Beginners Guides

If you got your concealed carry permit in a state that has a mandatory training requirement, you already know the potentially intense boredom that comes from sitting in a classroom for several hours waiting to get some range time. There are people who have never fired a single shot in their life and most introductory…

The gun and knife go together like corned beef and cabbage, but while most armed citizens carry a knife, few spend time considering the blade they carry. In this article I wish to address the role of the knife as a must have utility and rescue tool and as a defensive weapon. I would suggest…

When you show up to the gun store for the first time and pick up a concealed carry pistol, you may be disappointed to learn that without some other items, that pistol is going to be worthless. Yes, it sure looks intimidating sitting in that plastic case. Those magazines, empty, certainly do load and eject…

Carrying a loaded handgun on your person is no trivial matter. People who are new to this endeavor typically have some understandable anxiety. I have also seen far too many experienced carriers become careless, as they often become so accustomed to carrying a gun that they forget to strictly abide by proper safety measures. The…

Recently, we got an email recounting a defensive gun use situation and we’ll get into that a bit more in a future article. In this article, we’re going to tackle the that rough gray area of where drawing a firearm is warranted but no shots result and what you, as the concealed carrier, should consider…

I have used every conceivable form of concealment to carry a firearm hidden on my body. This tends to be inevitable for many who actually make the dedication to carry a gun all day, every day. I carry legally in my home state as well as the other states that reciprocate my permit but to…

Let’s clear the air before we get down and dirty on how ready a particular pistol is ready to fire.  The condition system (“Condition 0, Condition 1, Condition 2, Condition 3, Condition 4”) is directly related to United States military manuals on their issued firearms. This condition system is meant to describe the number of…

That’s Brandon’s friend Shaun in the photo above. We’re just making him temporarily famous. Soak it in, Shaun! Let’s break this down into two different sections: recommendations based upon carry style AND tips for carrying while traveling about on a motorcycle. Pocket Carrying?  Pocket Holster It. If you’re going to carry in your leather jacket…

I think a paramount concept in self-defense that gets far too little attention is the ways in which to avoid violent encounters in the first place. Now, you can still do everything right in this regard and if a bad actor picks you at a particular time in a particular place there may be no…