Monday, September 23, 2013

Face it, you need more training!

Personal defense with a pistol, in an ambush situation, is very skill intensive.  There is a good reason that well trained police officers get great shooting scores on their qualification tests and then their hit percentage falls to below 50% when they get into real life critical incident shootings! 
It is a piece of cake to hit a target that isn't moving, isn't attacking you, and isn't stressing you out.  Most of us "train" with a pistol on a square range that requires us to stand somewhere between 15 and 25 yards away from the stationary target.  We are under no stress, and have all the time in the world to line up our sights and make the perfect center mass shot.  I'm here to tell you that the 50 rounds of ammo you shoot each month in this capacity is not training you to defend yourself under stress in the event of a critical incident ambush fight for your life! 
The ability to draw fast and shoot fast do not equal solid tactics.  These are not even skills.  Literally any able bodied person with a brain can yank a pistol out of a holster, point it downrange and, slap the trigger repeatedly. 
Skill and tactical training comes into play when you find yourself alone in a dark parking garage suddenly "surrounded" by multiple armed bandits who have no concern for your safety.  You have to understand the situation you're in, quickly discern your options, be comfortable with the risks and the consequences of your choices, and then perform the skills in a way that maximizes your chance to survive while simultaneously ensuring the bandits are stopped and no innocent bystanders are harmed.
Be honest, can you say for sure that your 4-8 hour concealed carry course has prepared you for this kind of situation?  Of course the answer is no, but most will say something like this:  "I understand my course didn't teach me any tactical skills, but I have shot pistols plenty.  I can hit what I'm aiming at."  If you answered similarly, you will most likely die in a pool of your own blood. Period.
Don't become a statistic.  Please get more training now!