Shoot - Don't Shoot Training

Bruxley

New member
I would like to see a sharing of experiences, lessons learned, and techniques for your shoot / don't shoot rote.

I think a thread like this would help quash some 'shoot em' cuz I can' mentality I am reading a lot (too much) of. I hope this is just idle talk born of machismo and not actually as prevailant as it seems.

And one more note, please. As very important as legalities are, I am looking for Shoot / Don't Shoot rote (process; cognitive process; mental process; etc.) training not legal warnings or lessons OK.
 
Have you ever gone through F.A.T.S. (Fire Arm Training Simulator) training? It's pretty good for training in observation skills, reflexes, and the overall shoot/no shoot scenario skills.

Many police agencies utilize F.A.T.S. for training recruits AND for in-service training exercises. There are some civilian shooting courses that also use it.
 
rote, as aplied here and as a training term would be the devopment of 'reflexive' or near automatic response or action based on repeatedly going through a mental process and being about to quickly come to decisions. Like a mental muscle memory.

Example:
threat? - yes - draw and move
threat presenting at you? - yes - covered- yes -double tap - move
still threat - yes - doubletap - move ETC.

I'm interested in what thought process for shoot / don't shoot you guys have been trained in if any.
 
in my mind

When I did my tazer training, we go through the same thing, so I guess it would apply here as well.
1. Cover weapon with dominant hand. If you have a tac light, etc. illuminate the target while announcing your intentions and position. ("I am armed, if you step closer, I will fire", etc.)

2. If the subject advances, draw weapon, still illuminating with non-dom hand. Repeat "stop or I'll shoot command" If and only if the person is unarmed.

2b. If the person is armed, fire away. With my CCW, it is my intent to go for a non-lethal shot first, unless I am provoked to fire double-taps. (the target also has a weapon)

3. Of course, I don't feel I should have to mention declaring that you are on the phone with the police.
 
Yeah, never done anything like that myself. A bit 'spensive. I role play in my mind, and when I'm out in the country shooting I'll do that kind of thing with some cans presenting themselves as 'bad guys'.

However, I see the specific scenario training, for the most part, as not being terribly useful or helpful if a person is of the alert persuasion to begin with. With that kind of training, you might attune yourself to specific threats better, but at the same time it precludes you from unforeseen threats - it gives a false sense of empowerment. I'm not saying it's not useful, just that when you systemize something which isn't terribly predictable or systematic (there are probably as many situations where you'd defend yourself as there are guns in the world), you marginalize your ability to respond to similar, but not identical scenarios.

As a whole, I think things like paintball, wrestling (ie fooling around with friends), and martial arts would be more useful for shoot/don't shoot training than the formalized steps such things present. You'll be able to determine a threat much more readily - from actual experience - and then be able to shoot if needed.

Just my humble .02 pre-inflation.
 
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