Once again, I found myself reading all types of "preparedness" gun forums and coming away with the feeling that I have been a complete ignorant dork. I'd like to believe that their posts are meant to incentivize me to (minimally) get better training if not to buy their instructional videos. There is SO much to learn; it is completely and utterly overwhelming. How can one come up to speed on all the nuances of self defense? There is the training for the encounter: what to do what not to do; what to say and what not to say; when your hold your sidearm and when to go for it; the conditions and caveats of an ethical, reasonable, and legal use of self defense; how much I should train with my primary and then my secondary piece; the action and implication of pulling (some people have been arrested/sued just because the firearm owner moved his/her hand "suspiciously" without actually exposing the weapon); the post-incident legal stuff; the post-post threat of retribution--court or otherwise;... on and on and on!
The problem is: What do the training purveyors want? What is their aim? Of course it's to make money, but they truly believe that their training will save a life--mine, perhaps. There are DVDs, training camps, youtube videos, newsletters (along with the annoying: "Buy this and you will be registered to win [some firearm]"), self-defense-gun insurance (I have two, NRA and USCCA), and repeated allusions to some catastrophe that ought to drive me to train more. But, again I ask: what is their aim? I'm sure that you are in the same quandary as I am (or was).
I began some time ago analyzing the profferings. ALL of them drive toward para-military or para-police. I do NOT want that. I am a schmo... a guy who wants to do what is right, in the right place, right time, and in the right way. I esteem the armed forces so highly that to aspire that level is... well... discouraging and disheartening. That is precisely *not* what the purveyors of defensive Second Amendment training; I'm sure of it. Still, they go down this scary road, a road that my mind and my body will not be able to take. The need to understand all these things--pre-incident, incident, and post-incident. Getting pulled into the mishmash without knowing is the very heart string of Shakespearean tragedies. That kind of irony is what English speakers dote on: we find funny, we sympathize, and we experience it.
So, what can you or I do? Simply, identifying what we want to be and how to get there. If you want to paramilitary, go for it! If you want to be the poor shmuck that unwittingly gets what he gets for ignorance, oh, dear! If you are like me who wants somewhere in between...
Let's start.
I want to be a first responder to ameliorate a situation where the good guys retain their rights of life.
You may want to be more active -- seeking out the bad and, well, I don't know...
I may train for targets, accuracy, and some pre-, meso-, and post-incident action/recovery.
You may want to train for uneven fields, obstructed views, moving while shooting.
I may want to be an "expert witness." (For those who really know me... I simply cannot do this!)
You may want to seek out the assailant in the school or workplace and take-him-down. (Could I do that? Um...)
What do you guys think? I really want to know.
The problem is: What do the training purveyors want? What is their aim? Of course it's to make money, but they truly believe that their training will save a life--mine, perhaps. There are DVDs, training camps, youtube videos, newsletters (along with the annoying: "Buy this and you will be registered to win [some firearm]"), self-defense-gun insurance (I have two, NRA and USCCA), and repeated allusions to some catastrophe that ought to drive me to train more. But, again I ask: what is their aim? I'm sure that you are in the same quandary as I am (or was).
I began some time ago analyzing the profferings. ALL of them drive toward para-military or para-police. I do NOT want that. I am a schmo... a guy who wants to do what is right, in the right place, right time, and in the right way. I esteem the armed forces so highly that to aspire that level is... well... discouraging and disheartening. That is precisely *not* what the purveyors of defensive Second Amendment training; I'm sure of it. Still, they go down this scary road, a road that my mind and my body will not be able to take. The need to understand all these things--pre-incident, incident, and post-incident. Getting pulled into the mishmash without knowing is the very heart string of Shakespearean tragedies. That kind of irony is what English speakers dote on: we find funny, we sympathize, and we experience it.
So, what can you or I do? Simply, identifying what we want to be and how to get there. If you want to paramilitary, go for it! If you want to be the poor shmuck that unwittingly gets what he gets for ignorance, oh, dear! If you are like me who wants somewhere in between...
Let's start.
I want to be a first responder to ameliorate a situation where the good guys retain their rights of life.
You may want to be more active -- seeking out the bad and, well, I don't know...
I may train for targets, accuracy, and some pre-, meso-, and post-incident action/recovery.
You may want to train for uneven fields, obstructed views, moving while shooting.
I may want to be an "expert witness." (For those who really know me... I simply cannot do this!)
You may want to seek out the assailant in the school or workplace and take-him-down. (Could I do that? Um...)
What do you guys think? I really want to know.