Our totally deranged Course of Fire designer came out with some doozies for our last IDPA match. So what would happen if you were using crutches due to a small accident and you were in need to defend yourself? About 50 shooters yesterday found out yesterday and it was enlightening to say the least for yours truly.

Even though none of us was injured in the way required to use crutches, we found ourselves fumbling to find a way to even think how to approach this stage. Your arms are forced up, you cannot sweep your cover garment properly and all of the sudden your gun is way down there while the crutch is having a field day restricting your movements. Add to that the need to safely do all this or be sent home for sweeping yourself or your buddies and you have yourself an eye opener.

The good news was that once you managed to draw your gun, you had one seriously stable shooting stance. Them crutches were a solid base! I even managed to get all zero down which is consider a minor miracle in South Florida shooting.

There was another stage where we were supposed to shoot from a wheelchair, but apparently wheelchairs come in sizes and the one we had were for anorexic runaway models which precluded about half the club from even sitting, much less drawing the gun.

Nugget of Learning obtained: Life happens and you better adapt really quick.

Are you the Go-To-Guy/Gal whenever friends and acquaintances have questions about anything gun related? It can be a tiresome job sometimes, but it is our duty to keep educating people in our culture. Just last night a fellow coworker came to me asking about hollow point bullets; his main concerns were if the HP ammo was forbidden and if it really exploded.

I am not the most patient of persons, but somehow I manage to don the Dutch Uncle persona and take my time explaining that no, at least in the Great State of Florida, hollow points are not forbidden to civilians and that only Security Officers with a “G” (armed) license are the ones that cannot carry any type of expanding ammo in their guns… dumb as it might be. For the exploding part, I happened to carry a bagful of gun related books with me since I am in the painful process of writing an article for a magazine (I swear Kathy, one is almost ready and I am halfway done through the other!) and pulled Massad Ayoob’s “The Gun Digest Book Of Concealed Carry” which has some excellent pictures of defensive ammo before and after. The Coworker left happy and informed and it was satisfactory for yours truly. Where I do lose a bit of cool is when I get an idiot to contradict or defend bad information that can be legally or practically dangerous. I will fight them tooth and nail plus provide whatever documentation needed to shut them up.

Some of the most common misconceptions I hear are:

-The Florida 3-Step rule (You need to make three movements to retrieve a gun from inside your gun from inside a car if you do not have a CWP.)

-You have to register your weapons in Florida.

-You cannot carry a gun anywhere in Miami Beach. (I wouldn’t go near MB without a damn gun anyways).

-Machine Guns/Silencers are illegal.

-You can shoot anybody with a knife if he is 21 feet or less from you (Tueller Distortion.)

-Make sure you finish off an attacker so you don’t have troubles in court. (Coup de Grace)

-If you shoot somebody outside the house, drag him inside to avoid troubles.

-You can kill somebody who is stealing your car/garden hose/bicycle/etc.

I chose to leave out the bad information and lies propagated by local newspapers and other media.

Via Parker County Blog. Check the whole story there.

My off duty concealed handgun, a Kahr PM9, model 9093, 9mm, loaded with Winchester SXT ammunition was in that same pocket.  The clerk then realized she had charged me too much so she reran the bill and it came to $7.03.  I told her that I have the three cents.  Immediately after reaching into my pocket the pistol discharged one round.

And that is why I don’t pocket carry. I can be a huge doofus. Hopefully the officer recovered fully.

It has been a month without having one shot fired. Missed one IDPA match due to back problems and the last one on Saturday I had to sit out and dig deep to get the scores flowing in the laptop. Seventy shooters enduring 90+ degree weather came to our 9/11 Memorial Match which considering the really crappy closet we are forced to shoot in, it was an accomplishment for the shooters and their deep respect for the victims of 9/11.  So my co-conspirator in scoring Frank and I had to get all secretary with no time to put some lead on target.

While it is fulfilling to take care of your fellow shooters’ need and wants, I am going to shanghai into service some new blood. Ranges in South Florida are few and far between and having a range that allows you to draw and fast fire is almost a figment of your imagination. Some will not even allow a target that even hints a living thing so you are doomed to shoot concentric circles and that gets old pretty fast for me.

The powers that be in South Florida still have not realized the money they could have in income if they decided to give decent space to Action Shooting Sports. Trail Glades Range just underwent a multi-million dollar renovation and action shooting only got a couple of feet worth of berm raised in the “Tactical Range” A.K.A. The Closet which is basically one single solitary rectangular space in which you may park 6 cars or two trucks… if you are careful.

Anyway, rant off. I must get some trigger time and I am guessing I’ll be doing some dry firing till the next match. But November is coming along with vacation time in cool weather and I am planning on making up for lost time and unspent ammunition in Handgun, Shotgun and Rifle.

I am sure I am not the only one that checks certain magazines or watch TV shows that have great trainers teaching some cool stuff & tactics. But really, what does Mr. & Ms. Average get out of knowing how to shoot the Uber Tactical AR from underneath a moving vehicle while crawling through a minefield in the middle of monsoon season? While the drill may be very necessary for those in the front lines or Law Enforcement, Regular Joes and Janes will wasting their time, monies and ammo on that training.

We need instructors that understand we are not fit super heroes but middle aged cubicle dwellers that will have a great chance to face Kanish Bubba Perez, known tweaker and overall armed robber than Sheik Said Altowellette. Example: I have seen both on TV and printed that Isosceles stance is the best because not only is a stable platform for handgun shooting but also it faces the body armor towards the enemy thus giving protection against incoming rounds….Excuse me?? What frigging body armor? The closest I get to body armor is the excess weight I carry around my mid-section and I don’t think it really will stop most rounds.

Yes, I want to learn to defend myself with a rifle, a shotgun and a handgun but let’s get real here. How many of us have an AR costing $4,000 or more after accessories? More likely an AK Klon or Lever Action rifle are gathering dust and cobwebs because they are not “tactically cool” and will be sneered upon at most classes by the Black Nylon Ninjas. Same for shotguns: Ultra Slick Wilson Tactical SBR shotgun with all the gizmos versus a coach gun or plain jane hunting pump shottie. These uncool weapons have their own traits and shortcomings so a training must be developed so they can be used for defensive purposes. And yes, I understand that a slick long gun platform may have special advantages, but the idea here is not to show off the latest and coolest but to help your average citizen deal with a life threatening situation with the tools he or she has.

We get many a contradictory message in this realm: How many times we hear “It is not the arrow but the indian” in the same breath that loudly proclaims no handgun unless is a 45 and costs you one and a half mortgage payment is worth buying? Or in the case of a home invader you are told to retreat to the safe room only to immediately start training on how to clear a house by your lonesome?

I think it is time to shake the digital cammo pattern, Oakley glasses and Converse boots mentality out of the training and go more for plaid bermuda shorts, black sock and sandals. Might not be very cool among the high speed-low drag fraternity, but students that survive a deadly force encounter thanks to a common sense training with the tools they have is the ultimate in coolness.

I am one of those freaks that believe in IDPA as a valuable training tool. I shoot any stage as if the cardboard targets had the ability to shoot back and produce involuntary ballistic piercing in my body. Today was an absolute manure maelstrom of a match for yours truly. Between doing scores in the computer, BSing with other shooters and just not paying attention, I got my carcass raked over the coals of procedurals. I had my mind so disengaged that I did not scan for targets and in two stages I was about to get Failures to Neutralize but for the good graces of the Safety Officer who was kind enough to point out the pristine targets requiring my attention. I got the procedurals because I opened myself to the “unseen” targets so much they had a good chance to pop my arse without a sweat. First I felt stupid but later I was absolutely pissed at myself. My mind was not in the fight and I got self-screwed by it. I failed to do such a simple thing like PAYING ATTENTION and I mildly suffered in my scores but in real life, my wife would be collecting the life insurance and paying all debts incurred.

I got cocky, my mindset was off, I paid a cheap price but I learned my lessons. In Real Life you don’t get second chances.

PS:We do our IDPA scoring courtesy of Beach Bunny Software. If you dont use it, you are working way too much on those scoresheets.

Well, I took the classes, passed the tests and waiting for the NRA to send me the card/certificate.  Working on my presentations and making a list of all the ancillary  I will need. And truth be told apprenhensive about the responsibility of teaching people about firearms.

One thing I know is that I am not one of the Great Ones. My last name is not Tarani, Awerbuck, Cain, Rogers Cooper or Smith. Even though Mr. Ego wants to go there, I have to plant myself into the reality of what can I teach and make it the best possible. I want to concentrate into bringing new people on the Gun Culture by the way of Safety, Responsibility and the development of Mindset.

We’ll see.