It is easy to believe that Michael Jordan was born with a basketball in his hand, as he is easily identified as the one who had definitely mastered this craft. The fact is, that he did not, and there was a portion of his life that he had not touched a basketball and was as new to the game as the rest of us.
Portions of this mastery were scientific, certainly genetics played a part, and he was versed in the fundamentals of the game. Jordan’s play was fundamentally sound, surely- but how Jordan attained the status of GOAT, was how artfully he plied his craft. He did so in a manner that was nearly unimaginable to those of us which love the game. The point of his discourse is this evolution from neophyte to mastery, Jordan’s progression was a series of milestones, from a common start to an uncommon mastery.
This essay is designed as part 2 of “Observations of a Range Officer”, and includes a framework of training milestones, from everyone to an individual that has never touched a firearm, to those of the most experienced master of arms. At the end of the essay, I will recommend some trusted agents, who I can attest are qualified to help, if the reader wishes to proceed and progress to improve with firearms.
I have testified already of the importance of this as a skill. Recent history has proven that the individual that is responsibly armed is the cornerstone of his own and his family’s security, indeterminate of the threat actor criminal/ terrorist/ mob/ or combination. This is a tremendous responsibility, which begins with the notion that the police may not be able to help, at least for a time. Within this responsibility, the importance is certainly stressed.
Without further ado, this is my own constructed view of the proper milestones. This presumes that everyone at one time in their lives had never touched a firearm and had to be taught how to do so. It tracks from the pure neophyte who has never handled a firearm to those that make their living behind a gun, and can rightly be considered Masters. They are listed in order.
- Safe Handling and function. If the weapon owner does not begin with safe handling, then he is a danger to himself and others. Safe handling is a function of following the doctrine of the 4 universal safety rules, and those are mandatory for a weaponeer. I will not list them here, but if they are unknown, then it is doubtful that they are being followed religiously, and this is what it takes to attain the most basic level of responsibility. I will say that all four safety rules must be violated for a person- oneself or another- to be injured in an accident. A Mr. Baldwin comes to mind.
- Accuracy. One should place the bullet where one intends, if he is living up to his responsibility. Three competencies exist in this milestone, easily understood but it is the disciplined one that can master the weapon in an accuracy sense. As I have said, my observation is that 90% that I have witnessed on the range, likely more- do not possess this insight. Once mastered, the accuracy fundamental, and the bullet is striking where it is intended, which is the fundamental purpose of the activity.
- Presentation. If the gun is going to be carried on one’s person, then it needs to be brought effectively into action. A pistol must be drawn from a holster, so the holster and the pistol are trained with, in conjunction. The rifle must be properly mounted, as in brought from rest to the shoulder, pointed and aimed. At this milestone, the weapon is understood to be a tool subordinate to a larger system, which includes the shooter’s body itself, the holster, magazines, belts, and situational insight how to keep the weapon in action if something goes wrong. This training can be expanded depending on how many weapons are to be used, and the sophistication of the kit, but the most basic form and likely the most common being the pistol and the holster, hopefully a spare magazine, all in a CCW sense. This phase of competency is the first where art is applied, and customized depending on one’s own preferences, or physicality.
- Environment. One’s surroundings works either for or against the defensive practitioner. We have seen that the untrained can strike a target at 7 yards, so a trained operator squared up at 7 yards to a threat will still likely win the fight but could also likely be hit in the process. One’s use of the environment, and selectiveness in when to fight, where to fight, and how to fight, ends up being a real multiplier in how one ought to practice artfully, while still avoiding injury.
- Master. Mastery is something that I do not believe can come through training alone; rather the threshold when training is validated through experience. In other words, Masters have seen the elephant, and because they have survived know that how they have been trained in a proper and effective methodology. The Masters that I know, are all humble, introspective men and women, who have faith in a higher power, and also know that to survive what they have been through, an element of luck was also present. They are not individuals to be trifled with.
The remedies for this training are available and for the most part inexpensive. For the safety/ handling milestone my friend Gary McFarland teaches a two-hour class for the new shooter that is highly effective and costs about as much as a box of pistol ammunition. For the beginner, these two hours will literally and permanently change your behavior in terms of how you handle or use a firearm. If one does not know basic firearm manipulation, or the four safety rules, this is the place to start and ought to be considered mandatory. The watchword here is “responsibility.”
For the accuracy milestone, many instructors are available to help with this, and these fellows really know what they are doing. Jason Cain, Gary McInturf, Nick Ekert, can get a new shooter hitting well, for the cost of two boxes of ammunition. Each of these instructors will instruct privately, and this private instruction is what I’d recommend. There are literally three aspects of accuracy, to quote Colonel Townsend Whelen, “Holding the weapon firmly, aligning the sights precisely, and squeezing the trigger in a manner that does not affect the other two.”
For the presentation/ systematic application, these courses can be had but the commitment and the expense is somewhat larger. USCCA’s course looks to be decent, and I know from experience the one that the Bulwark’s put on is first rate. Each requires a day or two of training time and the expense of a couple/ few hundred dollars. The goal in this training is “reflexive” use of the system, which means that the shooter does so without thought, rather acquired and natural reflex, a prodcut of proper repetition.
Since the fourth level is somewhat theoretical, I cannot recommend a trainer, but I would be remiss if I did not mention that much time and attention has been spent on theoretically shaping one’s own environment and potential battlespace by myself and this company (TAG). To the point that I believe that using the strength of the environment in the security sense could make school shootings impossible, while not disrupting the function of the school or the sensibilities of the liberals. Again, this has not been validated and is theoretical, but from my seat the aspect is promising.
I am hopeful that you do not have to fight enough to see the master level. Those that I know at this level wish they were not.
It is nearly unheard of in the weaponcraft world, not to mention Colonel Jeff Cooper, the founder of the modern technique. The Colonel ever quote worthy, explained “Owning a handgun doesn’t make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician.” If you own a “guitar” ask someone to teach you how to play it. One never knows when they may be forced into a spur of the moment, emergency concert. I think such a thing responsible.
Irresponsibility is harmful to this enterprise and is the grist for the mill to those that would seek to deny firearms to the public. When a weapon is used improperly, it endangers not only ownership, but compromises the responsibility that the armed citizen has in his own defense. Since I had stated earlier that the responsibility armed citizen must be the base actor in societal defense, (see the M Word, this site) I would ask those citizens accepting of this to gauge their performance against the milestone and know that there are trusted agents to help in this progression.
Introduction to Handguns | Buds Gun Shop & Range, Lexington KY (budsgunshopky.com) Gary McFarland (Women Only and CO-Ed)
Buds Gun Shop & Range, Lexington KY | Private Instruction (budsgunshopky.com) Jason Cain
Safety Reloaded Nick Ekert
Shooting Range – McInturf Firearms Training LLC (kyfirearmstraining.com) Gary McInturf
Self-Defense Training (thebulwarks.com) Eric Dean