It’s A Function Of Prevention, Avoidance & The Subconscious
“The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.” Sun Tzu’s ageless adage, adopted by Marine Corps drill instructors everywhere, still rings true today and not just amidst ranks of uniformed troops; substitute “war” with “defensive situations” and you’re left with similar common-sense ideology in the civilian world. While practice doesn’t necessarily “make perfect” when operating in survival mode, it certainly offers a calming of the storm, so to speak, while trapped in its vortex.
In this context, training isn’t a function of simply educating; it’s a function of prevention, avoidance or, ultimately, committing survivor tactics to our subconscious—not processing what needs to be done but doing it automatically and without hesitation. Training also means incorporating the right
tools — the ones you are likely to use when chaos kicks in your door.
Personal defense expert, Rob Pincus, coined a phrase I have adopted, “Protect what you love.” This simple phrase embodies the reason we should take self-defense seriously and to what measure we are willing to commit ourselves to it, both in dynamic training and doing it with the right equipment. To that end, your defense weapons, whatever they may be, must be there when you need them and be the right tools for the job.
Latest And Greatest Personal Defense Go-To's
AR-style pistol-cartridge carbines have become exceptionally popular for home defense over the past couple of years and rightly so. My latest, greatest in-home go-to is a new Lead Star Arms PCC9 carbine designed to use standard double-stack Glock magazines and 9mm ammo. Atop the PCC9, you’ll find a Sightmark RAM Series Ultra Shot M-Spec Reflex Sight. The Ultra Shot M-Spec delivers a crisp, parallax-corrected field of view, even in low light, an adjustable circle-dot reticle, easy-to-use digital controls and long battery life. The Ultra Shot’s rugged M-Spec durability lets me know that if necessary, I can beat the offender senseless with my carbine and it will still hold zero for some Saturday morning trigger time.
For me, a carbine like Lead Star’s PCC9 9mm and the Ultra Shot M-Spec Reflex Sight, or another quality red dot sight, are a perfect combo for personal defense in the home, especially at longer distances; of course, my current concealed-carry gun, a Glock 17 9mm (same ammo and magazines) is also close at hand. With respect to red dot sights, as well as reflex sights like the Ultra Shot M-Spec, these types of optics are perfect for self-defense firearms in the home because they facilitate rapid target acquisition, often even in low light.
For my personal home defense, the Lead Star Arms Barrage PCC9, Ultra Shot M-Spec Reflex Sight and a road-hard-hung-up-wet Glock 17C, combined with dynamic training, deliver big on the confidence I need to achieve an effective balance of speed and precision if and when a threat darkens our doorway—balance and speed being a focus foundational to the Intuitive Defensive Training I received from Mr. Pincus himself (www.icetraining.us).
The Solution:
The Liberty Pole had it right when it asked readers, “How many times have you read, 'An unidentified woman, heavily armed with a semi-automatic weapon was raped by a man wielding a knife?’” The question itself carries a lot of weight unless you qualify it with a lack of training and the right tools for the job. Let’s face it, lack of defensive knowledge manifested in ineffective subconscious responses have resulted in hundreds of thousands of victimized firearm owners. Be ready and equipped to—as Pincus puts it—protect what you love.
Learn more about Sightmark’s RAM Series Ultra Shot Reflex Sights and other red dot optics at www.sightmark.com.