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  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted September 23, 2016
  • In integrity, teaching

The difference between doctrine and dogma

The world of self defense seems to be full of polarizing opinions. While it can be said that any field of specialization has its strong opinions (and adherents to them), my observation is that this one is by far the most Balkanized. It doesn’t matter how you look at it, someone else will see it […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted September 19, 2016
  • In context, teaching

Choosing a defensive handgun: making the best of bad alternatives

An interesting question came up in a class I taught recently. It had to do with defensive carry firearm recommendations in states which restrict the models available for sale (such as in Massachusetts and California.) How is someone to pick the best of the worst options? The attributes of an ideal defensive handgun When picking […]

“We face the same criminals the police do!” Yes, but…

Every once in a while I see the tired old cliché “we face the same criminals the police do!” It’s usually used to justify some particular type of defensive firearms training, too often centered around the trainer’s police experience. The idea, of course, is that we need to adopt the attitudes, tactics, and armament of […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted August 29, 2016
  • In realistic, teaching

Are shooting classes all there is to self defense?

In the last couple of years I’ve had a somewhat radical change in my thinking about self defense. Rather, a change in thinking about teaching self defense. I’ve always focused on helping that half-percent* of gun owners who are interested in taking shooting classes to improve their gunhandling skills. In that respect I’ve been like everyone […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted August 22, 2016
  • In CCW, integrity, teaching

Why your CCW class isn’t enough

If you’re like most people who read this blog, you’ve already been through a CCW class of some sort. (CCW, of course, stands for Carrying a Concealed Weapon, which is a catch-all term for the practice, licensing and study to carry a handgun concealed on your person. The term ‘CCW class’ is generally applied to […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted August 15, 2016
  • In realistic, security

Preparing isn’t about fear. It’s about serenity.

Just recently I ran into an interesting reaction to the idea of preparation for personal security and family defense. Specifically it was a reaction to hardening the home and making it more difficult for people to get in, whether to burglarize or attack. “I shouldn’t have to do that”, the person wrote. No, you shouldn’t. […]

Someone you know is attacking you. Could you respond appropriately?

Those of us in the defensive training world usually talk about bad guys as though they’re complete strangers. The rapist on the jogging trail, the masked home invaders, and the carjacker at the gas station are all anonymous. We don’t know them, they really don’t know us, but fate causes our paths to intersect. When […]

What do you do with all your situational awareness?

“Situational awareness”. It’s one of the throwaway personal safety tips that are always trotted out after a horrific news story. So you work really hard to have it; then what? No, seriously: what do you do with all that situational awareness? It’s one thing if your situational awareness finds an imminent attack, but that’s not […]

Steyr AUG surprise: an unappreciated advantage for defensive use

You might remember that I’ve spent the last 18 months living with the Steyr AUG A3 M1 bullpup rifle. During that time I’ve been rather exclusive, using the AUG in place of all the other centerfire rifles I know and love. (Of course I’ve shot a lot of rimfire rifles during that time, but I […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted July 15, 2016
  • In realistic

Putting your self protection plan into action

What do juicy, red onions have to do with your self protection plan? You might be surprised! After my last two articles on threat assessment and prioritizing your self protection plan, I received an email asking for a little clarification. “I understand the idea of identifying threats, but how do I decide on the things I […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted July 11, 2016
  • In realistic, security

Your self protection plan: prioritizing your resources

When it comes to personal security, family safety, and home protection preparation, sometimes getting started is the hard part. That’s why I had you do the threat assessment exercise, because the results help you decide where you should start. That assessment can help guide your self protection plan so you know what to do first! […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted July 8, 2016
  • In awareness

Threat Assessment: the first step in security planning

In the last installment I left you with the idea that planning your personal security is something that you should make the effort to do. You’ll havemore effective defensive preparations (you’ll get better results) and more efficient ones too (you’ll make the best use of your preparedness resources.) As I’ve pointed out in many books […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted July 1, 2016
  • In confidence, security

Plan your personal security like a vacation

In Monday’s article about self defense tips I mentioned that the path to personal security, home defense and family protection doesn’t come from digesting little soundbites or snippets of information. Those sorts of things might make you feel good or give you a temporary (and very illusory) sense of security, but in reality they don’t […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted June 24, 2016
  • In flashlights, realistic

“All The Lumens”: how much flashlight do you really need for self defense?

I got an interesting email in response to my recent review of the FourSevens Quark Smart QS2L-X and Preon P2 lights. In that review I said that the lithium-powered Quark Smart, at 950 lumens, was actually more than enough light for my purposes and that the Preon at 220 lumens was still easily sufficient for […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted June 17, 2016
  • In integrity, teaching

Want to improve your skill development? Take notes during class. Lots of ’em.

A couple of years ago I was teaching a class in which there was an interesting mix of students: there were two public-sector firearms instructors, one from a state agency and one from a federal agency, along with the normal range of people you’d find at any shooting course anywhere in the country — blue […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted June 6, 2016
  • In accuracy, carbines

The AR-15 does a lot of things well. Except this.

Sometimes I think I’m the only person in the shooting/self defense field who’s actually thinking about the average person: the man or woman who doesn’t want to become a soldier or a police officer, doesn’t want to look like one, doesn’t want to spend all their free time on a shooting range, and doesn’t care […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted May 20, 2016
  • In attacks

A burglar, a boy, and bullets aplenty: how not to respond when life isn’t at stake.

A couple of weeks back social media was all abuzz at the case of an 11-year-old “hero” who shot a burglar. Now I know we’ve all seen “Home Alone” and cheered when little Kevin McAllister (Macaulay Caulkin) got the best of the would-be burglars, but in this case there’s much less to celebrate. The news […]

Reliability testing your defensive ammunition: important but often ignored!

Last week I headed out to the range to do some testing. Not practice, really (though I did use the opportunity to get in some realistic practice drills), but ammunition testing. Now you’ve probably seen YouTube videos about ammunition testing, complete with gelatin blocks (or their synthetic equivalent) and breathless talk about penetration and expansion. […]

Did your defensive shooting instructor get his certificate from the University Of Facebook?

A couple of weeks ago I was witness to an interesting incident on social media. There were two involved parties with me as a mutual contact observing both sides. In that incident are lessons for those who are searching for reliable self defense training and information. The first party — who is fairly well known in the defensive […]

How to afford the training you need? Sell a gun! (I’m serious.)

One of the issues I confront frequently is the excuse that people “can’t afford” the self defense or defensive shooting training they need. They’ll acknowledge that it’s important, agree that they should have it, then say that they just can’t find the money for it. Then they post pictures on Facebook or the gun forums […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted April 15, 2016
  • In gun safety, women

Another purse carry tragedy that didn’t need to happen. Can we prevent the next one?

You’ve probably read stories about how women are buying guns, and getting concealed carry permits, at a higher rate than ever before. I think that’s great; women should be able to avail themselves of the recreational and self defense opportunities that properly handled firearms provide. There’s no reason women shouldn’t become just as proficient with […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted April 8, 2016
  • In attacks

Incident Analysis: Road raging car vs. motorcycle. How would you handle it?

I’ve spoken before about the need to be able to protect yourself when you’re not armed, and today’s topic is a perfect example: a video of a motorcycle versus car road rage incident from Florida shows the need to defend yourself when a firearm is either not available or is not the right choice. Not every […]

Is “Constitutional Carry” good for the rest of us? Let’s make sure it is through education!

So-called “constitutional carry” is becoming more popular around the country. This refers to being able to carry a concealed handgun in public without any sort of permitting or licensing process, assuming that the person is legally allowed to possess the handgun. (The term “constitutional carry” is itself a reference to the Second Amendment’s wording of […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted March 21, 2016
  • In security

Someone is in your home. Can you shoot him? Should you?

The other day my UPS route driver stopped by (thank you, Amazon Prime!) and chatted for a few minutes. He had questions for me about defensive shooting during a home break in, specifically when he could and could not legally shoot a person breaking into his home while he was there and whether he could […]

Boring doesn’t sell, and realistic self defense skills are kind of boring.

No matter what you’re trying to get people to buy — from cars to breakfast cereals to political candidates — you have to make it exciting, because if it’s not folks will just pass it by. (Yes, political candidates. Anyone remember Scott Walker? He was an early entry into this year’s Republican field and widely […]