SP Shop Foreman
New member
I hope nobody minds if I post something my father wrote quite some time ago. I just obtained my carry permit last week, and I was one of his students. It wasn't particularly easy but it was a lot of fun and I feel a lot better about carrying. I hope you enjoy reading this. It made a lot of sense to me.
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So you have a carry permit. Now what?
You're ready to defend youself, your wife and family, your home and you're also, in all probablility, ready to go to jail. No? You already have a solid working knowledge of the legal responsibilities and ramifications of carrying a sidearm and shooting someone? Congratulations. You're among the great minority of CC holders.
How often do you read about a righteous citizen who was forced into a situation of the gravest extreme, pulled the trigger and then faced a battery of experienced prosecuting attorneys who were bent on seeing the defender put away. Away from family, friends and work for a very long time.
There are no easy answers, but the least you owe yourself and your family is the knowledge gained by actively participating in a course of learning and live fire excercises. Pardon me? You go to the range regularly and hit the bullseyes most of the time? Those should make great memories while serving your sentence. Applying for and obtaining a carry permit should be the last thing in the chain of a necessary, responsible learning process. In the world of a carrying prepared citizen there is no place for ego or bravado, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with individual rights. It has everything to do with a working knowledge of your assumed rights.
I am a certified Rangemaster, and a rather hard taskmaster when it comes to certifying a novice for a carry permit application. Hard because of the seriousness and finality involved in the taking of a life in self defence. I'll not delve into that here, but I do have a basic sequence of reqirements I demand of my students. First is a simple, albeit deep read of a couple of very basic books. The original "In The Gravest Extreme" by Ayoob, and a short and sweet little narrative by Bill Jordan. "No Second Place Winners".
Second is the choice of a pistol, semi auto or a revolver. This is accomplished by finding and taking advantage of a store sponsored range that allows test firing of various handguns and calibers. Its very important that your everyday carry sidearm be comfortable to hold, function flawlessly, is easily concealed and easy for you to access and control no matter what the caliber.
Third is learning to make or find wax projectile cartridges. My students learn to make them at home with a simple formula.
Fourth is to use those wax loads at home in the garage shooting at a piece of plywood with a human sillouhette on it from a distance of 6 to 10 feet. Beyond that you're not likely defending... you're in a gunfight. The wax projectile with no powder, just the primer in the case will fire straight and true up to an easy 12 feet away, some further. With semi autos its going to be single shots since the slide won't cycle. The only noise is that of the primer and not disturbing to neighbors at all. The firearm is held in your hand, hanging at your side. No fast draw or any drawing at all at the beginning. Quickly accessing the sidearm all comes later.
There are a number of other steps involved before completion, but all of this is accomplished before the appication is obtained. Nobody gets a certification from me until I'm wholly satisfied that the very act of carrying a sidearm isn't going to leave a wife and children alone for a very long time. Seek out a qualified instructor, and if anyone intimates that a simple NRA field safety or hunting course will suffice, tell him "No thanks. My future is worth a bit more than that"
Good shooting, stay safe and stay low.
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I have a wife and a child, and I pray I never have to face a life or death choice, but if I do I think I have a better chance of surviving all of it because I learned all I could from him, and I'm learning more all the time. That's part of the fun and the seriousness.
Latigo
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So you have a carry permit. Now what?
You're ready to defend youself, your wife and family, your home and you're also, in all probablility, ready to go to jail. No? You already have a solid working knowledge of the legal responsibilities and ramifications of carrying a sidearm and shooting someone? Congratulations. You're among the great minority of CC holders.
How often do you read about a righteous citizen who was forced into a situation of the gravest extreme, pulled the trigger and then faced a battery of experienced prosecuting attorneys who were bent on seeing the defender put away. Away from family, friends and work for a very long time.
There are no easy answers, but the least you owe yourself and your family is the knowledge gained by actively participating in a course of learning and live fire excercises. Pardon me? You go to the range regularly and hit the bullseyes most of the time? Those should make great memories while serving your sentence. Applying for and obtaining a carry permit should be the last thing in the chain of a necessary, responsible learning process. In the world of a carrying prepared citizen there is no place for ego or bravado, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with individual rights. It has everything to do with a working knowledge of your assumed rights.
I am a certified Rangemaster, and a rather hard taskmaster when it comes to certifying a novice for a carry permit application. Hard because of the seriousness and finality involved in the taking of a life in self defence. I'll not delve into that here, but I do have a basic sequence of reqirements I demand of my students. First is a simple, albeit deep read of a couple of very basic books. The original "In The Gravest Extreme" by Ayoob, and a short and sweet little narrative by Bill Jordan. "No Second Place Winners".
Second is the choice of a pistol, semi auto or a revolver. This is accomplished by finding and taking advantage of a store sponsored range that allows test firing of various handguns and calibers. Its very important that your everyday carry sidearm be comfortable to hold, function flawlessly, is easily concealed and easy for you to access and control no matter what the caliber.
Third is learning to make or find wax projectile cartridges. My students learn to make them at home with a simple formula.
Fourth is to use those wax loads at home in the garage shooting at a piece of plywood with a human sillouhette on it from a distance of 6 to 10 feet. Beyond that you're not likely defending... you're in a gunfight. The wax projectile with no powder, just the primer in the case will fire straight and true up to an easy 12 feet away, some further. With semi autos its going to be single shots since the slide won't cycle. The only noise is that of the primer and not disturbing to neighbors at all. The firearm is held in your hand, hanging at your side. No fast draw or any drawing at all at the beginning. Quickly accessing the sidearm all comes later.
There are a number of other steps involved before completion, but all of this is accomplished before the appication is obtained. Nobody gets a certification from me until I'm wholly satisfied that the very act of carrying a sidearm isn't going to leave a wife and children alone for a very long time. Seek out a qualified instructor, and if anyone intimates that a simple NRA field safety or hunting course will suffice, tell him "No thanks. My future is worth a bit more than that"
Good shooting, stay safe and stay low.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I have a wife and a child, and I pray I never have to face a life or death choice, but if I do I think I have a better chance of surviving all of it because I learned all I could from him, and I'm learning more all the time. That's part of the fun and the seriousness.
Latigo