Why you need to start training with a 3 x 5 index card

I’m a competitive person and hate losing. Just ask my wife who kicked my butt every time we played scrabble when we were dating. (I refuse to play anymore.) However, when it comes to being a more accurate shooter it’s important we “lose” often.

What I mean is, I’ll often be at the shooting range and I’ll see some shooter with the target 4 feet away, hitting the “bulls eye” every time. This shooter is happy and his buddies will be congratulating him, however, this shooter is not challenging himself and not testing his limits.

And obviously, if he never tests himself then he’ll never improve his draw, and never become a more accurate shooter overall. So, if you’d like to challenge yourself, I recommend two simple items – a timer and a 3 x 5 index card.

Since each shooter has different levels of experience…

Just be honest with yourself and set the timer where it should be. In other words, if you’re brand new and still working on your draw, don’t set the timer at 1.5 seconds if you can’t get anywhere close to that. Set the timer where you have just barely enough time to get the shot off and then reduce the time from there.

As far as the index card, put one on the head area of the target. With your timer set, draw and fire one round only at the index card. Again, going back to levels of experience, if you’re new, you may might to start this drill from a distance of 5 yards, then move to 7, then to 10, etc.

You’re going to miss…

From experience, I can tell you that if you’re really pushing yourself you’re going to miss and probably miss often. But eventually, as you work on the fundamentals, improve your draw and your trigger control, you’ll start getting a lot more hits on the 3 x 5 card. And when you start getting all your hits at 5 yards, then move the 3 x 5 card back to 7 yards, and then back to 10 and so on.

Another drill I like to do with the 3 x 5 cards it to put one card on the head of the target and another card on the body of the target. When the timer beeps I fire one round at the head and one round at the body.

Also, I’m a big believer that until you’re able to consistently hit the 3 x 5 card, you should only draw and fire one round at the card. If you draw the gun and empty your magazine and only the last 3 rounds hit the card, that doesn’t really matter. Because in a gunfight that would mean you’ve had 12 rounds go somewhere else, but more importantly, you’re probably dead.

So the next time you head to the range, bring a timer, index cards, and fire one shot and one shot only at a time. And remember, it’s okay to miss. You need to challenge yourself and miss in order to get better, so don’t compare yourself to the fellow next to you who’s hitting the “bulls eye” every time from 2 feet away.

Where to carry your backup gun

A number of people I know like to carry two guns instead of carrying spare ammo, because they believe the fastest reload is their backup gun. Personally, I sometimes carry two guns and sometimes I just carry extra ammo, so like a lot of things gun-related there’s no right or wrong answer.

However, if you’re going to carry two guns, I’d recommend these considerations: First, make sure you train with both guns. Everyone likes to train with their favorite firearm but few people train with their backup snubbies or “mouse” guns.  I spend about 10-15 minutes a day dry firing and I trade off between my primary and backup gun.

Second, if I were you, I would carry my primary gun on my hip at the 4 o’clock position, and I would carry my backup gun in my front pocket. This is what I personally do, with my Glock 19 on my hip and my Ruger LCP in my front, right pocket.

I know a lot of people like to carry their backup guns on their ankle…

But I’ve never been a big fan of ankle carry. One of the main reasons is that drawing from the ankle is just too slow. I’m a firm believer that you need to be able to draw your gun and get it on target in two seconds or less. I can do this drawing from both my hip and pocket, but it’s a lot more difficult to draw in less than two seconds from the ankle. 

Also, try and make your backup gun similar to your primary gun. In other words, if you carry a 1911, you might want the Colt Mustang as your backup. However, if you carry a Glock and have your 1911 as a backup you may forget to take off the thumb safety. If Glock made a good pocket gun like the LCP then I would carry that. However, the LCP doesn’t have any external safeties and, like the Glock, all I have to do is pull the trigger to get it to fire, so they’re pretty darn similar.

One last thing I want to comment about…

Because I recently got an email concerning this, I want to mention an unusual circumstance where a backup gun may save your life. Over the years, I’ve had a number of students tell me stories about how they were at an outdoor range in the mountains or somewhere remote and how a suspicious looking character came around and gave them a very bad feeling. Usually, they would pack up and leave, and I’ve never heard of a student getting attacked or robbed while out shooting.

However, it is common sense that criminals will go to outdoor ranges that are secluded because they know that’s where the guns are. And maybe one day while you’re the range, some criminal will wait for just the right moment to attack you when you’ve emptied your gun and you stop to reload… But if you’ve got a backup gun then you still have a way to protect yourself. (Just don’t empty it too, if you know someone is watching you.)

I realize this sounds far fetched, but when I’m shooting in the mountains and people come around, I always have my backup gun in my pocket, ready to go, because you just never know.

The bottom line is, whether you carry two guns or not is obviously up to you, but make sure and practice with both and make sure you can access both quickly.

Will YOU get arrested during a home burglary?

Unless you live in the state of Texas, I encourage you to pay attention to what happened to a homeowner in Utah. The homeowner arrived at his house to find a suspicious vehicle in his driveway and his front door wide open.

He retrieved a gun from his car and attempted to hold the two people in his driveway at gunpoint. However, when they tried to drive away he shot at the vehicle in an attempt to disable it. What’s more, a burglar came out of the house and ran when he saw the homeowner, and the homeowner chased after the guy and ended up firing a shot.

When all was said and done, the burglar who came out of the house and the homeowner were both arrested and booked into jail. So what did this homeowner do wrong?

Ohhh where do I begin?

First off, this homeowner was either asleep during his concealed carry course or he didn’t pay attention whatsoever. Remember, you can only use deadly force when you are in fear for your life or seriously bodily injury. When the homeowner approached the car and the occupants tried to drive away, they were obviously no longer a threat.

Plus, trying to disable the car by shooting out a tire or shooting the engine block just proves he wasn’t in fear for his life. If he was, he would’ve shot the occupants and not the car.

And when the other burglar came out of the house and started running, it is never a good idea to chase after him, let alone shoot at him. Again, the burglar was running away so he is no longer a threat. Plus, if you chase him and do catch him you don’t know what knives, tools, or guns he has on him.

The fact is, this homeowner is very lucky…

That he didn’t hit the occupants in the car and that he didn’t hit the burglar he was chasing after. If he did, who knows how long he’d end up in jail. What this homeowner should have done is pulled over to the side of the street when he saw a suspicious vehicle in his driveway. He should have called 911 and given them the license plate and waited for police to arrive.

I realize that’s not the macho thing to do and most people will want to approach the car and confront the burglars. All I can say is this: If you do and they flee, just let them go. And if they don’t flee and you’re forced to shoot them, then you may end up wishing for the rest of your life you had just waited in your car and been a good witness.

In other words, resist the macho side we all have, and exercise self-discipline. Your life is far too important to have it ruined because some low-life burglar broke into your house to steal a TV and you felt the need to confront him or chase after him.