Time to Lock in with your Handgun Training

Nobody trains as much as I do unless they are an enthusiast who likes to shoot for no other reason beyond the craft itself.  Still, for myself, and many others, the foundation of the pursuit resides in self-defense and preparedness.  While I love, and highly encourage, competition, that has never been the motivating factor for my significant training time.  I have never had any interest in training with gear that is not realistic for carry, nor in working with guns from open holsters.  All competitive shooting I have ever done has been from concealment.

Most serious shooters dabble with multiple guns over the course of their years and decades.  I certainly have.  However, for well over a decade now, the Glock 19 has been my primary training pistol, and the Glock 26 has been my primary carry gun.  My transition between them is seamless, and the only other gun I use for social purposes is a Ruger LCR as a BUG. 

But, along the way, there have been plenty of toys.  In the past several years I have used a Walther Q5 Match Pistol a lot.  This was the first pistol I ever equipped with a red dot and I became proficient in the use of pistol optics with this gun, to the point where I can work with irons or optics with equal proficiency, though I still carry irons only, mainly due to the smaller profile for concealment, and simplicity.  So, my significant time spent on the Q5 has proven very productive, but the gun was never intended as anything I would carry or use for defense. 

So, what is the point of that rather boring history of guns I have used?

In case anyone thinks we are still living in 2019, look around, the world has gone crazy.  Sure, it was always crazy and always violent, but since the lockdown there seems a spike in mental illness, combined with a sense of entitlement among the criminal element.  Afterall, with the defund the police movement which started before 2020, but was sharply enhanced during the summer of love in 2020, criminals seem to have little to lose in many places and they are emboldened.  While stats show a sharp decline in the homicide rate this past year, the several years following 2020 witnessed a spike in crime not seen in decades.  Also, the fact that many agencies cook the books and hide the grim reality of crime statistics should be considered.

While the overall rate of violent crime may have declined, it seems obvious that extreme threats have increased in frequency.  Namely, mass casualty attacks have increased, significantly, in the past two decades, and the frequency of multiple assailant predation has also increased.  So, while the statistical likelihood of being mugged may or may not be down, the acceleration of extreme threats is obvious.  Which leads me back to this:

It is time to lock in with your training.  If you are motivated to train with a handgun primarily out of a desire to be well prepared to defend yourself and your loved ones, then maximizing your time on the tools you actually carry makes good sense.  When putting another gun to use in your training, ask yourself what purpose it fills that your carry guns don’t. 

As society degrades, I once again plan to lock in.  If violence rears its ugly head against me or mine, the defensive guns are the only ones that matter.  Similarly, I only train from concealment.  For the foreseeable future, I have put any other range toys in the safe.  Instead of dividing my dry practice and my round count between different platforms, I prefer to focus on what matters.  Beyond the primary auto loaders, I have committed to running at least some rounds through my LCR each range session, and I am also dry practicing a lot with it again. 

Shooting amazing guns like the Walther Q5 is equivalent to driving a Farari, but just as most people don’t drive a Farari to work each day, most don’t carry a full-size competition gun.  You more likely drive a Toyota Carolla each day and carry a snubby or a micro auto pistol.  Just as the Carolla is not as fun to drive as the Farari, so too the carry gun won’t be as fun to shoot as the competition pistol.  However, what good does the competition pistol in the safe do you when faced with a group of carjackers, or an active killer at a distance?  If you are a serious competition shooter, training with that gear obviously serves a purpose.  However, if your primary focus is self-defense, consider the best use of your likely limited training time.

While being an enthusiast and pursuing a high level of skill with the handgun is good, locking in and dedicating your time and effort to the tools you actually carry is advisable.  Know the guns you rely on intimately.  Know exactly where they print with your chosen defensive ammo.  Maximize your ability to perform with the guns you carry.  Everything else is just entertainment.