Gonzo's Firearms and Safety Training: Know Your Target, and Know Your Skill Level

This video is an example of a hostage situation gone wrong in that the responding officers ended up killing the hostage as well as the suspect. This is not about bashing the police. I'm sure the officers are beside themselves with grief over this. This is about a very important reminder of the fundamentals of defensive shooting that we should all be practicing and the responsibility that goes along with using our firearms in defensive situations.

As concealed carry practitioners, we may very well be the ones in this situation while waiting for the police to arrive. Any time a hostage is involved, the situation can go south pretty darn fast, and we may not have the luxury of waiting for the police to arrive.

This video illustrates why training is so important. Defensive shooting is a perishable skill, and we have to constantly train to stay sharp.

Reid Henrichs does an excellent job of breaking this incident down, so I'm not going to bore you with a lot of my own redundant further analysis or Monday morning quarterbacking the officer's tactics. But I want to point out that I would like you to pay close attention to a few very important aspects of Reid's discussion: 1) knowing the target, 2) knowing what your teammates are doing, and 3) knowing your own skill level in executing those shots when the time comes.

My thoughts and prayers are certainly with the officers and the family of the victim.

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