Training with a Purpose
BY PGF
1 year, 6 months ago
When real potential security threats are present, unless you’ve practice handgun skills extensively and shot in individual or group training scenarios, all of that prior training, though useful to a degree, was done in the abstract. When facing a known potential threat, for the average CCW holder with basic training, additional training must begin immediately. Here are some basic steps to begin.
Pray individually and as a family. Start reading the works of David and about David together. Discuss his reliance on the Lord and his war/defense tactics and strategies. The Lord of Hosts is not a pacifist, so read the Holy Bible in a new light.
And everyone 16 and up read The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker.
Due to that abstraction, I recommend starting back at the beginning with a basic handgun course for husband and wife and any grown children or other adults in the home. Do the training together. This builds a sense of group purpose and team cohesion, helping to know who is capable and to what extent in order to support each other.
Next, at least take intermediate-level handgun training together. The family can take a training progression to the level they feel necessary, all the way to tactical kill-house, vehicle handgun use, scenario training, etc., if desired.
Fourth, while you’re training, you must develop a home security plan. Do regular walkthroughs of your home at night with the lights off to get used to the layout with limited or no light because you must practice your plan with lights on and with lights off. Without practice, you are back in the world of abstraction again. Plus, what’s in one adult’s mind may not be what the other is thinking and planning, which can get you or your children killed. If you have young children, you must involve them; sorry, no exceptions; this must be done. If children are too young to remember and follow instructions to participate, then the plan must include covering them. To lessen the shock to children, you can start with a fire plan, which every household, eh-hem, should already have. Refine these plans as you learn and practice.
There are home-security consultation firms. I have no experience with any, but we’re supposing that quality ranges widely and some prices may be outrageous.
Additional reading for serious-minded adults can include On Killing by Grossman and Left of Bang by Van Horne. These books are not for everybody and are by no means Christian literature.
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On May 2, 2023 at 12:55 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
Re: “And everyone 16 and up read The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker.”
Be warned that De Becker is no uncompromising friend of the RTKBA or the 2A. Rather than go into his ideas chapter and verse, instead consider getting one of the best single-volume references around for the citizen owner of firearms – namely, “Boston’s Gun Bible” by Kenneth Royce, a.k.a. “Boston T Party”…
Last revised in 2008, the book is a bit dated in certain ways, but it still contains a great deal of highly useful and relevant information. Including an extensive section of women and guns, a large amount of useful and practical information should you be involved in a force-on-force encounter, and much more. Royce also goes into detail about the pros-and-cons of De Becker’s work.
For the AR fans in the house, Royce is at times hard on the platform, but bear in mind that a great deal has happened in R&D since the last revision of the book. Royce is about as impartial as any firearms author and trainer out there, and he is upfront and transparent about his biases and explains why he has them. That’s really all that can be asked, at least for many of us.
Royce also echoes the basic sentiment of this article, about the need to get high-quality training while there are still such opportunities available. Again, since the book is now fifteen years since its last updating, he does not take into account all of the work done since then, new designs, new training facilities, and so on.
Having said that, “Boston’s Gun Bible” remains a staple in the library of any FA owner and lover of liberty, and for good reason: A lot of folks have tried to better it in a single volume, but so far, none of them have been successful.
Royce, by the way, resides in Wyoming as far as is known in these parts, and he makes his living as a firearms trainer and prolific author of books about various subjects of concern and interest to heritage Americans. His latest endeavor has been a series of books about how fathers can raise their sons to become men, named “Modules for Manhood.”
On May 2, 2023 at 6:14 am, PGF said:
I actually sent a note to De Becker pointing out to him that he makes his living off a disarmed and fearful populace primarily in anti gun California. Why would he want to empower people to take self defense seriously when it would cut his paycheck? He didn’t reply and blocked me. I laughed. Still, there is no better starting place for mindset training, IMHO.
I’m not worried about his stupid anti gun statement in the book swaying the folks I deal with; they’re not brainwashed idiots. We live in a different country than De Becker’s target demographic clientele who live in self inflicted helplessness. Out here we take care of our own.
On May 2, 2023 at 12:53 pm, Beast5 said:
Check out Active Self Protection on YouTube. It’s a good place to start when training mindset and thinking through real world attacks.
On May 2, 2023 at 1:03 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
@ PGF
Re: “I actually sent a note to De Becker pointing out to him that he makes his living off a disarmed and fearful populace primarily in anti gun California. Why would he want to empower people to take self defense seriously when it would cut his paycheck? He didn’t reply and blocked me.”
Well-played, sir, well-played! That’s how you do it….
On May 3, 2023 at 8:24 am, Latigo Morgan said:
Re: On having a home defense plan.
Clint Smith stated something that stuck with me, when I first heard it as something so simple I wondered why I never thought of it. He asked his class for a show of hands as to how many folks had some sort of firearm beside their bed. Of course, everyone raised their hands. Then he asked, how many had a fire extinguisher beside the bed? Nobody raised their hand. Then he went on to cite the statistics on how you are more likely to be in a house fire than to experience a home invasion.
How many have a home invasion plan? How many have a fire plan? Makes you think.