Stop living in the past! This post is a bit of a rant but stay with me. What prompted it? A gentleman getting his wife to call me about getting his LTC. Why did she call me and not him? No idea. She was very kind and asked about the process. She said he was retired law enforcement from another state but they’ve moved to Texas. While discussing the process (and price!) I hear him start to pipe up (in a weak and quivering voice) in the background: “But, I’m a Vietnam vet, doesn’t that mean I don’t have to do all that?” Um, yes sir, you have to do all that! “But I shot a lot in El Paso!” I asked “Sir, how long has it been since you actually shot your firearm?” Silence! His wife pipes up and says “It’s been a long time”. I told them both that the State of Texas requires me to witness several things before signing off on anyone’s paperwork, military experience and law enforcement experience notwithstanding. And that before I sign off on anyone, I’m going to have to see ALL THE THINGS. But, the state will give him a discount on his LTC application fee for his service. I gave her the information on my website about all his options and was sure to tell her it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if he chose another instructor. Honestly, I really hope he never calls me. But, if he does, there will be an upfront conversation.

What to make of this and why am I talking about this? It’s actually VERY common to hear this type of comment. It’s also incredibly offensive but we will get to that in a bit. Another comment I hear goes like this nearly word for word “I’m good, I shot expert in the military”. Uh huh… That is code speak for I achieved some sort of level in the military (and how exacting is that rating to get?) 30 years ago (or 10 years ago, it doesn’t matter) therefore I’m still an “expert”. What happens with all of them (except one person) in my experience? That can’t do shit with their firearm. Shitty safety observance, shitty gun handling, shitty grip, shittier target. It’s all just a big steaming pile of shit. But, boy, are they standing on their laurels of being an expert in the military. There’s an arrogance about it that really offends me. We are talking about having a live firearm on or about your person and you want to fall back on some crappy training in the military many years ago and that’s your go to? But, they are so good and squared away in their mind. So, what do I have to do? Override their bad habits with the correct ones. Honestly, it’s not very much fun. Its offensive to have to be on the receiving end of someone’s arrogance like I’m some wet-behind-the-ears puppy instead of the accomplished professional that I actually am. I’m a full-time firearms instructor with 30 Instructor certifications alone. Over 650 hours of Instructor Level training but they get to be arrogant with me? Yeah, I’m over that. When a gun enters the equation, everyone should have humility, humbleness and a willingness to learn. The stakes of making an error in judgement OR marksmanship or so high that we should all understand all the issues and be honest with ourselves or else put the damn gun back in the safe and come up with another solution for your personal defense. That one person mentioned above? SHE was an expert marksman, told me that but was humble about it. Then laid down an incredible target! Why? She’d maintained her skills over the long years and still loves to shoot. ONE PERSON! ONE!!! When someone tells me that now, I put a cleared firearm in their hands right away and tell them the safe direction and ask them to manipulate the firearm. What do you mean? What do you mean what do I mean? You are an expert. Show me something, ANYTHING, with the gun. What am I looking for? For them to lock the slide back and immediately check for clear. Run the slide. Present the gun in a safe direction and do a bit of dry fire to understand the gun. I’m not giving them a complicated gun, I’m giving them a Glock. LOL. The simplest gun on the planet to do anything with. Put some dummy rounds in a magazine, load that and chamber one. Now, clear it. ANYTHING. What do I see? Literally every time the gun gets pointed in an unsafe direction. Stop! I told you that’s the safe direction! Keep it pointed there. Then the next thing I see? A hand goes in front of the muzzle. Stop! Is your hand a safe direction? No? Then why did you put your hand in front of the muzzle? Finger always on the trigger. Stop! Are you on target and have made a conscious decision to shoot? No. They why is your finger on the trigger? And it goes like this every damn time! So, we stop and have a deep dive into safety rules and the fact that they have some very bad habits. So, you’re not an expert! And I’m not sure what you learned in the military but none of what you are doing today is correct. And the safety rules aren’t guidelines! They are to be followed every single time you touch a gun. ANY GUN! I will let you think about how much time this takes up just to get them where we can get out on the range. Give me a new shooter every damn time. These bad habits are how people get injured and killed and how people go to jail. A lot of my time is spent breaking down the bad habits of “experts” and then rebuilding their knowledge about safe gun handling. On the opposite side of this person is the one that comes to me and says “I have some experience but not sure if its correct so teach me like I know nothing or am in Kindergarten”. I love this person already. No arrogance. They understand that it’s important they learn and do things the correct way. Or reinforce their current knowledge and build on it.

Everyone overestimates their abilities and falls back on some previous “expert” experience from many years ago! Why is this? This is a classic example of the Dunning-Kruger effect. The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with low ability in a specific area overestimate their own competence, while experts tend to underestimate theirs. This is because a lack of knowledge makes it difficult for people to recognize their own shortcomings. The. effect was named after psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger, who first described it in 1999. This previous expert rating has been tied to an individual’s persona for their whole adult life. While true in the past, it’s no longer true but I have to be gentle as it involves people’s egos and sense of self. They are there to train, not have a therapy session about rebuilding their sense of self. So, I make it only about the gun, not them personally. And try to help them understand that they have more work to do but that it’s achievable.

You must make an honest assessment of what you are capable of today and train for that. Every single time you put on a gun there should be intention and an understanding of what it actually means to carry a gun for self-defense. Have you done the mental work of knowing you could use it and what that actually means? It certainly means I might have to actually point it at someone! And how about the actual physical work? Working from concealment, how long to first shot on target from your current carry set up? Do you know? If you haven’t worked on both of these sides you are delusional. None of us are in the past anymore. Where are we? In the present! So, be present in every moment. Being present is an acquired skill. And while in the present, experience gratitude for this moment. At every moment. Living in the past isn’t a viable option when it comes to firearms. I don’t care what you could do way back then. What can you do now? What might you need to do differently? Those answers will affect the training you need. Personal accountability or integrity or honesty with ourselves needs to be part of the equation when it comes to firearms. If you are living in the past, you aren’t being honest with yourself about the current situation. Or your current abilities. Or your current health issues or physical challenges. I have a young woman in my women’s group. She injured her dominant shoulder at work. Injured it bad enough that she has to now shoot left-handed only. Her determination to master it and develop ways to operate the gun completely with only her support hand is very impressive. She understands that she needs to do extra work and practice for this issue because it’s not going away. She asks lots of questions and slows up determined to work on it. Be this girl!

I’m not able to do what I could just 5 years ago and have had to adjust several things accordingly. Ex: my grip. I’m having more hand pain lately which is affecting my grip. So, I have to train with a few different grips that might be needed should I need to access and use my firearm. I’m an older woman with more hand pain so what do I need to do to bring everything I can to operate that gun with a compromised grip? I have to use my body structure and muscles differently than a large man with great grip strength. But, I have the same standard as he does for the target! So, what do I need to do? That drives all of my own personal training. When I pay to attend a training class I show up fully. Not my instructor with 30+ certs self. My student self, ready to absorb and learn! Giving my instructor all due respect, effort and participation. I don’t know everything and want to learn as much as I can so I can be a better instructor at every stage. Have I agreed with every instructor on everything? Nope. But, I do what they are instructing and learn from it. Why? I don’t believe there is a one size fits all approach. When there is a student in front of me, I look at the whole holistic picture. People have injuries, different sized bodies, hands, etc. Sometimes, the issue is mental or with their vision. Or fear is what’s driving them. So, if something from another instructor doesn’t work for me, it might just work for someone else and I need to understand it thoroughly so it’s an option to use in the future.

What are you bringing to the table today? Right now in this present moment? That is what you need to work on and train for. And if something changes? You will have to train for that. And if you get a new gun or holster? You need to train for that. Carrying a firearm is a HUGE responsibility and you must train with it regularly to stay proficient at your current level. Want to level up? Increase your training. Not practice… Training! I had a knee injury earlier this year that required some extra training to understand how to work around it and with it. Defensive mindset training is an area that never goes away. That’s an area to spend a lot of time on. Mindset training is the best value for your training dollars as it will really prepare you and make you think and understand your capabilities both mentally and your gun and gear. Injury? You guessed it, you need training for it to understand what you need to do now.

Here’s a big one; are you still carrying a gun you trained with in the military? If you are, I want you to really ask yourself why. Because it’s all you know? But you are still physically struggling with this gun every range session? You don’t have to do that and I encourage you to stop living in the past with that gun. There are some amazing options out there and if you are still using a 1911 style pistol because that’s all you know, you are limiting yourself. And slowing yourself down. And costing precious seconds that might make the difference between life and death. And that gun likely doesn’t fit you well either and it holds so few rounds. I don’t care that it’s a .45! If you like that gun, by all means own it and shoot it. But, if it doesn’t fit you well, you fumble with the controls, you have difficulty executing an efficient reload, you have to carry several magazines all the time, it takes a while to line up your sights, and you are an average sized man or slightly shorter so concealing that gun is a challenge project, you are in the wrong gun for the purpose! I’m not telling you that your baby is ugly. On the contrary they are beautiful guns and I own several. But, they are not efficient and they are quirky and challenging, and yes, you have to operate that safety on it every time you draw and present to the target. Plus your hand is already much lower on the bore axis of the gun making a further disadvantage. There are much simpler, easier guns for self-defense. If you are choosing this type of gun, get a LOT of extra training to minimize the disadvantages of that pistol platform. 

Stop living in the past. If you recognize yourself in anything above I’m asking you to train for your present situation, gun and capabilities. Lots of training involves sorting out gear issues as much as actual operation of your firearm. Visiting the past is fun sometimes but we can’t live there! We live in the present and thus must be present in all that we do. Training takes a time and financial commitment. But, isn’t it worth it given the stakes? If it’s not that important to you, then your current skill level will stay the same or deteriorate. If you’re okay with that, I’m okay with that. It’s okay if you just love to occasionally shoot at the range with friends or loved ones. And if you conceal carry with that skill level, everything that happens is on you. But, you aren’t an expert. I will meet you at the level where you are and help you in any way possible and welcome you regardless of ability. I love to train and help people be confident, competent, responsible gun owners. And I will show up for you with all I bring to the table to help you on your shooting journey. You can find a current list of all of our classes here. Stay safe and keep training!