That new Carry Permit.

[SP Shop Foreman]

I posted this on another board, but I come here too and thought it might be something of interest here.
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I hope nobody minds if I post something my father wrote quite some time ago. I just obtained my carry permit last week, and I was one of his students. It wasn't particularly easy but it was a lot of fun and I feel a lot better about carrying. I hope you enjoy reading this. It made a lot of sense to me.

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So you have a carry permit. Now what?

You're ready to defend youself, your wife and family, your home and you're also, in all probablility, ready to go to jail. No? You already have a solid working knowledge of the legal responsibilities and ramifications of carrying a sidearm and shooting someone? Congratulations. You're among the great minority of CC holders.

How often do you read about a righteous citizen who was forced into a situation of the gravest extreme, pulled the trigger and then faced a battery of experienced prosecuting attorneys who were bent on seeing the defender put away. Away from family, friends and work for a very long time.
There are no easy answers, but the least you owe yourself and your family is the knowledge gained by actively participating in a course of learning and live fire excercises. Pardon me? You go to the range regularly and hit the bullseyes most of the time? Those should make great memories while serving your sentence. Applying for and obtaining a carry permit should be the last thing in the chain of a necessary, responsible learning process. In the world of a carrying prepared citizen there is no place for ego or bravado, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with individual rights. It has everything to do with a working knowledge of your assumed rights.

I am a certified Rangemaster, and a rather hard taskmaster when it comes to certifying a novice for a carry permit application. Hard because of the seriousness and finality involved in the taking of a life in self defence. I'll not delve into that here, but I do have a basic sequence of reqirements I demand of my students. First is a simple, albeit deep read of a couple of very basic books. The original "In The Gravest Extreme" by Ayoob, and a short and sweet little narrative by Bill Jordan. "No Second Place Winners".

Second is the choice of a pistol, semi auto or a revolver. This is accomplished by finding and taking advantage of a store sponsored range that allows test firing of various handguns and calibers. Its very important that your everyday carry sidearm be comfortable to hold, function flawlessly, is easily concealed and easy for you to access and control no matter what the caliber.

Third is learning to make or find wax projectile cartridges. My students learn to make them at home with a simple formula.

Fourth is to use those wax loads at home in the garage shooting at a piece of plywood with a human sillouhette on it from a distance of 6 to 10 feet. Beyond that you're not likely defending... you're in a gunfight. The wax projectile with no powder, just the primer in the case will fire straight and true up to an easy 12 feet away, some further. With semi autos its going to be single shots since the slide won't cycle. The only noise is that of the primer and not disturbing to neighbors at all. The firearm is held in your hand, hanging at your side. No fast draw or any drawing at all at the beginning. Quickly accessing the sidearm all comes later.

There are a number of other steps involved before completion, but all of this is accomplished before the application is obtained. Nobody gets a certification from me until I'm wholly satisfied that the very act of carrying a sidearm isn't going to leave a wife and children alone for a very long time. Seek out a qualified instructor, and if anyone intimates that a simple NRA field safety or hunting course will suffice, tell him "No thanks. My future is worth a bit more than that"

Good shooting, stay safe and stay low.

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I have a wife and a child, and I pray I never have to face a life or death choice, but if I do I think I have a better chance of surviving all of it because I learned all I could from him, and I'm learning more all the time. That's part of the fun and the seriousness.

Latigo

 

[ghh3rd]

Thanks for your post. I just got my card, and it scares the heck out of me to think that I may be perfectly justified in defending myself, but have to go through extreme measures and costs to defend myself to ensure that I'm not prosecuted.

I have read and learned much from this and other forums about helping to reduce that risk, such as not modifying my carry weapon (trigger pull, etc.), using only standard ammo, preferably the same as used by the local police department (not ammo that an prosecuter can say was for the purpose of killing, rather than stopping), and having the mindset that if it's possible for the bad guy, or me to get away without a shot, let it happen.

One thing that I haven't done yet is find and read a book or two about self defense. Your father seems like a wise man - I will be looking for the two that he mentioned.

Randy

 

[SP Shop Foreman]

http://www.amazon.com/Gravest-Extreme-Firearm-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001

http://www.amazon.com/Second-Place-Winner-William-Jordan/dp/0936279095

Both my sister and I and now my wife (currently reading) have read both. There are others but these two really tell the tale correctly.

Thanks for respoinding.
Latigo

 

[Ithaca37]

How often do you read about a righteous citizen who was forced into a situation of the gravest extreme, pulled the trigger and then faced a battery of experienced prosecuting attorneys who were bent on seeing the defender put away. Away from family, friends and work for a very long time.

Not that often actually.

 

[ghh3rd]

I have heard of situations where someone who defended their life had to then defend themselves in court from an overzealous prosecuter. Even without facing criminal charges one may still face a civil suit from an angry family member, or the bad guy himself if he lives.

I think it's prudent to take every measure up front to ensure that you aren't an easy target in the courtroom, and to actually disuade someone from getting you into an expensive trial.

Randy

 

[dacavasi]

I'm not sure about the 'wax loads' practice, I would prefer live fire/practice at an appropriate CHL range, and a whole HECK of a lot of it, in order to familiarize one's self with his/her firearm and ammo. The muted 'pop' of a primer-driven piece of wax does nothing to simulate live fire, recoil, or impact (not to mention would likely gunk up a gun that you need to rely upon as a primary CHL tool). Just my $0.02....

 

[SP Shop Foreman]

The purpose of wax loads is to develop point of vision shooting. Beginning with live rounds can be expensive since it takes quite a number of rounds to get to the point where you actually shoot to the point your focusing on. He didn't even come close explaining the whole course. There's a lot involved but the end result is an aware shooter that can hit the point he's focusing on without a second thought about aiming.
Live fire comes much later. Its all part of a sequence, and learning that part without the distraction of adrenalin pumping is important. Cleaning the parafin out of the bore is quick and easy.
I don't think many commercial ranges would let you stand 5 feet in front of a target and practice kill techniques on a full sized human sillouhette.

Latigo

 

[Redhawk1]

I have been carrying for over 20 years now "legally". I just thank God I have never had to use my CW. I shot my CW at least every 2 weeks, some times more. Between my CW shooting and my hunting handguns, I get a lot of trigger time. My guns are just an extension of my hand anymore.

 

[kanook]

I am NRA cetified in pistol instructor. My class is mandatory 12 hours long. 10 hours of classroom, 2 hours of range time with at least 150 rounds going down range. Most people would rather go to the gun show, 2 hour course 1 bullet mostly because they already know it all about guns that their is to know(just ask them). I am not saying or implying that I know it all ( I learn something new everyday about firearms and always try to make sure that I don't forget to much either). It always scares me knowing that people don't and will not take the time to learn or be reminded about firearm safety. Once it goes boom, It doesn't came back.

 

[Ben86]

I like the emphasis on legality, chosing the right gun, close range shooting and highlighting the seriousness of the responsiblity that comes with CC. But there is absolutely no way wax would enter my gun! Wax in my magazines, frame and bore, no thanks.

 

[Redhawk1]

kanook, I am in not trying to slam you with my following statement or even suggest all certified instructors fit this mold, but it is my experience and knowing a few that I make this Statement.

I have been to numerous ranges and took several shooing courses.
I have sat back and listened to some instructors BS there way through ballistics, and just plain gun knowledge.

I have dealt with people that have a title of Ballistic experts as well. In my 35 years of shooting handgun and owning well over 200 different models and calibers, I learned a lot. So when someone tells me they are a certified instructor or ballistic expert, I take it with a grain of salt.

My question to Ballistic experts is, how does one obtain the designation of that title? Still never got an answer. I understand getting qualified as a certified instructor. Attend a few classes and exhibit the ability to shoot well and maybe pass a written test which consists of simple safety questions.

I don't claim to be a certified instructor or a ballistic's expert, but I sure as heck know, I have a lot of firearms knowledge, ballistic knowledge and shooting background.

My whole point with this post is, a know a few guys that got there S&W certified pistol instructor title, and the only thing they did was go to class for 2 days and shoot guns. So titles don't mean much to me, but backing it up with facts and actual knowledge impresses me more.