Dont wait til "After the Fact"

[longtooth]

Most of the time when posting here I am giving class schedules, tips on carry, info on gear or other such stuff.
Today I want to send out a real heart felt plee to everyone, especially ladies. Men if you can, get your wife here.
I used to keep a running total each yr of how many people came to me for class or training "AFTER" something happened. I just quit keeping a yr total 2 yrs ago. Now I just remember how many each month.
In the month of October I have had 5. Over one a week on the average. One Sunday evening after church while visiting & drinking coffee w/ friends at IHOP 2 came to me.
Most are not to the extreme but some have been....
Yesterday I got another call & set the 1st training for a lady that has gone through a MAJOR assault & suddenly now knows "it can happen to me".
I will never tell anyone that training will guarantee that you will always subdue an attacker & he will be begging you let him go.
I will guarantee you that you will have a fighting chance of going home alive, w/ less injuries, & virtue in tact.
Decide ahead of time, "I am not your next victim."
Please, get your training before & not "after the fact"
Remember:
Carry 24-7 or guess right.
936-676-6122

[Cshuff21]

After reading some of your post's, I have certainly made up my mind when I get my Plastic. your quote says it all "Carry 24-7 or guess right."

[jmra]

Good advice. Mrs. JMRA has had her CHL for 6 years. She encourages other ladies to get theirs every chance she gets.

[Abraham]

longtooth,

I'm a little confused with your post.

Are you suggesting people without a CHL to get one or for those with a CHL to practice and carry 24/7?

Thanks!

[longtooth]

longtooth,

I'm a little confused with your post.

Are you suggesting people without a CHL to get one or for those with a CHL to practice and carry 24/7?

Thanks!

Both.
Get the basic training ASAP.
Get the CHL.
Practice & train on a regular basis.
Decide I am NOT going to be a victim.

[dogflight]

Both.
Get the basic training ASAP.
Get the CHL.
Practice & train on a regular basis.
Decide I am NOT going to be a victim.

-> longtooth hit those nails smack on the head.

[TexasGal]

It is so hard for women to make themselves face that it not only does happen to women regularly, but it CAN happen THEM at any time. Most of us want so much not to face that fact. To hide in ignorance and false self-talk. I did it for many years. "My husband/boyfriend will save me. I'll just call 911, and the poice will save me. My dog will save me. I have a can of mace somewhere in my purse. It won't happen to me. I live in a safe place... etc." When something does happen, the reality can be almost as harsh to face as the event. It is so hard when you are a kind and loving person to understand there are those who will delight in making you suffer even to taking your life. Carrying a gun does not mean you live in fear of them. It means you have faced they exist and you have chosen not to.

[longtooth]

Well said.

[dogflight]

Carrying a gun does not mean you live in fear of them. It means you have faced they exist and you have chosen not to.

That line is going in my next class on Saturday. Thank you, TexasGal, for summarizing it so perfectly!

[CHLLady]

Thank you for your post Longtooth.

My wish is that all of my friends would feel this urgency to train and protect themselves. I'm not sure why they are so secure in their world, except they see it differently than I do. The crime they have become accustomed to here happens in other places, not here. Yeah, right. We had a serial killer drive through our county last year with a very chilling agenda and a peeping Tom arrested in another subdivision.

I'm proud of myself, that I am at the place I am with my desire to learn and train as much as possible. That's huge for me. There's still ever so much more to learn. I thank God for great instructors like yourself and for this forum where I can come and ask dumb questions and get intelligent and thoughtful replies.

[MoJo]

To add to LT's words. Shooting 200 rounds standing still, square to the target, and never doing any emergency reloads or, practicing malfunction drills is not training. It is just blasting. To really get some good practice/training you must find a range that allows shooting on the move, shooting at different targets and different distances (target transition) and a trainer/coach to teach you how to do it and correct any bad habits you may have picked up.

[longtooth]

To add to LT's words. Shooting 200 rounds standing still, square to the target, and never doing any emergency reloads or, practicing malfunction drills is not training. It is just blasting. To really get some good practice/training you must find a range that allows shooting on the move, shooting at different targets and different distances (target transition) and a trainer/coach to teach you how to do it and correct any bad habits you may have picked up.

Why I am so thankful for my Private Range.

[texanjoker]

To add to LT's words. Shooting 200 rounds standing still, square to the target, and never doing any emergency reloads or, practicing malfunction drills is not training. It is just blasting. To really get some good practice/training you must find a range that allows shooting on the move, shooting at different targets and different distances (target transition) and a trainer/coach to teach you how to do it and correct any bad habits you may have picked up.

Why I am so thankful for my Private Range.

I always tell trainees: "If you knew you were going to fight for your life tomorrow, would you change the way you trained today?"

[baldeagle]

The reason I carry 24/7 is because of you. When I first joined the forum, before I even had my CHL, I saw your sig. It sunk in. I haven't left the house unarmed since I got my CHL. Thanks to you. That little sig of yours is powerful.

[The Annoyed Man]

I've carried 24/7 since I first got my CHL. Long before the perceived need on my part for the protection, it was as much a political statement as anything else. I had just moved here from Commiefornia. For the first time in my adult life, I was breathing free. I took as much advantage as I could. I didn't originally get my CHL and start carrying because I didn't want to be a victim. I did it because I could, and that was huge for me. It was almost an act of defiance.

The intervening years have not been kind to my body, and I find myself far less physically capable today than I did when I first started to carry. Today, I carry primarily for the protection; but I am still defiant in spirit, and being armed at all times is part of that defiance. Crossfire once said a few years ago in a different thread: "never pick a fight with an old man; if he's too tired, he'll just have to kill you." I'm not looking to give anyone a hard time, but if someone brings a hard time to me, he'll do so at his own peril.

Thankfully, I got my wife to get her CHL and start carrying about a year after I got mine, and she still carries 24/7 too. One of these days I'll convince her to start carrying somewhere besides her purse. She knows it's not optimum, and she admits that she should be doing it differently, but it just doesn't motivate her enough to do it any other way. She has stated on her own that she realizes that in the time it would take her to get her pistol drawn, it could already be over. That's why I appreciate it so much when the ladies here post about alternative methods of carry. I show them to my wife. She says, "Yeah, I should get one of those and try it;" but she never does. I bought her a Kangaroo Carry a 3-4 years ago. I think she wore it once or twice. I bought her belt holsters. She's worn them maybe 6 times.

Oh well.