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A group of twelve of my friends decided they wanted to go for their carry permit and this weekend ended up taking the class through the same instructor I used, Joel Rosenberg.  Top-notch instructor, keeps the class interesting while relating all the information necessary and I have yet to hear a question he doesn\’t know the answer to.

Since it was a private class of a bunch of my friends, including my girlfriend, I asked if I could sit in on it and offered up my services as an assistant if necessary.  I\’m happy to say he accepted.   And even though I had taken his class just over a year ago, it was still a blast.

Sure there is a great deal of information, all of it deadly serious, literally, so it\’s always nice to hear it again.  And Joel, while he presents that information in a serious straight forward manner, also is a great story teller.  His stories all have a serious point and that part is always obvious, but they are also enjoyable.  But one of the best parts the second time around is watching the faces and reactions of my friends as they took the class.

I remembered back when I took it and the things going through my head and the feeling of being overwhelmed at times.  Mostly notably is the part when he\’s just got done scaring the shit out of you with all the legal requirements for self defense and the seemingly thousands of factors you need to consider in the fraction of a second you have at the moment of attack.

He then gives you a hypothetical situation, that really is the impossibly perfect clear cut case of undeniable justified self defense, and asked what you do.  If not so serious, the reactions around the room would have been funny.  Blank stares and hesitation were the rule.   In their defense it\’s all new information and they were just cold-cocked with a lot of legal requirements only minutes before.

It also made me think of the lessons I\’ve learned in the relatively short time (over a year) I\’ve been carrying.  I\’m by no means an expert but I figured it was worth putting those lessons to type.

Pride is a liability.  With every right comes great responsibility, and carrying a firearm is no exception.  You can\’t afford to escalate any situation.  You have to shrug off every insult, every middle finger and every challenge.  Doing otherwise makes you an aggressor and you are therefore liable if you end up using that firearm, even if the other guy pulls a knife on you.

Nobody knows.  It varies for everyone, but there is that period of time, for some a month (me it was several), where even though your weapon is concealed, you are convinced everyone knows.  Nobody does.  Even those that carry openly (non-concealed) will tell you that most people are so oblivious to their surroundings that they won\’t even notice.

When I started I was obsessive in my concealment, going to great lengths to make sure that even if a hurricane blew there is no way it would be revealed.  Today much less so, I know that unless someone knows what to look for (and even not then most of the time), it\’s not going to be seen.

Stop touching the damn thing.  This sort of correlates to the above one.  But stop touching it.  If it\’s in a holster it\’s in the same spot as it was the last twenty times you touched it.  Plus every time you fiddle with it you run the chance of doing something you shouldn\’t.  You can feel it there, the holster is doing it\’s job, leave it alone.  Plus it makes it pretty obvious you\’re carrying to a trained eye.

Your class was not the end of your education.  Practice. Practice. Practice.  Sure that includes the range, but it also includes your brain.  The law can be complicated, human nature doubly so.  You will NEVER consider all the possible scenarios, but you can make other peoples experiences work for you.

I visit web forums dedicated to this topic pretty regularly, such as Twin Cities Carry.  I\’m able to learn things to avoid or things to be aware of.  What cities have police departments which are ignorant of the law??  What Sheriff believes he\’s God and can openly doesn\’t care what the law says???  What is the best way to handle a certain situation??  What ammo works best???  Not only do I learn from other peoples mistakes and successes, I also am exposed to other sources of education.  Things like seminars on the Fifth Amendment (Part I, Part II).

Clean your weapon, even if you haven\’t fired it.  Sitting next to your body and your clothing it gets dirty.  Lint gets in it.  Sweat gets on it.  Every day debris and dirt get on it.

Situational awareness is a bonus.  One of the down sides to carrying is it is never comfortable.  Just like even the best hunting boots in the world aren\’t more comfortable than a beatup pair of slippers, no matter what system you divine it will not get comfortable.  It\’s always going to be extra weight and it\’s probably going to poke and prod you at time.

The plus side is it\’s a constant reminder to maintain situational awareness.  Take the average person going about their day and really look at them.  What are they doing?? Looking down, talking on their phone, listening to an ipod, thinking over what to make for dinner, etc…..everything but paying attention to their surroundings.  These are sheep in every sense of the world, unaware of the wolves that are out there.  Maintaining situational awareness makes you more of a sheepdog and that alone keeps you safer, and that noticeable presence on your hip (or wherever) helps you remember that.

The \”what if\” scenarios that play out in your head never end.  It\’s part of the situational awareness.  What if that skittish guy in the other aisle of the convenience store is preparing to hold up the place??  What if the guy behind you on the sidewalk is really stalking you, looking for a good place to stick you up?  Seldom, hopefully never, will those situations actually be true, but they happen, again, hopefully not to you.  But it\’s nice to have already decided what you\’re going to do if they do.

Be selective about who you let know that you carry….and yeah I understand that putting that on a public blog kinda of violates that (nobody knows when and where I carry though).  Some people are skittish about firearms, no reason to alarm them for no reason.  Others are idiots…yes even your friends, and their knowledge can only get you in trouble.

Let\’s just take one of those \”what if\” scenarios above.  That skittish guy in the convenience store really is about to hold up the store.   He makes his move and having evaluated the situation, you decide it\’s best to take cover in your aisle out of sight of the criminal.  Having your friend panic and cry out, \”Shoot him!\” probably isn\’t going to help your efforts to go unnoticed, unharmed and escaping out the back door.