"I think I need a gun...", Education and Training

Even world champions like Tiger Woods rely on constant training and education. Picking an instructor is important, but this won't be the last person you take a course from, so don't sweat the choice too much. The basics are just that, basic, and they are easily taught and easily learned.

When it comes to picking an instructor, start with one who is NRA certified. That doesn't mean they have a PhD in the gun, but it means that they have at least sat through a basic firearms course and taken enough interest in the subject to bother getting a certification. Second, if your state offers concealed weapons permits, find an instructor who is also state certified to teach those courses.
There are two ways to approach basic instruction. You can learn the basics of marksmanship and safety. This is the best way to learn. It sets a firm foundation for everything else. If you can't learn to hit the target safely, on the range, without the stress of someone trying to kill you, you aren't going to be successful at anything even resembling a combat drill.

The other way to learn is best reserved for those people with an immediate threat to their lives. You can quickly learn to shoot a gun well enough to defend yourself in probably 50% of the situations you are likely to occur. The sad fact is that this is the way most people approach firearms, and instructors are more than happy to take your money. A person needs to learn to walk before they can run, and fighting drills at speed is running. This approach is dangerous. A person who is just learning to handle a weapon is simply not going to handle it as safely when worried about other things.

If you are one of those people in the unenviable position of needing to learn self-defense shooting in an afternoon, there are ways to go about it. Dispense with all of the drills related to weapons malfunctions. You simply won't have time to learn and ingrain the proper responses. And, they take time away from learning how to hit your target and not shooting yourself in the process. If the gun fails, there is no way for you to know how to fix it. In all honesty, even the experts won't have the time to fix a gun in the “typical” gunfight. Things are just happening too fast. Second, forget drawing the gun. The fastest draw is having a gun in your hand. If you are surprised with the gun stored in a holster or purse, it's too late for the gun to save you. This is when knowing how to dig your fingers into an attacker's eyes pays off. Third, dispense with target shooting and focus on quick and dirty drills, nothing beyond 21 feet (7 yards), with most shooting done between 5 and 10 feet. That sounds really close, and it is. Most gun fights occur at 7 feet or less. The only other thing that should be focused on is basic weapons retention. At 5 feet, you don't want to essentially turn your gun over to your attacker, which you will be doing with the traditional, two-handed, eye level hold. That's it. Extreme close quarter shooting and fundamental weapons retention. I've spent more time on this than doing it right because few instructors understand the needs of compressed time. Most will try to fit their two day course into a few hours or show you the cool stuff they can do but that you'll never make effective in the short term.
I can't emphasize enough the importance of taking the basics first. If you want to pursue firearms as a hobby or serious pursuit, it's worth the time doing it right. And, even if this is equivalent of buying a fire extinguisher to you, you have the responsibility of learning what you need to in order to defend yourself and your family without being a hazard to anyone except your attacker.

Do I have any recommendations on who to go to for training? Yes, but these are people or schools notable on a national level. That doesn't mean you can't go. In fact, I highly recommend you do. But, unless you are lucky enough to have one of these in your backyard or live near a hosting range, it's going to require some travel.

The first, most well known, and the standard by which all others are judged, is Gunsite. Located north of Prescott, AZ, Gunsite was founded by Jeff Cooper in the 1970's. To tell you the significance that Gunsite and Cooper have had on the shooting community is difficult to encompass in anything short of a book. Every shooting school in the world – military, law enforcement, and private – teaches what they do because of the work Cooper popularized and pioneered from the 1950's and on. A person can never have even touched a gun in their life, drive through the gates of Gunsite, and leave five days later fully capable of controlling their environment and be years ahead of students who follow a more progressive approach to learning.If you can afford to go to Gunsite, don't even bother reading any further. Pay the tuition, take the time off, and go. Part of Gunsite's success is certainly due to a time tested approach of constant challenge and almost manic attention to detail. It isn't a place that those who want to dress up like soldiers are tolerated. It's not a survivalist school or a bunch of people talking about black helicopters and conspiracy theories. If you show up in fatigues, a low slung SWAT holster, spewing a bunch of military jargon without the badge or ID to show you warrant such things, you will be quietly pulled aside, explained the facts of life, and given the choice of shaping up or leaving. These are serious people and have a history of hiring those who don't suffer from the most common ailment among firearms instructors, an overinflated ego. People from Special Forces to soccer moms and everyone in between have been students at Gunsite. Don't worry you won't fit in or that it's an environment where you will be made to feel uncomfortable. I said they are serious people, and when it comes to shooting, they are. They are also polite, intelligent, and up beat who do what they do out of the love of teaching others. That sort of mindset has been critical to Gunsite's success. Another reason Gunsite works so well is that there are no distractions from the training. Even Prescott, the closest town of any size, is rather small. The student spends a week of what amounts to immersion in an environment that fosters self-confidence, safety, and control. Gunsite often says it is not a shooting school, but one that teaches a person how to resolve violent circumstances. (For those of you a bit hazy on your history, the Gunsite logo is the raven, not the German iron eagle.)

The reality here is that few people can, or are willing to, spend the money and take the time to go someplace like Gunsite. Luckily, there are quite a few good instructors and schools around, many of which take there show on the road, holding weekend classes at shooting ranges all over the country.

The biggest competitor to Gunsite is Thunder Ranch in Oregon. Unlike Gunsite which uses many instructors, Thunder Ranch is Clint Smith. Clint has had a successful career from Marine to cop to instructor at Gunsite to the head of the law enforcement program for Heckler & Koch firearms to writer to running his own school. I've never heard of anyone feeling their time spent training at Thunder Ranch was wasted.
Other names I can recommend are Gabriel Suarez, Ray Chapman, Ken Hackathorn, John Farnam, Massad Ayoob, Chuck Taylor, and Tom Givens. There are many other great instructors and many other large schools. However, be warned, those two concepts don't always go together. I could recommend against some schools and instructors, but avoiding the risk of slander, I'm just going to recommend you do a Google search of any school and instructor you are thinking of spending time and money on.
Anything you find by the instructors I've named is well worth a read if you are so inclined. The one book I think everyone should read if they keep a gun for self-defense is “In the Gravest Extreme” by Massad Ayoob. It was written specifically for the armed, average citizen. For those not trained or raised with the concept of force, or the legal fallout from it's use, this will be an eyeopener.
A basic tenant of all martial arts, and shooting is the only true American martial art, is to learn from as many people as you can, take what you can use from each, and dump the rest. Of the instructors I listed up above, each have their loyal followers and rabid detractors. Each side is probably right to one degree or another, but each instructor listed is a wealth of knowledge who has a lot to offer the motivated student.

Once you pay your money and show up for class, don't stay if you feel anything is unsafe or if the class turns into a brag session for the instructor. Depending how far you take your training, you will be doing things that now seem unsafe to you. Part of that is perception and part is that playing with the big dogs entails more risk. Don't worry, you are a long way from making those decisions. For now, if you just feel in your gut that you are being asked to do something unsafe, ask for clarification, and if it's not readily forthcoming or doesn't make sense, walk. Even if you can't get your money back, a few hundred dollars is cheap if it means you don't get hurt or killed.

At the very least, I recommend three classes, backed up by a few hours of private instruction if you feel you need more work. The first is the basic firearms class. This will teach you safety and the basic mechanics of shooting, loading, unloading, storage, and cleaning.

The second is your state's concealed weapons certification class, if applicable. Even if you don't plan on carrying concealed, take the class and get the permit. These classes usually focus on the legalities of using lethal force and very little on actually how to use your gun. Don't kid yourself, you need to know the legalities. Here, ignorance can lead to jail time. And, getting your permit even if you won't carry is good because it shows you've passed what the local government thinks you should know about using lethal force. It's hard for the government to argue in court against what the government has mandated be taught in it's certified classes.
The third thing to take is a basic combat (sometimes called tactical or self-defense) shooting course. This is where you will learn the complexities of how to manipulate a weapon at speed and under stress. Points on how to carry, how to clear malfunctions, reloading, and storage in regards to weaponscraft should be covered. This is where your real training will begin. You can follow this as far and for as long as you are willing to. Do yourself a favor, if you don't agree with an instructor, find out why he does what he does. He might have a better reason for doing it his way than you do for doing it your way. Then again, he might not. Either way, don't argue and do it his way for the duration of the class. After all, you paid to see how this instructor does things, not to get justification for doing whatever it is you are already doing. Remember, take what you can use, dump the rest.

Once you've taken the courses, you will need to keep in your practice. The first way is the most obvious – live fire. That means actually shooting the gun. And, shoot it in the way you would have to use it. Don't cock the piece if you won't be using it that way in an emergency. Some ranges will let you draw from a holster. If the range you are at will, make sure to include that in your practice. If you go out into the boonies to practice at am impromptu range, be courteous and safe. Cart it out if you cart it in, know what is going to stop your bullets and where they will end up (Rule 4!), be attentive for other shooters and where they are shooting in relation to you and you to them, and just use good sense. You've made it this far, don't screw up now.

Try to make it to the range once a month, but at least every other month. Shooting is a perishable skill. If you don't use it, you will lose it. And, this is a something that is not only fun, so it shouldn't be a burden to go, but a skill that you might have to stake your life on someday. You want to be able to do what is needed when the balloon goes up.

The other way to train is through dry fire. Dry fire is “shooting” the gun without any ammunition in it. All you are doing is working the action and pulling the trigger, letting the hammer or striker drop on an empty chamber, and do it again. Dry fire is great to show you how good your trigger control is and it lets you practice things such as draws and reloads in the comfort of your own home.
Dry fire practice has the potential of being highly dangerous and there are certain steps that should be taken to avoid an accident. First, you practice in the same place every time. This will avoid snap shooting at something in the house and keep you in the proper (read “safe”) mindset. Pick a spot, and that is the ONLY spot you will dry fire in. Now that you have your spot, go to another room. No live ammunition ever, every goes into your dry fire area. Pick a spot in the other room to unload your gun. Have a container for your magazines and/or ammunition. Once the gun is unloaded and you've checked it three times, literally, count the number of bullets in the container. Are there as many in there as there should be? If so, move into the other room and take up position in your dry fire spot. Check the gun three more times to ensure it is empty. Even go so far as to stick your finger into the empty chamber (or chambers, if a revolver). Never trust only your eyes. Now, commence your practice.

Your aiming point should be something which will stop your carry ammo. Bullets go through dry wall and many layers of wood. An old tube style television will typically stop a bullet and if you shoot your TV, well it's a lesson learned and you are only doing what bumper stickers have been urging for years. I don't know if the latest flat panels will stop a bullet or not, but I wouldn't trust them too. There are targets such as those from Safe Direction that are made of the same kevlar that bullet proof vests are made of. Obviously, this isn't a target you intentionally want to shoot, but it will stop a bullet if you make a mistake and your gun is loaded. They aren't cheap, but the peace of mind is worth it. You can even go so far as to laminate 16” inches of plywood together. No self-defense handgun bullet is going to penetrate that, not even close. Frankly, I would expect it to stop most rifle rounds.

The use of snap caps is a good way to prevent damage to your gun. Snap caps are dummy bullets that give the firing pin something to hit while you dry fire. Most guns can be dry fired many thousands of times on an empty chamber with no ill effects. But, a broken firing pin or burred breach face happens often enough that snap caps are a worthwhile investment. The obvious danger here is mixing up live ammunition and the snap caps. In order to avoid this, you keep the snap caps only in your dry fire area and far away from the live ammunition you unloaded in the other room.
Twenty minutes of dry fire is fine. You probably aren't going to stand doing it much longer than that anyways. Shooting is fun, but dry fire is the treadmill of firearms training. It's dull and something you just need to put your time in on.

Now comes the most dangerous part of dry fire practice, the end. Many people at this point reload their gun. Unless you are in a combat zone, allow yourself at least a half-hour of “cool down” time. What happens is that a person finishes practicing, reloads their gun, and then suffers from “one more time” syndrome. They automatically repeat what they have been repeating all along. Many, many unintentional discharges happen this way. One of the big gun writers from the 1960's accidentally killed his best friend through such a mistake. The Four Rules apply here just as much, if not more, as they do anywhere else.

As with anything you do in life, you need training and you need to keep up your skills. If your gun is only going to be a piece of safety gear to go along with your door locks, security system, smoke alarms, seat belts, and the rest, you still need to stay proficient. This may seem an undue burden, a condition put out by an obvious gun guy, but I think it's a very valid standard to hold you to. For one, if you find yourself in a position where you need to shoot a person, you need to make that shot. If you don't, you or a loved one will die. If death or grave bodily harm isn't going to occur if you miss the shot, then you shouldn't be pulling the trigger.

After a shooting, the court is going to hold you to being a responsible gun owner. Heavens forbid the worst happens and one of your shots hits an innocent bystander, the court is going to consider you irresponsible for using a gun when you didn't have the skills to do so in such a way as to not prove a danger to the public. Even experts miss, and fighting for your life is going to be the most stressful conditions under which to shoot. But, not maintaining your skills will be seen as irresponsible.

If you find an instructor you like, take a few extra courses. They will also be a good source of advice for what gun would work well for you. Getting instruction in one area where you can put in too much research. Find someone who looks good and jump in. This is the time when theory and thought needs to turn into action. If you pick wrong, then you know not to go back. If you pick right, then you found a good instructor you can use for other classes.