think our complacency and politeness did us any favors. If anything I think noise making , rambunctious and pro-active people are more effective. Look at these protests and riots we are having today. More and more people who support gun restrictions and stripping away of civil rights are moving to the Southeast USA.. Abrams in Georgia had a very nice plan of what she planned to do which included gun confiscation legislation for guns she claimed are "not covered under the 2nd Amendment".

https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/downtown-nashville-businesses-prepare-for-another-protest/ I am out in the suburbs near Lebanon and feel safer out here. Most of my neighbors are in law enforcement and former military. I'm not thinking they will try to burn and loot my complex. However, I Fear for business owners and even people in residential neighborhoods. From what I am hearing in other news articles, Antifa is trying to move these so-called protests (riots) to the suburbs and want to target even suburban neighborhoods. If the police are overwhelmed, military is not prepared for the area, I wondering what people are doing to protect themselves for potential civil unrest. There was quite a bit of destruction last time and I don't know how effective law enforcement or the Guard will be here.. Are there any business owners here who have plans to protect and defend their businesses from looting, vandalism and arson and what measures will you take and what legal risks could there be with Tennessee state law in taking such measures? I am assuming Castle Doctrine/Stand Your Ground Law applies to business owners in Tennessee.. I am sure last time nobody saw this coming, but this time I think people will be much more aware of how potentially dangerous of a situation we may be facing and how at risk already struggling businesses are in Nashville and surrounding areas. I wouldn't think Franklin, Murfreesboro, Hendersonville, etc are in the clear either here. As we speak, cities like New York, Los Angeles, St. Louis and other cities are still having serious problems with looting and destruction of businesses. New York City seems to be in the worst situation of anywhere in the country. NYC always seems to have the worst problems in any crisis..

Usually the more of a crime-ridden liberal mess of a city the more anti-gun and anti-freedom they are. Sad story.. Good news .. Id be so happy if TN can go Constitutional Carry.. With the chaos happening in our society, we should be punishing criminals and not law abiding citizens .. Criminals dont care about carry permits. THis is all nanny state measures to subject law abiding people to inefficient rules that just punish the law abiding.

@Grayfox54 I appreciate the advice.. I am open to doing anything (if you know anyone who wants to hire a dinosaur like me, I got linkedin/resume) and if I can get any kind of contracting work or anything I would take it.. I'm not picky at all. I would consider delivery job or labor, but my disabilities might screw me up. I don't want to end up in a wheelchair. I am actually going to see about offering my software experience for $15/hr because of how desparate I am. However, I will be pretty broke in a few months and debating how deep into debt I want to go.. Once you become homeless it gets a lot tougher and with a 30% unemployment rate I may be living like grandma and grandpa did (but older or more disabled than they wer) in the 1930s. I am not worried about getting an education right now when I am going to be struggling to make it each day. To be honest, in software, your education goes on forever and certificates don't matter; it's what you know. I've been grinding out Udemy/Pluralsight/Youtube courses. Until I end up without a computer or roof over my head I will keep studying. Even writing software for our family business, mostly to help my family members; not, myself. Just finished a huge email software project (won't make me a penny, but may save the dying business). I am 42, disabled and been working 70+hr weeks for the last 20 years. It's taken its toll on me. I made so many stupid decisions wanting to make a successful business and devoted my soul to the freakin' business I help build even though it is going to leave me poor and destitute. I was actually planning on looking for a new job and was going to spend next year studying new techs and working side jobs , but anybody who thinks our job market is like it was 3 months ago might have to take another look. This is the worst job crisis in this history of our country since the Depression (and maybe will end up worse, in my opinion). I have been doing lots and lots of studying ,but knowing technologies is only half the battle. Planning on crunching on algorithms at this point.. I have enough knowledge to write software, but a lot of companies want experience. I do have experience with desktop software (20 years worth), but these days , many companies want highly experienced web developers. As well, a good chunk of the software work force is being furloughed or laid off and my competition just got a lot stiffer. I also worked for smaller companies and many people want corporate experience and I have not always been orthodox in all tools and methodologies I have used. This was another reason I wanted to get into DevOps and was planning on pursuing a career as a more DevOps type of Developer; but , with how things are going , I may not have the ability to do that. It will require lot of studying and time for me to develop a DevOps portfolio, I may not have. Still planning on learning things like Kubernetes, Docker and been learning basics of Linux administration. Trying to make myself more well-rounded of a developer as I can. I wish I wasn't in this crappy situation in life and its hard when you don't have any family or friends to help you out. Got a family, but they are not the type who will got out of their way to help you. And, to be honest, rather not have to deal with them anyway. Been screwed royally for years by family members and family businesses suck. I was in a family business and got cheated out of the profits of the business because I was a fool. I just want to be a great example to people of what not to do with your life. Please don't end up like me. I should have known a Global Pandemic would hit that would turn this country upside down and being at my most vulnerable time in life I got pretty screwed. Don't mean to be a pessimist, but I am truly worried about my future and not just mine, but that of my fellow Americans who also may be disabled, struggling, have many mouths to feed (that is one advantage I have, no kids) and such cannot continue to live on unemployment and stimulus packages.

@MacGyver.. Thanks for all this advice and it is solid. Ironically, I do have a Linkedin Profile and use to get a lot of recruiters coming after me, although most assumed I was a senior web dev.. I interviewed at Microsoft in Seattle, but got creamed on the whiteboarding , algorithm exams. Another reason I am planning on spending many sleepless nights relearning (and learning new) algorithms/data structures. I need to modify my LinkedIn profile to adjust what I am trying to identify myself as.. I am going to state i am an Back-End/Application Developer. I am just not ready for interviews yet. Ironically, I also have a Github page and have some open source projects on there. I am currently working on two major web projects for my company before I end up leaving it I am hoping will look good on my resume/Linkedin and give me a little more real-life web experience that can hopefully compliment my 20 years of application development background. Oh, another funny thing is I was in the middle of doing my ASP.Net Security Pluralsight course before taking a quick break and making this post I have so many Udemy, PLuralsight and other courses. I have been doing nothing but studying. Unfortunately, I am running out of money and time very fast and will end up living in my car soon. It could take me a year or longer to find a software job in this market and if I am broke I will obviously just have to do whatever to put food in my mouth. Once that happens my future in software will be in question. Also with a bad back it will be hard to do heavy labor jobs and I hear the government isn't getting tapped out on unemployment. I am looking at taking out a big loan and seeing how long I can live on it and destroy my great credit. I just cannot see with massive lay-offs and soaring unemployment how a guy who was already struggling and unprepared for the cutthroat software market is going to make it. I've debated about getting a shack up in the Appalachians and trying to rough it out. I did live in rural Oregon Coast for 6 years and that is where I started my software career with a VSAT connection (eventually upgrading to 700k DSL) in a double wide trailer off the beach. I was very poor when I started my career. So, it's not like I am not use to roughing it. ALthough, I have never had to deal with an economy like this and I am getting older. Right now I am grinding away many courses and building projects.. My apartment complex will try to force me into another year lease with very high rent and I will just have to vacate. Not sure if I will stay in Tennessee, might have to go wherever survival takes me. Don't have any family or friends or anyone , so I am all on my own here. My grandparents survived dirt poor in Great Depression somehow.. Hoping I can do the same.

Thank you @bud.. I appreciate your good wishes. I am not so confident our economy is going to rebound and worry things may get worse. But, I do have a Bearish outlook and been following economists who are more on the bear side of things. What is a reality, is that the software market has laid off a huge chunk of workers in an already competitive market. I have not been on the software market for over 15 years because I was part of a small family business that I helped build and believed in it too religiously. I am lacking important web skills and stacks, even though I have been spending the last year studying as much web and modern stacks as I Can, I am playing catch up. Almost all software jobs in Nashville are web related and want senior or at least 5+ years web experience. It was tough before the Pandemic , but I am reading getting a software job now is a nightmare. I am pretty much accepting I will have to do freelancing and just see if I can get any kind of cruddy job. THe problem is I am partially disabled now from working 70hr + weeks and being stupid. That's the problem with entrepreneurial pursuits and software in general it will ruin your body if you spend too much time doing it. I @MacGyver At this point, I am desperate to do anything. Of course, you cannot go into any software job (because of the culture) and show you are sweating, so I cannot even apply for lower level jobs easier because of my 20 years of experience. They expect I am senior web dev, even though all my experience is with application development. Nashville's software market was very tough even before the Pandemic . I am told you really need connections in this city. Maybe has to do with the whole star/music industry mentality. I don't really know anyone in the state of Tennessee. The whole time I've lived here I was locked up in my apartment working long hours trying to keep our business alive. But, the Pandemic did a good job of shutting it down. Unfortunately, most dental offices are out of business for who knows how long. I was already planning on leaving , but not so soon. I am thinking I may look into going to the Raleigh/Durham area that has the largest tech market in the Southeast and a little cheaper living than Nashville. I may see if I can find a room in someone's house. Going to have to store my guns somewhere and get rid of most of my possessions. With the lack of web skills and 25% unemployment I am thinking it could take years for me to land any type of corporate job now. I am planning on putting up a profile on Upwork and advertising freelancing for $15/hr. Many say I am cutting myself at the knees, but these are tough times and I rather do software for $15/hr than work at Wal-Mart or delivery. I am planning on spending a lot of time studying algorithms, data structures and computer science stuff that may help me get a job at the FAANG type companies that generally use this criteria as their entry point rather than stack experience. Been a long time since i Studied all the mind-bending algorithms and done whiteboarding.

Cannot wait to go to bar and have a drink.. Been drinking much much less since the Pandemic.. And, to be honest, I never felt healthier eating all my food at home, cutting away most durum wheat and pasteurized dairy has made my lungs feel so clean and no allergies. I just go out for a pizza once a week , because I cannot live without pizza. That being said, I just need to sit and have a drink because that is freedom. Also need to ponder the fact I have lost the business I spent 15+ years building and slaving away for 60-70hrs/week. THe Pandemic has pretty much flatlined our already struggling business and now I will be forced to find a new software job after 15 years of being off the market. Sadly, I hear software job market is in bad shape, many lay offs and it can take over a year to find one now with my resume that is not tip-top. Going to see if I can just find any work.. Might be just moving into my car in the next few months if I have to. Tough times...

Dave, I am also deathly afraid of hornets and yellow jackets and pretty much dislike any flying stinging insect. I am from the Pacific Northwest and they have invaded my homeland. This is just another reason I am happy I left that place

I am no fan of the Yankees up North either.. Whereas the South I think has been loosening its gun laws , the Northern states have been making them more restrictive.. Vermont went from Libertarian to Authoritarian, for example. But, some of these laws go way back. I would think some restrictions may have to do with the South being part of the Older America versus being a more Pioneer independent mentality of some Western and Midwestern states. Of course, many of Western states are being plagued with Californiziation (aka Californication). The Northeastern states are pretty similar in banning guns on government property, except for exceptions like New Hampshire. New Hampshire is completely different than any other Northeastern state. I am from the Pacific Northwest and before all the Californians moved up there and changed all our laws to be more like their failed state, it was a very Live and Let LIve mentality. People just wanted the government out of their business and we had very low taxes, loose gun laws and there was still that pioneer mentality. Also, many of people who settled the part of Oregon I came from actually were pioneers from Kentucky, Tennessee and many other Southern states. Southern Oregon, where I am from, has a very strange history.. I also was just clarifying that it is perfectly legal in many Midwestern and Western states to bring your guns to a protest at a State Capital building. Usually people do it for anti-gun legislation type protests. I think it is absurd to go and bring your guns into a Capitol building to protest a non-firearm related issue. Obviously, the media will spin this as it was a bunch of terrorists. If government was going around arresting people at random, shooting dissenters and other heinous acts, then an armed protest would make more sense to me.

In many states (including the Northwest where I am from, or was until recently) it is actually perfectly legal to bring guns into the Assembly rooms and into the Capitol building. I find it strange, but Southern states have pretty strict laws forbidding guns from being on state government property. That is not the case in many other regions.

Ocasio-Cortez was born here.. Unfortunately

Democrat = Communist by modern definition. Comrade Bernie is just the beginning. Just wait until President Omar or Ocasio-Cortez is elected and declares Republican party a Terrorist group and requires immediate gun confiscation under Executive order supported unanimously by the followers. I don't think its likely you will see 2/3rd vote to modify the Constitution. At that point will be close to another civil war anyway. The Bill of Rights and Constitution will not simply be usurped by votes alone. Will this happen next year? No... Next Decade? If these traitorous communists in our government can prolong their political careers and ramp up support from the mindless sheeple, definitely, yes!

So, you are pretty much confident we will have a fairly easy gun confiscation in this country? Maybe.. But, I don't think so. Yes, the military has tanks, jets, drones and artillery. Are they going to blow up their own country to achieve their goals? It is one thing to destroy another country, it is another thing to start killing your own uncles, brothers and destroying your own infrastructure to achieve what ever authoritarian goal. TO be honest, I see a civil war between Communists (aka Democrats) and Patriots (anyone who is not Democrat) before I see our military coming in with tanks , helicopters and artillery to start gunning down their friends and family members in the name of Communism. If you study the Bolshevik Revolution, the people en masse who took arms supported the Revolution against the Tsar. Lenin had a poweful military force and when he established his rule, there was a very strong ideology brainwashed into people from their youth to serve the leader and defend Communist ideologies. We would first have to replace our current military with a different kind of military (maybe foreigners?) before such a bold authoritarian takeover and removal of our country's Constitutional institutions can be achieved. My relatives obeyed the Nazis and complied.. My grandmother's entire village in Belarus was exterminated during the Nazi invasion into that country. Women and children had to dig their own graves and they mass murdered everyone, babies crying on momma's arms. I don't think I would comply. Mostly because of my family history. My life already is kind of rough.. Freedom is kind of the last thing I have to cherish. What is the point of being a slave of autocratic dictators? I bet if my relatives had a second chance they would have not complied. I do think you are wrong in the fact that I don't see our soldiers mass murdering their fellow Americans. At the end of the day, the military makes the decisions.. It is who has the guns and the force to execute the laws. Politicians are just high paid suits unless they got the muscle of weapons to back up their demands.

Possibly.. That is quite a few guns they will have to destroy.. There was a Canadian shooting range not too far from my house than many Americans would go visit for competition shooting. I am from the Pacific Northwest and use to visit British Columbia time to time. Ironically, I always thought Vancouver was a much more conservative minded city than neighboring Seattle, where I also lived. But, who knows... I think there will be a surge of guns sent across the border as well as Canada has a thriving ghost gun industry. Vancouver had much more gun crime than Seattle. WHen I was staying at my friend's house in a pretty ghetto neighborhood called Delta, all the gas stations and many convenience stores had bullet proof glass due to all the armed robberies. Canada's strict gun laws didn't manage to help keep down their crime rates. At the time Seattle had pretty loose gun laws and still had less crime. Even Tacoma had less homicides than Surrey/Delta. Their previous Prime Minister was actually somewhat conservative.. Trudeau also is not the most popular person in Canada, the country is divided. However, I am worried we may have confiscation in this country too, so yes, it is possible for Canada. But, it won't be done without some resistance in Canada. Here it will have to be done with considerable resistance.