Gunfighter: A Modern Warrior's Life

Good Guys Wear Black

Good Guys wear black... It's not just the name of that old Chuck Norris movie from 1978 (yes, I am old enough to remember it)... it is a literal truth, at least in my world.

As a lawman, I spent the initial part of my career weaing blue... as in a blue uniform. Most people in America associate the color blue with law enforcement... even if the local cops in your area wear brown, or grey, or green.

Later on in my career, even to this day, the color of my uniform changed... to black. As in tactical black, as in SWAT team black. To tell you the truth, my days as a SWAT guy are pretty much over. I'm not as young as I used to be, and my knees are pretty bad, so busting down the door with the young 'uns is no longer an option.

These days I train the next generation of good guys who wear black. I teach them what to expect when they "go through the door". Most importantly, I teach them how to shoot the bad guys (if they have to) once they get in.

In SWAT operations the reason we wear black is all about intimidation. Oh, don't get too wound up about it, we aren't trying to scare the public... the whole reason for said intimidation is so that the bad guys will realize that they are up against the first team, and that if they don't give up, their time on earth is likely to be very limited in the future.

Unfortunately, SWAT teams often get a bad rap for being too aggressive or too forceful. It is sad, but sometimes it happens. For all of the training and prepearation that goes into SWAT operations, sometimes bad things happen... but to tell the truth, statistically, it is quite rare. The way it works in the real world is that if we are coming to get you, you did something REALLY bad.

I am exceptionally proud of the people that I train, and I am proud of the job that they do. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Quit now, bad guys... because if any of the people I have trained are coming through the door to get you, you are in a world of hurt.

GF

Community Policing

If an additional 200 police officers were on the streets during the times and in the location of the peak crime hours in any given city, the crime rates would drop precipitously.

Mayors and City Councils frequently employ these surge methods in order to "DO SOMETHING about crime". No doubt about it... these methods work... but only in the short term. Do you know why they only work in the short term?

Because no city can maintain a surge of 200 or more, extra cops on the street for more than a week or so before being buried under the costs, both in terms of dollars and in terms of equipment and force readiness.

Sound familiar?

And now For Something Totally Different

Yesterday, I had an unusual experience.

Something that has never happend to me in my ten years of experience as a tactical firearms instructor. I was working with some agents from a different agency, helping them and their instructors through pistol and shotgun qualification, when I noticed something. Something important.

Most of the agents, and their lead instructor were women.

It's not unusual* to be shooting with female officers and agents... I work with quite a few women, but generally speaking, women do not make up the bulk of the agents I work with.

Of the seven shooters I had yesterday, five were women.

On top of that, they were all very young... the youngest was only 21! They made me feel very old... especially as I was giving instructions... they were all calling me "sir". I'm not sure if the sir business was a matter of respect for my skills and position or just because I'm an old dude (probably the latter).

Most of them were at least decent shooters, which was a plus.

ADDENDUM: I am self-aware enough to realize that I am probably most-bothered by the fact that they were women... not girls, not teenagers... Adult women, calling me sir.

Friggin' middle age!

*Hat tip to Tom Jones

What I do

When I started this blog, last year, I said that I was going to talk about firearms, but not exclusively. In the intervening time, I have said relatively little about them. Today will be different.

I had a conversation, recently, with someone that regularly reads my blog, and she asked me: "just what is that you do?" So I told her. Perhaps this is a good time to tell the rest of you.

Most of you know that I am a tactical firearms instructor for a government agency. Some of you know what that means and some don't, so let me explain:

I teach people how to fight with guns.

I also teach new people HOW to shoot, but that is secondary... maybe even tertiary to the main thrust of my job.

There is a world of difference between teaching someone how to safely operate a firearm and teaching a regular, decent person how to kill someone with a handgun... up close and personal.

Initial firearms training involves the following subjects:

Nomenclature (the parts of the gun)
Assembly/disassembly
Maintenance (cleaning, servicing)
The cycle of operations
Safety
Marksmanship
Safety
Legitimate use of deadly force
Safety

These things are vitally important, don't get me wrong... but I usually get my hands on the people AFTER they already have this training.

What I do is take that basic training and take the operator forward and train them on what that gun is really for.

Unfortunately, many people in law enforcement are under the impression that their pistol is some sort of magic talisman that will ward off vampires or evil spirits. Too many officers and agents believe in their hearts that they will never have to use a gun in combat and are psychologically unprepared to do so. Too many of those people are dead now. I get rid of all such notions right away.

In my combat classes, I start with a lecture in the history of firearms, with an emphasis on fighting with handguns. I let the people know that gunfighting is the original American martial art. It is an art that is on an equal footing with the great Asian martial arts. It is a stylized system of personal combat. One which is easy to learn at the outset, but requires years of discipline to be really good at. I ask my combat shooters to regularly re-dedicate themselves to their own training, which they have to have the self-discipline to continue.

One of the most important aspects of training to fight with a gun starts in your own head, with the decision making process. The first thing that you need to do before you start training is to decide whether or not you can kill someone. This isn't an abstract question. You need to decide... right now, if you can or cannot kill. Never mind the statistics that say you will almost certainly never have to do it. Statistics never ran into an ex-convict that they put in jail five years ago, while they are in a restaurant. You have to know, and be OK with the idea that you might have to use this weapon, and the likely result is the sometimes gruesome death of another human being.

That decision being made, we move into subjects such as reactive shooting, elements of the draw, combat sighting, contact shots, drug and armor drills, shooting on the move, use of cover, shooting while down or disabled (wounded), shooting in reduced light (with & without a flashlight), post-shooting techniques, etc... but most important is how to effectively shoot someone.

It can be difficult to turn your average 24 year old into a meat eating predator, but it is rewarding when you come up with a finished product that has decided to really fight for his/her own life, and is capable and confident in his/her own ability to do so with successful results.

I ask myself every day, if I can kill or not. When that day comes that I answer "I'm not sure" I'll find something else to do.