As I was packing up at my local range, a brand-new handgun owner arrived to get in a little practice with his new brace of self-defense handguns. It soon became clear that despite his experience as a hunter, he had very little experience with handguns. I had an instinctive sense I should delay my departure a little bit, just to make sure, and I was glad I did. After supplying him with earplugs he had not realized he would need, I stood by just to see how he would fare and found myself shouting STOP! before he fired his first shot. He had gripped the semiautomatic with the web of his left hand over top of the web of his firing hand and was about to send the slide of the handgun tearing into his hand, as it was directly in the path of the slide’s reward travel.
After that I spent an hour or two with him, educating him as much as I could, with the goal being primarily to get him to recognize the need for more training, I chose to steer him away from the semi-automatic, for the time being, and had him concentrate on the 5 shot snub nose revolver he had also purchased. He had no idea about ammunition, hearing protection, or even the fact that the revolver he purchased was in fact, a double action that he did not have to cock each time. He was entirely motivated by a desire to be able to protect himself and his family, and it was here at the range with a new shooter, that I really saw the value of the USCCA and all that it offers.
His revolver had come with one holster, but not likely the one he would first need while the semi-automatic had no holster at all. He had also had no idea of what brandishing was, its ramifications, or how important the holster was to have, indeed different kinds of ammunition or why it was important was also missing. Fortunately, I had enough time with the USCCA to know how much he needed a resource like we have here, and I could confidently recommend it for the many reasons we discussed as we talked over the legal considerations, responsibilities, and in particular that afternoon, training.
I hope he will take my recommendation, but if he can’t afford too right away, or should choose not too, I pointed him to the videos made by the USCCA that I knew he could see online and hoped that would help him identify the kinds of trainers and training to look for.
It was a lot to try to pack into an hour and a half, or two, but it came through clearly to me just how valuable the USCCA resources could be to all those brand-new gun owners out there who want to stay safe and learn what they need to know, and even, access help with the legalities and liabilities after the first fight is over, and the second fight begins once you have survived the initial incident.
My renewed compliments to the USCCA and what they have made available to people, I believe I will be recommending us a lot more often in the future. Because I’ve been a shooter for so long, I’ve forgotten all the things there are to learn when you’re starting out from scratch, and a couple of hours at a range is nowhere near enough time to cover it all, not by a long shot.
DS
