Play the odds

Look around the room you’re in right now: Chances are, if you’re in a building that’s been built in the last 30 years, there’s either a smoke detector, fire alarm or a fire extinguisher within a few feet of where you are. This is a good thing, because losing everything in a fire just sucks. Our society recognizes this, and mandates the installation of such things to protect our health and safety. (As an aside, if you have a gun in your home, you probably should have a fire extinguisher as well, because the fire department takes just as long (or longer) to get to your home as the police department does). 

But what are the odds of a fire happening in your home compared to the odds of you being a victim of a violent crime in your home?

The answers may surprise you. 

According to the CDC, in 2009, someone died in a fire every 175 minutes, and someone was injured in a fire every 31 minutes. A scary thought indeed, which is why all those smoke detectors make sense. But if those odds makes you nervous, the chances of you being a victim of a violent crime should freak you right out. 

• A burglary is committed once every 10 seconds
• Violent crimes happen once every 20 seconds
• One of out five homes will experience a break-in 

So why is protecting one’s family and property with a smoke detector something that the government encourages (and even mandates) yet protecting one’s family and property by means of a firearm something that the government discourages (and even bans)? 

You’re not paranoid for wanting to own and carry a gun. You’re just better at math than most people. 

Choosing your first firearms trainer

So you’ve purchased a firearm for self-defense, (good), and want to learn how to use it safely (better), so you start to look around online and ask people you know who’ve they’ve trained with. 

This isn’t a bad way to find a trainer, but how do you evaluate their advice? We’ve all gone the mechanic who was recommended by someone else, only to find out they were less than competent and messed up our car something fierce. Here’s a few guidelines to help locate a trainer that can help you learn to shoot better when you’ll need it the most.  

1. Look for trainers who are nationally certified by a recognized training organization. 
   The NRA is the largest firearms training organization in the world and has certified thousands of people to teach others to safely use a firearm. Other programs such as the Combat Focus Shooting program are starting to go nationwide and would also be an excellent choice for a first-time gun owner.
2. Look for trainers who teach safely. 
   There is absolutely NO reason for students, instructors or photographers to go “down range” (i.e. by the targets) at any time during live fire. 
   None. Zero. Zippo. If your prospective trainer talks about how his methods are too “hardcore” or how he plays by “big boy rules”, smile politely and walk away. Real life is scary enough, there’s no reason to make it more dangerous when you train. 
3. Train the skills you’re most likely to need. 
   I suck at long-range shooting. Anything over 300 yards with a rifle is theoretical at best for me. I need to train that skill in order to get better at it, but it’s also not a priority for me right now because I’m not a hunter or a sniper and don’t need to make a 500 yard rifle shot on a regular basis. 
   If you’re looking at a trainer who talks about the latest “Tier One Tactical Operator” techniques and how he can teach YOU to shoot like a Navy SEAL in just two short days, smile politely and walk away. The fact is, you’re NOT a Navy SEAL, you’re a regular person who wants to stay safe in a dangerous world. Leave the SWAT tactics to the police. Your job isn’t to clear a building, your job is to keep you and those you care about safe until more help arrives.
4. Be prepared for your class before you show up the first day. 
   If you don’t own ear protection or eye protection, buy some. A good trainer will have extra sets of safety gear for students that forget theirs, but you really should own your own. I like electronic hearing protection like these inexpensive Howard Leight earmuffs for training classes because they allow me to clearly hear the instructor’s commands, but filter out the loud noises when the bang-bang part begins. For eye protection, well, you get what you pay for, and considering how much you use them, you REALLY don’t want something cheap protecting your eyes on the firing line.
   Also, make sure you have the minimum amount of  ammo required for the class (plus 10 percent more) on-hand at least a week before the class starts, because these days, chances are there will NOT be ammo available when you need it.

A quick note about hats and firearms training: There’s a reason why you see almost everyone in a training class wearing a ball cap of some sort as they’re shooting their guns on the firing line: A spent casing can go just about anywhere when it’s ejected from a gun, and if that hot piece of brass gets lodged in-between the top of your shooting glasses and your eyebrow, it can ruin your whole day and/or eyesight as well. Wear a cap with a brim on it when you shoot to deflect brass and stop this from happening.

Train now, and train safely, because if, God forbid, you need to use your gun to defend your life, you won’t “rise to the occasion”, you’ll fall to your lowest level of skill. Learn to shoot quickly and accurately now, before you need it on the worst day of your life.

Considering Off-Body Carry? Consider this.

I recently had a chance to try out a few options for off-body carry in the course of writing a recent article on concealed carry for Shooting Illustrated. The testing showed that it was easy to access my gun and quickly engage a target when the gun was stowed in a bag or Day-timer. This came as a bit of surprise to me: I’ve always carried on my belt or in my pocket and up until then, I never really considered off-body carry as a way to way to keep my gun out of sight.

I found out, though, that IF your bag is close by you, can get a gun into action pretty quickly. Not as fast as my daily carry untucked t-shirt, and not fast enough to pass the Federal Air Marshall test, but pretty fast nevertheless.

I’m still going to carry on my person whenever I can because that’s what I’m used to, but now that I know I can draw from a computer case or messenger bag with some degree of speed, I’d look at off-body carry as a way to carry a second gun or a bigger gun if I’m carrying in a pocket, and I’d definitely follow the 3 rules of off-body carry that noted gun writer and TV host Michael Bane laid out in his concealed carry DVD.

1. If you’re the kind of person who consistently loses their car keys, glasses or other important items, don’t do it. 
2. Once you’ve made the decision to carry off-body, the bag/purse with the gun in has to go with you everywhere. 
3. You have to “Go to the gun” earlier in the encounter than you would with a belt or pocket holster.

Numbers 1 and 2 are unique to off-body carry: If I carry on my belt or in a pocket, that gun stays in its holster all day long, and I know where it is at any given moment, something may or may not be true with a bag or case that I’m carrying, which means you have to know where your bag is every moment of the day, and that includes the restroom, the dinner table, you name it.

And number 3? Well, going to the gun early is just a good idea, no matter how you carry.

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