Dear James,
Just wanted to say thank you for letting your readers know about the Front Sight Gun + Gear + Training special offer. My husband and I attended the four-day defensive handgun and the one-day CCW courses last week, and are expecting delivery of the [Springfield Armory] XD40 [pistol]s we used during the courses, in two days.
Neither of us had any real experience with guns before the course. To be honest, when I read your book and in reading your blog, I always skimmed through or skipped the “gun sections” altogether.
Well, the course was a blast (pun intended). They took us from knowing virtually nothing to being able to hit the “stopping zone” on targets that flipped around in 1.5 seconds. (Okay not every time, but enough that we impressed ourselves!) We learned how to recognize and clear malfunctions in a matter of seconds, and do emergency reloads in the middle of “gun battles.” They took us through mazes with pictures of bad guys and good guys and hostages and we had to shoot the bad guys, not shoot the good guys, and rescue the hostages. There was a night shoot, and shooting at close range and while moving. (The close range and moving were part of the CCW class.)
I can’t say enough about the caliber of instruction. We had a main instructor and two to three coaches helping 18 students at a time. Each was very patient with this newbie. I felt that when I needed it, I was able to receive one-on-one help. Most of the students were already very experienced (law enforcement, military, and gun enthusiasts), and they also felt they were making valuable progress based on their experience levels.
We are looking forward to our continuing practice and education. And since we have recently moved to “The Wild West” (very rural Mendocino County [,California]) we have a new-found sense of being able to take care of ourselves.
Thanks again, – Pat in Northern California