Listen to Clint Smith for any time at all and he'll eventually admonish you, the student, that "you can be absolutely magnificent in a fight and still get killed."
Not that I was by any means magnificent in Saturday's "CCW 101" class held by PRT in Plattsmouth, but still I managed to get myself killed in my scenario.
As I exited the door of the simulated mall with my simulated packages carried in my right hand (note: I was bright enough to keep my strong hand empty. I'll give myself that much), I was almost immediately accosted by an angry knife wielding man in the simulated parking lot who was intent on killing me with a not so simulated knife and vehemently communicating that intent. Using my lightning fast reflexes (ahem), I immediately kicked it into reverse, drawing one handed as I did so. The front sight dropped nicely onto his chest and I touched ol' Betsy off.
He dropped like a bag of wet cement. Too easy. Just too easy.
I scanned the room after verifying he was down. It was then I noticed I still had the packages in my right hand. DOH! Why not toss them in his path? I certainly didn't need to have them in my hand. Oh well.
Knowing that the instructor here is slightly devious and certainly sneaky, I sensed a trap. It was too easy thus far. I just KNEW something else was up. I was on high alert. The juices were flowing.
So there I was kinda wedged into the corner near the door when someone began to open it. I immediately turned and pointed at this new player in the scenario, standing less than an arm's length away.
He identified himself as a cop. I demanded, rather forcefully, to see a badge. Having had classes here before, I DID NOT BELIEVE FOR A SECOND that this guy was a cop. I wanted to see ID! We went back and forth here a little bit. Me, insisting on ID and him, insisting he was a cop.
Yeah, right. I know you. You're sneaky.
Not at all comfortable with my physical proximity to this "cop" I tried to open the distance between us. Unfortunately some folding chairs jumped in my path (I believe they were intentionally left there as a hindrance), I got tangled up in them and looked down. That's all it took.
The "cop" used some kind of secret Jackie Chan move and slapped the muzzle of my gun aside and shot me through the door. (There is some controversy here as he was using a 9mm and there is some doubt that the round would have penetrated the hollow core door.) But being a good sport, I accepted the fact that I had once again, been shot and killed.
The scenario obviously didn't go as planned. Besides the moderately damaged door frame, I was supposed to be much further into the room, which would have allowed the "cop" to enter the room behind me to effect an arrest and otherwise gain control over the situation. And then we would have seen if I could have responded coherently and communicated the appropriate information without saying "too much" to the responding officer.
There were five students in the class and we all got to run one scenario each. All were intense and instructive. It was interesting to witness how each student handled their problem. Hint: "going to guns" isn't always the appropriate response.
We spent the majority of the day in class, discussing CCW related issues. Topics included clothing choices, evaluating your lifestyle and appropriate use of lethal force. We also got to play with all kinds of different types and styles of holsters and handguns. Quite a bit of time was devoted to working on the drawstroke, using both hands, strong hand AND weak hand.
For the most part, I ran with an appendix IWB holster of some sort most of the day, which is something I have been considering. It offers some definite advantages. It's fast and weak handed drawing is MUCH easier IMHO vs my standard 8 o'clock IWB rig that I've been using for years. The downside obviously with the appendix position, if you screw up and have an AD while holstering, you've REALLY screwed up and probably killed yourself.
This is a great class, like the other PRT classes I've attended. I never fail to learn stuff, good stuff, at these classes, even though I routinely manage to get killed.
