Besides standing on the firing line and practicing stance, speed of draw, grip, sight alignment, trigger control, and putting shots on target, I try to incorporate a lot of movement into practice because I can.
In one well-received training manual, I read advice concerning a brief course on fundamentals and then graduating early to moving targets and shooting with movement. That included ingenious mechanisms to move targets as well as things like obstacle courses to move the shooter and environments like “house of horror” shoot houses. The focus was on police training.
Since I am just one person and not an organization of people, and my range is always temporary, it’s not cost-effective for me to devise a lot of moving targets like swingers, rails and so on. I do have (abandoned) structures I can use.
I was doing a simple drill the other day where I draw while seated in the driver’s seat of the truck, shoot a target out the driver window, open the door, remove the seat-belt and engage a target ahead of the truck from behind the door (since it’s unmodified I can’t say it’s cover). Then moving around the door and from behind the wheel and engine, shoot across the hood to another target. I also tried variations where I would come around the door, hit a target to the left, pivot 180 degrees and hit another target.
I use a five shot revolver, and I typically include at least one double-tap in a drill so I can’t continue on to engage 15 zombies or whatever. I think even three or four is probably unrealistic with regard to what I might actually anticipate in any reasonably conceivable scenario in my life.
I want to mention some real-world scenarios, but I want to stay focused on shooting drills and not delve too far into what would amount to nothing more than highly imaginative fantasies. But before I bring them up, I want to recognize that shooting is not the only solution to these circumstances. We can expect that we’ll often be better off driving or running away when we can. In any event, I don't intend to consider scenarios here with respect to the justification of using lethal force or any alternatives. That is simply a different topic.
So I thought about some real-world situations where other people have found themselves in need of using lethal force. I probably haven’t thought of all of them, so if you want to add some, feel free.
At the cashier or teller when an armed robbery happens
Car-jacking
Assault with vehicle / Road rage
Robbery at the ATM
Mugged in the parking lot or parking garage
Robbery or mugging at the gas pump
Home defense against burglary
Some crimes against the person for which I feel my own risk is very low, but which may be very relevant to others might include:
Kidnapping
Sexual assault
Domestic violence
Assault/Fight at the bar or club
Then there are those statistically highly improbable scenarios that nevertheless get our attention because the violence is seemingly indiscriminate:
Mass murder / active shooter (church/school shooter)
Serial killers
Terrorist attacks (politically motivated foreign or domestic terrorism)
I will also mention that I have no intention of being a hero or one of those so-called sheepdogs. If I’m not the victim, and my life is not in imminent danger, I’m going to keep away from danger and other people’s security is their own responsibility. As a result, my training will never be focused on saving other people from their own predicaments, but only on getting myself away or ending a threat to me.
For some people, fundamentals might be enough. For others, working on the fundamentals on a firing line might be the only option they have with live fire. If I had that limitation, I would look into airsoft for the other portion of training.
Well, I’m running out of time to write this, but I’m going to be thinking more about the kind of situations where lethal force as a last resort could happen. What kind of transitional spaces I might be in, and how I can simulate those spaces and develop drills to train. I’ll reiterate that I don’t think shooting is always the best solution and that I always carry a less lethal option (OC) every day.
In one well-received training manual, I read advice concerning a brief course on fundamentals and then graduating early to moving targets and shooting with movement. That included ingenious mechanisms to move targets as well as things like obstacle courses to move the shooter and environments like “house of horror” shoot houses. The focus was on police training.
Since I am just one person and not an organization of people, and my range is always temporary, it’s not cost-effective for me to devise a lot of moving targets like swingers, rails and so on. I do have (abandoned) structures I can use.
I was doing a simple drill the other day where I draw while seated in the driver’s seat of the truck, shoot a target out the driver window, open the door, remove the seat-belt and engage a target ahead of the truck from behind the door (since it’s unmodified I can’t say it’s cover). Then moving around the door and from behind the wheel and engine, shoot across the hood to another target. I also tried variations where I would come around the door, hit a target to the left, pivot 180 degrees and hit another target.
I use a five shot revolver, and I typically include at least one double-tap in a drill so I can’t continue on to engage 15 zombies or whatever. I think even three or four is probably unrealistic with regard to what I might actually anticipate in any reasonably conceivable scenario in my life.
I want to mention some real-world scenarios, but I want to stay focused on shooting drills and not delve too far into what would amount to nothing more than highly imaginative fantasies. But before I bring them up, I want to recognize that shooting is not the only solution to these circumstances. We can expect that we’ll often be better off driving or running away when we can. In any event, I don't intend to consider scenarios here with respect to the justification of using lethal force or any alternatives. That is simply a different topic.
So I thought about some real-world situations where other people have found themselves in need of using lethal force. I probably haven’t thought of all of them, so if you want to add some, feel free.
At the cashier or teller when an armed robbery happens
Car-jacking
Assault with vehicle / Road rage
Robbery at the ATM
Mugged in the parking lot or parking garage
Robbery or mugging at the gas pump
Home defense against burglary
Some crimes against the person for which I feel my own risk is very low, but which may be very relevant to others might include:
Kidnapping
Sexual assault
Domestic violence
Assault/Fight at the bar or club
Then there are those statistically highly improbable scenarios that nevertheless get our attention because the violence is seemingly indiscriminate:
Mass murder / active shooter (church/school shooter)
Serial killers
Terrorist attacks (politically motivated foreign or domestic terrorism)
I will also mention that I have no intention of being a hero or one of those so-called sheepdogs. If I’m not the victim, and my life is not in imminent danger, I’m going to keep away from danger and other people’s security is their own responsibility. As a result, my training will never be focused on saving other people from their own predicaments, but only on getting myself away or ending a threat to me.
For some people, fundamentals might be enough. For others, working on the fundamentals on a firing line might be the only option they have with live fire. If I had that limitation, I would look into airsoft for the other portion of training.
Well, I’m running out of time to write this, but I’m going to be thinking more about the kind of situations where lethal force as a last resort could happen. What kind of transitional spaces I might be in, and how I can simulate those spaces and develop drills to train. I’ll reiterate that I don’t think shooting is always the best solution and that I always carry a less lethal option (OC) every day.
