General Ramblings

I am somewhat amazed that the most discussed information from the Perfect Pistol Shot is the section on grip. A whole generation of shooters has been trained to squeeze hard and hold on for dear life. We already went through this about a hundred years ago. Then came military training for WWII and recruits were told to hold the pistol hard because of "kick" - and fifty years of marksmanship misery was reborn. Military instructors knew how to shoot, they just didn't want some nervous kid dropping his handgun. That's all it was. Today, everybody is a tough guy, every instructor is a Rambo. So we squeeze hard and crouch down, and shoot at distances no greater than most men can spit. (Let's go back to spears.) The result of this is NOBODY CAN HIT THEIR TARGET. Don't be afraid of your handgun. Please learn proper grip.

Recently, the novelist Stephen King wrote a pro-gun control piece for Amazon Kindle (Guns). I wrote a response: American Gun Fight. We'll see how it does. I've grown weary of hearing Australia's gun control laws praised, so I did  some research. The truth is much different than gun control advocates report. Naturally.

When speaking of grip it is important to remember that the arm should not be hyper-extended and locked. You can't have a locked armed and a light grip. Locking the arm is not required. It is the forward shoulder carriage that controls recoil. We have to stop muscling our handguns.

I have been very pleased to hear from readers. A leading question concerns corrected vision. Middle-aged shooters are having difficulty as vision weakens. Remember, you need crystal clear vision to the front sight tip, and blurred secondary vision to the target. For training, experiment with lighter colored safety lens and different target colors. Safety paint in green and orange works well. Defensive shooters need light-gathering lenses for dark colors and low-light environments. You can test these variables at the range by using different shapes and colors. Move them to greater distances until you can no longet recognize your targets. Indoor ranges, even when lit, are harder on the eyes. Natural light has less glare under most conditions. Test yourself and know your limits.

Thanks to those who purchased What Cops Tell Their Sisters. I appreciate it and hope it has been of some value to single women and parents.

I wish all a  good end of summer.