Defensive Handgun Tips
I read with some encouragement Phillip Hayes’s Defensive Handgun Tips (April 2020 edition). My personal experience has been much the same. Shooting is a perishable skill and reminiscing about your shooting ability more than a year ago will deliver very little in real performance. I would suggest that those who wish to sharpen their shooting skills consider joining the practical pistol sport of your choice, whether it be IPSC, IDPA or Three Gun, etc. Your shooting ability and gun handling skills will improve dramatically.
Now, doubtless some detractor will tread out the deceased equine for flogging, pointing out that “sport shooting will get you killed in the streets”. This is incorrect. Numerous tactical trainers, SWAT officers, Delta operators and other luminaries who have been there and shot the T-shirt advise differently. In this regard please google Keith Garcia, Robert Vogel, Frank Proctor, John Lovell and numerous others. The one thing they all agree on is that sport shooting will be an aid in defending yourself.
However, let’s be clear: practical shooting is not tactical training, but it will enhance your shooting ability to the extent that you gain subconscious competence. Much like driving a car, when you no longer have to concentrate on clutch control or shifting the gears, you will reach a stage where you will no longer have to consciously concentrate on trigger press, grip and sight alignment as you will do this instinctively leaving that previously occupied ‘bandwidth’ to deal with whatever threat you are presented with. Legally shooting the bad guy/girl quicker, more times and more accurately, can save your life.
Lastly, shoot because it is fun. Running around with guns, shooting targets from a variety of interesting pres
entations, as quickly as you can while problem solving to try to achieve the best stage plan so as to shave a sliver of extra time from the stage is just grand! Doing this with likeminded individuals who share your interests is an absolute pleasure. – Thys van Zyl, North West Province