One of the first things that your instructor should have told you as you navigated your way through the Use of Force section of the CHL course is that you have a responsibility to pursue additional training after your license arrives. If he/she didn't, then this article is definitely addressed to you.
           Many people are under the impression that the CHL course is designed to test your ability to exercise the rules of firearm safety, test your proficiency skills and prepare you for the inevitability of a self-defense shooting… WRONG! Let's get real… I've seen teenagers as young as 12-yers-old pass the written test and proficiency shooting. It's not that difficult.
           Even the best CHL instructor in the state cannot provide for you the necessary training needed to become prepared and proficient in the 10 - 15 hours the state mandates. The training courses and the hours necessary are too numerous to count. Suffice to say, you will need to spend quite a bit of time in the classroom and at the pistol range.
           Setting up a schedule for going to the pistol range to improve your proficiency needs to be a priority along with a detailed knowledge of when force and/or deadly force can be utilized as well as information regarding self-defense (deadly force) incidents that have occurred in your city, county or state. The outcome of those incidents is important as well. Some of what you'll need to learn is what happens when involved in a situation that calls for you to possibly take a human life.
           The first step in securing additional training is to recognize the fact that you need it. Without this realization, all the training in the world will not help you. Those who think they know it all are forever cursed to never learn another thing as long as they live.
           The second step is to do some research into firearm training schools in your area or your region. Collecting literature, reading articles and asking friends or relatives is a good start. Remember, you must be prepared to ask questions of the school and of yourself (be honest) to ensure that they have what you want or need. Do not fall into the trap of more is better. The best courses available to you are not always going to be those that are the most expensive. You're looking for quality training not quantity. Importance should be placed on the experience of the instructors, reputation of the school and then the cost and duration of the courses. Use common sense when conducting your research and asking your questions.
           Once you have decided that you are going to attend a particular training course it's now time to mentally prepare. For example, 1) Daytime or nighttime shooting, 2) Anticipated weather, 3) Physical demand, 4) Classroom duration, and 5) The desire to give it everything that you have, no matter what.
           As the class date approaches you need to spend some time ensuring that your handgun is in safe operating condition, cleaned and oiled, sufficient ammunition is close at hand, headset and shooting glasses are in your gun bag along with your spare magazines or speed loaders. Last, but not least, don't forget your holster that you use for concealed carry.
           As you can see, there is a lot more to training that just deciding you need it or want it. Often times it is the behind the scenes work that discourages many from pursuing the training that they may need to one day save their life.
           Training is not designed to turn you into Dirty Harry or Billy the Kid. It is designed, however, to give you the ability to someday even up the odds against a violent criminal and hopefully save your life in the event that someone is hell-bent on taking it. Training is not shooting holes in a bullseye target. Training is used to train the body and mind in the mechanics and tactics necessary to survive and win a gunfight.
           The average gunfight lasts but a few seconds, so it is important that you are able to 1) identify the threat through pre-incident indicators, 2) analyze and evaluate the entire situation, 3) formulate a successful defensive plan, and 4) initiate your memory motor responses.
           The importance of initiating these four steps can never be overstated. All actions are created twice, once in the mind and once in its execution. Criminal attackers often complete more than 75% of their attack plan before the average person recognizes the potential danger and the need to immediately activate his/her personal defense plan. This puts the average person at great risk to life and limb. Hesitation to act can result in injury or death and over-reaction can result in personal or financial liability.
           The speed at which the average person can implement his/her personal defense plan may very well determine the ability to succeed - life over death - winning over surviving.
           Society as a whole has the temptation of giving people the benefit of the doubt, taking people at their word and never thinking the worst of people. Unfortunately these are the three things that the CHL holder must become accustomed to ignoring in order to live their life to the fullest, to see their children grow up or even just to see another sunrise.
           Does this mean that CHL holders are loud, rude, overbearing, arrogant or mean? No! It means that they are even-tempered, highly vigilant, willing to never let ego get in the way but also willing to do whatever it takes to protect the most important thing to them - preservation of human life.
           Having a concealed handgun license has nothing to do with bravado, being macho or showing off. It has everything to do with the most basic of human instincts - survival.
           For those who place self-preservation and survival above all else, personal defense training is as natural as eating, sleeping or breathing. Ironically, your level of training and proficiency can directly affect that ability to eat, sleep or breath. Training has become a necessity of life brought on by those amongst us who feel that the only life worth living is theirs.
           Whatever you may decide it must be a decision that you can live with. The importance of training can only be stressed so much. You must take that all-important first step alone. Afterwards there are many that can assist you in attaining that level of comfort and confidence that you desire. Ultimately, your life is in your hands.

Copyright © 2002 William D. (Bill) Slater, Jr. This article was published in the Jan./Feb. 2002 (Vol. 6 No.1) issue of The Concealed Handgun, the official publication of the Texas Concealed Handgun Association.

This article was re-printed in the Sep./Oct. 2003 (Vol. 7 No.5) issue of The Concealed Handgun, the official publication of the Texas Concealed Handgun Association.


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