Originally Posted by
grizzlyblake
I would probably be totally content with only a G19 kept in a drawer at home. It would probably be healthier too, to not spend hours online and at the range preparing for some big gun battle.
I am in no way belittling what others do, and I know this is a forum dedicated to just that, but I may just be growing weary of all these years spent amped up for a shootout.
I know carrying can be a PITA, and I don't carry 24/7 like some on here advocate and do.
I want to address these statements:
It would probably be healthier too, to not spend hours online and at the range preparing for some big gun battle.
and
I may just be growing weary of all these years spent amped up for a shootout.
I guess it might be mindset, but I trained police officers for most of my life. When you teach recruits you probably articulate and therefore think about the purpose of the firearms we carry, but I got to be honest, that is the last thing that enters my mind as I shoot. Shooting is in and of itself an enjoyable past time.
Quit focusing on the target as a bad guy and just shoot. Most of the shooting exercises/challenges (see, I didn't say drills) you set up do have a real world component, but treat them as shooting skill challenges. As an example, why would I practice drawing and shooting off stair-steps up and down, strong foot and then with support foot first? I just focus on it being a shooting problem to overcome. Force-on-force, on the other hand, is completely martial and should be approached in that manner, total immersion. But event then, the skills you built having fun, will cross right over.
As far as your second statement, if you are approaching life as an exercise where you are going 'okay, now I'm yellow, now I'm organge, back to yellow' you are missing the point of the color codes of alertness. The codes should just serve to remind us that we need to be more alert as the situation dictates.
Early on you may need to tell yourself 'I'm entering a chokepoint, if someone enters from the other direction I will....' after a while tha sort of thinking should become second nature. As an example, my wife sometimes asks me 'why did you change lanes?' and I'd realize I hadn't really thought about changing lanes, sometimes it is to create distance forward in traffic, sometimes it is to leave myself an out when stopping in traffic at an intersection. The point I'm trying to make is that the 'instinct' is the result of mindful practice of commentary driving with counter-ambush tactics thrown into the mix, after a while you don't even think about it, it just runs in the background.
I've said this probably too often on this forum, but read up on commentary driving, read 'The Gift of Fear' and take the lessons to heart, practice talking to yourself about what you see when driving and going about your daily routine, at first you will have to consciously think of things to say to yourself, then it will become easier and you will realize you are seeing more things to talk to yourself about, then it becomes second nature and you really don't have to consciously remind yourself other than to make you feel better 'okay, heavy traffic, better step it up' or 'this is a sketchy looking area, don't let down.' It becomes second nature, and I have to admit, somewhat aggravating to the folks around you as you ask 'What did you think of that guy?' 'What guy?' 'The guy open carrying in the line next to us.' 'Didn't see him.' 'Oh' (with subtle inflection) 'Fvck you!'
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President... - Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln and Free Speech, Metropolitan Magazine, Volume 47, Number 6, May 1918.
Every Communist must grasp the truth. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party Mao Zedong, 6 November, 1938 - speech to the Communist Patry of China's sixth Central Committee
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