USCCA

I once asked him what he thought was the single most important quality in achieving success. His reply was immediate and succinct.

You literally cannot ask for anything more than that out of a pistol bullet. When moving at pistol velocities, a projectile’s only real wounding mechanism is penetration.

With the possible exception of the jacketed hollow-point projectile, I don’t believe there’s a single defensive technology that has progressed as far in the last 30 years as the modern flashlight.

In a nation beset by enemies foreign and domestic, it escapes me why some responsibly armed Americans would be opposed to the right tools in the right hands.

People survive being hit multiple times with a .45, while others drop after one shot from a .380. Shooting well, with a gun you will actually carry, is more important than some “energy number.”

After carrying for most of my adult life, I have concluded that what most of us really need is simply a solid, reliable gun that we can shoot well and carry comfortably.

Why is training, specifically in the context of defensive shooting, so important? The answer may surprise you.

The thin and decorative belts in question were rarely much more than an inch wide, while the tunnel loops of the PDQ holster were cut to accommodate a one and three-quarter inch duty-type belt. My pistol pitched and rolled on my belt like a rowboat in a North Atlantic gale.

I stood at my dresser, looking at my EDC gear, and asked myself, “Is it worth it?” I’d injured my leg and could not move around without assistive devices, and on this particular day, I would be on crutches.