The Box Elder Wildlife Foundation event Friday night in Brigham City was a success. We expected a turn out of about 15 people and got double that.
Topics covered included, Basic Firearm Safety, Gear Selection, One and Two Handed Stance, Grip, Proper Draw Stroke, Sight Picture, and Reloading Technique.
Special thanks to The Box Elder Wildlife Foundation for Sponsoring this event.
Those of us in the Utah Polite Society are very interested in helping other groups develop defensive shooting skills, and would like to offer our assistance to individuals in Box Elder County.
We will conduct a series of dry-fire training sessions during the months of January, February and March of 2009 in Box Elder County. These sessions would allow up to sixteen individuals at each session receive instruction in a basic set of gun-handling skills, shooting techniques, and tactics useful in defensive situations. These will be hands-on sessions where the individuals involved will practice each technique using dry-fire exercises while receiving coaching assistance from Utah Polite Society members. Each of these sessions will focus on a different set of skills and will not require participants to attend previous sessions in order to take advantage of the material covered.
We will conduct a two-day, live-fire event at the Mantua Range in the Spring of 2009. The first day of this event would be devoted to live-fire training and practice in the skill sets covered over the winter months in the dry-fire training sessions. The second day of this event would be devoted to live-fire simulations of defensive encounters that allow the participants to exercise the skills and tactics learned the previous day.
State Sen. Scott McCoy wants to reserve Utah concealed weapons permits for Utahns.
The Salt Lake Democrat has unveiled a bill that would stop the Bureau of Criminal Identification from issuing permits to nonresidents, who now receive about half the tens of thousands issued each year.
The bill has sent waves of anger through the gun-rights community, who portray it as anti-gun -- a charge McCoy denies.
Pending budget cuts at BCI that could result in the loss of 11 employees spurred the draft legislation, said the lawmaker.
"The time and resources of the BCI staff should be focusing on Utahns who are trying to get concealed weapon permits, and teachers and day care workers and others who need a background check," he said.
In addition, he points to BCI's inability to track out-of-state instructors and permit holders.
"If the permit holders are in Utah, we can check on a daily basis whether or not they should remain holders or if they should be revoked or disqualified," he said. "For the tens of thousands of out-of-state permit holders, we have no ability to do that whatsoever. For me, that says that's not a good system."
But Utah gun-rights advocates say that rationale simply stems from an ideology that guns are bad. They point to the fact that the concealed-carry permit background checks are self-funded from application fees, and budget cuts won't affect those staffers.
"Senator McCoy has projected these paranoid fantasies and mounted the most serious, egregious assault on firearms and the right to self defense that we've ever seen in the state," said Charles Hardy, policy director for Gun Owners of Utah. "There was no attempt to bring stakeholders to the table to address concerns. There was no good-faith effort here. This is an attack."
Clark Aposhian, chairman of the Concealed Weapon Review Board, wonders why McCoy didn't address his concerns with the gun-owning community.
"The budget has nothing to do with it. He is misrepresenting the facts and he's going back to the old line that Utah taxpayers are footing the bill," Aposhian said. "We have experts on our side. Let's honestly address the real issues. Let's work together."
When you make the decision to arm yourself with a defensive pistol, one of the first psychological bridges you have to cross is when and how much to carry the pistol. The choice generally comes down to either carrying the pistol only when you think you’ll need it, or carrying it pretty much all the time. My preference is for the latter – as close to all the time as I can get it. This is just one man’s opinion, but here’s why I think this way.
· Keeping the gun on you at all times (or as close to that as is reasonably possible) is the safest way to store your gun.
· Keeping the gun on you at all times is the most effective way to deploy a personal defense weapon.
· Keeping the gun on you at all times is the most comfortable way to deploy a personal defense weapon.
Summary:Safe
If the gun is in your holster, you know that no one else is messing with it. Unless you live completely alone and no one else ever enters your domestic domain, a loaded gun laying around unattended is a dangerous thing. Even with other adults moving through your space, it is a risky proposition, but if kids share your space it can be a recipe for disaster. I have trained my own kids on firearms, but I don’t know about other kids they might bring over to the house. If the gun is under your immediate physical control, you know that none of these dark possibilities can become realities.
If the gun isn’t with you, it can’t perform the function of defending your life, and it becomes nothing more than an expensive and problematic paperweight. In other words, it’s not keeping you safe. If you’re not going to use it, why have it? Assuming you don’t leave the pistol laying around loaded, you must unload it when you take it off. In an emergency, it is just too slow to load a gun before you can bring it into action. Loaded guns are much more effective at discouraging goblins from doing unpleasant things to you.
Effective
When you wear the gun day in and day out, your body “learns” it. It learns where it is and where to reach to get it. It becomes almost like a part of your body. The value in this is that in an emergency, you don’t have to think about where the gun is and how to get your hand on it. It just happens, smooth and quick. When you go to the range to practice, all you should have to do is clear leather, aim and squeeze the trigger. Personal defense guns don’t live in plastic boxes.
If you ever have to use the gun in earnest, it will probably be a surprise. It is likely that you will be responding to a threat quickly, and it will probably not be something you expect. The shock of a sudden, violent attack is not the context in which you want to be doing new product testing.
Comfort
Unless you are a retired law enforcement officer, the first time out in public with a concealed handgun will be an incredibly uncomfortable experience. You won’t be able to think of anything but the gun. You’ll feel like you have a red neon sign on your back flashing “GUN.” You will most likely feel that everyone has x-ray vision and can see right through your clothes and to your pistol. You will move strangely, stand differently, and act unnatural. It’s not a good thing. Experienced people can spot the awkwardness and discomfort you’re feeling. People will talk to you and you’ll have trouble concentrating on what they’re saying because all you can think about is the GUN. Wearing the gun every day dispels this discomfort and awkwardness.
In terms of physical comfort, I’m not sure that any chunk of metal hanging from your belt or bouncing in your pocket is really comfortable, but I am reminded of Clint Smith’s observation that "Your carry gun should be comforting, not comfortable."
As the gun become a part of you, you move naturally, quit being nervous about it, and adjust your wardrobe and carry gear so that you are more comfortable, well concealed, and not worried about the gun. Part of successful concealment is not “telegraphing” that you’re wearing a gun with awkward body language.
