What's the reason people don't train? I know money is one of them. I know a lot of men that don't because of ego. What excuse have you heard?
I think it depends on what you mean by training. For the vast majority of non-military, non-LEOs, the primary defense strategy is to run away and break off an encounter if at all possible. I know that's mine. My EDC is a Ruger LCP, and the only reasonably conceivable circumstance for me to use it would be up-close and very personal, and then only when a loved one or I are directly threatened. If I'm in a restaurant or a store that is getting robbed, as long as the bad guy doesn't cover me or mine with his muzzle, he'll have to trouble from me. I'm just a guy with a desk job and a desire to protect myself. I go to the range every two weeks, shoot a hundred rounds or so, and I can hit any spot I want at 7 yards or closer. Is that training? If so, I train.
On the other hand, for my purposes, I think off-hand shooting, running and shooting, room-clearing and hand-to-hand combat training are all fun, but it's just gun camp. Instead of a ski vacation, it's a gun vacation. That kind of training for most of us is the equivalent of going to a dude ranch to play cowboy for a while. It's not who I am, and it's not who I project to be. I don't believe in a zombie apocalypse, and I don't foresee a real-life RED DAWN scenario where my modest little arsenal will rescue the country from hoards of people trying to do it harm. I see no need to train for any kind of tactical situation.
One thing I do know after a career in the fire and rescue service is that emergency situations have a way of locking up the mind. Some people panic and others take meaningful action. The difference is often defined by the level of relevant training. The way I see it, there's no real strategy in a gunfight beyond trying hard to be the one who walks away at the end of it. The key to that is marksmanship. If I can drill my attacker in the eye with my little .380 round before he can drill me in the gut with his .45, I win. If I don't, then I've had a bad day. Given that the average gunfight lasts something like three seconds, the winner is determined quickly and loser never knows he lost.
Like it or not to those on this forum who find something or many things wrong with nathanwriter, he is honest and correct as far as I am concerned and, if you were to somehow have a way of asking this question to all "ordinary joes" out there who own that one firearm or two firearms, you will find, IMO, that they agree with his comments.
I do not carry 24/7 or most days. I wholeheartedly believe in situational awarenes that has kept me safe for 71 years. Maybe I have led a blessed and upper middle class life but I also do not go anywhere that could cause me a problem and I will evade, run, hide--anything to avoid a problem. In my house I lock my bedroom door and will not leave it to investigate a bump in the night. I have insurance for everything and it all can be replaced--it is just stuff. I have insurance on myself but I am not replaceable and have no intention of finding out how good I am at this gun stuff. Try and open my locked bedroom door and it will probably will be the last thing you do. I target shoot in more of a real practice mode every two weeks with friends but I am not rolling around and laying on my belly and shooting from the hip etal, but I do practice point/shoot usually at targets that are within a 5-10 yards and not to the length of the range--the length of the range is not, IMO, imminent danger to me and serves me no purpose within what I consider my conservative lifestyle.
Thank you nathan for saying something that I believe most people agree with.
1st most people think going to the range is training. It's not. It is practicing what you should have learned in training with a professional instructor.
2nd training is expensive. Even basic courses cost 2-300 bucks plus ammo.
3rd most don't believe they need it. They have the "it can't happen to me" attitude.
It amazes me I have people tell me they can't afford it, and I read on the forum they just bought their 4th
Gun this year.
Agreed, with one alteration: I have a kid, and I'd have to get him out of his bedroom first. I need enough of the basics to do that safely, then I'm good.
1st most people think going to the range is training. It's not. It is practicing what you should have learned in training with a professional instructor.
2nd training is expensive. Even basic courses cost 2-300 bucks plus ammo.
3rd most don't believe they need it. They have the "it can't happen to me" attitude.
It amazes me I have people tell me they can't afford it, and I read on the forum they just bought their 4th
Gun this year.