by Skip Coryell
Yet, despite all these physiological realities coming into play, it is still possible for you to survive a gun fight. If you can control them, harness them, then all these things will work for you. However, if you allow the adrenaline, increased pulse, and oxygen supply to run rampant with no thought to self control, then you will be reduced to a throbbing mass of blood, spit, and urine. You are useless to yourself and a danger to your family.
So what is the answer? How do I survive? Well, a lot of it is just, plain, dumb luck. I know a lot of instructors wouldn’t say that. They like to feel that their teaching can save lives, and they want their students to feel safe and secure and capable of warding off attack. I want those things too, but I would be derelict in my duties as a personal protection instructor if I didn’t tell the whole truth.
The truth is, every scenario is different. Some are survivable. Others are not. I know you didn’t want to hear that, but I have to tell you that sometimes it is very difficult to survive an attack, even when you do everything right. This is especially true at close range. Anyone can get off a lucky shot from 5 feet away. You don’t even have to aim. And since there is no such thing as a long-distance mugging or a long-distance rape, then where does that leave us? Are we helpless victims, sheep waiting to be sheared?
Of course not. I just want you to be aware of what really happens in a gunfight so that you’re not taken by surprise when it occurs. In my advanced CCW class, I show my students quite a few video tapes of real fire fights. I want them to know what it looks like and what it sounds like. I want them to see how the victim reacted. Did they freeze? Did they comply? Did they fight back?
In one of the videos, a man enters a convenience store and shoves a gun in the clerk’s ribs and demands money. The clerk complies with every demand, but before the robber leaves, he shoots the man three times in the chest. During the last 30 seconds of the video, we listen as the clerk moans on the floor. Finally, his body begins to shut down and he dies.
That is sick and disgusting. Why do I subject my students to this? For two reasons: First, it lets everyone in the class know that this isn’t just fun and games. This is serious and they need to pay strict attention or they too could be moaning on the floor, listening to their own throat relax into a death rattle. Second, it tells us that no matter what response you take, you can still die. When you comply to the demands of a robber with a gun, you are trusting that he will not hurt you.
This latter response has never made sense to me, because the robber has already demonstrated apathy for your life by pointing a deadly weapon at you. By complying with his demands, you are exhibiting an unfounded trust that he will do what’s in your best interest. I realize that sometimes all the bad guy wants is your money, but how do you know? You have two seconds to look a stranger in the face and answer this question: Does he just want my money? or, Does he also want to kill me? Not even Freud could make that determination correctly.
In my opinion, total compliance, in most cases, is just another form of denial. I admire the writings of Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman, and I recommend that all of you read as much of him as you can. In his essay “On Sheep, Sheepdogs, and Wolves” he makes the following statement:
“We know that the sheep live in denial, which is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids’ schools. But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid’s school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep’s only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.”
To the store clerk who chose to say “Baa” and live his life like a sheep, he paid the supreme price – his own life. He was shot three times in the chest at close range and died in a pool of his own blood.
It is so sad to die unprepared. In five minutes I could have shown him how to save his life, at least give him a fighting chance. But most people are sheep and they cannot handle the “idea” that the world is dangerous. The realization that the world is violent, coupled with the knowledge that they are not prepared to protect themselves is overwhelming to them. They shut down, deny, and withdraw from reality.
But there is a second video that shows a store clerk sitting behind a different counter. A man walks in with a gun, and the clerk immediately drops down behind the counter, draws his gun and is waiting for the bad guy who jumps over the counter to get at him. The clerk shoots and so does the robber. Both are hit from point-blank range, but when the smoke clears the room, the clerk is left standing and the bad guy has fled.
I am convinced that one of the best ways to overcome stress is to be prepared. That clerk knew what he was going to do before the robber came through that ill-fated door. He reacted without thinking, because he’d been visualizing that scenario. Remember, we all live or die based on the decisions we make, and that clerk make the right decision and lived. The first clerk was a sheep and he died. The second clerk lived, because he was a well prepared sheep dog. Training is paramount in a life or death struggle. You have to know what a gun fight is like before you can prepare for it, and that’s why I also use airsoft pistols to simulate firefights. This tells me what works and what doesn’t. I remember when I first used airsoft simulations, that I was very surprised at how easy it is to be shot and killed from close range. I dueled repeatedly with a friend of mine who had just returned from a year of fighting in Iraq. In these simulations, he killed me almost every time, usually with a shot between the eyes. I’m a pretty good shot, so this confused me until I realized that it was the stress factor that gave him the edge. He’d been living in a life or death situation for a year and therefore had become desensitized to the stress. While an airsoft simulation is stressful for most civilians, for him it was a walk in the park.
So I’ve taken to desensitizing all my students to the effects of stress. This will help keep them alive in a real firefight. In my advanced class, they shoot a combat course that is full of surprises, because I want them to experience and overcome the startle response. That startle response will get you killed every time. You can’t be surprised. You have to walk around every day knowing that you will be attacked and exactly what you will do to defend yourself.
I teach this even in my basic CCW class. I have them begin, one at a time on top of a hill, and they run down to their firearm, load it, get behind cover, then issue a challenge command before shooting. They do this in front of the rest of the class, while I follow behind them, yelling at their backs like a drill instructor. I add stress, and they shake, and drool, and fumble. Even the calmest of my basic students are reduced to a puddle of puke. They make the simplest mistakes: they drop the magazine, they forget to take the safety off, they forget to yell the challenge command, they forget how to clear a jam, and they put their offhand thumb behind the slide, only to have it cut and bleed. Am I being too hard on them? Maybe. (Surprisingly, this is by far the most popular portion of the class, with many of them asking to go again.) But I take the responsibility of training them seriously, so my training has to be equally serious. I don’t want them walking out of there with a false sense of security. I want them to know how vulnerable they are, and I want them to realize that the basic class is just that – basic. All it does is give them a rudimentary understanding of how and when to shoot. Where they go from there is up to them. With the basic class and a healthy dose of luck, my students will survive.
But if you really want to raise your chances of survival, then you have to go to the next level. You have to train as much as you can. Put yourself in stressful situations. Desensitize yourself to the startle response. Shoot combat courses, take advanced classes, compete formally. Put yourself under stress and learn to control your
heart rate and your breathing. All these are paramount to survival, and put you head and shoulders above the bad guys.
Remember, bad guys seldom train, but the good guys do. Always be ready. Always be on guard. Raise your level of capability and you’ll raise your chances of survival.
“Women have greater need of a firearm, because they are at greater risk. Most honest, law-abiding men will never be raped, but women have no such reassurance.”
Women and Guns
I find it amazing that many of the women in my basic classes can consistently outshoot the men. My classes are approximately 25 percent women and 75 percent men. Most of the women are new to firearms, whereas, most of the men have been shooting their entire lives.
So, how is it that these novices, after only a few hours of training, can sometimes outshoot the experienced men? I don’t know, but, as a man, I find it frustrating. I had to practice to get good, but many of these women just walk up and start plinking out the bulls-eye. Life can be so cruel.
Nonetheless, while the man part of me is frustrated, the teacher part of me is pleased and likes to see it happen. I so much wish that more women would become CCW holders, because they need the added protection of a gun. Some people call women the weaker sex. That’s absurd. I’ve watched three women birth a total of 5 kids, and I can tell you that any woman who can survive childbirth is not weak.
Women are not weak, they just have different strengths than men. Women can talk about their feelings until the cows come home most men can’t. Women can love and nurture a baby even at 3AM most men can’t. Women can breastfeed – men can’t. There are a lot of things that women can do, that most men cannot. Conversely, there are some things that men can do that most women cannot. In general, men run faster, jump higher, throw farther, and lift more weight than women. But none of that has anything to do with shooting.
Women need the added protection of a gun, because, in most cases, they are physically weaker than their male attacker. Women are also less aggressive than males. Statistically, we don’t see a whole lot of female muggers and rapists out there. It is said that God created man, but Samuel Colt made them equal. Put a firearm in the hands of a woman, and she is equal, if not better, than a man.
Case in point, I just taught a basic CCW class two days ago. There was a female student who had never shot before. In fact, she was terrified of the gun. This is quite common with women, and it’s easy to pick out the novices even before the shooting starts. This particular woman was no different than other beginners I’ve taught. She picked up the gun with two fingers and held it out in front of her like she was carrying a bottle of nitroglycerine. It wasn’t even loaded yet.
The first thing I do with timid women shooters is make them grab the grip of the gun like they mean it, and squeeze it hard. Shake hands with the pistol, and get acquainted. When we begin shooting, I don’t even give them a target. I just say shoot into that big berm over there. I have them rapid fire the gun for several magazines until they loosen up. Eventually, they start to like it; they appreciate the feel of power in their hands. In that, men and women are alike.
They almost always put the gun out in front of them as far as their arms will reach, then lean their head and shoulders back in the opposite direction as far as they can. I used to wonder why women did that, but now I realize that they are merely trying to get as far away from the gun as possible. They are afraid of it. This never works. I teach them to respect the gun, but never fear it. The gun is your friend, and someday it will save your life.
However, once a woman has overcome her fear of the gun, then it’s Katie bar the door, because she’s up there on the line blazing away with the best of men. For some reason unknown to me, women, intrinsically, are good shooters. I’ve been married three times, and women are still a mystery to me. But I love it, and the mystery has an allure like no other.
I like to have husband and wife teams come to my classes. The husband usually tries to teach his wife to shoot, and that rarely works. A woman wants to be treated as an equal, but a husband, especially when he’s in teaching mode, tends to treat her a little like a child. I’ve seen it many times, and most women rebel against that. They need encouragement and confidence. By the end of the class, the wife is usually outshooting the husband, and he has learned a new respect for her. I love to see that happen, and I believe it’s good for the marriage as well. The husband has to see his wife as strong and capable or he will not respect her. Conversely, if a woman does not feel treasured and revered, then she will not be happy in the marriage either. Isn’t it amazing what you can learn by reading gun books?
I refer to my wife as my back-up. Not because she is inferior or second in importance, but simply because I view myself as her protector. I’m old fashioned that way. She likes it too, so the arrangement works for us. In a deadly force situation, I will probably be the first to draw my firearm, then while the bad guy is shooting me, my wife will have time to gun him down. But I have every confidence in her abilities, and I suspect that someday she’ll save my life or the lives of our children. She’s a good woman with a Smith & Wesson. What a deadly combination!
But when it comes to choosing a firearm, women have special needs. Most self defense experts agree that a person should carry the highest caliber they can safely and effectively shoot. For an 87-yearold women with arthritis, that might be a .22 revolver. That’s okay. Better to shoot small bullets then none at all.
I once had one of my students (a male) laugh at one of my other students (a female). She had chosen a .22 caliber revolver to carry. He said, “What are you going to do with that little thing, piss somebody off?” His comment rankled me. I quickly replied, “Well, why don’t you hold up your hand and we’ll fire a few rounds into it and see what happens.” He shut up. Eventually, that same woman decided to get a higher caliber, but the .22 gave her confidence and set her on the right path. Even though she was capable of shooting a higher caliber, it was a good “initial” first choice for her. I remember hearing the story of a woman who was raped. The man was very large and was lying on top of her. She emptied her gun into his torso, but he finished raping her before he died.
For a lot of women, I recommend a .38 revolver with +P ammo. They only hold 5 shots, but they pack a pretty good punch at short range. Since there is no such thing as a long distance rape, this usually does the job. Even the horniest of men will find several Hydrashock rounds in .38 caliber +P to be a powerful mood-altering experience. Kind of like the mother of all cold showers.
Most men prefer to carry semi-autos, but that has more to do with the way we think. Remember the sitcom “Home Improvement” starring Tim Allen? He played the part of your stereotypical male. Bigger is better. Faster is better. Stronger is better. Anything that blows up, catches on fire, or makes a really loud noise is good. But do we really need a lawn mower with a Corvette racing engine? Probably not, but men are creatures of overkill. According to FBI crime statistics, the average firefight remains three shots, three yards, and three seconds. So, according to the FBI, a five-shot revolver is sufficient.
For the actual carrying of the gun, I recommend either a concealment purse or a fanny pack. My wife uses both methods, because they allow her to keep her hand on the pistol while walking to her car in a dimly lit parking lot at night. If need be, she can even fire her pistol without drawing it. I always caution women about leaving their purse unattended in shopping carts. Remember, you are morally, civilly, and potentially criminally liable for any harm caused by your gun should someone steal it while it’s unattended. Also, sometimes children get into their mother’s purse, so you must be careful about that as well.
In short, women have greater need of a firearm, because they are at greater risk. Most honest, law-abiding men will never be raped, but women have no such reassurance. Wolves prey upon the physically weakest in the herd. In most cases, this is a woman, the young, the handicapped, or the elderly. But if you get training, arm yourself, and be prepared, you can gi
ve that wolf the surprise of his life – the last surprise of his life.
So I encourage women everywhere to stand up to criminals. Don’t walk around in helpless fear. Arm yourselves, and help us men take out the trash!
“When I’m sitting in the McDonald’s playroom, and a man walks in brandishing a gun, his life is forfeit. I will kill that man as quickly as possible. To do anything less is to violate the will of God and the nature of my own humanity.”
Christianity and Killing
Before writing this chapter, I did a lot of research. But in the end, I threw it all away. Research can be skewed, and statistics can be taken out of context. Instead, I’ll just tell you what I believe and you can just take it with a grain of salt.
I believe that when it comes to religion, people will always disagree, so why should I add my two cents to the mess and complicate it even more? Have you ever noticed there are hundreds of Christian denominations, all claiming to have divine Truth? Intrinsic to that, if only one of them is right, then the others must be wrong. They contradict each other, so how can they all be right? The only sensible answer is this – they can’t.
I’ll speak mainly to Christians here, simply because America is predominantly Christian. I define Christian as someone who follows after Christ and tries to live his life according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. But beyond that, I leave it pretty loose. The gospel of Christ teaches that greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friend. After all, that’s what Jesus did for us. His life, death, and resurrection are crux and core to Christianity. I like Christianity because it is the only major world religion which allows me to have a personal, one-on-one relationship with the creator of the universe. I may step on a few toes here, but that’s okay. God knows that I mean no harm, and He will judge me by the intent of my heart. I’m so glad that He’s God and we’re not. That’s one of the things I like about him, he knows me inside and out, and he cares about me as a person. He’s the world’s greatest father. (You see, I’ve already offended the feminists, because they think God is a woman.)