markknapp I was on law review at Gonzaga University School of Law and love to write. Having held the position of Associate Editor on Gonzaga Law Review is good training for writing appellate briefs (I have written a few) and is a good qualification. When I am not writing about military history, my favorite activity is educating folks as to why personal self-defense may be just as critical to our safety as national security at the federal level. Like most political and philosophical issues, security starts at home. There is something about stripping issues down to the bare essentials that makes for clear thinking on almost any subject. Studying history, religion and law will convince any fair-minded observer of the human predicament that how we regulate the use of force is nearly the most basic and indispensable element that underlies legal systems and government. Every time an errant driver is stopped by a law enforcement officer there is a potential for presentation and/or abuse of deadly force. Many defendants would not appear in court but for the fact that failure to appear may result in being forcefully detained behind bars. The manner in which we constrain our government officials, protect ourselves from reckless drivers, discourage dishonest business dealings and stop predatory criminals- all involve force that is brought to bear by government and sometimes other parties. The most indispensable element, however, is reason- often harder to define but we know it when we see it. The ability to reason clearly is the indispensable quality for a lawyer, judge or any human being. Reasoning ability underlies the manners, courtroom procedures, writing style and even the flow of paperwork with which a lawyer must deal.