Month: January 2018

Family Safety: Our Significant Others

By JL Rehman

In the defensive firearm world with the focus on hardware, proper grip, etc., as it should be, what often falls between the cracks is consideration of our significant others. They can unintentionally become an afterthought in the long-term preparation of safety and action. Planning for family safety must involve all members.

It is easy to make assumptions of their response based upon your perspective and the expectations of their involvement during a deadly encounter.

It is not uncommon for our partners to have a fear and hands-off attitude toward firearms. No one should be made to feel guilty because of their personal feelings about firearms. On the other hand, it can lead to lack of cooperation for a plan in the event of a crisis.

Does that mean the end of the conversation? No. A crisis will involve them regardless, without their permission and with no regard to their feelings.

Have a Plan

When a predator makes a choice to invade and threaten your life and the lives of your loved-ones, passive ignorance by a partner really isn’t an option. During a deadly encounter, whether at home or out, their reaction can make the situation much worse if a plan of action and preparation isn’t in place.

Panic is your enemy. Consider these options. Have an honest conversation. Plan what they need to do. Whether it is grabbing the phone and hiding in a safe closet, running to a neighbor, or knowing what to do in the public arena, give them something to do. Taking the attitude that you will “protect them” isn’t good enough. Frightened people panic, freeze and often become unintentional targets. They can become distractions or obstructions to your engaging a threat.

Coming the Summer of 2018

Strategic Outfitters is launching a new class for family safety, Critical Home Defense, a three-phase course: Classroom, Computer simulator and in-house practical located at our dedicated facility.

Teamwork can make the difference between life and death.

The Gun as a Modern Day Amulet

An amulet is something someone wears or carries that they believe will protect them from evil. That’s exactly the way many gun owners treat their gun.

Here’s something you don’t often hear a firearm instructor saying: Owning A Gun Doesn’t Make You Safer!

Here’s another statement firearm instructors don’t usually say: Learning how to safely handle and shoot a gun doesn’t diminish the likelihood of your being attacked!

Magic Amulet

Wait—I’ve bought a gun, taken training how to properly use it, and go to the range to practice. You’re saying that won’t keep me safe?

There’s a fairly well known proposition among those that study violence, drawing on a drawn gun is almost always a losing proposition. Put another way, if someone is holding a gun on you and you attempt to pull your gun, you’re probably going to get shot. The key to safety is avoidance of the situation, if at all possible, in the first place.

You Win Every Gunfight You Avoid!

Firearm instructors tend to concentrate on firearm skills. That’s not entirely a unexpected or bad thing, as an instructor should stick to the knowledge, skills, and abilities that they actually possess. The problem comes in failure to see the bigger picture—if the only tool you possess is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

If you have to deploy a firearm in self defense, you’re experiencing the worst day in your life. Win, lose, or draw, it is likely to be a life altering experience as well.

I bought a gun, took a 3 hour concealed carry class where we fired a low powered bullet into a bucket of sand, got my concealed carry permit, and sometimes even carry my gun, oh and I took it to a range once—I’m ready for a criminal attack!

Does that sound as misguided reading it as it did when I wrote it? Sadly, that describes the vast majority of American concealed carriers.

The first thing missing from that statement is any training concerning avoiding the criminal in the first place. The NRA’s Personal Protection Outside The Home class (PPOTH) has good avoidance information in it and also teaches drawing and firing from a concealed holster or a purse. Unfortunately it’s a two day class and requires that you have already taken the Personal Protection In The Home (PPITH). The NRA also has a Defensive Pistol class that uses the same student book as PPOTH. We teach it as a full day class that is a condensed version of PPOTH, spending about 70% of the class in the classroom learning about criminals, how they think, how they select their victims, and how to minimize your chances of being a victim.  https://dpistol.eventbrite.com

Here are some of the major points:

  • Pay attention to what is going on around you. Get your face out of the cell phone!
    This is something that you don’t need to go to a class to learn how to do and significantly reduces your appeal to a criminal predator.
  • Avoid going places where crime is common. This includes avoiding “good” places at bad times.
  • Don’t look like a victim (meek, afraid, unaware, etc.).
  • Learn to spot the criminals before they spot you so you can avoid them.
  • Have a plan in case things do go bad.

Your gun and the skills you develop and maintain through regular training are what you are left with when every avoidance tactic has failed. A gun is not a magic amulet that ensures your surviving unscathed; it provides you with a final tool to use towards winning the encounter.