Range for handgun competency?

[easyg]

I was raised to get with a firearm, no matter if it is a handgun, rifle or shotgun, until it is like a body part.

For fun, they would light a cigarette, and shoot off the lit end, with the guns mentioned. My grandma could do this, and she did what other Mentor's and Elders did: ask me which eye of a squirrel, feral cat, or similar critter, and I would say which eye, and they would shoot that critter, in that eye!

That's great, but how many years did it take them to aquire this accuracy?
How many dollars in ammo did it take?

The average shooter today is lucky if he can spend several hours a week at the range.

Another stopped a rapist with a snub nose out to around 50 yards. Besides being a felony, "it was flat wrong" he shared. All he had was his snub nose, but he could flat shoot -period! Now he is sharing this with me, as we shot steels from 15, 25, 35, 50, 75 and even 100 yards.

He stopped a rapist, the teenager whom had Polio, and on crutches, with leg braces, was not "touched". (she remained pure).

Stopped a rapist at 50 yards?!?!

Heck, how did he even know that she was being raped????

Me and my wife sometimes have playful rough sex at times...
I hope some idiot doesn't shoot me in he back from 50 YARDS AWAY just because he thinks that I'm raping her!

 

[M2 Carbine]

But can you take a ten year old child, give him a 9mm para handgun, have him draw while moving toward cover, putting all of his shots within a human head size target, at seven yards, shooting rapid fire, and clearing a stoppage, all while under stress?

Most shooters of any age can not do that. If nothing else, they have no place to practice.

But with proper training and a place to shoot people can quickly do suprisingly well, as demonstrated by this girl, moving while shooting. This was within the first hour of her ever touching a gun.

 

[Ankeny]

In my view, shooting at 7 or even 10 yards is equally useless in defensive training once you've gone past the basic introductory phase. There simply isn't enough range to see the flaws in your technique.

Hate to add to the drift, but here are a couple of diagnostic drills you can do at close yardages that will immediately show flaws in technique.

Place a 3/4 inch wide piece of masking tape vertically on your target at around five yards. Fire five rounds at your usual pace keeping all five rounds touching the tape with no more than two inches of vertical stringing. Pick up the pace and repeat. This little drill will reveal a lot about grip, balance, stance, sight tracking, and trigger manipulation.

Here's another, Google the Web for "Dot Drill" and print off one of the many targets, or use this one Dot Drill Once you get the drill conquered up close, pick up the pace and/or move back. For variation, shoot a pair on each dot or have a partner shout out the number of the dot to shoot.

I think we all know speed and accuracy are pretty subjective unless we put dimensions, distances, and time into the mix. As far as ability vs. credibility...who cares. This is the Internet.