Refuse to be a Victim in the Valley

PALMER- With crime on the minds of many in the Mat-Su, self-defense classes like “the Refuse to be a Victim” course seem to pull in more students as time goes on. On Saturday, Point Blank Firearms and Self Defense Training hosted a workshop covering the National Rife Associations’ (NRA) program taught all over the United States. Instructor, Steve Skinner led the class with over a dozen students, ages ranging from teen to senior citizen with one goal in mind: instill an empowered mindset that will be more likely to survive chance encounters.

“People are afraid of being rude. Screw it, you can say sorry later,” Skinner said.

Although the program is blanketed under the NRA, the class did not talk about how to handle a gun or anything like that. Instead, Skinner went over: mental preparedness, home security, travel security, physical safety, psychology of criminals, automotive safety, cyber security, and personal protection (Tasers, mace etc.) with his students. Skinner went over each topic and stressed with each one: “don’t be an easy target.” He referenced the death of Samantha Koenig, the teen murdered by serial killer, Israel Keyes. He said that she had several opportunities to save herself from the kidnapping.

“She could’ve done something,” Skinner said.

For many people, there is probably a thin line between being cautious and being polite. According to Skinner, there is a “thick line.” He said that often times, people wind up dead and quiet instead of alive and loud. With Koenig’s case, like many, he saw the security footage showing Koenig by herself in the café for several minutes. She also went to an ATM with her captor. Skinner said she could have made some sort of ruckus and called attention at several instances but didn’t. She instead, cooperated with Keyes and wound up being found at the Matanuska Lake.

“If you get in the car, you’re gonna’ die,” Skinner said.

The class centered on changing pre-conceived notions and attempted to fill in the gaps of “misinformation,” which to Skinner is deadly. To him, to be ill informed is dangerous. He’s taught the class at several places, including senior centers. He wants to take the class to high schools and colleges, places he thinks “need the information the most.” Skinner has a daughter who is a young adult. When Koenig’s body turned up, his wife lost sleep. Like many in the Valley, Koenig’s death struck a chord, much like Grunwald’s death did last year.

“I always ask my class, do you think you got your money’s worth?” Skinner said.

So far, he said that none of his students have come back for a refund. The students shared their experiences and asked Skinner for advice, with most curious how to improve their home security. He said there were two “pre-teens” there who got dropped off by their mom. He said it was apparent the class was their mom’s idea and the two looked “kind of bored.” Skinner said his daughter used to think he was “paranoid” until she had a close call herself. Skinner cited Alaska as one of the most dangerous places for women. He noted that there’s a definite trend of women taking classes like these; and across the nation, more women are taking self-defense classes than men. He said it’s important for them to break age old stereotypes and “male egos.” He criticized SB-91, saying that the public was “thrown to the wolves.”