You win 100% of the fights you don’t have

Ever heard the old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? It should be engraved on concealed carry licenses all across the country. You’re always better off taking small precautions (regular immunizations, checkups, and eating properly) to prevent getting sick than you are spending lots of money trying to get well […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On August 28, 2017

An excerpt from my next book!

I’m writing another book, this one dealing with a structured approach to preparedness and personal security. It’s a different approach to the topic, and I think it will be tremendously useful to help you achieve a balanced approach to your safety. It integrates self defense, medical response, and disaster preparedness into a cohesive and manageable […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On April 28, 2017

A gun on your nightstand isn’t the best idea, no matter who says so

One of the things I find myself doing on a regular basis is serving as a counterpoint to the fantasies running rampant in the defensive shooting world. I do this by bringing rational thought to the topic of personal defense, and today I’m doing it again! A recent article on the Concealed Nation website dealt […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On March 20, 2017

Things people say: “If it ain’t raining, it ain’t training!”

I remember my first serious (multi-day) defensive shooting course. It was a spring day in the early 1990s and, as is normal here in the Pacific Northwet (no, that’s not a typo) it was raining like crazy. It was a cold, wet, miserable day. Being a native Oregonian I was prepared for the conditions, but […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On March 6, 2017

Think before you shoot. A long time before.

A sad tale crossed my desk earlier this week. It seems one Billy Williams was awakened in the night by one of his children, who reportedly told him that someone was trying to break into their house via the front door. Mr. Williams retrieved a handgun from a safe in his bedroom and walked to […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 27, 2017

The Fort Lauderdale attack: it’s not the gun. Again. Still.

Just a few days ago a man with a history of mental issues boarded an airline in Alaska, after declaring his gun in checked luggage as required by law. He sat down in his seat and the suitcase containing his pistol and ammunition was placed in the cargo hold beneath him. When he got to […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 9, 2017

Things people say: “Thinking while shooting”

I recently posted about the need for instructors to teach, and for students to learn, how to think during a defensive incident. Everyone agrees that it’s a necessary thing to do. The problem is that many of the people agreeing don’t really know what it means. Unclear on the concept Case in point: someone sent me […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 2, 2017

All training is an abstraction. Is that good or bad?

A couple of weeks ago someone posted an interesting video on social media. It wasn’t the video itself which was interesting, but rather the reactions to it. The video was of an exercise from a defensive shooting class. The exercise was a good example of forcing cognitive processing rather than a Pavlovian draw-and-fire response, which […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On December 23, 2016

Questioning the premise of your preparations

My apologies if you’re not a fan of the show South Park, but an old episode has a training lesson for us. On that episode, some little people known as Underpants Gnomes presented their 3-part success plan: Phase 1: Steal underpants. Phase 2: ??? Phase 3: Profit! The joke, of course, isn’t that there’s nothing in […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On December 5, 2016

Do you need to modify your carry gun? Should you?

In the dim past (which wasn’t really all that long ago), if you needed to change something on your carry gun you took it to a gunsmith. You’d wait for him to do the work, pay him lots of money, and go home happy — more or less. That was the state of things largely […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On October 17, 2016

Do you want to be a better shooter or a better defender?

I received quite a number of emails, blog comments and social media interaction about Friday’s topic, “Meaningless increments of precision.” A large percentage of them asked questions or made statements which revealed that the person was fixated on the notion that becoming a better shooter makes or keeps someone safer. This is going to sound […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On October 3, 2016

Meaningless increments of precision — and why you should avoid them

When we talk about self defense (and particularly when gun people talk about self defense), the topic of measurement will eventually come up. In the gun world we love to measure things, and we can measure just about anything. The problem is that the measurements we make may not be important. I use the term […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On September 30, 2016

“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 […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On September 9, 2016

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 […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On August 29, 2016

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. […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On August 15, 2016

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 […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On August 8, 2016

Defensive shooting fundamentals: I do not think it means what they think it means.

I want you to sit back and think for just a minute: you have 60 seconds to teach someone how to use a gun to defend herself from an imminent attack. What useful defensive shooting fundamentals can you give her in that small amount of time? This little exercise strips away all of the nonsense, […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On August 1, 2016

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 […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On July 18, 2016

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 […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On July 15, 2016

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! […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On July 11, 2016

Self defense is more than just reading some “safety tips”. Here’s why.

Every morning I get up, make a cup of tea, and sit down to do my morning reading. One of the things that comes across my desk (well, my iPad screen anyhow) is a Google Alerts search for the term “self defense”. I get quite a few news stories in that feed; the most common […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On June 27, 2016

“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 […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On June 24, 2016

“It’s a training issue.” I don’t think that means what you think it means.

Hoo boy, I heard it again just the other day: “it’s a training issue”. The subject at hand was a discussion about the traditional double action pistol, the kind that has a long and heavy double action first shot and a shorter, lighter single action (DA/SA) for each subsequent shot. I’m not a fan of […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On April 11, 2016

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 […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On March 11, 2016

You don’t need to be a SEAL to defend yourself with a firearm. You need more relevant skills.

Last week I got two emails about my front page headline: “You don’t need to be a Navy SEAL just to be safe!” One applauded me for “telling it like it is”, but the other one insisted that I was doing people a big disservice by saying that, because if everyone trained to the level […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On March 7, 2016

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 […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On March 1, 2016

The problem with defensive shooting is that it’s dominated by enthusiasts. That’s not necessarily good for you.

I have a confession to make: I once screwed up a lot of people who came to me for advice. Wait, it’s not what you think! It does, however, directly apply to what I do today, and probably why you’re reading this blog. Allow me to relate my short story. Back in my much-younger days […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 15, 2016

What did you change your mind about in 2015? Here’s what I did.

I’ve come to the belief that one of the most profound questions you can ask anyone who purports to be an expert in any field (to include defensive training) is “what have you changed your mind about?” This isn’t an easy question to answer, and most people you’ll ask will try to wiggle their way […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 1, 2016

The important role of a training partner in your defensive shooting skill development.

In the defensive shooting world we talk a lot about carry guns, calibers, holsters, belts, and all manner of accessories from flashlights to scopes. A large reason for this focus on things is because they’re easily understood and readily quantifiable; it’s easy to compare things by numbers, charts and graphs. We pay comparatively little attention […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On December 7, 2015

No, things really haven’t changed: self defense in a post-Paris world.

The bodies in Paris hadn’t even been buried when the agendas got trotted out. No, I’m not talking about gun control or immigration restrictions; I’m not talking about refugees or intelligence sharing or air strikes or border checkpoints, either. I’m talking about the “you need to prepare to deal with this new threat!” brigade. If […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On November 23, 2015

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