Defensive Shooting Club: Carbine Month!

Here at the Defensive Shooting Club we normally dedicate our time to honing our skills with a handgun since that's the most likely defensive gun that would be deployed. But this month we practiced with the carbine to freshen up our skills and refresh our muscle memory regarding the manual of arms for the long gun.

We sure are lucky to have in my area a club that is dedicated to defensive firearm use. The club has been around for over 15 years! We get to train twice a month, five hours a session for a total of ten hours per month of intense firearms training that includes not only a wide variety of drills including to train unconventional use and positions but also scenarios where we have to think on our feet to maximize a positive outcome. The instructor, Jeff Patane, also drills us in the basics and drives them home so they become automatic actions.

Jeff mixes up the training to make sure we can use any hand to shoot from, load from any hand and use whatever we have around our environment to survive if we find ourselves in a hostile situation. When is it best to reveal that we are armed, how time plays a factor in a successful outcome. And some much more. He always stresses, gun fighting is a thinking mans game.

I haven't seen or heard of another club like this in existence anywhere. Most of the time you have to take a course. Courses can only go so far and once you are done it's up to the student to keep up and practice somehow until the next course where there will be the necessary re-evaluation of all the students skill levels. Signing up for courses also has it's own barriers such as going into the unknown, the uncertainty etc.

The benefit of the Defensive Shooting Club is the continuity of training and familiarization with most of the students present. Everyone is pulling for everyone else, sharing ideas and having a friendly competitive atmosphere which drives people to try to improve in areas that could be brought up to a higher level of proficiency. Jeff knows what to try out next based on the previous classes and can add twists and turns based on current affairs such as setting up a scenario that deals with protecting oneself in a restaurant. He can see that, as a group, it's time to do X or Y. I've taken a lot of courses from other instructors where they teach you various techniques, drills and procedures but at the DSC we get to put it all together and try it out. The DSC is a great proving ground for equipment too. If it fails during our training then it's time to find something better.

Another great thing about the club is anyone can join by simply paying a modest $20.00 fee and diving right in. The value is incredible. It might not be for everyone though in that the core philosophy is defense which includes the notion of situational awareness. If you are not aware you could have a rude awakening!

Anyway, I'm just happy that I get to live nearby and be a participant in the Defensive Shooting Club! Thanks Jeff for being an unending well of enthusiasm, inspiration, and information!

Here is a short compilation of what we did last Sunday!