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firearms are used more than 80 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives.

OMG man!  Just use your common sense! How many people do you know of who have been shot? And of those people, how many of them shot the criminal in self defense?

I can't think of anyone that I've met that has been shot and most of the people I know own guns.  I have heard of a few people using guns in self defense without it ending violently.  But that 43:1 statistic is a popular but extremely flawed antigun myth.  The number of times guns are used in defense may seem surprising but it's probably because most instances of self defense with guns end nonviolently and don't get much attention compared to homicides with guns in the media.  There are around 30,000 deaths a year from gunshots but there is good evidence that guns are used in self defense 1.5-2.5 million times a year which is a pretty big difference.  

If we're going to blame inanimate objects like guns for crime we might as well blame cars for drunk drivers and traffic accidents.  Trying to ban objects of fear like guns won't make things safer and does not address the problem of violence there are many examples of how much worse crime gets with gun control.

[1 Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, "Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense With a Gun," 86 The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Northwestern University School of Law, 1 (Fall 1995):164.]

For every 1 time a person uses a gun to defend themselves or a family member from a criminal, 43 people have used a gun to kill themselves or a family member, either deliberatly or just on accident.

You have better odds playing Russian Roulette.

It looks like that statistic is flawed and guns are used far more in self-defense then they are used maliciously.  

From: http://www.gunowners.org/fs0404.htm
Guns are used 2.5 million times a year in self-defense. Law-abiding citizens use guns to defend themselves against criminals as many as 2.5 million times every year—or about 6,850 times a day.1 This means that each year, firearms are used more than 80 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives.2
1 Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, "Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense With a Gun," 86 The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Northwestern University School of Law, 1 (Fall 1995):164.
2 According to the National Safety Council, the total number of gun deaths (by accidents, suicides and homicides) account for less than 30,000 deaths per year. See Injury Facts, published yearly by the National Safety Council, Itasca, Illinois.

Even anti-gun Clinton researchers concede that guns are used 1.5 million times annually for self-defense. According to the Clinton Justice Department, there are as many as 1.5 million cases of self-defense with a firearm every year. The National Institute of Justice published this figure in 1997 as part of "Guns in America"—a study which was authored by noted anti-gun criminologists Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig.3
3 Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig, "Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms," NIJ Research in Brief (May 1997); available at http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/165476.txt.

From: http://www.gunfacts.info
Myth: Handguns are 43 times more likely to kill a family member than a criminal
Fact: Of the 43 deaths reported in this flawed study, 37 (86%) were suicides. Other deaths involved criminal activity between the family members (drug deals gone bad).85
Fact: Of the remaining deaths, the deceased family members include felons, drug dealers, violent spouses committing assault, and other criminal activities.86
Fact: Only 0.1% (1 in a thousand) of the defensive uses of guns results in the death of the predator.87 This means you are much more likely to prevent a crime without bloodshed than hurt a family member.
85 Arthur L. Kellerman, Protection or Peril?: An Analysis of Firearm-Related Deaths in the Home, 314 New Eng. J. Med. 1557-60 1986. Kellerman admits that his study did "not include cases in which burglars or intruders are wounded or frightened away by the use or display of a firearm." He also admitted his study did not look at situations in which intruders "purposely avoided a home known to be armed." This is a classic case of a "study" conducted to achieve a desired result. In his critique of this "study", Gary Kleck notes that the estimation of gun ownership rates were "inaccurate" , and that the total population came from a non-random selection of only two cities. 87 Dr. Gary Kleck, "Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America." New York: Aldine de Gruyter. 1991

I'm against gun control it seems that banning guns and gun control only makes crime worse while less restrictive gun laws seems to be related to reduced crime rates.  Disarming citizens gives both criminals and the government more power over law abiding people.  The murder capitol Washington D.C. is an example of how much worse crime rates get when guns are banned while areas in the US with the least restrictive gun laws tend to have the lowest crime rates.  Allowing things like concealed carry is a good deterrent of crime.  

I understand that some people aren't comfortable with guns and that's fine but I think people who choose to should be allowed to have firearms for self-defense and other purposes like target shooting.  In the United States guns are used much more often in self-defense then they are used to take lives but we mostly hear about the misuses of guns in the news.  Most instances of self-defense with guns end without violence.    

I feel safer carrying a gun since it's nice to have just in case of a life threatening situation.  I like the saying "it's better to have a gun and not need it then to need a gun and not have it".  Chances are that I will never a gun to protect myself then there will be no harm done with me carrying a firearm, but it's nice to have since there is a lot of crime and many possible situations were having a gun could be very useful.                            

We certainly can't rely on cops for protection so having a gun is a good option.  Guns really aren't the problem crime is a social problem with those who are willing to hurt others.

I also suggest using newsgroups.  I use newshosting.com as a provider and newzbin.com for indexing.  Since I've started using newsgroups I haven't gone back to using torrents or p2p.  It's fast, anonymous, and there are a lot of files that are easy to find.  I've gotten a ton of good stuff off the paranormal group.  

Here is an example of what has been uploaded in just the last 6 days to the paranormal group:
http://www.newzbin.com/browse/group/p/alt.binaries.paranormal/

Getting an eye pillow might help, I just got one and it really seems to help me relax my eyes.  There is a topic about it here:

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18605

It's most beneficial to stay focused on what you would like to encounter and be doing with OBEs rather than what you wouldn't want to encounter.  I did have a lot of fear when I first started but it gradually started going away with each attempt and experience.  I've had over 150 projections now and no matter what I've always woken up safe just like I would with any dream, there is really nothing worth worrying about.

I've been shot out a few times after I had changed sleeping positions and slept on the couch.  The first time it happened I shot straight up at a very fast speed for about 5 seconds.  I was frightened, blind, and I had duel awareness of my physical body as it was happening.  The other time I shot straight up fast then I found myself staring at the texture on the ceiling for a few seconds before it ended.

I think fixing the problem doesn't involve guns.  As long as people are willing to kill each other they are going to find ways of doing it, it's been that way long before guns.      The world is so messed up because of social or spiritual issues. If we want violence to end those are the issues that should work on not weapons which are too widely available to ever get rid of.

Maybe if you're a cop or they somehow know that you're packing it would be that way.    The point of concealed carry is the gun is hidden so criminals would have no idea who is carrying.  So you have the element of surprise.  

Although that link I posted before showed evidence that criminals are less likely to mess with someone if they know the person has a gun.  A few facts about that from that link:

3/5 of felons polled agreed that "a criminal is not going to mess around with a victim he knows is armed with a gun."42

74% of felons polled agreed that "one reason burglars avoid houses when people are at home is that they fear being shot during the crime."43

57% of felons polled agreed that "criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police."44

Kennesaw, GA. In 1982, this suburb of Atlanta passed a law requiring heads of households to keep at least one firearm in the house. The residential burglary rate subsequently dropped 89% in Kennesaw, compared to the modest 10.4% drop in Georgia as a whole.37
Ten years later (1991), the residential burglary rate in Kennesaw was still 72% lower than it had been in 1981, before the law was passed.38

Nationwide. Statistical comparisons with other countries show that burglars in the United States are far less apt to enter an occupied home than their foreign counterparts who live in countries where fewer civilians own firearms. Consider the following rates showing how often a homeowner is present when a burglar strikes:

Homeowner occupancy rate in the gun control countries of Great Britain, Canada and Netherlands: 45% (average of the three countries); and,
Homeowner occupancy rate in the United States: 12.7%.39

http://www.gunowners.org/fs0404.htm

Of course I would rather live in a society where people don't attack each other and live without fear.  I would have no problem giving up my guns if the world were like that.  Unfortunately that's not the way the world is and restricting guns doesn't help the problem.  Crime isn't a gun or weapon problem, the problem is that this world has so many people who are willing to commit crimes against each other.  

My support for guns isn't based on fear.  I don't know about that hypothetical situation there could possibly be problems like that in rare situations.  But you are overwhelmingly more likely to successfully use a gun in self defense.  Say someone is coming at you with a weapon to kill you which is a more likely scenario, if you have a gun you have a much better chance at saving your own life.  The fact is that at least in America guns are used far more often to defend life then they are used to maliciously take life.  So why restrict guns if they are correlated to lower crime rates?

It's all nice in theory until you shoot a dangerous burglar who happens to be your wife or similar.

Well if you're going to shoot someone you should be sure that they are actually posing a serious threat to your life which wouldn't be the case there.  I don't think it's just nice in theory less restrictive gun laws work well in reality.

F2/F1 overlay experience might explain some the odd experiences that I've been having.  It's very strange and hard to explain but sometimes I find myself lying in bed aware of the non-physical and physical things such as discomforts influence the non-physical part of the experience.  I sometimes briefly open my physical eyes during these experiences and then go back.    

As for F2 I'm good at reaching it using the traditional AP but I haven't found my way to F3 or the 3d blackness yet.  I'm starting to realize that my problem is that I get caught up in whatever F2 circumstances I find myself in then experience tends to degrade.

That's good to hear about fasting and muscle loss.  I'm going to try it soon maybe just with some whey protein powder on my first attempt but that would probably be considered cheating.  

I agree that fad diets are no good.  They may temporarily help with weight loss but they don't work in the long run.  It's best to just eat generally healthy and cut out junk from your diet.  That hussman.org link looks good.  I'm doing the HIIT cardio that is discussed there, and high intensity weight lifting, which is good for losing fat and building muscle, plus there is no need for overtraining.

Scorpyn,

It would really depend on the situation there are a million factors that could influence what should be done.  If possible it would be best to try and get away or deescalate the situation.  I would only draw a weapon if there was a deadly immediate threat to my life where an attacker has the ability and opportunity to inflict deadly force and I have no other choice.  

Often pulling out a gun is enough to scare an attacker away and end the situation without violence.  According to the link I referenced criminals are wounded or killed by armed citizens only 8% of the time when they pull a gun.  So it looks like most instances of self defense with a gun do end with non-violence.  

I don't have a weapon out of fear, I've never come close to needing one, and I don't expect to.  Crime does happen and there is no way of determining whether or not you will ever be in a situation where you have to defend yourself.  I prefer to have a gun for the same reason I use a seatbelt I hope I never need it but it's nice to have just in case if I ever need it.  Like I said before I would rather have a gun and never use it then get into a situation where I would need to protect myself and not have it.  

Just by looking at the statistics it's clear that many people have needed weapons for self defense and have successfully defended themselves, 2.5 million people a year defending themselves with guns is very significant.

I'm interested in trying fasting maybe just for a day.  Besides for it slowing my metabolism my only other concern is losing muscle mass.  I've read from many weight lifting and fat loss sources that starving and not eating enough leads to losing muscle.

I believe in guns and target shooting is one of my favorite hobbies.  I eventually plan on getting a concealed weapons permit.  When it comes to guns and self defense it's better to have a gun and never need it then to need a gun and not have it.  But using a gun in self defense should be a last resort if your life is in danger and there are no better options like running away from a threat.  

Gun control just doesn't reduce crime it actually seems to make it worse.  Just look at how well banning guns has gone in Washington D.C. which is the murder capital.  Taking guns away from law abiding people just makes it easier for criminals to prey on them.    

According to this link guns are used in America about 2.5 million times a year in self-defense compared to less than 30,000 gun deaths from homicide, accidents, and suicide.

This is probably just one of many odd dogmatic beliefs that they teach, that isn't right.  It's common for people who have an NDE to be told during the experience to share it with others when they get back to the physical.  I was at MW for a little and was told the same thing.  Some people might find their techniques useful but the community seemed too much like a cult to me.

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'm going to try ordering an eye pillow because whenever I attempt phasing or visualizations my eyes twitch a lot and try to open.

It could work in rural areas but if they're talking about shooting cats in cities, that can't be safe.  I'm for hunting but not just for sport and not cat hunting especially when they could be people's pets.

I don't seem to be getting vibrations or any exit sensations anymore.  I used to focus on rolling out from the mind awake/body asleep state and the vibes would start.  The vibrations aren't needed but they did seem to shock me into having more lucidity since they can be intense.    

Now that the vibes and exit sensations are gone lately I have no idea how it is that I'm ending up out of body.  It just sort of happens without any awareness of how I got there before I find myself in an AP.  I've had about 150 projections with and without vibrations but the sad thing is that I don't think I've ever made it past F2 besides for a few RTZ experiences.

I used to have this happen to me right when I would wake up.  I had always thought it was some kind of hypnotic image since I was just coming out of a dream.

I have had that problem with vibrations a few times.  I've found that when this happens focusing on deep breathing can really help prolong the vibrations and increase my chances of having an OBE.

I don't have a moral problem with it. I do still buy some software and games that I really like.  I'm going to try and switch to open source software, that way it's legal and free.  Piracy might start to seriously hurt software sales but if it does hopefully everything will start to go more open source.

I'm not sure if those are vibrations that you experienced but it sounds like you're close to projecting.  It was obvious to me when I first experienced the vibes but there are a lot of different exit and pre-exit sensations that you may experience which will vary in intensity.  The vibrations are common but aren't necessary and don't always happen when projecting.  I haven't experienced the vibes at all in my recent projections.  The next time you feel sensations like this passively observe what's going on and don't get excited so the projection process can happen naturally.

I've had that happen a few times but it's usually not a problem.  In my experience it's easier to move around once I get away from my body.  Grabbing onto something if possible and repeating the phrase "stay out" has helped.   If this happens it's important to be passive and not get freaked out about it, and it may also be helpful to intend on being somewhere else.  Also it would best to try not to worry about this or expect that there will be a magnetic pull again next time, because in the astral you tend to experience what you expect.