I was informed yesterday of a ND with accompanying four holes & self-induced blood-letting that happened in a local range. The incident occurred when the shooter was holstering a loaded weapon during training.

Holstering is possibly one of the most dangerous maneuvers in pistol handling because the handgun will be manipulated very close to the body, specially after we have done some shooting and the adrenaline is still flowing. Knowing so, please memorize this:

THERE ARE NO EXTRA BROWNIE POINTS FOR FAST HOLSTERING A GUN.

If you are done shooting, you have all the time in the world to holster your weapon safely. We practice and practice trying to achieve the perfect gun handling to the point we don’t have to think about it and it becomes second nature and that is fine. But we do need to stop and think SLOW when holstering.

A fellow bald-headed shooter who lives in Keys (Yeah Dodge, that’s you) may strike you as overly-theatrical if you see him loading/unloading and holstering a weapon. You can say that his technique is full of “dramatic pauses” but he is consciously making sure that every step is correct and safe. He might look silly, but guess what? I don’t think he will have a Negligent Discharge and ballistic body piercing in his future.

Check this video of Rob Pincus and notice his finger at all times when he is not shooting.

Holstering safely is just like drawing your gun but backwards and slow. Practice at home with an unloaded weapon and remember to keep that muzzle away from your body. If you have a holster that forces you to aim your gun at any part of your body, you may want to dump it and find something safe.