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 […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted March 1, 2016
  • In practice, realistic

Airsoft for defensive shooting practice: good idea or a waste of time?

A question I’m frequently asked regards the value of non-firearm projectile launchers like Airsoft and BB guns as training devices for defensive shooting. This is a discussion that doesn’t lend itself to soundbites; there are some important principles which need to be understood to be able to gauge, for yourself, the value of any non-firearm […]

Protecting others is a noble act. It’s also a dangerous one.

Today’s blog post was suggested by a reader. I wrote a piece a while back about the dangers of intervening in an active incident, and he asked if I could extend my comments to intervention in a chronic incident: one which has been going on for some time. Such situations do exist, and they can be very […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted February 1, 2016
  • In carbines

What self defense ammunition is best for the 9mm carbine?

I’ve often said that I’m in favor of the pistol-caliber carbine, either autoloading or lever action, as a home and homestead defense weapon under some circumstances. Why the carbine? Because it affords the defender some advantages over the handgun as a defensive tool without the disadvantages of going to a full-powered rifle. First, it’s easier […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted January 29, 2016
  • In accuracy, ammo testing

.22LR rifle reviews suck. Here’s why.

The other day I posted an article to social media about Eley’s newest .22LR hunting ammunition, suggesting that people who’ve never tried really good rimfire ammo haven’t a clue how much difference in performance it can make in their rifles. That comment reminded me of a .22 rifle “test” I read a couple of months […]

Do you carry religiously? You may not be as safe as you believe.

I know that most of the people reading this blog are here to learn about defensive shooting, concealed carry, firearms training, and related topics. The rest are interested in things like rifles, revolvers, reloading, and other technical issues. In other words, regardless of the group into which you fit, if you’re reading this you’re probably […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted January 11, 2016
  • In Greg Ellifritz, Stopping Power

Defensive Shooting Myths and Misconceptions: “If I’m limited to 10 rounds, they might as well be .45”

I remember the days of the 1994 “assault weapons” ban: new magazines over 10 rounds were illegal, and even large double-stack 9mm pistols were required to come with 10 round magazines — and any replacements or additionals we bought were limited to 10 rounds, too. “There era of the ‘wondernine’ is over”, opined writer after […]