NOTE: Those of you who think what follows is a waste of time, I genuinely hope you are right. I don’t personally care if you acquire defensive shooting skills or not, any more than I care if you learn a second language, so don’t email me to say you have no interest in the subject. What follows is for people with no experience but who have (or think they might have) a desire to acquire some measure of competence with firearms.

    Some years ago, people in a preparedness group emailed me asking for advice on firearms, ammunition, etc. as related to disaster preparation. At that time, they were specifically worried about the Y2K problem, which fortunately never materialized. However, there are disasters having nothing to do with Y2K where defensive firearm skills are needed.

    There are lots of books and magazine articles that have addressed this issue, but most are written for people who are already quite familiar with firearms. The fact that a number of my readers have asked me to comment suggests that many people are not sure that the advice from the newsstand is appropriate for them. So here’s my take on what the rank newcomer should do:

    I cannot stress too strongly the fact that if you are in a situation where you might have to shoot an assailant, particularly a group of assailants, you are in grave peril of death or serious injury (likely leading to death) no matter what kind of gun or ammunition you happen to have. EVERYONE will be better off if you can prepare in such a way that conflicts will be headed off before they materialize.

    What can you do in a situation where the "authorities" refuse to respond to calls for assistance (the Rodney King riots in L.A.), there is physically no way to call for help and expect it to arrive in a timely manner (predators taking advantage during a flood, hurricane, or other natural disaster), and there is no way to flee from the danger?

    One strategy is to be able to communicate with strangers at a distance. With a bullhorn, you can remain in a safe location while telling dangerous-looking strangers not to approach your house and that you have nothing for them. Some recommend having signs prepared in advance that convey this information; I dislike the blanket message that sends. If looting (and worse) is going on, a child, woman, or elderly person who approaches my house will get an audience with me, but a group of strong-looking (or armed) men will not.

    At some point you may find yourself in a situation where you have warned off an armed gang and they have elected to ignore your warnings. The problem has escalated to a new plane, and before I go any further, we need to discuss:

    In an armed conflict where I needed an ally, if I had to choose between one Nepalese Gurkha foot soldier armed only with a Kukri knife, or five people picked out of the phone book who each had a gun, I think I would pick the Gurkha.

    In over 20 years of self-defense firearms training, I have come to believe that proper mindset is the single most important component of the equation, and also the most difficult to teach. It seems that most people who have it have always had it, perhaps since birth. It requires an instinctive assumption that one’s own life and health, and that of his/her family, are of overwhelming importance. One must truly feel "My life is so important that I will do whatever it takes to remain alive and uninjured. Nothing is too distasteful if the alternative is possibly death or serious injury."

    When the Y2K group contacted me, I was tempted to say that if they were asking about what kind of gun to buy, they were so far behind the curve that a gun would not do them any good. I was tempted to say that, but there are people who never envision a need for a gun until something happens that changes their thinking. The most common event is rape, either of the person her/himself, or (less often) of a relative or friend. Anyway, here are my thoughts:

    Few if any people are born with great shooting ability. It cannot be purchased, it must be earned. A depressing number of people, including whole police departments, think they can accessorize themselves to competence. It doesn’t work that way. Buying the gun is like identifying that your company or household has a cash flow problem: It’s 1% of the solution. Practice, like increasing earnings and/or reducing expenses, is the other 99%.

    I was very lucky in that when my father gave me my first rifle, he gave me 5000 rounds of ammunition to go with it, and told me he’d buy me more when I ran out. That first case lasted less than six weeks.

    Diligent practice is necessary for several reasons. The most important one, much more so than absolute pinpoint accuracy, is to acquire familiarity to the point of instinct. If you are shooting for several hours every week or month, you will get to the point where you don’t have to think about how to hold the gun, how to align the sights, how to disengage the safety, how to breathe, and how to squeeze the trigger. It will become automatic.

    I have heard different figures as to how many repetitions are required before something becomes automatic, but the lowest number was one thousand. When you park your car, you probably turn the key to "off" and remove it, release your seatbelt, open the door, and hit the power lock button, all in about two seconds and without even thinking about what your hands are doing. This is because you have done it so often it has become instinctive. It is this level of habit that you must acquire with your firearm, and the only way it will happen is with frequent, sustained practice.

    If you are at this level, you will be in decent shape when the previously mentioned armed gang advances towards your house. You will, from your protected shooting position, yell though your bullhorn "Watch the concrete block ten feet to the left of the guy in the plaid shirt." The armed gang will hear no hint of fear in your voice because you will not be afraid. (You won’t be afraid because what you are about to do will be no more difficult than throwing a baseball through a doorway that is five feet in front of you.) Then you will fire three quick shots that will turn the block to dust, and it will take less time to do than I took to describe. You picked up your rifle and it hit your shoulder with the sights perfectly aligned as if by magic. The concrete block looked ridiculously large at such a short distance, because your skill level is such that you regularly hit golf ball-sized targets at the same yardage.

    The armed gang will almost certainly depart. If they do not, you will take the next step, which you should have decided long in advance. Depending on your value system, you may shoot to kill, shoot to wound, waste more ammo on warning shots, or surrender. Whatever your choice, the time to decide what you should do is TODAY, not months or years from now.

    If you have little or no shooting experience but have decided gun skills are a requirement for your disaster/contingency prep, or for your general peace of mind in life, do the following:

    If you haven’t already, read my book Unintended Consequences. If this offends you as a money-making gambit on my part, get it from your library, on interlibrary loan if need be. This book gives some insight into the required mindset, as well as providing a lot of gun info in the guise of an entertaining thriller.

    Go to a real gunshop.

    Buy a Ruger 10/22 rifle with twenty spare magazines (they’ll have to order them) and a Smith & Wesson .22 revolver. There are several models of S&W .22s; go to a gun shop and handle them all. Get the one that feels best in your hand. If you have large or small hands, ask the salesman about aftermarket grips (I like the wooden Hogue Monogrip) and try them out.

    Buy one full case (Five THOUSAND rounds) of .22 long rifle ammo. Make sure you get ammo with 40 grain PLATED bullets--some of the cheapest promo ammo is unplated and will lead-foul your barrel.

    Get hearing and eye protection, and some good gun lube, like Break-Free CLP.

    All the above stuff should cost you about $1000.

    Find an outdoor spot with a hillside where you can safely and legally shoot.

    Find someone who is known as a competent and safe shooter to help you get started and keep you from learning bad habits, like putting your finger in the triggerguard when you pick up the gun. Call the local NRA office for a list of certified instructors.

    Get an array of ecologically-sound targets that will move or break when hit. I like Ritz crackers because they’re cheap, biodegradable, and break when hit. Acorns and pinecones are good, too. So are scrap chunks of pine 2x2s and 2x4s.

    On a weeknight, while watching television, load all 20 of the Ruger rifle magazines. They hold ten rounds each. On Saturday or Sunday, shoot one carton (500 rounds) through the rifle and another carton through the pistol, always at targets that do something (like break or hop) when you hit them. Switch between the guns every 20-50 rounds. If you start in the morning, you will finish by late afternoon. If you prefer, shoot 250 rounds through each gun on Saturday and then again on Sunday. If you can’t go through 500 rounds before lunch, you’re not trying.

    Place your targets no farther than fifteen feet away for the rifle, eight feet for the revolver. When you get so you never miss a fist-sized target at this range, don’t change the distance, change the speed. See how quickly you can hit ten or six targets. If you start missing, slow down a little. After you’ve shot half your quota, take some more deliberate shots at 30-50 feet. Notice how the bullet hits in a different spot at different distances. Go back to closer targets. NOTE: DO NOT always cock the revolver to shoot it; pull the trigger double action at least half the time. It is definitely harder to shoot accurately this way, but this is how you will be shooting a revolver in a defensive situation with a close-in assailant, so this is the way you want to do a lot of your practice.

    Repeat the above exercise on the next four weekends.

    In one month you will almost certainly be several orders of magnitude more proficient than you were before you walked into the gunshop, and a better shot than a sizable fraction of the police officers in this country.

    If, after the first week or two, you find this effort a chore, take your guns, spare magazines, and remaining ammo back to the gunshop. You will lose about $250.

    If you finish the month excited about your newly earned skills, looking forward to your next shooting outing, and needing more ammo, congratulations. You are now a member of the gun culture. Revise your budget to include $20-$400 per month for ammunition, depending on how much of it is low-cost .22s and how much is more expensive calibers. You are now ready to include more powerful centerfire arms appropriate for defense in your shooting education.

                                                                                                                                  John Ross  4/7/03