hoplophilia-an affection towards guns 

Why Do We Train?

by Eric Dean Threat Solutions LLC


     This question is generally asked, perhaps not so direct but always lingers out there when the topic of gun training is brought up. Firearms training is also (strangely to me) is sometimes met with a fair bit of hostility and a dash of ego. Now I am by no means making an assumption that I am the end all spot for firearms training, and it is my utmost desire not to ever assume that I am a "blowhard". I think after a few years in the field I have at least "gotten IT". Now of course the next logical question is, "what is "it"?. It is making the leap of faith that understanding the importance of the 4-safety rules of firearms safety is inherently the most important aspect of any training atmosphere. If you do not know what the 4-safety rules of firearms safety are please do a quick Google search for it and than come back and read the rest. (Use Jeff Cooper for the assist if you go look). There is no training out there that will be of any value to anyone if these rules are not part of any training curriculum.
Why do some people feel it necessary to point a firearm at you at say the gun show or gun shop and when you ask them to politely stop doing that, a response that is more prevalent than one would be comfortable with is "Oh, its not loaded"? I wonder how many people out there have been shot with an "unloaded" gun. Rarely are there "accidents" when handling firearms, generally it is negligence on 90% the holder and 10% on the person its pointing at. If you understand the 4-safety rules, you should always be the 10% and always be very loud when correcting the 90%. Be the 10%. There is actually a 5th rule of gun safety out there that I have come up with and it is this, "Rule 5- Do not point your gun at me and I will not point my gun at you.". Use this rule at your discretion.
     Why do we attend firearms training? Well I think that it is the same reason that we take piano lessons; we want to learn how to play the darn thing. Seems pointless to spend big bucks on a new toy and then not know how to make it work up to what it was designed to do. As with any mechanical device there are many aspects of it that must be learned, and generally those things must be taught by a competent individual. To steal a line from a recent movie, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? You practice". Now Carnegie Hall may be a time that the entire show is on the line. Like, oh an altercation for your life. That is the big night at the show, its the Super bowl, its whatever that magical moment is that you have trained all your life for, and now its show time. For me, I assume that anyone that would accept the responsibility for owning and carrying a firearm in which may actually put you into a position that there may be a fight for your life, you would want to be on top of your game. Lets face it, we are not shooting free throws here, we are fighting for our LIVES! We are people who have realized that it is a dangerous world that we live in and we want to make that extra step to be prepared for that moment that we may (hopefully never) need to protect ourselves.
     If you have a desire to go and get some training with your firearm, ask some questions of them. Ask them about how many rounds are in the class. If there is 1000 rounds in a day, that may be a bit much, somewhere from a hundred or so for an entry level course (which is always a good course for the new guy or gal or for a super refresher to get the basics back down) up to as many as 300+ for a more advanced day. Another question to ask is the curriculum of the course. Is there practice without the use of ammunition prior to new drills being covered. Is there going to be some type of handout that I can take home and work with and use to practice at home and at the range. (I'll let you make the decision of what type of training should be done at home and what type should be done on the range). How practical or real life relevant is the training? Is it a "hot" range compared to a "cold" range. Hot range and cold range is if the gun is loaded while not actually on the line firing, or do I have to clear my gun, open the slide and re-holster when going to the break room or whatever. Hot ranges are important. Hot ranges get you use to carrying a firearm that will kill you or someone else if you mess up, where as getting into a mindset that, "ah its not loaded it cannot hurt anything now." As you read on your google search, Rule #1 is quite clear about all guns are always loaded. If rule 1 says its already loaded, what's the point of walking around with it dry? Hot ranges are proven to be safer. Get some back ground on the instructors. Generally some real world experience in Law Enforcement, military or some other type of gun toting profession is a plus but not always mandatory to have a competent instructor. Also ask around, see how others have experienced when they attended. If the company meets all these criteria it may be worth the money.
     We train to become competent with our firearms. When we use a firearm, imagine how your going to feel. If you think that your going to be like a frozen pickle (cool as a cucumber) than your a better person than I. Use a training program that fits you and it is always relevant to what your needs are.

Eric Dean
"Practice does not make perfect; but instead a good practitioner. Only perfect practice makes perfect."

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News

As reported, one violent robber was fatally shot after he and three accomplices attempted to rob an East St. Louis, IL convenience store.

Police say that four armed robbers forced their way in through the locked front door of the Quality Market at about 3:00 AM.  The robbers are said to have rushed toward the 21 year old clerk, who grabbed his self defense pistol.  The robbers reportedly attacked the clerk, at which point one of the robbers was shot in the chest.  The uninjured robbers grabbed their injured accomplice and fled, according to police.  The injured robber reportedly died of his wounds at a nearby hospital, and two suspects who accompanied him to the hospital were arrested.

Once again, gun ownership has allowed a law abiding citizen to defend themselves from multiple violent criminals.  Had this store clerk not had a gun, the robbers may very well have harmed him for not having enough money, or perhaps just for the fun of it.  Make no mistake about it – robbery is a violent crime against the victim’s person, and a deadly threat to their life.  This is all the more true when, as here, a single victim is confronted by multiple attackers

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 from LearnAboutGuns.com

Masked and Armed Home Invader Shot in Self Defense

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 from wlex18.com

Police are investigating after they say a man was shot to death early Tuesday morning while trying to break into a home in Garrard County.

The incident happened at about 12:45 a.m. at a home on Old Richmond Road. Kentucky State Police said Dallas Richard Helton, 40, had broken into the back of the home, and was shot once in the chest by the homeowner, Herlin McQuerry, 67. Helton stumbled out to the driveway where police said he died.

Police said McQuerry also fired a shot at the alleged getaway car being driven by Tonya Fowler, 35, of Berea. She was later arrested and charged with complicity to commit burglary second degree.

Helton's 17-year-old son was also in the vehicle. Police questioned him, but have not charged him.

Helton's family claims they were looking at rental property. However, Kentucky State Police said  Helton was wearing a black ski mask and armed with a crowbar. Police added McQuerry's house was not listed for rent.

No charges will be filed against McQuerry in the case.

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Associated Press

LUFKIN, Texas -- A pizza delivery man who was taking an order to a house in East Texas pulled out a gun and opened fire on two would-be robbers, police said.

One of the alleged robbers was hospitalized after getting shot in the back, Lufkin police said. The Papa John’s pizza delivery man, who’s licensed to carry a handgun, wasn’t hurt.

The shooting was Tuesday night, after the delivery man walked up to a house and rang a doorbell, Lufkin police said. It turned out the house was vacant and two armed men approached him from the side of the house, The Lufkin Daily News reported Thursday. The delivery man drew a .22 caliber Derringer and fired two shots, and the assailants ran away, police said.

It appears unlikely the delivery man will face any charges since he “was defending himself at the time of the shooting,” Lufkin Police Lt. David Young said.

A call placed to the restaurant and a call to the chain’s corporate headquarters in Louisville, Ky., weren’t immediately returned Thursday.

Police said Johnx R. Greer, 18, was arrested at a hospital where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the back. He’s been charged with aggravated robbery and was being held in the Angelina County Jail on a $100,000 bond. His attorney, John Tunnell, did not return a call Thursday.

The other suspect hasn’t been found.

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Techniques that Threat Solutions Staff have put to the test.

Should I Transition or Emergency Reload?
by Eric Dean

During a recent range event, Loren and I took the opportunity to put an age old question to the test. That test is either reload if ,heaven forbid, my primary weapon were to run out of ammo or to transition to my secondary if the gods were to grace me with one.

First off, Loren and I stood at the 25 meter line both with 5.56 carbines and the awesome Beretta 92F/S in hand. (Don't hold it againts us, we were training our nations finest) At the other end of the range stood three normal, regulation sized ABA sanctioned bowling pins. The drill consisted of us both were to simulate that we ran out of ammo. Next I was to transition to my secondary and Loren was to execute an "emergency reload" after the buzzer went off and the drill began. Loren and I are well might I say not the best shots in the world, but we can handle ourselves okay. I am working with him and he is showing signs of improvement. (Sorry Loren had to stick that one in there.) I am expecting a phone call any moment from him. Wait is that the phone?

Okay, the buzzer sounds and the drill begins with Loren performing an emergency reload and I a transition. I am able to get the transition off obviously quicker then my counterpart (no one would argue that point) and I began to engage the targets. My first two shots rang out quickly and to my surprise, nothing fell. I slowed a bit, fired a third and still nothing. Now Loren nearly has completed his reload, so I began speeding my shots up and even though I would have been landing solid shots near the "tombstone" (Riposte-1 target from LE Targets) the bowling pins remained standing so therefore no "stop" shots were assumed. At this point Loren completed the reload and began to knock the pins down in order, 1, 2, 3. To make it official, we switched roles, I reloaded and Loren transitioned much to the same result as the first. The transition can not get effective shots off at that range.

So, now that at 25 meters it is safe to assume that your best bet is to reload that empty weapon (hopefully from cover) and get back into the fight. Unless your along the lines of say Jim Higgenbotham, keep that primary weapon going.

Next we jumped up to the 15 meter line and performed the same drill. Now this time, the transition was able to get the pins down 1 to the reloads 2. So its safe to assume that at this range of 15 meters to 25 meters seems safe to stay with the primary. Now remember that someone is shooting at you, and you really need to stay dynamic. Its a bit difficult to reload effectively on a knee in the open with someone shooting at you so close you can read the fine print on their hat.

Finally at the 10 meter line. Man what a change. The transition was super fast. The transition knocked down all three pins, made coffee and had the Beretta cleaned before the reload could yell, "primary down!".

So what is the morale of the story you ask? 10-12 meters to target or closer, or you need to put bullets at a target from a bit further away without really hitting stopping shots? Transition my friend. Need to stop a target effectively from 15 meters on out? Get that carbine talking quickly!

                                                                                   -Eric
                                                                                                            September 29, 2007

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Operations or Conditions Check

by  Eric Dean

What about an operations check (or conditions check in some circles) with a pistol? At the range a couple of years ago I came up with this type of operations check when using a pistol. This technique I have been teaching the day that it dawned on me.

When I was engaging a target with my secondary weapon I thought about the operations check executing it by basically bringing the weapon into a modified "third eye" and rotating the weapon skyward briefly before bringing it back to the scan and executing a reload or returning the weapon to retention. There is nothing wrong with this technique as far as I am concerned. There are a few things that may not be what one wants to do but they are small. For one, if your performing a operations check then most likely the situation has de-escalated to a point to which you think that it is safe to do so, so pulling the weapon down out of the "shooter's box" is not a horribly bad thing as long as nothing was to pop up and see what all the hub-bub was about. People's attention tends to be drawn to loud noises. Secondly shooting from the third eye is not the most stable platform from which to shoot. The Threat Solutions method is simple and I think it enables the shooter to perform an operations check while eliminating these little problems.

Now to execute The Threat Solutions Operations Check one simple executes one simple motion while the weapon is at the scan position. While you are looking over the sights instead of putting the weapon into a third eye retention position then performing an operations check, try just looking at the juncture of the upper slide and the lower assembly and make sure that the seam is together and the weapon is in full battery, ready to fire. This will tell you if the weapon is out of battery, if there is a "stove pipe" or the weapon is out of operation. If any of these conditions are observed then getting the weapon back into service can be done while keeping the weapon in the shooters box while the weapon is still at the scan and at its most stable. So once again, while in the scan phase, simple take your eyes off the sights and look at the back of your AUTOMATIC weapon and ensure that the weapon is in battery and ready to fire again, top off the weapon and get going!
                                                                                           -Eric
Leave your comments and thoughts here.Leave your comments and thoughts here.
 

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"These comments are the expressed opinions of the authors of the articles.  We at Threat Solutions are not responsible for a reader of these articles to deem these articles as the truth or the only way to perform a task. All of these thoughts are open for debate and We welcome them. No one can get better in this field without it. This field requires an enormous amount of in depth training to understand the fundamentals required to make quick decisions in a gun fight. We tell everyone to search out for more knowledge and by no means think that there is a one-stop gun fighting technique school. If you use one of these techniques and it doesn't work, you most likely missed the point we were trying to make, you did not practice enough, or you did it wrong."