#the average civilian getting a gun here is extremely difficult

[bluesofasalamence]

It feels kinda annoying seeing posts about the NRA when they haven’t been politically relevant for the past 10 years, and even more annoying when liberals blame the NRA for not being able to pass gun control

like. the NRA has only 5 million members. Over 100 million people in the US have guns. They literally represent less than 5% of all gun owners, if they vanished or went bankrupt tomorrow liberals still wouldn’t be able to pass gun control because gun owners are one of the most politically active groups out there and they’re not interested on becoming felons overnight because of liberals passing ineffective laws that ban certain guns based on aesthetics and doubling the police budget instead of trying to help the average citizen so they don’t have to go to crime to make ends meet

This whole story of “Those things are hard to do, passing gun contrrol is much easier” sounds completely untrue every day that passes

[razieltwelve]

Final Earth Exports (Final Earth)

Final Earth is an AU in which Vanille accidentally opens a portal to an Earth very similar to ours by accident. The main differences is that nothing associated with the Final Rose universe (e.g., RWBY, Final Fantasy, etc.) exists there and they don’t have the same political leaders we do.

For the Children of Remnant, Earth is a veritable gold mine. There are huge quantities of resources (e.g., raw materials, food, etc.) and comparatively little danger. Obviously, Earth isn’t perfect, but we’re also not locked in existential battle against a bunch of monsters that spend all of their free time wondering how they can kill us all more efficiently. To get at those resources, what could Remnant export to Earth?

Let’s have a look at some possibilities.

Energy Simply put, Remnant is centuries ahead of Earth in power production. Final Earth is set when Fraise is in her twenties, so Remnant already has access to not only hyper-efficient fission reactors but also fusion reactors of all kinds. As in, they literally have portable fusion reactors and fusion reactors that can be scaled from small enough to fit into a closet to large enough to power entire continents. They’ve also got a functional orbital solar collection system/death ray.

Imagine you’re Australia (the portal opens up to the middle of the Australian desert). Now, one of the things people complain about the most is cost of living, and a big part of that is electricity. If Remnant were to build a power plant for Australia, they could massively reduce the cost of electricity. This would benefit not only regular people but also industry and commerce. Moreover, Australia’s political leaders would love it.

Want to get re-elected? Tell everybody the cost of electricity is going down by at least 75% and watch the votes just roll in, not to mention the reduction in the cost of goods and services. With drones to aid construction techniques, they could have a hyper-efficient fission reactor or a fusion reactor built in months, maybe less.

Medical Care One of the few upsides of waging existential war for centuries is advancements in medical technology. As long as you’re not dead, there’s very little that Remnant can’t fix. Earth humans are actually easier to fix since they don’t have complex Aura circulatory systems or anything like that.

Setting aside medical science, there are also a whole heap of Semblances like Fraise that would, by Earth standards, be considered miracles. 

Not only would exporting medical care be extremely profitable it would also be another fantastic means of securing political support. Again, any leader would leap at the chance to be able to tell their constituents that all those medical problems they have can now be dealt with. This might sound awful, but can you imagine what it would do for a leader’s polling numbers if they could point at Remnant and say to people: don’t worry, that terminal illness you’ve got, that paralysis you’ve got? No problems. They can fix it. Just vote for me, and I’ll get the deal done.

Reproductive Science The cost of fertility treatment is enormous and results are not guaranteed. That’s not an issue for Remnant. Give them two people, and they’ll have a baby ready to go before you know it. Like the other exports, this is another automatic win in the public relations department (you just know Jihl and Jahne are going to push this angle hard).

Transport Remnant has way more advanced transport like actual flying warships, transports, etc. I can think of plenty of world leaders who might want a stealth capable aircraft that can manoeuvre like a more agile helicopter but packs the speed of a fighter jet and the range of a commercial jetliner. 

Tourism Let’s be blunt. People like cute and awesome stuff. Remnant has plenty of both. I’m sure people would pay handsomely to get to ride a chocobo or to see some of the wildlife in Remnant. It’s like Jurassic park except instead of just giant reptiles, you can get giant tigers, giant rats, giant birds, giant... everything, basically.

Culture Earth loves heroes. We make sportspeople, celebrities, and so on into heroes and put them up on pedestals. How might Earth people react when they have a chance to see actual superheroes with actual superpowers in action? I have a sneaking suspicion that hunters will become super popular on Earth, and that tournament and hunting footage will make piles of money. And that’s not counting other aspects of Remnant’s culture and civilisation that might be popular. Yes, you know what I’m talking about. Remnant has actual cat girls. The internet would explode.

Weapons Yeah, Remnant kind of has the whole weapons thing down. Even if they don’t give out their most up to date weaponry, they’re still decades, maybe even further ahead of Earth. After all, this is a civilisation that has functional laser weapons, mechs, aerial warships, rail guns, plasma weapons, orbital death rays, etc.

Mercenaries There are plenty of battles being fought on Earth. Can you imagine what even a lower-level hunter would be able to do on the battlefield? Heck, imagine what the average student at Beacon would do to human opponents who don’t have Aura. It’d be like sending superheroes out to fight civilians.

Of course, you could also go a step further. Imagine someone like Snow being deployed onto a battlefield. That blue giant of his is capable of standing up to nukes and has attacks that are considered weapons of mass destruction. Imagine Lumina taking the field. Imagine Elsa.

Other Services This is a category that kind of lumps together all of the other stuff Remnant can do that Earth can’t. Take someone like Elsa. Do you have a weather problem? Is your country suffering from draught or about to be hit by blizzards/hurricanes? No problem. Pay the fee, get it fixed. Quick and easy. Guaranteed. Have a science issue? Vanille and her lab can get it handled. Want someone to interrogate your suspects? Pay the right price, and Jihl has you sorted.

Gary No world is safe.

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

Earth meeting Remnant would be fascinating. Of all the nations on Remnant, I think Atlas would be the most interested since they have the most difficult position in terms of territory and resources. It’s a good thing they’ve got Jihl to go snooping around for deals. It’s not like she won’t take shameless advantage of the situation...

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.

[daddybarnes1ao3]

Therapy Hours - Chapter 1

Find it here on AO3, or DM to be put on a tag list

Pairing; Bucky Barnes x OC

Story Summary; Niana Cross is just an ordinary girl, but shes got an extraordinary job to do. And she'll be damned if she isn't good at her job.

Word Count; 5014

Chapter 1 - The Path Ahead

‘Steve calls his therapist, Sam's a good friend, and Niana finally meets James Barnes - or what's left of him.’

Niana Cross didn't think she was anything special, not in the grand scheme of things. Sure, she had a pretty special job, but she was still just an average looking girl that loved watching horror movies and eating pizza.

The simplest explanation for why some people thought she was special is; she knew all the Avengers on a first name basis.

She started off as Tony Stark's therapist. She was contacted by the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury, just after Tony's miraculous return from Afghanistan and asked to evaluate him. Stark saw something in the girl, something that he trusted, so he kept her on as his personal on-call therapist. (He payed her well to make up for the weird hours he kept.) He spoke to her, confided in her more than he did anyone else - including Pepper Potts.

Pepper doesn't hold it against Niana. In fact, she's glad Tony has someone he can talk to. She has even grown close to the girl herself, the two becoming best friends.

When Steve Rogers was defrosted and tossed into the 21st century, both Tony and Fury recommended Niana to him. Steve figured that if even Tony 'I-Don't-Need-Help' Stark said the girl would be good for him, she had to be something special. No one could have guessed just how close the newly acquainted pair would become. Steve was like the brother Niana never had, and she was the little sister he always wanted.

After the events of New York in 2012, she started seeing all the Avengers regularly - except Thor, of course, who had to return to Asgard but promised a conversation upon his return. They were all struggling, some more than others, and Niana was happy to take some of the weight from them. They all grew to love her, in their own weird and wonderful ways. (Don't judge, Natasha shows her love by destroying your enemies and apparently paying off your student loans.)

It was during the events of DC in 2014 that things got the most interesting for Niana. A brief phone call from Steve, babbling almost incomprehensibly about his long-lost best friend, had her stealing borrowing one of Tony's private jets and heading straight to his hospital room.

The Winter Soldier had almost killed Steve twice and then saved him, all in the space of one afternoon. Sam Wilson, a new face that Niana analysed as quickly as her brief glance allowed, had found Steve unconscious on the bank of the Potomac with a very dazed and bruised Bucky Barnes hovering over him. The man was repeating a single phrase over and over.

'Till the end of the line.'

Barnes had handed himself over, surrendering all his weapons and allowing Natasha to cuff him. He required just as much hospital attention as Steve, so the two were separately transported to a safe location instead of a public hospital. (Which Niana later found out was Tony's doing, he knew she would want him to help Steve.)

Niana sat by Steve's bedside, holding his hand gently in her own. He hadn't said a word since she got here. He was deep in thought, staring off into space, so she left him to it. For now, she focused her attention on Wilson.

"How did you meet Steve?" She asked. Sam smirked and looked over at the other man.

"This asshole kept lapping me on my morning run." Sam told her. "Every time he went past, without fail, he’d go-"

"On your left." Steve finished for him; his voice was quiet.

"Stevie." Niana said softly, drawing his attention over to her. Without the girl saying anything else, his eyes filled with tears.

"God, Nia." He choked out. "He was right there, and he had no idea who I was. All that time I spent mourning him, coming to terms with the fact that my best friend was gone, only to find out that Hydra had him the whole fucking t-"

His voice finally gives out, breaking as he begins to sob. Niana stands from her chair, gently wrapping her arms around Steve's shoulders and letting him cry into her shirt.

In all the time she had spoken to Steve, he had never allowed himself to really let his emotions out. He had mentioned his best friend, how living without him by his side was hard, but he had never cried. And now he was letting it all out, and Niana found that she too was teary eyed.

Sam felt like he was intruding on something a little too personal, so he rose from his seat and left to grab the three of them something to drink. He knew Steve was in good hands from the way he spoke about the younger girl.

Niana let Steve hold on to her like a lifeline, even if she thought his hands were a little too tight on her arm; she would have some bruises later, but Steve needed her right now.

“Can you h-help him?” Steve hiccuped, his grip on her momentarily tightening. “Can you t-try to h-help him?”

“Of course, Steve.” Niana told him, softening her voice in an attempt to calm him down. “I’ll sit with him every day if I have to. He’ll get the best care possible.”

Steve lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, like he had expected her to say no, and relaxed further into her arms. It barely took ten minutes of quiet reassurances from Niana for him to drift off, the stress of an insanely long day finally catching up to him.

Sam ambled back in, two cups of tea in hand and a bottle of water tucked under his arm.

“He asleep?” He asked, setting her cup down beside her.

“Yeah.” Niana replies, gently running her fingers through the blonde’s hair.

“Barnes really did a number on him.” Sam commented, pointing to Steve’s medical file which had been left on his bedside table. Niana makes a point of turning away from it; she didn’t want to see how close to death her brother had been. And that file was far too thick for comfort.

“Barnes was brainwashed, he was just doing what he was told.” Niana said, her voice taking a slightly defensive tone at Sam’s jibe. She hadn’t met the man yet, but she had already decided to take him on as a patient - not just for Steve’s benefit, but to try and help a man who had nothing. And she was very protective of those she tried to help.

“Cause you’re an expert on Hydra’s inner workings, are you?” Sam scoffed, raising his eyebrows at her. She knew he was baiting her into a reaction, wanting to see what kind of person she was, but she willingly gave it.

She raised her eyebrows right back and pointed over to her bag. It was overflowing with paperwork, scribbled notes, and had her laptop sticking out of it.

“As of the flight over here, yes.” She snapped back, pausing and lowering her voice when Steve stirred in her arms. “I went through as much of Hydra’s files on Barnes as I could decrypt without alerting any government agencies that might be watching.”

She paused for a second, a look of sympathy washing over her. “What they did to him, god Sam, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

“He’s still hurt people.” Sam told her.

“Yes, and the Hydra agents that ordered those hits will pay for it - probably with their lives.” Niana said sharply, meeting his stare dead on. “Barnes was just a weapon; you can’t persecute him for the fact that they used his body to do their bidding. You don’t blame the gun, Sam, you blame the one that fired it.”

“He fired it.” Sam snipped back. “Someone has to pay, you know that.”

“Not him.” Niana says, her voice quieting again. “He’s suffered for almost seventy years, don't you think that’s enough? Now shut up before you wake Steve.”

Sam said nothing for a few minutes, allowing the tension in the room to ease off slightly. Then he sighed. He saw her point, and he had to admit that his own opinion was clouded. He had seen the Winter Soldier in action, saw his body cause harm to innocent civilians. But she was right, he wasn’t in control. It wouldn’t be fair to blame this on him.

“Fine. But I’m still mad about my car.” He joked, shaking his head at the thought of his wrecked vehicle.

Niana had to stifle her laugh, not wanting to wake Steve. Nat had told her about Sam’s steering wheel being ripped right out of his hands while she was on her way in, it was extremely funny if you ignore the circumstances. Sam smiled lightly, counting her laugh as a win.

Ten minutes passed in an almost comfortable silence before Niana looked back over at Sam. He could tell she was nervous about whatever she had to say, her cup of tea was long gone but she was still fiddling with her cup, so he tried to look as comforting as possible.  

“In Hydra’s files, there was a mission report.” She starts, her voice wavering. “It was buried under some pretty trivial junk, so I don’t think anyone thought it necessary to go through it.”

She paused, swallowing back the lump in her throat. Sam nodded for her to go on.

“December 16th, 1991.” She whispers. “The car crash that killed Tony’s parents.”

Sam, despite not knowing Tony personally - or at all, apart from what he’d seen on the news - felt his heart break for the man. Hydra was the reason his parents were dead, Barnes was the one to kill them; under orders or not, it was his hands. That would be a difficult thing for anyone to accept.

“I have to tell him. Right?” Niana asks him, her eyes dampening at the thought. “It has to be me, before he finds the file himself.”

“Can you do it?” Sam asks her back. She looks slightly confused, so he elaborates. “I mean, can you be the one to give him that information without losing his trust - or just losing him? Is he the type to shoot the messenger?”

“Me and Tony, our relationship is complicated.” Niana tells him, her voice wavering. “He won’t hold it against me personally, but I’ve worked really hard for quite some time to get him to a place where he’s even remotely ready to come to terms with their deaths. And to now find out that it wasn’t an accident? That it was actually murder? This could destroy so much of the progress that he’s made.”

Sam thinks that over for a while, understanding that the situation is more complex than she’s letting on. It would be rude for her to discuss Tony’s private affairs, of course he understood that.

“Is there an alternative?” Sam asks. “Can this be buried; does he even have to find out at all?”

Niana shakes her head. “If I don’t tell him and he finds out some other way, which he will cause he’s too nosy for his own good, he’ll lose any and all trust he has for me. We don’t keep secrets from each other, that’s rule one.”

“You have rules?” Sam frowns, but his tone of voice is amused.

“I’m Iron Man’s therapist, of course we have rules.” She grins wryly, pausing to assess Sam. “We’re very similar, Sam. You and me. I can see why Steve was drawn to you. I guarantee we get into a fight within the first month, but I think we could be great friends.”

“A month?” Sam asks, tilting his head. “I give it two weeks.” He reaches across Steve’s bed, Niana meeting him halfway to shake his hand.

“We’ll see.” She concedes, laughing.

“Stop laughing before you wake up sleeping beauty.”  Sam jokes, pointing to the man still asleep on her chest.

Niana calms, returning to gently playing with Steve’s hair.

“It’ll be hard, telling Tony.” She says after some contemplation. “But it has to be me, and it has to be soon.”

Sam nods. He understands that the less time spent holding this sensitive information from Tony, the better.

“When?” He asks.

“Once Steve is out of here, and once I’ve finally had a conversation with Barnes.” Niana tells him. “I’ll have to go to Tony with more than just ‘he was brainwashed’ for him to consider continuing to help them. A full evaluation on his physical and mental health seems necessary, given the circumstances.”

“Them?” Sam questions. “What do you mean ‘continue helping them’?”

“Steve will defend Barnes no matter what.” She explains. “If Barnes goes, Steve goes.”

“This puts you in a bit of an awkward position.” Sam sighs, suddenly feeling rather sorry for the young woman.  

“They’re not just my patients, either of them.” Niana smiles. “Tony’s one of my closest friends, and Steve is my big brother. If I go about this in the right way, I might just be able to save their friendship.”

“That’s a lot of weight to carry alone.” Sam says, the ‘therapist’ in him coming out a little.

“It is how it is.” She says with a noncommittal shrug.

Sam has a moment of admiration for her strength, and suddenly he sees why Steve and Natasha were so adamant on her flying out. She was a ray of sunshine, and Steve could definitely use some sunshine in his life. Sam was glad that Steve had her.

“If you need a hand carrying it, though, let me know.” Sam says quietly, sending a small smile her way.

“Thanks, Sam.” Niana smiles back.

“Of course, Niana.” He says. She waves her free hand at him.

“Most of my friends call me Ana.” She tells him. Sam nods, a wry grin overtaking his face.

“I’ll let you know when you make my friends list, Niana.” He laughs.

Niana gasps in mock outrage, her jaw comically dropping.

“Oh, that’s how it is?”

“Oh, that’s how it is.”

The path ahead was only going to get more complicated, but Niana could handle it. Or at least, she hoped she could. Steve deserved the chance to have his best friend back, and Niana would be damned if that chance was taken from him.

***

Four hours later, Steve had finally woken up and was chatting quietly with Sam while Niana poured back over her notes. Most of Steve’s superficial wounds had scabbed over or healed completely, and he could almost feel his ribs knitting back together.

Niana decided to leave him in Sam’s capable hands and finally meet her newest patient. Steve had originally wanted to go with her, going so far as to raise his voice when she denied him, but she wouldn’t back down.

“Steve,” She said quietly, raising an eyebrow. “If you can get out that bed without flinching or falling over, you can come with me.”

He didn’t even bother attempting, just lay back down on his bed with a pout. Sam tried to smother his laughter, but the childish look on Steve’s face had him loudly doubling over.

Niana sent them both smiles before following the Doctor out of the room.

She was nervous, there was no denying that. In the past two years she had heard a lot about James Barnes, stories from Steve, and even a few from Tony (those that he remembered from Howard anyway). But the things she had read, what she knew they had done to him? She wasn’t sure whether to expect the Bucky from Steve’s memories, or the one who almost killed him.

For now he was being kept in a modified cell. He had been given a cot, nailed down to the floor, as well as a table with two chairs - which Niana thought looked suspiciously like an interrogation table. She ignored how much that bothered her for now, waving the guards back as she went to enter the room.

“Ma’am, we can’t let you go in alone.” One of the men said, reaching to grab her arm.

Niana smacked his hand away, levelling him with a sharp glare.

“You can and you will.” She tells him. “All your presence will do is scare him. If I need help, I’m sure you’ll hear me scream.”

The sarcastic comment was probably uncalled for, but Niana was slightly proud of the way the guard stuttered as she opened the door and walked in.

Bucky lifted his head as she entered. He was crouched in the empty corner of the room, muttering to himself. He was in loose sweatpants and a sleeveless white cotton t-shirt.

Niana took a seat on one side of the table, crossing her arms where he could see them.

“Hello.” She said, her voice so low that even she almost couldn’t hear it. “My name is Niana Cross, you can call me Ana.”

Bucky made no move to acknowledge her, apart from momentarily glancing her way.

“I wanted to see how you were doing. Can you sit with me?” Niana pointed to the chair.

He looked at the chair as if it had done him personal offence, but got up and took a seat across from her at the table.

Up close, Niana could see just how badly injured he was. His face had some major bruising all over, his eyebrow and lip were both split, he had a black eye, and some bruising across his neck. She could also see the scarring where the metal of his arm met the flesh. It was horribly red and puckered.

“Steve’s okay, I left him recovering in his own room.” Niana told him, her voice still soft. “He wants you to know that he’s okay.”

“Please d-don’t.” He stuttered out; his voice was rough and strangled.

“Don’t what?” Niana asked, searching his face.

“The name.” He choked out.

"Steve?” Niana confirmed. He flinched so hard that she wondered if he was actually in pain. She quickly backtracked, raising her hands in mock surrender.

"Okay, we wont call him that." She said quietly. "Do you want to call him another name, something that isn’t difficult for you to hear or say?"

He looked to be thinking over her words, but made no move to answer. Niana gave him some time, watching as he opened and closed his mouth multiple times before giving up.

"Grant, his middle name is Grant." Niana told him. "How about we call him that for now, yeah?"

He said the name a few times quietly to himself, then looked up at her and nodded. Niana gave him a soft smile, and continued.

"Grant asked me to check up on you, and to see if I could help you." She told him, assessing his reactions. He grimaced at the mention of Steve, even under his pseudonym, but seemed confused at the second half of her statement.

"How?" He asked.

"I'm a therapist. His, actually, along with other members of the Avengers. St-Grant wanted me to help you, in any way I could." Niana watched as he tensed up at the mention of the Avengers, but seemed to focused on her to have much of a reaction.

"Said something." Bucky frowned, dropping his head so he was staring at the table in front of him.

Niana had dealt with enough PTSD and trauma to know that she needed to tread carefully; pushing too hard could topple him over the edge of his delicate sanity.

"Grant did? What did he say?" Niana asked him.

Both his fists clenched on the table, the metal arm clicking and locking as the joints moved.

"T-to the end of the line." He stuttered out, swiping his eyes as they teared up slightly. "I don't- meaning."

"Grant told me that was something you used to say to each other growing up." Niana explained. "It was your way of saying you would always be there for one another."

Bucky nodded. "Saw something, maybe?"

Niana tried not to frown at his use of 'maybe'. "You saw something? Was it a memory?" She asks.

He lets out a sharp breath, and shakes his head. "I can't- I can't tell." His voice is the most quiet she's heard it. "Real?"

Yeah, that's what she was afraid of. Niana had an idea, but it wasn't exactly one of her best or safest plans. She rolled up the sleeve of her cardigan and leaned her left hand across the table towards him.

"Take my hand." She says.

He looks at her, confused. "What?"

"Take my hand." She repeats, nodding down at her exposed wrist.

"No! Dangerous." He says, pointing to himself while looking at her like she's crazy.

"Trust me." She whispers, locking eyes with him.

He reaches out with his flesh hand, hesitating above hers. Niana nods, gently moving his hand so it's wrapped around her wrist and his fingers and pressed in. Niana feels her heart start to race. This was not exactly her smartest plan, let the brainwashed assassin get hold of you, but he needed comfort.

"You feel that? My pulse racing, blood pumping through my veins. This is real." She says softly. "I'm going to help you, as much as I can. Will you trust me to help you?"

He doesn't let go, quietly contemplating her words. Finally, he pulls his hand back and nods his head.

Niana smiles at him. "Well, you know who I am. What can I call you? Do you know your name?"

Immediately, he grimaces and shakes his head, dropping his line of sight so he was looking at the table. "Difficult, hurts."

Niana nods her head in understanding. "That's okay, I’ll call you whatever you're comfortable with."

"I can choose." He says, both a question and a statement.

Niana has the harsh realisation that this may be the first choice he's made for himself in seventy years. She struggles to stop herself tearing up. "Of course you can, choose whatever you want." She says, her voice noticeably more thick.

He takes a minute, frowning in thought, then looks back up at her. "Barnes. J-James Buchanan Barnes is me? Grant said."

Niana confirms with a nod. "Yeah, that’s you. If you want me to call you Barnes, I will."

A quick glance at her watch tells her that she needs to head back to Steve now. "It was nice to meet you Barnes. If you need to speak with me again before I come back, tell the guard to call me. I'll be here whenever you need me."

He nods at her, rising from the seat and retreating to the corner of the room he was in before. Niana smiled gently at him, before knocking to be let out. She closes the door behind her, and turns to face the guard - the same one who tried to stop her from entering in the first place. She definitely wasn't his biggest fan.

"I'm clearing Barnes for release into my custody." She tells him, moving to sign the forms on the table.

The guard, who's name she hadn't bothered to learn, stepped up beside her and shook his head.

"I'm not sure that's safe, miss." He says back.

"It's what he needs." She explains to him, handing over her filled out report. "He's not violent and even if he becomes so, i will have people around who can handle that."

"What he needs is to be in a secured space with 24 hour armed guards." The guard says, speaking slowly like she was a stupid child. "Or have you not seen the damage and destruction he's caused?"

"He will be secure, but he will be in an environment that will allow him to heal and to come to terms with his new reality." Niana says, her voice bordering on yelling. "He doesn't need guarded, especially by armed soldiers. This man is the longest serving POW in history, I wont let you lock him up like his abusers did."

"He needs to be in the hands of people capable of containing him if he snaps." The guard said, gritting his teeth at her.

"Oh, so the Avengers aren't capable?" Niana sassed, resting a hand on her hip. "They can fight off an entire alien army, but one man with a metal arm and suddenly they're useless?"

"That's not what i-" He tried to backtrack. Niana held up her free hand to stop him.

"I don't care what you meant." She tells him firmly. "This is not your decision, it's mine. He's leaving here with me."

The guard straightens up, towering over her small frame. "You're not-"

"I'm sorry, are you about to tell me what I'm capable of doing?" Niana cuts him off. Suddenly, every mannerism she's picked up from years of spending time with Tony is bubbling to the surface.

"No, of course not." He says, trying to placate her.

"Good." Niana said, pulling out her phone and sending a quick text to Tony. She knew he would support her with whatever she needed. "Tony Stark will be sending someone to transport Bucky and Steve to the med bay in Avengers Tower, that's my final word on the matter."

The man shifted, sending Niana a look that said he didn't agree. Niana raised her eyebrows. "Is that understood, sir?"

"Yes, ma'am." He snapped back, though he didn't sound completely sincere.

All her time spent with Tony had given her one advantage over this arrogant idiot; she knew how to intimidate people bigger than her. Being as short as she is, and being much more naive than the billionaire genius, Tony had taken it upon himself to teach her how to hold her own when he wasn't around to flaunt his name.

Niana took a step closer to the guard, forcing him to meet her eyes. She kept eye contact and waited until he nervously swallowed to begin speaking.

"If you try to find a way around this, a way around me? Well, then you will find out firsthand exactly what I'm capable of." Niana snarled at him.

She continued to glare at him until he nodded, then she turned on her heels and walked away without looking back.

From inside his room, for the first time in seventy years, Bucky Barnes smiled.

***

Niana returned to Steve's room feeling much more content in her decision to help Bucky. She felt like she had managed to catch a glimpse of who he used to be underneath the persona that had been forced upon him. She wanted to help him, she really did.

Sam gave her a smile as she sat down, linking her hand with Steve's. "How did it go?" He asked.

"Surprisingly well." She breathes out, giving them both a tight lipped smile.

"Tell me how he is, please." Steve asks, looking over at her.

Niana hesitates for a second, but decides that it would be best to let him know what he's in for. "He's not violent if that's what you're really asking. He's mostly just confused. I think hes been having hallucinations mixed in with memories, he said he can't always tell what's real."

"That doesn't sound 'surprisingly well' to me." Sam said, his eyebrows raised.

"After being tortured for seventy years? To be blunt, I think it's a miracle he's even functioning." Niana told him.

"But that's not all, is it?" Steve asks, frowning at her. Damn his ability to read her like a book.

"No." She agrees with a sigh. "I want Banner and Cho to give him a full work over, brain and body scans. The scarring on that arm looks horrific, I don't want any underlying damage to set back his recovery."

"Why brain scans?" Sam asked. Niana gave him a look, wondering if he missed the memory loss and torture part. He rolled his eyes and kept going. "I mean, I know hes an amnesiac but is there more than that?"

This was far more than Niana originally intended to tell them, but she knew they could be trusted.

"He had some bruising on the side of his face. It looked older than the fight and I was wondering if they used some form of electro-stimulation to wipe his memory." Niana explains. "That could leave lasting effects, and I need to know what to expect. His speech is pretty broken, he has trouble forming full sentences. That’s pretty common in brain injuries."

"But he's okay." Steve says. Niana doesn't have the heart to tell him no, he isn't, so she tries to avoid answering.

"He has trouble saying your name, it's possible they used you to torture him." Niana's heart breaks at the expression on Steve's face. "And I don't want to lie to you, Stevie, it might be a while before you can see him in person again. But I'm going to make sure he gets the best treatment possible."

"Thank you, Nia." Steve says, smiling at her despite the tears in his eyes.

"Tony's going to send transport for you and Barnes, to get take you both to Avengers tower in New York." Niana says, looking over the reply from Tony with all the details of their transfer.

"Really? Why?" Steve asks, looking confused and slightly bewildered.

"Because I asked him to, and because I think it's the safest place for you two right now." Niana explains. "I'm sorry, Sam, I didn't factor you in to that plan. I just wanted to get them out of here."

"Don't worry about me." Sam tells them both. "I can't drop my work and disappear yet. I'll have to set a few things up before I can come out to NY."

Niana nods in understanding, then looks back over to Steve.

"I hope he's okay." Steve said, more to himself than to his friends.

Standing up to wrap an arm around his shoulders, Niana pulls him in for a hug. "He's not." She told him softly. "But he will be."

Or at least, she hoped he would be.

[howtohero]

Sound Based Enemies

You know who likes to make a huge ruckus? Supervillains. Seriously, for the most part superheroes don’t actually need any sort of alarm of warning system. When something supervillainy is going down you’re definitely going to hear it. Not just hear about it. You’re literally going to hear it. If they’re not standing atop a giant animal shaped mecha and ranting through a megaphone about the how unfair it was that they lost a childhood swimming competition to “That blasted buffoon Rodrick Rodigan” then they’re in the middle of the city square blowing up cars they “brought from home so it’s not technically a felony ha.” (You still need those alarms to alert you about like natural disasters and attacks from alternate dimensions I suppose.) Then there are some villains who have had the good sense to recognize that they’re really very loud and to weaponize that facet of their character. They use sound to commit their heinous crimes and to defeat the pesky superheroes who “deign to approach [their] superior visages.”

When you’re dealing with a supervillain who uses sound as a weapon it’s important to determine exactly how they’re using sound. Some villains for example can control others with their voices. In cases like that they don’t need to worry about the volume of their sound, just that they can make it. Even the faintest whisper can be enough to sway someone to their command. So when dealing with a villain like that you need to make sure there is absolutely no way that you can hear them. Ear plugs should generally do the trick. Like we said, these guys aren’t necessarily particularly loud so you don’t have to work too hard to protect your ears from them. But just because you had the good sense to protect yourself from the villains abilities doesn’t mean everyone else in the area did. Civilians are notoriously bad at taking the proper precautions for dealing with supervillains. It’s embarrassing really. Don’t you people watch the news? There are supervillains everywhere. New ones pop up literally all the time. I once even created a supervillain entirely by accident! (You guys remember Mustard Man? Were you around for that one? Basically I made fun of a man for his hotdog condiment choices and now he’s a supervillain.) Pack some earplugs before you go out. Don’t be a fool. 

When you’re dealing with villains who are a bit louder than your average persuasive speaker you need to take more intense precautions. For example, if your villain uses horrible screeching sounds to render people catatonic. Or if your villain has weaponized the disturbing powers of the brown note. In cases like those you need to make sure that there’s no way their sound attacks can effect you. Professionally speaking, I think that the best way to guarantee that is to just render yourself deaf. If you can’t hear you can fight these guys no problem. They’ve only got the one trick. They didn’t expect you to be immune to it. You’ve really ruined their entire day now. How you choose to make yourself deaf is up to you. It can be as simple as turning off your hearing aid or as complicated as journeying into the desert in search of a tiger shaped cave that holds within it a magic lamp which contains a genie who can magically remove your powers of hearing. Whether or not this process is permanent is up to you, but you never know when another sound based villain will pop up. So make sure you think everything through here.

Another thing you can do to stop a sound based villain is too silence them. Wow. Revolutionary. I guess you didn’t really have to deafen yourself after all. If your sound based supervillain happens to be one of the many sentient gun that shoots very loud blanks that we have running around and committing crimes (such as for example The Lone Gun or The Blanker) then silencing them is as simple as getting close enough to them to screw a silencer onto their barrel. If, for some reason, your sound based villain is not a sentient floating gun don’t fret! We can still get you through this. Try projecting some kind of cone of silence around the villain. Or a sphere perhaps. A quiet time bubble. Ooh that’s good. I have dibs on that name now! Throw a big ol’ Quiet Time Bubble® around those suckers. The Quiet Time Bubble will simply trap their evil sound waves inside with them so as soon as they try to use them they’ll just end up hurting themselves. Amazing! The Quiet Time Bubble® fights the bad guys so you don’t have to! Think of all the time you’ll save not having to physically go toe to toe with these robot/cassette players and living sound waves. Heck, you could write a book, see the world, start an entirely new society from the ground up where everybody gets their own cool personalized sweaters and money is illegal! Wow, these Quiet Time Bubbles® sound almost too good to be true. If you want in on this hot and spicy silencing action, call us now and tell us how to invent it!

Then there are villains who weaponize sound in a more aggressive way. Instead of using the sound to hurt people’s ears and brains they actually use sound to physically push people around. Which is just baffling. Why would you use sound for such things. You can push people with any number of tangible objects. Sticks, bulldozers, a cow. (Your arms!) Yet these noisy nuisances insist on cranking up the volume so loud that they’re knocking people off of their feet and hurling cars. Inconsiderate. And also, it makes it very difficult for people to get close to them. They’re always pushing people away. Which means they don’t have very many loved ones, which is sad. And it also means that it will be difficult for you to get close enough to them to beat them up. Even if you’ve got earplugs. Once again our solution lies in using the baddie’s own sound against them. 

Let’s talk a little bit about acoustics. Generally, sound bounces well off of smooth and hard surfaces while softer surfaces tend to absorb sound. So if you were planning on charging into battle wearing a suit made of pillows maybe wait a minute. (Why would that ever be the plan?) In order to defeat this bad guy they need to be overwhelmed by their own sound. Anything you try to throw at them will simply be reflected back at you. So lure the bad guy into an abandoned concrete building. Or drop one around them. Depending on what kind of resources you have. Villains are pretty easy to lure wherever you want, thanks to the fact that they’re always loudly declaring their motivations and ranting about what they want. Just put whatever that is inside the building you want them to go to. Next you need to goad them into using their powers inside. If they know anything about their powers (honestly it’s 50/50) it might be a bit more difficult to get this done. They might even figure out what your plan is and then you’re out of luck. They also might use them without thinking as soon as they see you. Really it can go either way. Some villains are really dumb. Most villains though, are extremely hotheaded to the point where a few well-place insults should trigger an explosive episode from them. For some good insulting techniques see our post on banter. Now, since you’re trying to get them to unleash their powers in a place where their powers will be reflected and bounced back every which way, you certainly don’t want to actually be in the room when that’s happening. So you need to either get a hologram projector, a good teleporter, or get tricky with mirrors to make it look like you’re there when you’re not! 

Sounds are all around us. I’m making sounds right now. If you hold up this post to your ear you may even be able to hear them! Let me know. Supervillains make more noise than anybody else and they’ve even learned to corrupt it, as they do with all things, to suit their own treacherous purposes. So you need to be prepared to fight those nefarious noisemakers and quiet them the heck down.

[gunnersalley]

Thinking You’re a Hero, The John Wayne Syndrome

Making the decision to intervene with deadly force, requires much consideration.   You’re a civilian concealed carrier, out and about on a typical day. You stop into the grocery store, turn to grab a box of Wheaties and hear screaming coming from the front of the store. Unsure of what is going on, but knowing you are armed, you now have to make a decision … investigate and possibly get involved, or avoid the area.  In this article, I am not talking about being personally attacked inside or outside of your home, or your family member being attacked. Of course you should defend yourself and your family against any attack with appropriate force. Instead, I want to address deciding to use force on a stranger’s behalf.  There are hundreds of considerations you should be processing before you decide to intervene with deadly force on another’s behalf. The type of crime being committed and the number of attackers are just two of these.  But…  there is one mindset that can cloud your decision-making process, and get you killed . I have seen it in the Marine Corps during firefights and as an LEO.  Thinking You’re Invincible:  Seeing well-trained people do things contrary to common and tactical sense is not uncommon. In the Marine Corps, we said the guy had the ‘John Wayne Syndrome.’ The ‘John Wayne Syndrome’ or the ‘Hero Complex’ is something that affects the person’s ability to properly calculate the risks and develop the proper response. This comes from a belief that the individual is invincible or bulletproof.  The exaggerated belief in one’s abilities is a double edged sword. Controlled, this mindset allows us to persevere and succeed when our mind is telling us we can not. Uncontrolled, or used misguidedly, it can get us involved in situations where we are ill-prepared and ineffective against the threat. This is the situation we need to watch for.    Don’t be a victim of the ‘John Wayne Syndrome’   Should You Get Involved?  This question is common in my Concealed Carry Class. There are legal issues dictating when you should use deadly force to intervene on someone else’s behalf. Generally speaking, a civilian incurs an incredible amount of liability when they intervein on someone else’s behalf. In some states, the person may face both civil and criminal charges if he/she mistakenly uses force against the wrong person. For this and many other obvious reasons, the legal implications should be one of the first things you should understand before carrying a firearm.   Legal issues aside , the question of  should  you get involved is extremely difficult to answer, and an individual decision based on countless factors.  I recommend you play ‘what if’ scenario games. Wherever you are, think about what your response would be ‘if this happened.’ For example, while in line at the bank (if people still go into the bank) think about what you would do if someone came in with a gun through that door, or the other door. What about your response if there were two bad guys etc.  Watch videos of shootings or assaults. Study how the person responded and what they did well, or what they could have done better. Study how bad guys react to certain actions. A quick internet search of something like ‘concealed carrier shoots bad guy’ will return a plethora of pertinent videos. We can sometimes learn more from seeing poor decisions because the tragic results of those fatal flaws burn into our minds.    Sometimes what we think we can do, and what we can actually do are entirely different.   Know Your Role:  I know many of the readers have a desire to protect and help others, and this is a noble trait. But if you’re are not a Law Enforcement Officer, don’t act as one. As a civilian, you are not protected criminally or civilly like an LEO.  Don’t get me wrong, you may be a high-volume shooter who possesses fighting and gun skills the average police officer doesn’t. But knowing your role doesn’t have anything to do with your skill set.  Your role as a civilian is to protect yourself and family FIRST, then, if appropriate and necessary help others. As a civilian, you may feel a moral obligation to help, but it’s not your job and you have to differentiate between the two.  A police officer’s job is difficult, dangerous and thankless. But they are the ones who protect the public and keep the peace. They possess other, less-lethal force options may be more appropriate in a given scenario. They also wear body armor and can radio other officers for assistance. Also, think about trying to detain someone if you don’t carry cuffs.  Know Thy Self:  Be honest and know your abilities and limitations. If you haven’t found your effective distance on the range, you should. Get an idea of the zone where you are a ‘can’t miss’ guaranteed hit, and where you have to get on the sights a little harder. This will help you determine realistic response to threats.  Know your level of physical fitness or hand to hand fighting skills, as well as physical limitations. Understand what you can and can’t do, if the situation involves intervening without using a firearm.  Also know what you feel is worth risking your life for. Some of us posses the ability or nobility to risk our own lives on behalf of others. Some of us either lack this noble trait or just may feel that the need to continue to live as a dad or mom outweighs the potential good that can come from risking one’s life on behalf of a stranger.    If you are a parent there are few things more important than staying alive for your children’s sake.   Know Your Gear:  Every tool you carry has a specific purpose and may be more appropriate in a given situation. Sometimes the response may call for a gun sometimes not. Sometimes a knife,  hand strikes or a blunt object may be the ‘proper tool .’ Remember every tool has its limitations, respond accordingly with the tools at your disposal.  Handguns are great but they are not a magic wand. Part of knowing your gear involves trusting that it will work. So maintain your firearm, knife, holster etc. You must be able to trust that when you present your firearm and pull the trigger you are sending bullets into the bad guy, not hearing…CLICK.  And while we are on  knowing your gear , you must know the condition of your firearm. By condition, I mean if it has a round in the chamber or not, and if the gun is on safe or not. This is not the article to discuss if you should or should not  carry with a round in the chamber , or if you  need a safety on your EDC . Whatever you choose to do, know the condition of your firearm so you don’t screw it up.  Do You Really Know the Whole Story:  Before jumping into a situation where you don’t know who the players are, pause and reflect. Do you REALLY know what’s going on? For example, you exit a 7-11 at night, turn the corner and walk to your car. As you reach a poorly illuminated area of the parking lot, you see two men. One is kneeling and the other has a firearm drawn and pointed at the other guy. Both men are in plain clothes, and you hear ‘don’t move or I’ll shoot you!’  Is the guy kneeling on the ground being robbed by the guy with the gun? Could it be a narcotics detective in plain clothes (and we all know these dudes usually look grimier than the guys they arrest) effecting an arrest and you can’t see his exposed badge?  Point is, we can come up with a lot of scenarios where things are not always as they seem. This is why intervening on someone else’s behalf, is so risky.    It isn’t always easy to identify who are the good and bad guys in the situation   Think About Tactics:  You can avoid getting involved in situations where you are ill-equipped if you think about tactical considerations, for example:  Intervening in a bank robbery where there are multiple suspects with rifles, while only having a 5 shot revolver is probably not the wisest thing to do, tactically speaking. This incident may devolve into one where engaging is your ONLY option, but it certainly is not preferable.  Getting involved in a situation when you have your toddler with you, will place you at a severe tactical disadvantage. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t, it just means it is something that you HAVE to take into consideration when formulating your plan and decision to intervene.  While this point could really be found in any of the above sections, I am going to put it right in here. Remember, you are in plain clothes. The opportunity to be  mistaken as a bad guy , not just by responding law enforcement, but an over anxious fellow concealed carrier is there.  Be a Good Witness:  Sometimes intervening, while legally and morally justifiable, is not the best solution. After weighing all the facts, you may determine the risks just don’t outweigh the reward. In these situations, gathering as much information as you can, statements, descriptions, the direction of travel, vehicles people involved etc. can help in catching the bad guys.  AGAIN, I am not talking about hiding in the back snapping photos with your cell phone during an active shooter. But I think you get the point.    Not getting involved does not always mean you are a coward. Sometimes not getting involved and just being a good witness for Law Enforcement is the better thing to do.   You Expect me to Take All This Into Consideration Before I Act?  Yes, absolutely! I know it’s a lot to contemplate, so don’t try to do it all in 0.005 of a second. Think about scenarios, train for the known and possible contingencies,  c ome up with a plan on how to secure your family, know your gear and your limitations ,  and know the law   before hand .   So when the time comes, you can focus on the specifics of the incident, and make a decision.  Last but Not Least:  Make a decision and live with it. This doesn’t mean make a bad decision and justify it. Sometimes indecisiveness is worse than making a bad decision. After weighing all the options you may only have two courses of action. Bad course number one, or bad course number two.  Think back to that active shooter. You may be out gunned and out manned. If it were just a robbery, you may choose not to intervene. But this is an active shooter incident, people are dying by the second. Each second spent weighing odds, another person dies. Do you intervene with the odds stacked against you? And if so when? Make a decision and live with the results.  It is natural to second guess your decisions in retrospect. But do your best and live with your decision to, or not to get involved. Don’t ever feel like a coward for not getting involved, or a hero just because you did get involved.  Thinking that you are a hero is one mindset we want to avoid.  Check out this list of 55 other concealed carry mistakes, and how to avoid them .  As always stay safe and God bless.

https://www.concealedcarry.com/training-2/thinking-youre-a-hero-the-john-wayne-syndrome/

[gunnersalley]

Teaching Fundamentals and Safety With the UMAREX NXG APX Air Rifle

Firearm safety should be paramount in any responsible gun owner’s mind. Ingraining safe gun handling habits, as well as proper shooting fundamentals in children, is something that every parent (gun owner or not) has probably thought about. So it should not surprise you that the writers of Concealed Carry inc. have covered this topic several times in various articles.  If you have wondered how to go about teaching your children, or when the right time to teach them about firearms should be, you are not alone. As the father of a 4 and a half-year-old daughter I put great emphasis on this important topic; so much so that I personally addressed it a couple different times:     The One Article That May Save Your Child’s Life        When To Talk To Your Kids About Firearm Safety     And Joshua recently covered the topic in:     Here’s A Novel Idea, Teach Your Kids About Guns       Umarex NGX APX Air Rifle   You may be asking, what does any of this have to do with a review of an air rifle? In my opinion, air rifles are the perfect tool to use when introducing a child to guns, and after reading the articles I mentioned above, you will see why I feel this way. With safety and training children in mind, I looked at a specific air rifle from UMAREX, to see if it qualified as a great training tool for teaching fundamentals and safety.  I have to admit, I have had a blind spot in a particular segment of the shooting sports community: air guns. Fortunately, I had the chance to get my hands on a brand new air rifle from a company that is well known in the pellet gun market. Many folks don’t know this, but this company, Umarex, is the parent company of Walther Arms. In other words, this is not a company manufacturing cheap, plastic air guns to be used as toys, but rather producing quality air-powered pellet guns and accessories for serious air gun users.  Why use an air gun instead of a real gun?  I am glad you asked.  Air guns have some clear advantages over traditional firearms for some applications. The one I find most intriguing is the benefit while training youth shooters. Because they don’t use live cartridges, there is no loud explosion that can scare youngsters. The loud noise and resulting startle reflex can make it difficult for the new shooter to learn fundamentals because they are more focused on the anticipation of noise. Air guns are also lighter, a huge bonus for youngsters who would have trouble handling a traditional firearm.  Venue of training can be an issue, but not so with air rifles. As long as you have adequate room and a safe backdrop, you can shoot your pellet gun pretty much anywhere, even indoors. This can make practicing much more convenient and comfortable. All the usual firearm safety rules should be followed while handling any type of gun, especially when you consider that an air rifle is definitely not a toy. I set up my ‘range’ in my basement.  I had roughly 60 feet or so of clear space that I used for my basement air rifle range. I had a few heavy wool blankets, that I folded and placed into a medium sized, cardboard moving box. I placed the paper target on the box so that when the bb went through the target and cardboard, it would be trapped in the thick wool blankets. This worked awesome at collecting the bbs, so they weren’t bouncing back toward the shooter or sucked up later in my vacuum.  An obvious factor that is worth mentioning is that air guns are generally  less lethal  than your traditional firearm, so an ‘accident’ may not result in a fatality. I use the term “less lethal” because, under the right circumstances, even a pellet gun could result in a lethal injury. So remember, using air rifles in training won’t remove the duty to adhere to firearm safety rules, but the fact that they are not as deadly isn’t a bad thing.    The APX air rifle is a great training rifle   Why use an Air Rifle Instead of a Pistol to Train a new Shooter?  For the most part, rifles are easier to learn the fundamentals on than a pistol. If you want to lay a good foundation of fundamentals down for that future concealed carrier, it can help tremendously to start them out on a rifle. The rifle can be shot from more supported positions, sight alignment and sight picture are easier to understand and apply with a rifle, as well as the trigger weight on air rifles is usually lighter than what is found on most pistols.  I also find it easier to ingrain muzzle discipline in a new shooter who is using a rifle rather than a pistol. Umarex makes many types of air guns, however, for the reasons I mentioned, I find the rifle the preferred introductory training firearm.  Why is the NXG APX Air Rifle a great youth training rifle?  First and foremost the NGX APX was  purposely  designed as a youth training rifle. It is a multi-pump pneumatic pellet gun. It is designed to be extremely lightweight, and having a thinner stock and grip for smaller hands, arms and build. However, I have to state that it does not feel like a small, toy gun. I am 5′6″ so definitely not a huge guy, but it feels just fine in my arms. So while it is designed for youth, someone of ‘average’ stature will not feel uncomfortable using it as well.      The NGX APX has clear sights that make it easier to teach proper fundamentals. It comes with a clear fiber optic front sight and fully adjustable rear sight. Additionally, it ships with a 4×15 scope that mounts to an accessory rail. Obviously, this isn’t a high precision air rifle scope but is a great introductory piece that is great for learning.  The NGX APX is designed with a self-engaging automatic safety. This feature is unique to this air rifle. What I like about this, is that while we train fundamentals, we are also establishing and ingraining the safety fundamentals.  Even though real guns don’t have self-activating safeties, and there may be an argument that training with a gun that automatically engages the safety is not building the right mindset; when training new shooters (especially children) accidents can happen. If we can use a firearm that has this self-engaging safety to train children, and reduce the possibility of an ‘accident’ happening, all the better in my opinion.  It is further my opinion that this Umarex air rifle is one of the best pellet guns for youth training on the market, right now.    Self Engaging Manual Safety   What are the specifications of this Umarex bb gun?  As mentioned above, the NGX APX is a multi-pump pneumatic air gun. It has a rifled barrel and can shoot .177 (4.5mm) pellets or bbs. If shooting alloy pellets, the velocity rating is 800 feet per second. To put this into perspective, when shooting a pellet at 800fps I found it easily penetrated drywall and traveled about 1 inch into a piece of scrap 2′x4′.  UMAREX states the danger distance for this pellet gun at 525 yards! So again, this is not a toy. The trigger pull weight is 3.5 lbs and the rifle’s overall weight is 3.4lbs. Moreover, its overall length is 39″ with a barrel length of 20.” The length and weight are just perfect for youth shooters.  Impressions:  When I shot the rifle I was seriously impressed with how easy it was to load and pump. If you’re training a child, you don’t want an overly complicated piece of equipment and don’t want it to be overly difficult to pump. I was also impressed with its ergonomics. It had a nice butt stock and the stock iron sight as well as the scope were surprisingly solid. Once I zeroed it, the rifle held a nice group (about the size of a half dollar) at about 50 feet. I think this is more than adequate for an air rifle like this.  But enough about me, I wanted to see how this Umarex bb gun performs under actual instructional use. So I enlisted the help of a 13-year-old family member who had no prior gun experience. After about 30 minutes of instruction covering the parts of the rifle, how it functioned and a safety brief with the rifle, I let him get acquainted with the rifle. After shouldering it and advising on how to hold it, he got into a good prone position.  He cranked off some ‘rounds’ and immediately had a smile on his face.  I asked him if it beats playing video games.  The response …”Oh Yeah!”  After about 45 minutes, I had to coax the gun away from him, because he was having so much fun.    The NGX is surprisingly accurate using both bbs and pellets.   I have been teaching marksmanship to Marines, Law Enforcement Officers, and civilians for years, but never before did I have the opportunity to teach a 13-year-old how to shoot a rifle. While there are similarities, teaching a child comes with an added level of responsibility and attention to detail. I feel that using pellet guns to teach basic fundamentals is great, and the process of teaching proper firearms safety to a child is especially rewarding.  Final Note:  I have to mention that while I tested the NGX APX as a kit, the gun can also be purchased individually. If you are purchasing your first air gun, and don’t already have pellets, bb’s and eye protection, I would recommend the kit. The value is great and for someone wanting to learn how to shoot, it would make an unbelievable gift.  At $75.00 on the  UMAREX web page , it is definitely one of the best pellet guns out there, and totally worth the price in my opinion.  How were you first introduced to the shooting sports? Was safety the first thing you learned? Is firearms safety top on your list as well?  While we are on the topic of safety,  Our team has researched 300 news stories involving firearms accidents, and present our findings to you in this comprehensive article . Every gun owner should check it out!

https://www.concealedcarry.com/safety/teaching-fundamentals-and-safety-with-the-umarex-nxg-apx-air-rifle/