Talisman
an object held to
act as a charm to avert evil and bring good fortune
something
producing apparently magical or miraculous effects
These requests weren’t new, I’ve heard them before. In fact, there were two separate and
different requests this past week.
The first came from a woman. She and 9 of her co-workers were interested
in a “carry class”. Honestly, here in
Iowa that means a lot of different things. State law requires that the coursework be
taught by a certified NRA instructor, LEO instructor or an instructor from a
national organization involved in gun rights and teaching safe gun
handling. There is no requirement for
face to face training or for actual range work.
As a result, there is a broad range of instructors and
types of coursework available. Honestly,
most folks tend to go to the least expensive.
For this woman, we’ll see. For what
she is asking, I teach the Foundations of Defensive Pistol course from
NAPSI. It takes about 9 hours and 200
rounds of live fire. It’s not a “quickie”.
In under all of that though, a lot of folks who, frankly,
choose the “quickie” classes view their “non-professional permit to carry a
concealed weapon” as a talisman of some sort that has some type of magic power
to protect them. I have countless
friends that have gone through everything from “quickie” to multiple day
defensive firearms coursework that carry . . . only their permit. No gun.
Just the permit. I suppose they
could paper-cut a threat until they surrendered . . . but I wouldn’t want to
bet my life on that particular approach.
My advice is simple . . . if you get a permit, carry . . .
every day . . . everywhere it is legal to do so. Pretty tough to tell an attacker – “excuse me
– stay right there – I’m gonna run home and get my gun – be right back!”
The next talisman to come into play . . . THE GUN!!! “Yep, I went out and bought a gun!” It’s said with a relief that they are finally
ready to handle “things” . . . whatever things there are that might threaten
their life. This is usually followed by
how they are keeping it safely locked up with the ammunition locked and stored
elsewhere. The mere purchase and
possession of the firearm is a strong enough talisman to ward off all
evildoers. Perhaps even worse if the
husband or father who buys his wife or daughter a handgun to protect herself .
. . cause . . . GUN!!!
There is no magic in the handgun. It takes real effort and time and on-going
work go gain and maintain a level of proficiency that can be used to defend your
life and the lives of your family. REAL
WORK. I’ve given this pitch many times .
. . buy 1,000 rounds in January, expend 100 rounds every month. You’ll miss a couple months . . . and this
will go a long way towards you keeping a viable level of proficiency with your
defensive firearm.
And, before even purchasing a defensive handgun – take training
that is focused on defensive shooting.
Target shooting, while truly fun, will do little to help you in a life-threatening
situation.
The last talisman is “training”. No magic occurs during the coursework you
take. In fact, “training” doesn’t even
occur during coursework. If you are
going down the defensive shooting path, the training should introduce you to a
solid set of foundational information and principals along with a solid set of
shooting drills you can take away with you.
Your actual training occurs when you take this information and drills
and practice them while expending those 1,000 rounds you bought in January.
Taking a lot of words to say that carry permits and guns
are NOT TALISMANS. They will not ward off
evil. They may allow you to SURVIVE evil
if, and only if, you put in the work.
I haven’t finished a post with this lately, let’s pull it
off the shelf again . . .
HELP IS NOT COMING!!!
YOU ARE YOUR BEST POSSIBLE CHANCE AT SURVIVAL!!!
Do the work . . .
A comment from a Facebook friend . . .
ReplyDeleteEarl Cadle - Agree 100%. I see the same thing. The attitude is, "The course must be inexpensive." I can understand that, everybody wants the most for their money. They don't want to pay a lot and get a little. I'm with that. I'd like a Ferrari at Ford prices too. The second point in the equation is, "The course must not exceed the minimum hours." The "student" needs to get to a social appointment: church social, youth sports practice, meeting with a club, etc. This causes me a problem. I paid for a course that is mandated to obtain something. I want the maximum amount from the course, but am requiring that be delivered in a minimum amount of time. That is like requesting life saving surgery in 2 minutes or less. Yes, I know; "I don't have time!" I have been driving since I was sixteen. I didn't get driver's ed in school. I was taught by a relative and practiced with numerous relatives. I later took, on my own time and at my won expense 3 driver's education courses that were graduated in degree of difficulty. I have been shooting since age 3 and my initial education was by a relative. I took courses and competed later to gain knowledge. I still seek out that knowledge. Whether going to the range or the store, I see getting behind the wheel as another practice session. At the range, I see another practice session. There is always something new, always something to relearn, always something improve. The people that want the least expensive and shortest course possible are the ones that are going to have and be problems on the range, on the road and in life. I can do nothing about them except try to get them to get the education.
You are absolutely right. And training IS work. But one needs to do it. Not shooting for a month will seriously degrade your skill set.
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