Rules for a Gun Fight:

There really are no rules that the ordinary thinking citizen is capable of contemplating. The problem is that the enemy rarely is thinking of anything other than getting what they want. As a general rule; they see it, they want it! There really is no deeper level of thought process than that.

As for “Running Away”, that really is not a bad idea as I teach most of my students not to ever shoot at someone that is running away. This is because a person running away really is not much of a threat. The waste of a bullet at that point is not acceptable. Unfortunately, running away might not be the most logical thing to do if you are someone that cannot run. Remember that criminals rarely ever target someone that is “Capable”. More to the point, criminals target the week and slower targets. This is because the last thing on their mind is the idea of getting hurt. Their mission is to hurt you!

With that in mind, we must also address the fact that many gangs are now resorting to quieter and more covert types of weapons: edged weapons. A well trained MS13 or Philippine Kali trained thug can easily cover a distance of more than 20 ft in less than the time that it would take the average Professional Law Enforcement Officer to draw his or her handgun. For a CHL, the act of reacting to such an attack would be non-existent.

Still, the average “wanna-be thug” will use a handgun because it is cool and gives the feeling of power. Also, as said before, many of these individuals really are not well trained members of elite fighting groups. In many cases they are simply drug crazed dip-wads that think the gun will protect them from any harm. These individuals will, as a general rule, have poor marksmanship. However, even a fool hits his mark on occasion.

For most of my training I teach the CHL to avoid the problems in the fist place. If it gives you a bad feeling, just say “no”. There is nothing wrong with avoiding the problem in the first place. I, myself, have avoided many of dangerous situations by simply following my gut feeling and leaving before things got out of hand. To add to this, many of the really stupid issues that I have found myself involved have been due to the failure to act on my gut feeling. Now that I carry a gun, it is even more important that I act on these feelings and avoid possible problems.

Sadly, most CHL’s do not practice Marksmanship. In fact, many of them think that the CHL program is designed for just that type of training. It is not! If you want marksmanship, you need to attend my NRA training. Even then, marksmanship goes out the window when you find your heart rate at 120bpm and above. When I was on a military police team, I was known for my expert marksmanship…. That is, until I met an instructor that wanted me to experience real-life scenario shooting. With both the FATS (FireArms Training Simulator) and a 50 pound rock, followed by a couple of laps around the building carrying the rock, I found that marksmanship means very little when you are more concerned about trying to breath than you are shooting.

I, personally, don’t recommend running away in a crouched or “zig-zag” pattern. Instead, I recommend that you stay well away from the threat in the first place. This is done by “Pre-planning” your trips and movements. For example, if you can walk into a convenience store at night, buy a soda, and walk out without ever knowing how many cars are in the lot, people are in the store, and what color the eyes of the clerk were, then you probably don’t need to be carrying a gun. Being alert is the first key to keeping yourself out of danger and loosing your gun to a future cop killer.

The second thing you need to do is to plan to have company. Have friends and keep them close… they should be armed too. Scum-sucking maggot thugs rarely pick on groups of two or more. Remember, they want to hurt you, not get hurt. When traveling, travel in groups and stay together. When arriving at work, arrive when others arrive and leave with others as they leave. If not, call for professional assistance to escort you to and from your vehicle. If there is none available, this is when your alertness needs to kick into overdrive. Your pistol needs to be in hand, not just available. If you believe that it is too risky, don’t go there. Call for a friend, family, security, police to be there… if none are available… don’t go. Simply find some place you can be that is safer. It really is better to safe than sorry.

When all else fails, have a plan to kill everything that you meet… and hope you don’t have to use it! Dry fire activities and playing out scenarios in your head are very important. Remember, every handgun is loaded until you have proven it to be unloaded [I recommend well established NRA safety protocols for such practice]. Practice alone or with others that have come together for this type of training. Never point your firearm at another person.

If you do want to actually practice shooting someone, I recommend paintball courses for this type of training because everyone on the course is fully aware that they are going to be shot at some time or another… not to mention that everyone has to have proper safety attire before starting the course.