So how should we be preparing to use our concealed weapons……one of the first things I tend to note with people is often times we don’t want to talk about how much we practice with our firearms. When is the last time you have practiced with your firearm? Or how about the folks that you consider to be part of your security team……or the ones you are thinking about making part of your team…..we all carry these firearms and when are we actually practicing with them? What scares me is when I hear some pastors say that they know people carry concealed weapons in the congregation and those people will take care of anyone who comes into the church shooting.

Now here is what I want us all to consider, whether you are the one carrying a concealed weapon, or you are the one asking people to carry a concealed weapon or you are the ministry leader who says my congregation has concealed weapons and will take care of it if something goes wrong…….think about this for a minute with me…..when something goes wrong how easy is it to use that weapon? How easy is it….. when someone is firing their weapon at me or other in church to duck to find cover, reposition myself to get my gun out of the holster or concealed carry location, draw it and fire it……as my stress and nerves are taking control?

Think about that……if you have to use your weapon to defend yourself, it is not like being at the gun range…..no one is going to say OK put on your eye protection and your hearing protection and now are you ready? OK begin firing………no this is shock and overwhelming rush of emotions….coupled with indecision and disbelief……

Let me apply some statistics to this for you to prove my point……many years ago The Police Policy Studies Council looked at 29 police shootings at one agency (and I will leave them anonymous because this is not about the agency….it is about the use of firearms in the heat of battle). These 29 police involved shootings occurred over a 4 year period….by the way this study was done to propose the officers needed more training …….. In this study it was determined that the police fire a total of 186 shots total in these 29 officer involved shootings. Their hit ratio? Of the total rounds fired they hit the intended person 112 times…….so you do the math that means they missed 40 percent of the time…..so the point I want to make with this is that police officers train often with their weapons, many agencies require officers to shoot a 90 or 100 percent hit measurement in practice 3 or 4 times a year… some of the agencies also have practice time dealing with holster systems and then shoot don’t shoot decision making drills or discussions. That means these officers might be thinking about weapons use and or practicing as much as 6 or 8 times a year at a minimum for up to 40 hours total time per year…..and what is there accuracy rate?

So now you are carrying your concealed weapon around with you and your have not practiced in 3 years…..you have not shot your weapon, you have not practiced drawing your weapon and you have not practiced or even thought about doing those two things while you are trying to fall to the ground or take cover, practicing while on the move? What is your accuracy rate going to be? I am guessing if the police training 40 hours per year 6 to 8 time during the year and have a miss rate of 40 percent…what might our miss rate be……I am afraid we might not even be able to get our weapons out of the concealed holster on our belts or in our purses….and if we do get the weapon out during all the chaos ….we might have a 100 percent miss rate when we do fire……

So the next question is where are your bullets going when they miss there intended target? Think about that for a minute….again we are not on the gun range where they go down range and into a pile of dirt or sand trap when we miss……those are what we call in law enforcement……million dollar rounds when we are firing our guns and missing our target in the middle of a crowd……those misses might hit innocent people and it is very costly…..money cost…..but also emotional costs and I do not want that for you or for your ministry.

So practice is important…..we need to practice drawing our firearm…..which we can do once it is safely unloaded in our bedroom, shop or other private and safe location. Practice, Practice, Practice……draw…successfully practicing drawing that weapon 5000 times might improve your ability to draw it under the pressure of an actual shooting incident. It becomes easier and just natural when you practice drawing your weapon that many times……then it is just second nature for you.

When we practice drawing, we might want to simulate how we might be drawing it …….if we are practicing for church are you seated? Probably a good chance…or are you standing? So simulating what we think the situation would be is a great way to practice…..real world simulation meaning we trying to think of the dynamics of what will happen if a violent shooting incident happens…..I am going to move for cover, I am going to draw my firearm and then I might use it. Practicing the mechanics of drawing, moving and firing……is what our goal should be…..and practice in a safe manner.