Folks this is a topic too serious to joke about.
Times have changed since 1985.
What was once considered state-of-the-art is no longer.
Just as modern handguns have evolved since the '80s (remember the introduction of the high cap magazine and later "plastic" guns), self-defense tactics and modern training techniques have changed too
Until recently the development of public ranges lagged far behind military and government agencies whose ranges featured modern target equipment allowing non-civilian shooters to incorporate advanced training techniques into their daily shooting regimes.
Civilian ranges fell behind in part due to the great expense of high-tech target systems but more importantly because there was no wide spread demand that civilians train to win gun fights.
Back in the 1960s, 70s and even 80s few range developers gave a second thought to training civilians gun fighting techniques. Back then except for the "I Supported the Sheriff's Election Now I’m A Special Deputy" cards, there were no shall-issue hand gun carry permits. Thus, until recently training to win gun fights remained the exclusive domain of government agents, law enforcement, the military, a few veterans and government retirees who wished to maintain their fighting edge, and criminals.
As a result over the past 40 years most civilian range owners simply installed target technology that was not engineered to allow gun fighting training.
Finally things are changing as a handful of civilian gun range owners have embraced advances in computerized target equipment and modern range design. These range operators are dedicating themselves to offering the best possible training experience by allowing their patrons the same training opportunities long enjoyed by elite law enforcement agencies and military units. As a result civilian shooters can now practice street level gun fighting skills against moving targets on a daily basis.*
This is not to say there is no place in the modern world of handgun carry for old, traditional style target shooting offered by most ranges. Everyone knows the ability to hit stationary targets is important. In fact, most firearms trainers rightly argue that no matter how they start every gun fight generally ends in favor of the first round accurately fired into a vital area of the adversary.
However, it is also universally understood that training for handgun carry and self-defense with handguns requires more than standing on a firing line shooting at stationary targets from known distances. Few if any gun fights take place in controlled environments where adversaries follow commands to move to a known distance, stay perfectly still, and remain dutifully exposed until shot.
Despite this knowledge a few gun shop clerks and range operators downplay the importance of training against moving targets and they fail to inform shooters that consistently hitting stationary targets while important does not necessarily translate into the ability to survive a gun fight.
For whatever reason these clerks and range operators continue to advocate training techniques and equipment first used back in the 60's and 70's before the days shall-issue handgun carry permits when moving target systems simply did not exist in the civilian market.
Today with the advances in target systems, clerks claiming that range equipment designed a half century ago meets the demanding training needs of today's handgun carry permit holder are doing the entire shooting community a disservice and individual shooters a grave injustice.
The fact is that in preparing themselves for daily handgun carry shooters must take advantage of every training opportunity to gain the edge in a gun fight. Thus, any trainer, expert, range operator, or shop clerk advising shooters against working out on moving targets is potentially putting peoples lives at risk by denying them real world training experience!
In business, and life few things are worse than knowingly giving false and misleading advice especially when such advice could make the difference between life and death. In the gun business intentionally putting someone's life at risk for a $1.00 is beyond reprehensible.
To make matters worse the range clerks telling you there is no need to workout against moving targets are often unskilled shooters who are not trained firearms instructors. If such people are instructors one may be assured that they do not practice what they preach. All self-defense firearms instructors know that gun fights end as fast as they start - in seconds and are a fluid affair where movement is often key to surviving - carry permit holder's movement and the adversary target's movement!
Therefore, when experts and trainers themselves workout at the range they seldom spend all their time and ammo standing in one spot shooting at stationary targets. Instead they use elaborate drills and exercises in attempts to simulate the touch-stone of gun training - the ability to shoot against moving targets.
Indeed times have changed since the 80's when most area ranges were built. This means that handgun carry permit holders have an important question to answer:
Are you going to listen to people who are knowingly giving you bad advice that if followed could deny you the edge needed to survive a gun fight?
Sincerely,
Brant WilliamsPresident
Frontier Firearms, LLC
* at a cost of less than $0.85 per day for range members
