Back when I worked on the range, I once put my bag of martial arts gear in the break room. Finding out what it was, my boss asked, “Why do you bother with this stuff when you have a gun?” I joked, “I have to take a shower sometimes.”

Too many people think that a gun is all they need. But the shooting incident this week out of Victorville California shows this is not the case. In the following video, you see how despite having a gun in her hand, the officer was overpowered and the pistol taken from her. The only thing that seems to have saved her life was that the pistol had a feed problem due to the struggle and the would- be cop killer had to rack a round before calmly taking the time to try to execute her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA8J5uiDn6I

Having a gun isn’t enough if you can’t deal with unarmed attacks.

Years ago, I devoted Tuesday nights in my class to using firearms. I called it Training for Instinctive Tactical Shooting. (T.I.T.S. and yes I refuse to grow up.) We dealt with people trying to grab the gun, prevent you from drawing, blitz attacks and other scenarios. This is the type of thing anyone with a gun needs to learn if they carry it for self defense.

I remember a tale told me during a break for combat medicine. One of the students worked for the federal marshals and someone he knew once got on an elevator and as the door closed made eye contact with the only other person there. It was a guy he had arrested and whom he knew had recently escaped from custody. Both of them went for their guns at the same time. The agent had an automatic, the perp a revolver. Both of them emptied their guns, but the agent was able to reload faster and get the drop on the escaped criminal. Neither had been shot.

I can think of a few people that if I were in an elevator with them, no matter what kind of pistol I had they would mess me up pretty bad before I could get to it. People that carry guns often seem to not even consider anything else.

Some things from most arts can be modified fairly simply for use with a firearm. For example, in Bujinkan Taijutsu there is a stance called Kosei no Kamae. The right hand is near the hip, the left up above the eyes facing to the right. It is an excellent stance when confronting someone at close range with the gun. If they try to grab your pistol, your left hand can stop them long enough to get a shot off. You can’t hit anything accurately past spitting range if you have the gun at your hip, but if they are trying to get the gun, they are in spitting range. The left hand has to be high up to avoid the risk of having your arm shoved in the line of the bullet.

Masaaki Hatsumi of the Bujinkan acknowledges the reality of using a firearm and teaches ways of using one even if it is jammed or out of ammunition. He produced an entire book on the subject. Too many martial artists seem to hate firearms because it allows a little old lady to take them out despite their years of sweat. And those that have firearms are convinced that they have no need to put in hours of training at the dojo. The truth is, as the video shows, your defense must be layered.

And the truth is, not every situation justifies pulling a gun. If you have a concealed weapon on you, and someone tries to punch your lights out, you are not justified in pulling the gun out. Talk to a lawyer about it if you doubt me. At the same time, if you lose a fist fight and he takes the pistol off of you as you are stunned or unconscious, now he may use it on you as the criminal in the video tries to use on the officer. So, even though you are not justified in pulling a gun in a fist fight, you can’t risk losing the battle. You need the skills to defend yourself without a gun, not despite having a gun but because you carry a gun.

So everyone that carries a gun, time to get to your local dojo and pick up the skills you need. Some specialized training, like T.I.T.S., would be best, but you at least need something to prepare you for someone trying to prevent you from drawing your gun.