From the Mouths of Babes

If you are reading this, you probably are familiar with Steven Lieberman’s stories usually having to do with Sheep, Sheepdogs, Samurais, and ironically enough sometimes unicorns and The Golden Girls… today, I wanted to write about jumping in with both feet!

My name is Chaney Lieberman, (yes, I am Steven and Sandy ‘s daughter) and I asked my father if I could write this week’s newsletter.

I am 13 years old. I work at Artemis as an operator, and have recently started participating in competition shooting. However, I have been shooting recreationally for more than half of my entire life.

(If you arrived here from our newsletter continue reading here:)

I go to the Orange County School of the Arts as a classical voice student. I obtained my first degree black belt under the guidance of Olympian Dr. Jimmy Kim in taekwondo, I play the guitar, I am working on mastering my drawing skills and I am a police explorer. Whether I am working on an algebra problem, sight reading a new opera piece or memorizing another set of police codes…… one thing is certain… I need to jump in with both feet and commit to doing what I can to learn and train to reach certain milestones in my skill sets. I need to read about the industry, I need to watch videos about the industry, I need to understand the rules and regulations pertaining to whatever it is that I am seeking to do… practice the skill at hand, otherwise, I never get better and move towards mastery of the skill. This is what my parents, teachers and coaches have all told me… and having reached certain aspects of accomplishments… I have come to recognize the validity of their mantra.

Let’s think about this… if you have a child in soccer or one who takes piano or dance lessons… what is the point in sending them to class, if they do not practice and improve their skill sets? And yet, when it comes to firearms… I have met more adults who own firearms and yet know very little about this life saving tool and their own guns as well.

The other day, I was helping out my parents on the range at one of our CCW qualification range days.

It had been a long time since I had last come to one of these days, and I didn’t know a single person taking the class.

After our first relay had finished, I walked back with the a group to go reload mags, but I wanted to speak with some of the trainees just to get to know them better.

I started asking about what type of holsters they were thinking about, what type of firearms they were shooting, if they wanted to add a gun onto their license, and if so which one,

Once I started talking to them, it suddenly hit me that these students did not have a full understanding of what a big deal it was to be getting a CCW permit.

I realized this when most of their answers to my questions were “I don’t know,” or “ Well I don’t have to think about that yet,… right?”

I explained to them that this permit isn’t something that you can just have without putting work into it.

On a daily basis, this burden of carrying a firearm should become one of your top priorities. Nothing about it should be a surprise….

For instance when deciding on which firearm you are going to carry… shouldn’t it be important to understand and consider how you will carry it and what type of clothing you will need to wear? So you bought a full size 1911…

You understand that you have 3 choices here:

Either dress the part so you can conceal…
Find a way to conceal a handgun with what you normally wear, (if that means a different gun, holster, etc…. you make the alterations)
or Don’t carry at all.

If you got your CCW to protect your and your families’ life… then is not carrying even an option? Let me ask it another way… If you are allergic to a common substance, and for some reason you couldn’t fit your EpiPen into whatever you are carrying with you, does that mean you should just not carry the EpiPen?

Of course not!

That just means you have to find solution. The only way you will find a solution is by jumping in with both feet and embracing your new lifestyle…. take the time to immerse yourself!