“I have been teaching firearms for more than 25 years and I still attend classes myself every chance I get…”
I just finished writing a long post on a video of a very skilled young man training for very close attacks and how to defend using a firearm by moving out of danger. The comments from several people who watched the video in my firearm group were very negative, calling the technique and drills “dumb.” That got me thinking about what many people who are anti-firearms say about those of us who believe in carrying a firearm for defense.
One of the arguments that I see and hear a lot of from the anti-gunners and those opposed to constitutional carry (no permit or training required to possess or carry a firearm) is that people will be having accidents all over the place. People will be irresponsible and leave guns lying around (yes, I have heard that one more than once.) And that training is a must for anyone to own or carry a firearm. While training is great and should be something a responsible gun owner wants to do, it should not be mandatory. I know I train for a living and that is like a cake maker saying, “Don’t eat cake!” but it’s true. A right should not require training to exercise, and if you look at all the states that have constitutional carry, you do not see any of the alleged “blood in the streets” or shootouts at high noon like many predicted would happen. What did happen was that law-abiding people are still law-abiding and follow the rules and laws.
As for the training, you can never train enough when it comes to using a firearm or learning new techniques. In any training with a firearm, I would be very irresponsible if I did not say SAFETY FIRST! I have been teaching firearms for more than 25 years and I still attend classes myself every chance I get. I learn something new from every class. As a fellow Instructor friend, Bob Harvey, said, “The worst course I took, I learned something.” That is so true.
Training is an ever-changing area. New tools require new techniques or styles. What you learned five or ten years ago may be considered “outdated,” but if it is safe and works effectively and you have trained in it, then why not use it and add a new technique to your toolbox of survival training? I have taught people of all types to shoot, from those in wheelchairs to professional athletes. They all require different styles of instruction as well as different techniques. What works for one person may not work for another and you must be able to adapt the training to the person.
When the firearms community starts to criticize itself unnecessarily and call legitimate training “dumb” for no other reasons than vanity or self-interest, it does nothing to forward our cause of defense as a right. So to my fellow firearms enthusiasts and fellow trainers, I say keep an open mind, and if the training meets the three requirements for safety (safe, legal, works) then give it a try! You may just learn something new, just like this old dog does on a regular basis!
Chris Wagoner is a Senior OpsLens Contributor and U.S. Army Veteran. He has been in law enforcement the last 35+ years. He specializes in LE Firearms Instruction, and is in charge of a large Police Academy in North Florida. In his spare time Chris is a freelance Military Reporter and owner/founder of the Largest Military Videos Channel on YouTube “3rdID8487”.
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