Author: Robert Cardente

It’s not a good feeling being assaulted in the middle of the night, in a barely lit driveway, being struck by four assailants, and then hearing, “Get him to the ground!” Anyone who’s experienced a similar event will agree … the memories are burned into your brain for a lifetime. I can tell you firsthand how quickly situations go from uneasy to life-threatening, and the seconds seem like hours before help arrives. Law enforcement officers are put in these situations every day they put their uniforms on to serve and protect.

Not too many people can say they have had the experience of being in a gunfight – which is a good thing! If you haven’t, I can assure you that a few things will happen if someone is shooting at you… your body is going to get a dump of adrenaline and you are going to move. A moving target is much harder to hit than a stationary one, and the adrenaline dump will hopefully help you react a lot quicker than you are used to!

Being the victim of a violent attack is rare for law-abiding citizens, but they do occur! I often use the analogy, “The chances of being struck by lightning are rare, but you don’t see too many people standing outside when it’s thundering and lightning.” Now imagine this, “What if you were struck by lightning not once, but two or three times?” That’s a bad day! Here’s my second question, “What if you were facing not just one bad guy who wants to hurt you, but two or three?” I would estimate the chances of that happening are more likely than being struck by lightning two or three times in a row!

What do you do? If you are working on defensive handgun shooting skills designed to stop a threat, knowing what to do after the shots are fired is just as important as learning when and how to squeeze the trigger.  As a firearms instructor and law enforcement trainer, I am constantly emphasizing the importance of training under realistic conditions. That concept should always be applied to every defensive shooting drill you are doing.