I am glad you got something from the video.
STATEMENT OF DISCLOSURE:
I am not a firearms trainer. The following is only intended to be helpful. I am not a subject matter expert with regards to firearms.
[quote]Miss Parker wrote:
The creepiest part of the video was seeing how the officer was carrying his gun & the resulting wound when the trigger was pulled. I think about that stuff a lot when practicing drawing from a holster. [/quote]
I think the greater risk is usually when re-holstering as opposed to drawing. It is at that time that attention seems to wane and the negligent discharges I hear about occur. The following may help decrease the inherent risk of training/using guns.
1.) “Hard” Index of your Trigger Finger when not actively firing: The general advice to “keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire” is good, but actively seeking a repeatable and palpable point of reference for the finger is probably better. Find a place along the slide/frame for your trigger finger to touch when it is not prepping or working the trigger.
My stand by is to index on the gap between the slide and frame on an automatic. This means I am either “feeling” something that I know is not the trigger(value added that it also means my finger is “pointing” along the barrel) or I am “feeling” the trigger as I attempt to roll it straight to the rear. This prevents casually laying the trigger finger alongside the trigger guard and having an unfortunate “flinch” response(my hands are embarrassingly small so I cannot use the front of the trigger guard on many weapons, YMMV) and seems to help stream line the “off the trigger” to “on the trigger” process because my finger gets to move the same EVERY TIME.
2.) HARD BREAK before re-holstering. There are many possible reasons/situations where whe will desire to shave .25 seconds off our draw times. In fact, if you truly need a lethal weapon in your hand, I submit that you will likely need it “RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!”. There are far fewer situations where that same .25 seconds, our even a full 2 seconds, will save us going back into the holster.
Regardless of if you fired or didn’t take the time to run through the following questions:
Do I still need to shoot THAT ASSHOLE? (Lower weapon enough to visually confirm)
Might I need to shoot any of his friends?(Look around and make sure)
Do I need to be somewhere else RIGHT NOW?(If so, see to it.)
Am I injured?
Do I need to tell any body something, or follow someone else’s directions?(I am not an LEO, so
if I break kydex after making sure I don’t get killed by the “threat”, my next point of order is to make sure I don’t get killed by any responding officers. Even if you ARE a sworn officer, the uniforms cannot see your halo. So you may need to start doing everything in your power to comply with the good guys until they realize you are one of them. Switching gears from fighting/killing to submissive/compliant is going to be rough and the “hard break” may help you get there.
Do I need to reload my gun?
Should I de-cock/safe my weapon?
THEN we can re-holster.
I understand situations may arise where you draw down, and decide you do not need deadly force. I submit that you should either have enough distance/time to reholster purposely and reluctantly, or you went to the gun too soon/at the wrong time and have just manufactured your own exigency. If that is the case drive on as best you can.
3.) Make sure the holster mouth is free from obstructions. Even with a factory 6 pound trigger on my glock I have been unable to get the striker to release(unloaded gun) by trying to re-holster with a t-shirt or cover garment jammed through the trigger guard. Still it could happen. The plastic friction do-hickeys on the drawstings of popular wind breakers and fleeces WILL absolutely give enough resistance to work the trigger during re-holstering. If your cover garment has them, CUT THEM OFF. You don’t want to draw the bottom of your jacket tight around your gun anyway. I cannot speak to tactical/uniform gear or straps. I am way too Low Speed High Drag, hell I am more No Speed, All Drag than HSLD.
While on holsters, make sure the holster is in good repair. Cheap and/or worn holsters can have linings or materials work there way into the trigger guard. The result is THE BIG NOISE when you shove the gun back into the holster.
4.) Lean AWAY from the holster when you are reholstering-It does not have to be a big movement, but even a subtle shift of your upper body away form the holster mouth can let you angle the muzzle of the gun AWAY from you. It also helps releive tension on the mouth of the holster if you are using an all leather or a “hybrid” hoslter(Comp-Tac, located in your home state is a fantastic company to do business with. I recommend the M-tac and C-tac holsters as well as their gun belts. They also give you a roll of SMARTEES with your order. Who doesn’t want SMARTEES?)
Under no circumstances angle the muzzle INTO your body in an attempt to wedge/force it into the holster mouth or to find the holster mouth. Do not be afraid to LOOK at the holster. If something is so demanding of your attention that you cannot spare a glance to confirm holster location and that it is clear, than you should likely keep your gun in your hand and problem solve.
5.) PLATFORM/WEAPON SPECIFIC: If possible use manual/positive pressure to prevent the trigger from working. On guns with an exposed hammer(save single actions carried cocked and locked) you can break your master grip and use your thumb to hold pressure down on the hammer. This will prevent the weapon from firing, even if the trigger is pulled. You may break the trigger mechanism, but you will not hear The Big Noise. If you lack an exposed hammer/double action hammer, but have a manual safety than hold it in the on position. It is less sure, but it is something. Finally, some striker fired autos have a “striker indicator” that moves at the back of the gun(example:Walther PPS). You may not be able to get enough force on it to prevent a discharge, but holding pressure on it can give you a tactile signal that something is wrong.
Some of the above may seem to take too much time or even bring certain drawbacks/training scars in some situations. It is however my opinion that while the above MIGHT cost me dearly in some situations that MAY happen, I WILL be reholstering a loaded handgun dozens if not 100’s of times each month during training. I will be doing it when tired, possibly sun-burned, maybe de-hydrated, and almost certainly while pissed off/frustrated at my own lack of ability to put the rounds where I want them at a useful speed. Anything I can do to keep my insides inside of me during training seems worth it to me. Your milage may vary.
I hope the above was helpful. If not, please dis-regard. As I previously stated I am not trying to represent myself as a subject matter expert.
Regards,
Robert A