WARNING: This is REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY long. (Apparently I had some time today to sit down and blather.) This is regarding the original questions about how much training/what level of skill is "enough". (There have been some other good things said related to that, but this really horribly long post is just about the original question.)
Note: The following statements are my feelings and opinions on this topic. So even if I'm stating things as absolutes, that is because *I* feel they are that way, as opposed to saying "I know the Ultimate Truth(™) and you should all believe me!" So, take the following as you will. Or ignore it.
What is the minimum level of training necessary for CHP holders? And what is the minimum level you should strive for?In my opinion, these are two very separate questions.
Minimum level of training necessary for CHP holders?Be safe with a handgun so that when you load, unload, put the gun on, and take the gun off, you don't shoot yourself. That's pretty much it.
Most CHP holders will never need their weapon. Ever. Especially if they are smart enough to avoid the the "S"s of altercations:
1) Being in Stupid places,
2) doing Stupid things,
3) with Stupid people.
If you don't do the above, your chance of ever needing your weapon is throughly remote. Not zero, but so close to it that comparatively, you are much more likely to kill yourself slipping and falling (seriously, you are more likely to do that, especially in Nebraska winters) than to ever need a concealed weapon.
As such, as long as you can safely handle it (and thus, not shoot yourself or anyone else on a daily basis) you'll be fine.
This, by the way, is why when people talk about effective training, choice of equipment, reliability, mindset, awareness, etc, you get hordes of people posting all the time about how they "do just fine without all that" as they are "good enough for what they need" even though they don't
actually know enough to realize how
little skill they have.
But since most people won't ever need any training other than safety training, because they'll never be in a situation in which they need to use their firearm, they can rest secure in their self-image no matter how wrong. (Or how annoying to others who actually go and practice, and actually know how they score on objective standards.)
This isn't to say that some people don't shoot well without formal training of some sort---but it is certainly true that
most don't.
Don't believe me? There is a simple way to find that out: Try a competition, such as Steel Challenge, or USPSA. Neither one tests defensive tactics, they are both straightforward tests of
shooting ability.
For those of you who had been shooting awhile, and did exactly that (tried a competition)---how'd your competition go? What did it tell you about your shooting ability?
This, by the way, is also why a number of people try competition once, then don't come back, saying they don't need it and it doesn't teach defensive shooting. They are right in that it has nothing to do with defensive tactics---but that isn't why they stopped. They stopped because it showed them they couldn't shoot well, and they couldn't handle it. This, by the way, is separate from the people who shot Open for awhile, then decided that their Open gun practice was teaching them things that wouldn't apply to their carry gun, so they stopped. Different situation in that case. Though there are plenty of people who instead started shooting in Production with their carry gun, to work on shooting skills with THAT gun...
Note: Competition is NOT training. Nor is it practice. Competition is testing, and those three things (training, practice, and testing) are very different. If all the shooting you do is one competition a month, that is better than not shooting at all--but if you can only shoot once a month, you'll get better if you use that time for actual practice.
That's another post, though.
Back to the point:
Most people don't shoot well, with respect to any objective standard related to defensive shooting. (Try the FAST drill. Or the Hackathorn standards. Or the FAS test. Or the old FAM qualification. Did you pass? How did you do?) Most people are untrained---and not really good at shooting unless it involves shooting at/near a pop can 10 feet away at a friend's place. (Or unless they are on the internet. Everyone is amazing on the internet.) However, since a vast majority of people will never need their gun, it doesn't really matter as long as they know enough to be safe with a handgun.
Now---the question that IS actually important:
What is the minimum level you should strive for?That's a completely different thing.
Think about it for a second---you carry a concealed weapon because you think there is a possibility that you might need it. If you need it (and are legally able to use it) it means that you are in fear for your life. You are under the threat of death or seriously bodily harm (for example, paralysis, loss of a limb, loss of an eye, etc). Or you fear such things for someone you love.
Given that---how trained should you be? How reliable should your firearm be? How efficient should your equipment be? (This ended up being the subject of a fairly intense discussion at the last CCW class I held.)
I'll leave the equipment and firearm discussion out, since that also is a whole 'nother post.
So how trained should you be? Or rather, how
skilled should you be?
It helps to define the situation: If you are in fear for your life, then obviously people are trying to kill/seriously injure you. The situations that are lethal in nature (and justify a lethal-level response) are:
1) Large disparity of force
2) multiple attackers
3) weapons
(Noting that the last two automatically confer the first.)
So---if only choice 1, then the attacker is much stronger/larger than you, and trying to kill you with his bare hands. As such, he will be close. If choice 2, there are multiple people at close range trying to kill you, and if choice 3, they are either at close range (ex: knife) or anywhere from close to distant (ex: gun).
So, what I think:
A) I think you should have solid
shooting training such that your skills are sufficient to:
1: score under 10 seconds on the FAST drill.
http://pistol-training.com/drills/the-fast (Preferably under 8 seconds. Reasonable goal for under 7.)
2: Be able to achieve a 100% on the NE Law Enforcement Qualification course from concealment with a concealed magazine pouch. (No IPDA vests and such---using your
actual CCW rig.) And not merely a passing score---a 100%. All hits. (You have tons of time.)
http://www.nletc.state.ne.us/pdfs/FireQual.pdf3: Get a passing score (7 out of 9 hits) on the Hackathorn 3-Second Head Shot Standards from concealment.
http://pistol-training.com/drills/3-second-head-shot-standards4: From concealment, draw and fire 4 shots into the A-zone of an IPSC metric target, or the -0 zone of an IDPA target, at 7 yards in under 3.50 seconds. Consistently. (Short-Bill drill.)
Why these?
The FAST drill checks drawing to a low-percentage target, hard splits, easy splits, slidelock reloads, and fast followup shots. And penalizes poor accuracy
significantly. (To get it within 8 seconds, a 3.5 draw/2 shots, a 3 second reload, and 1.5 seconds for the other three shots on an 8" circle will get it done. This isn't that difficult IF your trigger control is sufficient to get your hits.)
The NE LEO Qual is straightforward and easy from a time perspective, but you have to draw, reload, and shift targets multiple times at different distances out to 15 yards---and get all your hits (which isn't hard, because the target is huge).
The Hack can be tough for many people, because of the transitions and speed necessary. That being said, if you have a 2-second draw, you still have 0.5 seconds for each transition. How precise are you? If you don't have a 2-second draw from concealment, how do you think you'll ever get your gun out in time when someone is attacking you?
The Short-Bill checks whether you can draw and fire immediately on a high-percentage target, and THEN keep control through fast followup shots. Why not six, then, a more-standard Bill Drill? Well, 1) that really burns through the ammo, and 2) four shots is enough to see if your grip and recoil control is sufficient for rapid fire.
There are plenty of other perfectly good drills out there, and these standards aren't difficult to meet. And these four are what come to mind just off the top of my head when I think about shooting skills for self-defense.
This is what I consider "minimum". That doesn't mean you shouldn't carry if you can't do them---but if you can't,
in my opinion you need to work on your shooting skills because under stress, when someone is trying to kill your child, you may not be fast and accurate enough to save them.
I note plenty of people have defended themselves perfectly well with skills significantly below what is outlined above. I'm not saying that without this level, you won't be able to protect yourself---I'm saying that unless your skills are at this level at a minimum, you really don't have the level of skills
necessary to do the shooting you might need, no matter what your other skills are. It may work out anyway---but relying on luck isn't a good tactical or strategic plan.
So that was shooting skills---what about the other stuff?
B) Well, do you know anything about close-in defense? Do you know the basics of empty-hand defense well enough to use them and be able to transition to your firearm while maintaining that defense?
C) Do you know how to work multiple attackers? Do you have the basics of lining them up? Prioritizing? Can you couple this with your empty-hand-to-firearm defense techniques?
D) Do you know the basics of weapons defense? Club, knife, gun? The basic idea of what to do from contact distance, 3 feet, 5 feet, and 8+ feet?
After all, those are the situations that you'll be in if you need to use your firearm. Do you know the basic tactics? Have an overall strategic plan for defense?
E) Have you integrated into your plan how to keep your family safe? You won't just get attacked when you are out by yourself--if you have a wife in tow (or a husband for those female CCWers) and you or your spouse is carrying a baby, it can (and does) happen. Do you know what to do? Have you talked with your family about what to do?
How much time have you spent thinking about what is most likely to happen to you, and how much time have you spent learning about how to deal with it?
In my opinion, for someone to consider themselves at a basic minimum level of readiness for CCW, I think they need to have had training and practice in the points B though E listed above. How much? Well, that depends on how good the class is---AND how much you actually practice.
Locally, several different people teach B-D, above. (Sometimes all in the same class, though D has a number of different aspects that really require either a longer class, or two different classes at minimum. In-close weapon work and distance work really are two very different issues.) None are expensive. If money is an issue, take one a year until you've had one from each instructor. If someone is really good, take the next level class from that instructor. If you like it, and really want to build skills, practice a lot and then take more.
(How do you know if what you are learning is actually good stuff? Look at what is taught out there. Read. Study. In class, did it work for you in scenario training? How about force-on-force practice? It is nice to learn from someone who you like---but you aren't there to make friends, you are there to
learn effective technique. Did you?)
Which brings up something else---if you are training for self-defense, at SOME point in time you need to participate in adrenaline-based scenario training. If nothing else, you need to be stressed in practice occasionally.
You learn a lot REALLY FAST when you get shot in the facemask with an AirSoft gun, and realize you are dead.
There is lots more to say, but this is long enough. To sum up:
1) Try a Steel Challenge or USPSA competition, or attempt the qualifications listed above. If you find that your shooting isn't what you thought, take a shooting skills class of some sort. Not tactics, nothing specialized---just solid shooting skills. That'll cost $110 or so for a local class.
2) If you CCW and expect to actually be skilled enough to use it effectively in an emergency situation, take some sort of CQT (Close Quarters Techniques/Tactics) class, and some sort of DT (Defensive Tactics) class to give you an introduction to the basic techniques and tactics. There's another $115 each locally.
You don't have to take those three classes all at once. Quite frankly, one or two a year is probably more than enough since you should
then be going and practicing the techniques and skills from the class. This takes time. You've got to practice.
Shooting skills are perishable. This doesn't mean you have to practice daily or anything. (Unless you actually want to be really good.) However, to maintain a minimum skill level, doing 10 minutes of dryfire a week (using a well-thought-out drill plan) and going to the range for live fire once a month will make a significant difference in the maintenance of your abilities. It won't maintain a high level (you'd need more practice than that) but it will maintain a useful level.
This is under the assumption that you have good solid fundamentals in the first place, know what to practice both in dryfire and in live fire, and actually have the knowledge to maintain those skills.
After all that---I still betting that any number of people have read this and said in their own heads "I haven't/can't do any of those things/been to any classes like that and I can still defend myself perfectly well!"
Really? How do you know? Have you had to? If so, did you get by on luck, or are you really that good?
Or are you saying that merely because you've never had to?
----
Okay, that's just my opinion. Take of it as you will, feel free to ignore it.
