We’ve got some competitive shooters here as well and you’ll see that if you can shoot under stress, that little buzzer in a competitive situation is going to help you excel because you understand how your body can manipulate a weapon under stress and it’s just that much smoother.

- Travis Haley

If you want to learn to do something well, you go to the best practitioner you can find and hope he or she can teach. Being able to perform well in terms of physical skills is one thing; being able to transmit your knowledge and abilities to others is quite something else.

The idea behind finding the best practitioner is the assumption that he had to learn to do what he does so well. He’s run across the pitfalls and obstructions to great performance and found ways over, through or around. No sense in reinventing the wheel.

When we apply this scenario to shooting in defensive combat why are we so averse to learning from champions in the action shooting disciplines?  One stated reason is the tendency for the game players, in effort to get short times on a stage, to occasionally do things that wouldn’t be prudent in real life. Reloading on the move from cover to cover is an example. If someone is really shooting at you, you’d never leave cover without a loaded gun.

Guess what? In real life, neither would good competition shooters. It’s a different application of the same skills.

You need to be able to pick the wheat from the chaff. The more skilled your mentor/teacher is, as determined by measurable performance, the more skills they have to impart upon you.

Why wouldn’t you go with a champion?

M4/M4A1 Carbine Reliability Issues Are Your Fault
http://www.defensereview.com/m4m4a1-carbine-reliability-issues-why-they-occur-and-why-theyre-our-fault/

The Big M4 Myth: “Fouling caused by the direct impingement gas system makes the M4/M4A1 Carbine unreliable.”
http://www.defensereview.com/the-big-m4-myth-fouling-caused-by-the-direct-impingement-gas-system-makes-the-m4-unreliable/

To keep and bear arms – it is one of our core rights and freedoms as U.S. citizens. But, did you know that the gun registration information you provide to the government – including name, address and firearm information – is public and can be easily accessed by any person, publication or company willing to request or search for it?

Some states have recently allowed opt-outs to keep registry information private but it is not a straightforward process and can end abruptly (New York State’s opt-out period just closed earlier this month). Most law-abiding gun owners are left exposed to unfair invasions of privacy by this system and many don’t even know it.

Abine, the online privacy company has been helping people protect their right to privacy for years and we would like to offer you an opportunity to speak with our privacy analyst, Sarah Downey, about what gun owners can do to proactively protect their own privacy.  She can share tips such as:

1) Find out your state’s gun registration laws and see if you can opt-out - Newspapers have published the names and addresses of gun owners, allegedly making one elderly gun owner the victim of home invasion, putting others at risk and twisting the gun rights debate.

2) Do a search of popular online data broker sites like Intelius and Spokeo to see if you are listed and request the removal of your information if you are.  These sites aggregate personal photos and information that could put owners and family members at risk of fraud, or even life-threatening harms.

3) Be careful with your online behavior - Online behavior, including comments left in forums and whether or not you ‘like’ a gun rights organization on Facebook, can be tracked and aggregated in databases. Adjust your privacy settings on social networks and stop online tracking with a browser add-on like DoNotTrackMe to keep your online activity private.