Ruger SP101, flashlight and handcuffs are kept safe in the GunVault. Quick keyless access to the GunVault is made possible by a battery-operated fingertip combo pad on top.
which it could be called into action, the use of the weapon and the safety of others. A long gun may be used to de-
fend a home, but rifle ammunition is prone to penetrate walls and may endanger other people in the house. A shotgun can be used to good effect and the sound of the slide of a pump- action can be an effective deterrent. A handgun is easily stored and is the better choice for me when dealing with problems at arm’s length. Where a gun is used in self-de-
fense, most occurrences take place at close range and in low or diminished light making positive identification difficult. A flashlight allows me to identify friend or foe and the laser allows me to confirm my muzzle is pointed at the threat. The tritium night sights make it easier for me to find the front sight cleaning up my sight picture for precision shot place- ment if deadly force is justified.
A Blinding Flash Of Light We hope that we never have to
use a gun to defend ourselves, but if we do, the flashlight comes with it. The blinding light of one of the new generation of torches may be enough to stop a nighttime attack. My choice is Energizer’s 130-lu-
men NightStrike. With a top-mount- ed switch, I can click it on and off quickly. On my wife’s side of the bed, she keeps a Coast LED Lenser, which can fry the backs of a bad guy’s eyes
WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM
at the flick of a switch. The girls keep their own flash-
lights on their nightstands ready to deploy. They have practiced shoot- ing with them during low-light shoots and always carry them when camping or hunting in the back- country. It’s about preparedness. Someday they’re going to have to take care of themselves and their own families.
Practice Makes Perfect Shooting at paper targets in
broad daylight helps but doesn’t prepare the individual for the hor- ror of attack. Under stress we re- vert to basic instinctive actions and when those reflexes are honed in considered practice, the chances of survival and victory go way up. I wanted to teach my girls self-
defense skills, but I found that non-relatives make better teachers. Our local range has a club called the Lady Hawkes. FBI-trained in- structors taught the girls to shoot with each hand, return fire from concealment, reload quickly and keep shots center-mass on tweak- er-sized targets. From time to time we drill at
home. If they hear (simulated) gun- shots, the girls roll out of bed onto the floor. In an actual emergency, they will throw chairs through their window screens. We meet outside at the mail box. In our latest drill, youngest daughter had her hands on
the pepper spray in three seconds, an improvement of four seconds over the first time. And we shoot in low light and at
night to fill in training gaps. There are orange muzzle blossoms and sparks and laser beams that light up in the dust and burnt powder. And then, of course, there’s hot chocolate. Our last trip to the range was
in the light of a late-September moon, with the temperature in the low-30s. We learned it’s hard to do fast reloads with frozen digits and it takes a measure of skill to cover the target with the flashlight and punch it with lead. Merrilee put five double-action
rounds — rapid-fire — into an 8" circle. Oldest daughter drilled four .38-caliber holes in 2". Shooting single-action, the middle daughter kept the red dot and hot lead in a tight group. Youngest daughter liked the two-to-the-body-one-to- the-head drill best. Oldest daugh- ter said, “The freaks better pick another house.” Burglars still break into homes
and criminals are still in favor of gun control. It is scary to cross someone’s threshold late at night. And it should be. * Gary Lewis is author of nine books,
including John Nosler Going Ballis- tic. For a signed copy, send $29.95 to GLO, PO Box 1364, Bend, OR 97709 or see
www.garylewisoutdoors.com.
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