You’ve got to identify which priorities you find most important. You may say, “My major threat is in my work environment, in my home, in my social environment, when I take my wife or family out to a restaurant or theater.” Where am I most likely to be exposed to a threat? And then address those requirements.
For example, I ask people who keep guns in their homes, “Have you ever practiced what your defense would be if somebody broke into your home? Where would you gather the family? How would you search and clear your own house?” They tell me, “Well, I’m going to call 9-1-1.”
Think about it! Most of the time when you get awakened in the night, you don’t know what it is! Typically, you’re going to take your gun and flashlight and you’re going to go look and see if there is someone in the house, or did the cat knock something off the dining room table.
So be realistic and practice and learn where the problem areas in are your own house and how should you go about searching and clearing to make sure you’re in the best protected position and the home invader is in the most compromised position. You need to think about it and do it! Under stress, the conscious, analytical brain doesn’t work very well and making plans then doesn’t work.
Work out a plan ahead of time.
-Ken Hackathorn
Ken Hackathorn has served as a US Army Special Forces Small Arms Instructor, Gunsite Instructor, and NRA Police Firearms Instructor. He is currently an FBI Certified Firearms Instructor, Certified Deputy Sheriff with Washington County SO, Ohio, and a SRT member and Special Response Team trainer. Ken has trained US Military Special Operations forces, Marine FAST and SOTG units and is a contract small arms trainer to FBI SWAT and HRT.
Ken has provided training to Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and been active in small arms training for the past 25 years. He has written firearms related material for Guns & Ammo, Combat Handguns, Soldier Of Fortune, and currently American Handgunner and contributed to at least six other gun/shooting journals. Ken was also a founding member of IPSC and IDPA.
Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer some words of wisdom.