How to Safely Obtain Firearms Experience

This is a guest post by Tim Randolph

Firearms Experience

Home defense and proper handgun training, aren’t factors to be taken lightly. The possibility of home invasion is real regardless of where you live, and having a gun in the home, kept safe and secured but accessible in case of emergencies, can mean the difference between life and death for you and your family.

That said, the key to gun safety and using a gun to ensure safety is proper training and experience. If you’re not in law enforcement, private security, or have a history in the armed forces, real-world experience with guns is tough to come by. Most gun owners aren’t aware that a pistol can easily jam if handled improperly, and in a high-stakes situation you’re more likely to make mistakes that you wouldn’t make in the comfortable environment of a shooting range.

Finding the Best Firearm for Your Needs

The first step, of course, is obtaining the right weapon. Many beginner shooters prefer a revolver for home defense, citing its ease of use and reliability, not to mention revolvers can be made very compact but still fire large-caliber ammunition. The benefit of not having to rack the slide with sweaty hands, the simplicity of knowing one can fire a revolver from inside a pocket, and from close or long range, provides great confidence to a home and gun owner. However, even with the proper weapon, the only solution for a lack of experience is practice, practice, practice.

Anyone who wishes to safely own and use a gun should take it upon themselves to practice diligently with their weapon. Gun ranges, be they the more “high-end” entertainment-style shooting ranges like Machine Guns Vegas in Las Vegas, or of a more traditional variety, are places where gun safety is scripture, to every employee and patron.

Practice Your Skills

In order to properly shoot in a “live” situation such as a home invasion, building up your fundamental shooting skills is crucial. If you can’t hit a bullseye at 25 yards on a shooting range, with all the time in the world to set up your shot and squeeze the trigger, how do you expect to hit a stranger in the dark, moving around your property? At a shooting range, or similar controlled shooting environment, you have the chance to cement your fundamentals, meaning that, when the time comes, proper shooting is automatic.

Once you feel confident in your marksmanship, and have grown accustomed to the postures and muscle groups involved in shooting, it’s time to start working up some “real-world” shooting drills. Realistically, if you’re training to defend your home, it’s possible to theorize how an attacker might enter your home. If you only have one door in and out of the house, a burglar is limited to that door and what first floor windows might be around. Training for defending your own home provides you home field advantage, and you should use it.

Consider Potential Situations

Create simulated drills using the layout of your house. If you know that you can see your home’s back door from the entrance of another room, create a drill (in a live fire area, not in your actual house) that allows you to practice shooting at that target from a protected area. Learn what parts of your house can be used reliably as cover while allowing you to keep your eyes on the door. If you have a clear idea of what ways an attacker might potentially enter your home, you can eliminate a lot of guesswork and uncertainty in how best to address the threat.

Ask for Advice

If putting together your own self-defense drills sounds daunting, fear not. There’s a whole universe of professional home defense and security instruction and education available to the public. Take classes with trained and experienced security professionals, whose guidance and expertise will be invaluable to anyone interested in securing themselves and their loved ones from harm. Most private security professionals have experience in law enforcement or the military (or both), and will be better able to help you work out any kinks in your shooting form, and give you a more experienced eye toward home defense for your own home.

In general, when training oneself to defend your home with a gun, the important thing to do is stay calm. Don’t catastrophize, assuming that the worst will befall your house, or assuming that, when the time comes, you won’t be able to handle the pressure to do what you’ve trained to do. In training, one should also train his or her nerves. Shooting only suffers from stress, fear, and other distracting emotional factors. The most important component of good shooting is a calm, controlled shooter. With practice and good instruction, there is no reason someone who has never used a gun can’t become a perfectly proficient shooter, and use those skills in the defense of his or her home.

About the Author

Tim Randolph is a freelance writer and entrepreneur from Las Vegas, Nevada. He has written for a wealth of high-profile clients including the Livestrong Network and Demand Media. In his spare time, he enjoys physical fitness, target shooting, and photography.

Photos – MG Vegas