It was a bright, warm January day. I had been sent to the store for printer ink. I strapped on my OWB holster with my Glock 26 in it and put a sport jacket on to cover the gun.
I pulled up to the store and parked between two cars, then opened the door and started to get out. Surprise! A guy was running towards me with a tire iron raised shouting, “I need the car!” I swept my jacket back and half pulled the gun from the holster and shouted, “Drop that tire iron!” He stopped at the rear of my vehicle and his eyes were glued to that pistol. I shouted again for him to drop the tire iron. Perhaps I had added some colorful and possibly intimidating words. He whined that he needed to get a way to see his sick brother. Told him if he didn’t drop that tire iron, he’d be lucky to walk away. He finally dropped it. This happened about ten years ago. By the way, I still have that tire iron somewhere.
At the time I was in my mid-seventies. Now I’m 84. Neither now nor then can I excuse myself for the poor way I handled that. I made several big mistakes: I should have seen him coming before I got out of the car, I let him get much too close to me with that tire iron raised and when it was over, I didn’t notify the local cops. None of those things are going to happen again.
In the weeks following I thought about this a lot and what I had done wrong. I made up my mind to be vigilant and to practice for situations like that. I joined a pistol range and try to shoot twice a week. No matter where I go, I am very careful before my wife or I get out of the car.
My practice in the beginning consisted of either slow fire or drawing and firing at 25 yards. I hate to say this, but it took a couple of years to realize how ill-advised this was. I started to use the FBI qualification course. After a couple of years, I realized that it might not right for a citizen carrying concealed. With the help of a fellow range buddy, I modified the course with the emphasis being on 2 to 5 yards. I also considered multiple assailants.
The FBI currently uses the QIT 99 target. We modified this target to suit us by making them thinner and scalloping out the neck on both sides. The FBI has altered its course to count only in the top 20 inches, whereas I prefer to use the whole 26 inches. Probably the best way to improve your shooting and tactical skills is to shoot against a better shooter. Most of the time I try to shoot against my friend, who is fast, accurate and smart. Each week I practice two of the 5-, 3- and 2-yard courses of fire and one of the 7-, 15- or 25-yard courses of fire. We found as smartphone app that functions as a shot timer, and it works well for us.
This course relies not just on speed but alertness. You must get your firearm out and into action as quickly as possible. Bear in mind though, that bullets are like words, you can never call them back. However, my safety, and more importantly, the safety of my wife is paramount. Remember the old saying, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The reply was, “Practice, practice, practice.”
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