There are about 55 million gun owners in the U.S. Problem is, there are not 55 million people going to the gun ranges in the U.S. If they did, we’d need three to four times more ranges in this country. You know what that means? My guess is, and it’s only my guess, that 30 to 40 million gun owners practice with their guns on a regular basis. I spend a lot of time at a particular shooting range. It is the only range in the small rural town I live outside of. I know who goes there on a regular basis because I am there a lot. Often the faces I see haven’t been to the shooting range in some time. It’s kind of like exercising. We know we need to do it, and once in while we actually do it, but getting into the habit is sometimes a challenge. Like exercise, a training program needs to be planned and then implemented. Even a seasoned shooter needs to be familiar with a weapon before shooting it. I feel pretty confident that I can pick up any weapon and figure out how it operates in a few minutes safely. But that is several decades of experience. I’m sure I could be stumped! There are some guns I’ve never shot! (I’m working on that…) But for someone who doesn’t shoot but 2 or 3 times a year, they could have some questions. Here is a scenario that is based on a true situation.
“Imagine, for a moment, that you are a young, single woman living alone. On your way home from work, you spot a strange man walking around in your neighborhood. He’s not exactly doing anything wrong at the moment, but something about him just seems off. You’re glad to be passing him in the car rather than walking by him on the sidewalk. You make the final turn onto your street, park the car, and go inside.
About half an hour later, your eye is drawn to movement outside your front window. You look through the blinds, and there he is–the same man you passed on the street earlier. He’s only walking down the sidewalk, albeit slowly, and doesn’t seem to be paying any particular attention to your house. Still, you can’t help but feel vulnerable. As your mind runs through a hundred “what ifs,” you take great comfort in knowing you have a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol in the bedroom. Better get it out, just to be safe.
Okay, now what? Is it loaded? There’s a magazine in the grip. I think that means it’s loaded. The hammer is cocked, so it should be ready to fire. Now, what about the safety? The safety lever is up. Does that mean it’s off? I think that’s right. But what if it’s not? Maybe I should ask somebody…” This is a story that happened to a student told by instructor. The student was trained. They possessed a concealed carry license. They took two other gun courses. Yet they were still not sure about their gun because of the inexperience with it. Someone may say “They need training.” Well this student had more training than most. I would say that training is only the start.
More people are being caught with guns in their carry-on bags. (28% increase since 2015) That means more of them are carrying guns in their bags. It also means they forget the guns are there, which is reflective of their lack of seriousness for their mindset about carrying. Someone serious about carrying would not only remove the gun from the carry-on bag, but would also be checking that gun to be able to carry it at their destination, if allowed by local law. TSA did not determine what they meant by “loaded” guns. But suffice it to say they had ammunition in the gun.
The best data that is out there is in the state of Texas. Summarizing the Texas data: 93% of the 3.2 million adult gun owners in Texas likely do not train. 4% of them take the mandatory new permit course, at best 3% of them take some kind of NRA course, and only 1%, less than 30K, take any kind of post-CHL level course or shoot any kind of match, including all kinds of pistol, NRA high power, and all the shotgun sports.
According to National Shooting Sports Foundation research, the top 3 reasons people go target shooting are that they go with family and friends (that means one of their family/friends is highly motivated to go shooting), sport/recreation, and self-defense. That means that motivating people that aren’t currently interested in doing more than the state’s minimum may require appealing to higher level needs as opposed to a fear-based approach that emphasizes “safety” as the main reason to attend.
Here are some of the reasons gun owner don’t practice on a regular basis.
Time and Cost
Training is only effective if people actually take it. Only about 1% of gun owners ever receive any formal training beyond what is required by law in order to receive a carry permit or hunting license. The reasons I most often hear in opposition to training are that it’s too expensive or it takes too much time.
Of course, a distinction has to be made between “I don’t have the time/money to train” and “I don’t think training is worth the time/money.” The former argument is often merely an excuse when someone is unwilling to admit the latter.
If shooting is your hobby and you can afford a safe full of pistols and rifles, then you can almost certainly afford a few hundred bucks for a defensive handgun class. The problem among this group isn’t so much a lack of time or money, it’s a lack of motivation. They may look at someone not experienced and think, “At least I’m familiar with how my guns work. What more do I really need to know?” Well, a great deal, really, but such is the curse of “You don’t know what you don’t know.”
But for many, the problem is not motivation. Their roadblock to quality training truly does come down to a lack of resources.
I was at the range the other day when a mini-van pulled up. Out stepped a reluctant young Mother. She was along and had two boxes in her hands. A box with a new Glock 17 in it and a new box of 50 Hydra-shok 9mm shells. She walked up to a bench and sat down. She opened the box and took out the gun examining it. She took out the manual and started to read. I was finishing up and so I watched her a little. I started to clean up my gear and glanced at her because I didn’t want to be a stalker. As she was trying to load the magazine I walked close enough so we could have a conversation. I said, “Excuse me. Can I help you?” She looked up at me and I could see the frustration on her face. She told me that she had just bought this gun and had gone through the concealed carry class. She had her license but really had a limited knowledge of shooting and her gun. She was going to take a course but she had to save up the $350 for the two day course offered in our area. She said she was a single mother and that she wanted a gun for self-defense. I asked her if she was ok with me giving her a crash safety course and a familiarization with her gun. She looked relieved and I sat down with her and told her my name and that I was an instructor. I also told her she reminded me of my daughter who was about her age. I wanted her to be comfortable. I then went through the function of her gun. We talked about that for about a ½ hour and then I went over gun safety. I always keep visual aids in the bottom of my range bag so I pulled them out. After the safety portion I put up a target and we shot a little. When we were done I asked her how the experience was for her. She was beaming. She had shot guns with her father as a teenager but hadn’t touched one in many years. She always had liked to shoot. When I was about to leave she took out her wallet and tried to give me some money. I told her to put that toward some more training.
Most other people in similar situations will not stumble into an opportunity like this. I don’t have an easy answer for this, but I do wish there was a way to connect motivated students who have an imminent need for defensive firearms training with qualified instructors who would be willing to help them.
Forgetfulness
This one is obvious. Imagine going through driver’s education as a teenager, getting your license, and then, after waiting ten years before you get behind the wheel again, the first thing you see is a drunk driver veering into your lane at 60 mph. That is the experience of many gun owners who suddenly find themselves in a violent encounter years after taking their one and only training course (or maybe it was a one on one coaching session with Uncle Bubba from the Special Forces).
Shooting is considered a “perishable skill.” That essentially means if you don’t use it, you lose it. The degree to which your shooting skill degrades over time is dependent on factors like the quality and duration of your initial training, how often you practice following that training, your natural mechanical aptitude, and the mechanical complexity of the firearm you’re using. Introduce the stress of a violent attack into the equation, and how recent you practiced becomes an even more important shield against skill degradation.
Successful armed resistance in a civilian context does not typically involve difficult feats of marksmanship, but it does often require a smooth drawstroke with a gun that is ready to be fired (meaning the gun has to be functional, loaded with a round chambered, and when applicable, the safety disengaged). This may sound like a pretty low bar for competency, but many gun owners could not accurately tell you the status of the gun they carry or keep for defense of the home, nor do they know for certain how to check. Whether or not they have had training in the past, without regular practice (which could be as simple as handling the gun and going through a few minutes of dry practice), people forget.
Not Everyone Wants a New Hobby
Whether it’s intentional or not, most civilian firearms training is marketed to people who have already adopted firearms as a recreational interest. But not everyone who owns a gun for personal protection has any desire to join the so-called “shooting community.”
That point seems difficult for some to believe, so try substituting “gun” with something else you’re less passionate about. For example, I own a chainsaw. It’s a dangerous tool that can have deadly consequences if handled improperly. I’ve taken it upon myself to learn how to use it safely and effectively in the context of my property, which really just means I spent a couple of hours reading articles and watching YouTube videos about chainsaw use. I like my chainsaw. It’s useful, and I think it’s pretty cool. I even occasionally look for an excuse to use it when the weather is nice on a Saturday afternoon. But that is the full extent of my relationship with the chainsaw. I am not interested in joining a “chainsaw community” or living the “lumberjack lifestyle.” It’s not a part of my personal identity and I don’t intend to dedicate any of more of my free time than is absolutely necessary to hone my chainsaw skills.
Most defensive firearms training courses are designed with the assumption that the student is already motivated to continue to practice and train after they leave the class because the student is a shooting enthusiast. The class is intended to show you as many new techniques and skills as possible so you can go home and work on them. That’s perfectly acceptable when your students are all dedicated shooters already. Not so much when they think of their gun the same way I think of my chainsaw.
Basic defensive firearms training might be more effective for Average Joe and Jane Gun Owner if it was simplified with an emphasis on “what you need to know for survival” rather than “what you need to know before you start posting on gun forums.”
Nothing but Shooting
Some firearms training focuses solely on the mechanics of shooting. Others are shooting classes with an emphasis on using those skills in a defensive context. Either of those may be appropriate depending on the needs of the student. But the novice gun owner, whether they realize it or not, is usually looking for a class that will teach them both how to shoot and how to defend themselves; two separate skills that are only sometimes related. Instructors who may be qualified to coach students on their shooting skills are not necessarily well-informed on the broader issues of surviving a violent encounter.
An effective self-defense course is not a shooting course with a couple of token words thrown in about “mindset” and “situational awareness.” Gun-handling and shooting may occupy the majority of the instruction time in a well-rounded class, but the student will also leave with an understanding of how the shooting skills they just learned fit into a broader strategy of self-defense. There may even be useful material covered that addresses how to identify and defuse a potential attack before it takes place, how to avoid being chosen as a victim, unarmed hand-to-hand skills, less lethal alternatives, or legal issues. I would not expect a one-day class to be a comprehensive survey of everything one needs to know in order to deal with violence, but a good introductory defensive shooting course goes beyond merely how to shoot. Among other things, it’s also when to shoot, when not to shoot, and how to safely handle and manage a deadly weapon in normal everyday life.
You don’t have to be a gun nut like me. But you should be competent with your weapon. Do what it takes and be a responsible gun owner.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
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