Are you ready for a gunfight?

The shooting sport that me and my wife and kids are into is a lot of fun as well.  We do Cowboy Mounted Shooting.

If you think IDPA is fun, try shooting targets at a dead gallop with a horse who isn't too happy about the gunshots.  Now THAT is fun

Anyone in the NE Tennessee/SW Virginia area is welcome to come watch one of our events.  We have a practice this Sunday June 11th at Lowland TN and a 2 day match in Bristol TN on June 24 & 25.  Directions and our club info is at http://www.TNRidgeRunners.com

This is me and my horse Shooter at a recent event....

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Task Force 16 wrote:

VAopencarry wrote:

One of the first things your shooting victim or his family (if you killed him) is going to try in prove is that you were not competent to have a fire arm.

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This doesn't make any sense to me. Not competent? hell you hit him when you fired at him.

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It makes perfect sense! A competent shooter should be able to shoot the gun out of his/her attackers handand then keep shooting the gun accross the ground out of the attackers reach, until the attacker decides that he's met his match and gives up. A competent shooter should be able to do this while sipping tea, pinky out. If you can't do that you are not competent enough with a firearm to be carrying one around in public.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury............I rest my case.

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I hope this was tongue and cheek, When The pucker factor kicks in, and your adrenaline takes over. You will not shoot as well as you did under competition. this is a fact that has been bourne out in many gunfights.

There is a program that was sponsored by S&W, That adressed these issues. And anyone who expects others to remain so calm as to get it all together, Sight Alignment, Trigger Control, Breathing, in the flash of a gun fight is not being realistic. A person would have to made of ice and without care to him/her self to perform in sucha manner.

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I would like to share with you some observations I made last Friday. I spent Thanksgiving with my daughter's family in San Jose California.

Friday I went shooting with two of my son in laws and had a nice time.

The first part of the time we were shooting pistols and all of the guys and gals on the pistol side of the range were your normal group of people, including all races and genders and everyone was well behaved and seemed to pretty much know what they were doing.

When we had shot up all the ammo we wanted to shoot, my one son in law wanted to shoot some 00 buck from his Mossberg 590, so we went over to the other side of the firing line and did we get our eyes opened.

The first part of the firring line was composed of normal rifle shooters, parents kids and everyone was using proper protocol and all and then we got to where we could shoot the shotgun.

In that area were a group of Hispanic folks that ranged in age from their 50's to sub teens.

Before I went I read up on California gun laws and so I was shocked when I saw about every kind of long gun that was illegal in California, that I could imagine.

That shock was mild as compared to the concern I then had for our safety as I watched this large group of some 20 or so, handle these guns. In no time at all I felt the the safest place, at that end of the firring line was out by the targets.

Everyone there and the best part of 4 counties were covered by one muzzle or another on so many occasions that I could not count that high.

No one had any clue as to how you hold or handle a long gun and I feared for the cattle up on the hill behind the back stop as the expended rounds were flying in every direction except at the targets.

They were all dressed in what I would consider "gang-banger" attire and I, along with my 2 son in laws, got out of there as soon as possible.

To rap up this rambling post, If this group even remotely represents what we practice to prepare for, then I like our eventual chances better all the time.

Practice does help to prepare, but that practice needs to be with a purpose and using proper techniques that will help you get your rounds on target.

What they were doing would do little more than increase their confidence, while it did little or nothing for their competence.

I had heard that people can own and use guns, while at the same time have little or no competent abilities with those guns, and now I know that this can be true.



Continue to practice, using correct techniques and prepare. Your chances, if you ever are called on to use your skills, may be better than you think.

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......I have told many people that if I am ever accosted by some gangbanger, I hope he holds his handgun sideways as we commonly see in movies and on TV. That way I am pretty sure I will be the one that gets in the deciding round to target.

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SouthernBoy wrote:

......I have told many people that if I am ever accosted by some gangbanger, I hope he holds his handgun sideways as we commonly see in movies and on TV. That way I am pretty sure I will be the one that gets in the deciding round to target.

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This was my first experience up close and personal with this type of individual. I have known a lot of Hispanics and blacks in my life and have many good friends in both groups, but they are not in this general "gang culture" that I saw in San Jose.

They didn't have any handguns, that I saw, but now that you mention it, they did look like they were trying to mimic what they had seen in the movies.

This one kid had a very nice looking pump shotgun with a full length rib and a beautiful wood stock, and when the range master called for all to stop firing and open the actions on their weapons, he just sort of dropped this gun on the cement.

When the range master came to check the actions, he turned it over, carefully opened the action and then carefully put it back down, but the kid that was shooting it had no respect for it at all......I was not close enough to determine its make, but from what I saw I would have loved to have that gun.

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Paladin_Havegun_Willtravel wrote:

SouthernBoy wrote:

......I have told many people that if I am ever accosted by some gangbanger, I hope he holds his handgun sideways as we commonly see in movies and on TV. That way I am pretty sure I will be the one that gets in the deciding round to target.

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This was my first experience up close and personal with this type of individual. I have known a lot of Hispanics and blacks in my life and have many good friends in both groups, but they are not in this general "gang culture" that I saw in San Jose.

They didn't have any handguns, that I saw, but now that you mention it, they did look like they were trying to mimic what they had seen in the movies.

This one kid had a very nice looking pump shotgun with a full length rib and a beautiful wood stock, and when the range master called for all to stop firing and open the actions on their weapons, he just sort of dropped this gun on the cement.

When the range master came to check the actions, he turned it over, carefully opened the action and then carefully put it back down, but the kid that was shooting it had no respect for it at all......I was not close enough to determine its make, but from what I saw I would have loved to have that gun.

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That's just nuts. Treating property like that. But if it is his, then it's his decision to take. Still a shame, though.

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I remember that when I took the gun safety course for my HCP that the instructors told us that if we dropped our weapon, not to pick it up let them do it.

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Task Force 16 wrote:

I remember that when I took the gun safety course for my HCP that the instructors told us that if we dropped our weapon, not to pick it up let them do it.

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When I was in the Marine Corps I learned that if I dropped my rifle I would very quickly be following it to the deck, face first.

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Tomahawk wrote:

Task Force 16 wrote:

I remember that when I took the gun safety course for my HCP that the instructors told us that if we dropped our weapon, not to pick it up let them do it.

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When I was in the Marine Corps I learned that if I dropped my rifle I would very quickly be following it to the deck, face first.

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Yeah, Army boot camp was the same way. You could be on the deck for awhile, too. And be terribly exausted when you got back up.

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Paladin_Havegun_Willtravel wrote:

I don't mean to disrespect anyone, but there are only a couple of guys on this thread that know if they are ready for a gunfight or not.

Some people will be able to have bullets wizzing around their heads and remain calm and take care of business, and some will not.

Some will be able to shoot another human being and some will not.

I don't care what kind of training you have taken, unless the targets are shooting back, you don't know.

I have trained. I have shot stationary targets, moving targets, multiple targets, and I can pull and shoot and hit what I aim at.

That does not tell me I'm ready for a gunfight.

I have taken fire, remained calm and taken care of business, that tells me I'm as ready as as anyone can be for a gunfight.

Those that have been there know what I mean.

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Yes sir.

I am a firm believer in the concept that no one really knows how they are going to react in a deadly encounter until they are actually in one (or about to be like RIGHT NOW). Unless you have experienced taking and returning fire, you have no point of reference from which to draw. And people can surprise you with their response. You might have someone who likes to brag about what he'll do and then when hit with reality, he may be the first to crap his pants.

We train in order to have the hand/eye coordination and ability to deliver rounds to target. But when that target is flesh and blood, the one thing we cannot prepare for is taking that person down with deliberate fire.

The one thing that gets good people injured or killed is hesitation.. second guessing a situation and wishing it was not real. The BG, on the other hand, has no qualms about hurting you or worse. I don't know how to teach someone to aggressively and with extreme prejudice, deliver rounds to a human being and do so without hesitation or compassion.

You report that you have been there and done that which gives you a knowledge base that most all of us lack. And most importantly, you know how you might react should the need ever arise again. Glad you made it through.

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While i see a lot of people saying things about putting rounds out and hitting the BG's, you don't see a lot of people saying that they think about taking rounds.

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While i see a lot of people saying things about putting rounds out and hitting the BG's, you don't see a lot of people saying that they think about taking rounds.

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Taking rounds??? :what:

WachutalkinboutWillis?

Seriously, i think if we have to draw our weapons against a BG, we have already thought about the possibilty of "taking rounds". We're going to be pulling the trigger with the intent of preventing taking hits, or at least reduce the hit count taken.

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"The one thing that gets good people injured or killed is hesitation.. second guessing a situation and wishing it was not real. The BG, on the other hand, has no qualms about hurting you or worse. I don't know how to teach someone to aggressively and with extreme prejudice, deliver rounds to a human being and do so without hesitation or compassion."


Yep! And the element of surprise is not gonna be on your side. If yer gonna stand there wonderin' if you'll be sued... jailed, or what your employer will do/say... or whatever... you may as well leave theguns at home. Criminals with guns are very violent... and usually nervous. They WILL try to kill you.Assume the worst.

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