WEBVTT 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:16.559 And welcome to the Concealed Carry 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:21.719 Podcast, part of the ConcealedCarry.com network, brought to you by HK. 00:00:23.139 --> 00:00:28.119 Today is Friday, January 9th, 2026. This is so strange, Jacob. 00:00:28.259 --> 00:00:31.979 I mean, season 13, the year 2026. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:36.739 What else is new? But welcome to the new year, everybody. This is the first 00:00:36.739 --> 00:00:38.559 time we're recording, I think, in the new year. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:42.279 We're a couple days later than we wanted to be, but it's been a busy week. 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:46.779 How are you? Tell folks about what we've had going on. 00:00:48.543 --> 00:00:53.283 Yeah this week was a box week as i think we internally we refer to it so it's 00:00:53.283 --> 00:00:58.323 a week when we assemble and ship out all the guardian gear boxes which is always 00:00:58.323 --> 00:01:02.823 a lot of work for our small small little uh band of gun pirates i mean it's 00:01:02.823 --> 00:01:05.083 it takes time and energy it's 00:01:05.083 --> 00:01:10.903 Sort of like you know with the normal website sales we do you know like if you 00:01:10.903 --> 00:01:16.683 were to take that typical daily shipping volume for normal average day sales 00:01:16.683 --> 00:01:20.543 and then times that by like what. 00:01:20.543 --> 00:01:23.243 10 20 well i 00:01:23.243 --> 00:01:26.203 mean in the number of orders it'd be like times 10 or 15 or 00:01:26.203 --> 00:01:29.083 something but then you have to consider that like most orders we get on our website 00:01:29.083 --> 00:01:34.923 are not for seven items true true right like assemble a box pick this off a 00:01:34.923 --> 00:01:37.803 shelf pick this off and obviously we're able to build an efficient assembly 00:01:37.803 --> 00:01:42.883 line so it's not as bad as it sounds but yeah it takes a lot of time anyway 00:01:42.883 --> 00:01:47.603 that's an all hands on deck deal for you know about a week yeah 00:01:47.603 --> 00:01:52.363 So we wanted to do the podcast a few days ago but we just had a lot on our plates 00:01:52.363 --> 00:01:57.403 and anyway here we are it's friday uh what we're counting is our first week 00:01:57.403 --> 00:02:03.603 of the year for the podcast uh i think the last episode we'd recorded on new year's eve So, 00:02:03.823 --> 00:02:07.403 and we said goodbye to season 12, and here we are in season 13, 00:02:07.703 --> 00:02:10.883 which might be a little confusing to some folks, it's just the way things are 00:02:10.883 --> 00:02:14.463 numbered now, even though this marks our 10th year of the podcast. 00:02:14.463 --> 00:02:19.363 Next month is the 10 year anniversary since we released our first episode. 00:02:21.185 --> 00:02:27.685 Yeah, the seasons, I mean, the first episodes, one through 500, makes up season one. 00:02:27.765 --> 00:02:30.065 Right. So that's the most confusing element. 00:02:30.505 --> 00:02:32.885 And then from there, it just varies. 00:02:33.525 --> 00:02:36.465 Roughly two seasons a year, maybe more, maybe less. 00:02:36.745 --> 00:02:41.585 The idea is to make sure that we're organizing it in a way that you can find 00:02:41.585 --> 00:02:43.885 content fast and efficiently. 00:02:44.205 --> 00:02:49.225 And that it plays nicely with the iTunes and Spotify, etc., of the world. 00:02:49.345 --> 00:02:55.125 Absolutely. But today's episode is sponsored and brought to you by KSG Armory Holsters. 00:02:55.485 --> 00:02:59.925 That slurred out of my mouth a little bit. KSG Armory Holsters. There we go. 00:03:00.965 --> 00:03:08.185 It was like KSG. Anyway. Hey, I don't know how many people know that KSG stands 00:03:08.185 --> 00:03:11.105 for Knowledge, Skills, Gear. 00:03:12.381 --> 00:03:15.721 In that order in fact i mean well obviously ksg but 00:03:15.721 --> 00:03:19.221 like we think it's important that people get critical important 00:03:19.221 --> 00:03:23.901 information and knowledge about skills and 00:03:23.901 --> 00:03:26.841 things you know uh and then skills is 00:03:26.841 --> 00:03:29.781 next you know putting that knowledge to to use and and learning 00:03:29.781 --> 00:03:33.341 how to apply it that's that's what becomes the 00:03:33.341 --> 00:03:37.281 skill development part and then using quality gear and that's what we believe 00:03:37.281 --> 00:03:42.541 we're able to offer with ksg armory holsters is quality gear so and we're here 00:03:42.541 --> 00:03:47.201 on an episode today talking about information and skills and things people need 00:03:47.201 --> 00:03:50.441 to know and understand and all that yeah. 00:03:50.441 --> 00:03:53.381 Yeah it's uh it's a statement about priorities 00:03:53.381 --> 00:03:58.961 That's right in fact today's episode is the three most common safety violations 00:03:58.961 --> 00:04:03.281 at the gun range an article that jacob wrote is the basis for today's episode, 00:04:04.281 --> 00:04:09.041 This is stuff that you and I both have observed countless times over the years. 00:04:09.261 --> 00:04:13.041 And we're going to share what those three most common safety violations are. 00:04:13.321 --> 00:04:16.681 Maybe a few others will slip in there. Who knows? We'll see where the conversation leads us. 00:04:17.061 --> 00:04:20.601 But the first thing that you really got to make sure, I mean, 00:04:20.721 --> 00:04:23.181 first we said knowledge and skills in that order. 00:04:23.421 --> 00:04:27.801 But with respect to our sponsor message today, make sure you have a quality holster. 00:04:28.201 --> 00:04:31.801 That makes the safety aspect a lot easier, doesn't it? 00:04:32.681 --> 00:04:38.381 Yeah, I mean, this content is really about the behavior that is concerning. 00:04:38.941 --> 00:04:44.041 But if you don't have safe gear, then you can't really support safe behavior. 00:04:44.461 --> 00:04:48.801 No matter how hard you try, you're working from a disadvantage. 00:04:49.201 --> 00:04:54.361 So first and above all else, KSG makes safe holsters. 00:04:56.555 --> 00:05:01.895 So ksgarmory.com is the website, and we appreciate your support of our sponsors 00:05:01.895 --> 00:05:06.255 and the support of us, make it possible to do the podcast here. 00:05:07.275 --> 00:05:11.175 Also, we're sponsoring today this episode with BarrelBlock. 00:05:11.535 --> 00:05:16.755 BarrelBlock.com, B-A-R-R-E-L-B-L-O-K.com. 00:05:17.515 --> 00:05:22.335 That makes it easier to practice and develop skills related to gun handling 00:05:22.335 --> 00:05:26.455 and drawing and holstering and all that much safer especially in a dry fire 00:05:26.455 --> 00:05:29.155 context so barrelblock.com use, 00:05:29.895 --> 00:05:33.495 well shoot i meant to have my barrel block handy with me here today i don't 00:05:33.495 --> 00:05:37.555 but use one of them put it in your in your chamber and it passes all the way 00:05:37.555 --> 00:05:42.175 through the chamber down through the the muzzle so that uh you know that there's 00:05:42.175 --> 00:05:46.415 nothing that can enter the gun while you're dry fire practicing it also is a 00:05:46.415 --> 00:05:49.875 visual indicator at a glance you can quickly see because of the protrusion, 00:05:50.415 --> 00:05:53.495 of the barrel block from the end of the muzzle you can say you know hey this 00:05:53.495 --> 00:05:58.195 gun's barrel blocked and it's been made safe and clear other people that maybe 00:05:58.195 --> 00:06:01.275 observe you like my family sees me dry fire and they see the barrel block they 00:06:01.275 --> 00:06:06.175 know what's going on so it's a good thing barrelblock.com. 00:06:08.115 --> 00:06:08.675 Yep. 00:06:08.995 --> 00:06:15.295 We have a couple of training resources that we'll share as we go through this episode here today. 00:06:16.315 --> 00:06:22.255 Also, I'll make sure to include a link for the article that you wrote, Jacob. 00:06:22.775 --> 00:06:26.995 But yeah, let's jump into the three most common safety violations. 00:06:27.555 --> 00:06:30.895 Yeah. I think there's some setting this up just a little bit. 00:06:30.995 --> 00:06:35.295 Let me add two points of, one point of context and then one kind of precursor 00:06:35.295 --> 00:06:37.915 to these. I wrote this in September. 00:06:38.455 --> 00:06:41.935 And so it's been several months now. And so I've had some feedback from other 00:06:41.935 --> 00:06:43.535 professionals in the industry who have read it. 00:06:44.995 --> 00:06:48.995 Some comments have come through on the article itself. And so I think there's 00:06:48.995 --> 00:06:50.095 a couple of things that are relevant. 00:06:50.435 --> 00:06:55.315 First, for context, I think, you know, for whatever it's worth, 00:06:57.375 --> 00:07:01.455 we spend a lot of time as professionals, this industry on gun ranges. 00:07:01.675 --> 00:07:06.015 In fact, I recently kind of did an accounting of 2025 and 2025. 00:07:06.055 --> 00:07:11.755 I spent 24 full eight hour plus days on a gun range. 00:07:12.075 --> 00:07:12.475 Right. 00:07:13.215 --> 00:07:16.015 There's plenty of professionals that spent way more than that than me. 00:07:16.135 --> 00:07:18.155 I mean, there's some people who work every day at a gun range. 00:07:18.475 --> 00:07:22.095 Um, you know, that's, that's what they do for a living. Uh, there's people who 00:07:22.095 --> 00:07:25.615 teach, you know, constantly they're on the road, you know, going from class to class. 00:07:25.735 --> 00:07:29.415 So I'm not trying to set myself up as some like crazy, like, 00:07:29.575 --> 00:07:32.695 look, oh my gosh, I, you know, I'm more qualified than anyone else. 00:07:33.015 --> 00:07:35.875 But I think compared to the average person listening to this show, 00:07:36.155 --> 00:07:41.475 I'm suggesting that I have a decent amount of exposure at seeing what happens. 00:07:42.215 --> 00:07:45.395 And not only that, but we get these reports from other instructors. 00:07:46.235 --> 00:07:49.515 This last year, I went to several training conferences that took place on gun ranges. 00:07:49.615 --> 00:07:53.295 Of course, at our event, I was at Revolver Fest, I was at Revolver Roundup in 00:07:53.295 --> 00:07:56.275 past year. The year previous, I went to all those same events, 00:07:56.275 --> 00:08:00.595 plus the Active Self-Protection Conference, often at the Girl in a Gun Conference. 00:08:00.735 --> 00:08:05.695 And you just, when you have hundreds or sometimes almost 1,000 people that show 00:08:05.695 --> 00:08:08.875 up to these events, you see patterns, right? 00:08:08.875 --> 00:08:12.395 And when you're hosting these events, whether it's us hosting it or a friend 00:08:12.395 --> 00:08:18.455 of ours who hosts an event, what happens is in the first day when everyone hits the bay to shoot, 00:08:18.995 --> 00:08:22.275 you quickly get reports that come in real fast from the RSOs, 00:08:22.335 --> 00:08:25.095 from the AIs, that come back to the event organizers saying, 00:08:25.255 --> 00:08:27.375 hey, we got someone over here who's doing some concerning things. 00:08:27.515 --> 00:08:29.675 Hey, we need to keep an eye on this person over here. 00:08:30.095 --> 00:08:35.215 And so I'm just trying to suggest some context. Like this is not some arbitrary article. 00:08:35.215 --> 00:08:43.595 This is from a significant amount of consideration and data that I tried to 00:08:43.595 --> 00:08:48.535 boil down all the little things into three core things. 00:08:48.735 --> 00:08:53.655 These are the three big kahunas. In my opinion, they represent 98%. 00:08:54.350 --> 00:08:57.990 Of safety violations at a gun range. So that's a pretty massive percentage like this. 00:08:58.270 --> 00:09:03.130 If we could get rid of these three, we'd be good to go. We just would not have problems anymore. 00:09:04.190 --> 00:09:06.950 So that's, that's the context. And then I'll add this little kind of, 00:09:06.970 --> 00:09:11.210 I'll call it precursor, which is that my experience suggests, 00:09:11.210 --> 00:09:15.670 as does that from other professionals we talked to, that if you're one of the 00:09:15.670 --> 00:09:18.930 people exhibiting one of these three behaviors, you don't know it. 00:09:19.980 --> 00:09:25.380 That the vast majority of the time when we have to talk to people as the instructor 00:09:25.380 --> 00:09:30.360 or as the range safety officer or whatever role you might have or we may have 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:31.980 or I might have in these circumstances, 00:09:31.980 --> 00:09:36.500 the vast majority of the time when we talk to the person about what they're 00:09:36.500 --> 00:09:38.520 doing, they don't believe they're doing it. 00:09:39.280 --> 00:09:44.780 It's almost like, what? I'm not doing that. What you're saying to me is something 00:09:44.780 --> 00:09:46.020 an unsafe person would do. 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:49.020 And I am not an unsafe person. therefore I can't 00:09:49.020 --> 00:09:52.100 be doing the thing you're saying I'm doing and so 00:09:52.100 --> 00:09:55.240 that requires a certain amount of vulnerability and humility 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:58.920 as you're listening to this episode today to to 00:09:58.920 --> 00:10:02.840 ask yourself like in a real honest way like hey am 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:07.240 I doing this and and and if I am like how would I know like what am I going 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:13.680 to do next time I go to the range to monitor my behavior to to see if I am to 00:10:13.680 --> 00:10:19.140 some degree doing these things maybe i should put myself on camera and like you know get some video 00:10:20.920 --> 00:10:23.980 Yeah i'm right there with you i mean i remember from just this year's 00:10:23.980 --> 00:10:28.900 you know this last year's guardian conference uh i think it was the first day 00:10:28.900 --> 00:10:33.040 maybe even first class it may have been that afternoon but either way i remember 00:10:33.040 --> 00:10:38.880 observing somebody reholstering after a drill and uh well they were doing one 00:10:38.880 --> 00:10:40.640 of the safety violations we're 00:10:40.640 --> 00:10:43.480 going to talk about today and i pointed it out you And I was like, whoa, 00:10:43.620 --> 00:10:46.520 hold up there. Let's just slow down. And I made him aware. 00:10:46.680 --> 00:10:49.840 I'm like, hey, by the way, when you're reholstering, you're doing this. 00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:53.540 And they turned and kind of looked at me like, really? 00:10:54.860 --> 00:11:01.920 And it wasn't like in an antagonistic way. It was just sort of like disbelief. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:08.040 It takes an incredible amount of self-awareness of oneself. 00:11:08.980 --> 00:11:13.060 I mean, that's a little redundant. Self-awareness is a difficult thing. 00:11:13.220 --> 00:11:19.360 I mean, there's plenty of blind spots that we have in even just our everyday, day-to-day lives. 00:11:20.280 --> 00:11:22.160 And this is one of them where. 00:11:23.194 --> 00:11:30.394 Unless you are like paying a lot of attention, uh, it's very easy to just not 00:11:30.394 --> 00:11:32.574 be aware of what you're actually doing. 00:11:32.794 --> 00:11:36.034 Uh, so yeah, it's, it's, it's challenging. 00:11:36.194 --> 00:11:40.834 It challenges all of us. Uh, I, I would like to think, I mean, 00:11:41.034 --> 00:11:42.514 you're welcome to speak up. 00:11:42.654 --> 00:11:45.614 I, I'm pretty sure you would if I did something unsafe, but, 00:11:45.614 --> 00:11:49.434 uh, I'd like to believe that I'm pretty self-aware and that I don't, 00:11:49.434 --> 00:11:51.534 you know, violate any of these, these rules. 00:11:51.934 --> 00:11:55.854 Uh, but, uh, it's something that's good for, I think all of us to, 00:11:55.994 --> 00:11:58.654 even if we think we, this doesn't apply to us. 00:11:58.774 --> 00:12:01.814 I know it'd be really easy for people to tune out of this podcast and be like, 00:12:01.894 --> 00:12:03.254 Oh, I don't have a problem with this. 00:12:03.334 --> 00:12:08.054 Like it's, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm, you know, I've been doing this a long time and I know I'm safe. 00:12:08.294 --> 00:12:11.894 It'd be really easy to just turn off the podcast right now, but I would encourage 00:12:11.894 --> 00:12:14.794 you to stick around and listen to what we have to say to hear today. 00:12:15.054 --> 00:12:18.594 Uh, because as I went through your article, jacob i'm like i'm thinking 00:12:18.594 --> 00:12:21.814 about myself as i'm reading it like okay am i making sure that 00:12:21.814 --> 00:12:25.034 i am actually abiding by the safety 00:12:25.034 --> 00:12:28.554 rules and just good safe best 00:12:28.554 --> 00:12:31.754 practices as i'm handling my guns 00:12:31.754 --> 00:12:34.774 it's a fair question to ask of all 00:12:34.774 --> 00:12:38.314 of ourselves at all you know anytime so yeah 00:12:38.314 --> 00:12:41.454 critical this an interesting comment on 00:12:41.454 --> 00:12:47.434 youtube from project 1868 someone recently said only three to five percent of 00:12:47.434 --> 00:12:53.754 gun owners know what they are doing marksmanship mindset and safety um i don't 00:12:53.754 --> 00:12:59.574 know where that you know number comes from but it wouldn't necessarily surprise me i. 00:12:59.574 --> 00:13:03.134 Mean gun owners is a large yeah right group right and so sometimes 00:13:04.334 --> 00:13:09.514 You know, people who are listening to this podcast are inherently unique in the gun culture. 00:13:09.834 --> 00:13:12.354 Like, it's just true. Like, if you're the kind of person who would listen to 00:13:12.354 --> 00:13:14.714 this podcast, then you're not the average American gun owner. 00:13:15.094 --> 00:13:18.574 So we have to accept that kind of out of the gate. You know, 00:13:18.574 --> 00:13:21.574 people who would show up at these events and classes that I was talking about 00:13:21.574 --> 00:13:24.174 a moment ago are not the average American gun owner either. 00:13:24.634 --> 00:13:27.714 So you kind of have, you know, the whole universe that, you know, 00:13:27.734 --> 00:13:29.174 which is American gun owners. 00:13:29.174 --> 00:13:33.154 And then you can have this subset, which are those who, you know, 00:13:33.554 --> 00:13:36.314 care enough to go to a range and shoot it on occasion. Then you have a subset 00:13:36.314 --> 00:13:39.514 of that, which are those who would actually take a class, go to an event, 00:13:39.734 --> 00:13:43.274 you know, pursue additional training, education, and learning and practice. 00:13:43.574 --> 00:13:49.774 So anyway, my point is simply like, don't forget that these observations we're 00:13:49.774 --> 00:13:55.874 sharing are from the super subset of those who actually show up to training events and classes. 00:13:56.474 --> 00:13:58.154 We still see these issues. 00:13:58.994 --> 00:14:01.814 It and that's a really i mean 00:14:01.814 --> 00:14:05.734 it kind of goes back to what i was just saying a moment ago like any of us can fall uh 00:14:05.734 --> 00:14:11.854 victims not the right word but you know what i mean like we can end up be uh 00:14:11.854 --> 00:14:15.154 finding ourselves in one of these situations if we're not careful or not paying 00:14:15.154 --> 00:14:19.074 attention because these people that come to events like the guardian conference 00:14:19.074 --> 00:14:23.214 like these are already in like the upper tier of this very small percentage 00:14:23.214 --> 00:14:25.634 of people that are actually taking it seriously enough, 00:14:26.374 --> 00:14:31.454 to make a fairly significant investment and perhaps even traveling all the way 00:14:31.454 --> 00:14:33.774 across the country or in some cases from Guatemala, 00:14:34.414 --> 00:14:38.554 where we had a couple people come a couple years ago from to the conference. 00:14:39.934 --> 00:14:45.974 They're already in that very, very small percentage of people that are really 00:14:45.974 --> 00:14:51.774 doing everything they can to learn and practice and train, and yet we still see safety violations. 00:14:52.274 --> 00:14:56.674 That's right. So just because you may know what you're doing, 00:14:56.914 --> 00:15:01.354 quote unquote, does not necessarily mean you're immune to safety violations. 00:15:01.794 --> 00:15:03.134 That's right, yeah. 00:15:04.793 --> 00:15:06.153 So let's jump in. 00:15:06.413 --> 00:15:10.313 I'll add also that just because you used to be really good at gun safety stuff 00:15:10.313 --> 00:15:11.953 does not mean that today you still are. 00:15:12.373 --> 00:15:19.153 Yes. Yeah. I mean, I know you and I have heard it from students. 00:15:19.333 --> 00:15:24.933 Well, I served in the military, even in some cases, like retired from the military for 20 years. 00:15:24.953 --> 00:15:27.653 I'll go a step further than that. And I'll say we have people who have shown 00:15:27.653 --> 00:15:29.433 up to our events year over year over year over year. 00:15:29.593 --> 00:15:34.173 And we'll have a year or two or three go by where we observe no concerning behavior. 00:15:34.793 --> 00:15:37.773 And then they show up and they have some concerning behaviors. 00:15:40.033 --> 00:15:45.433 So like in a very true transparent fashion, you can truly be a person who really 00:15:45.433 --> 00:15:47.733 is like ironed out on these things. 00:15:48.013 --> 00:15:52.233 But then you start to exhibit the behaviors because you got a new holster or 00:15:52.233 --> 00:15:56.253 because you're dealing with arthritis or because it's just been too long since 00:15:56.253 --> 00:15:57.973 you practiced and you're a little nervous. 00:15:58.333 --> 00:16:01.833 Yeah, you got elbow surgery or something. Sure. And you took six months off. 00:16:01.993 --> 00:16:03.973 And yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. 00:16:04.373 --> 00:16:07.393 And by the way, if you're listening to this or watching this, 00:16:07.573 --> 00:16:12.793 please don't take anything that we discuss here today as an attack on anybody. 00:16:13.493 --> 00:16:16.753 Someone listening may very well have been one of these people we talked to at 00:16:16.753 --> 00:16:20.813 the conference about, hey, saw something concerning here. 00:16:21.952 --> 00:16:28.412 We're not here to make fun of anybody. This is a simple gut check for us all 00:16:28.412 --> 00:16:32.732 to make sure that we're all staying in tip-top shape when it comes to safety. 00:16:33.272 --> 00:16:40.552 And I'll just add that it's not just the Guardian Conference. 00:16:41.472 --> 00:16:45.512 We've referred to that many times because that's where we are responsible. 00:16:46.392 --> 00:16:50.192 The buck stops with me at that event to maintain everyone's safety. 00:16:50.192 --> 00:16:54.792 So i have a greater amount of awareness what's going on there with a larger 00:16:54.792 --> 00:16:58.852 number of people compared to other events i might attend or situations where 00:16:58.852 --> 00:17:01.812 i'm just an instructor with my own class or i'm an assistant instructor with 00:17:01.812 --> 00:17:06.172 10 or 12 individuals so anyway that that's why that that keeps getting mentioned 100 00:17:06.172 --> 00:17:08.992 And i mean i hope that people would come to our conference would see that we 00:17:08.992 --> 00:17:13.172 take safety very seriously i mean it's a it's a safe event that's that's first 00:17:13.172 --> 00:17:16.792 and foremost like like our number one goal besides everybody learning stuff 00:17:16.792 --> 00:17:18.652 is like that we get out of there safely. 00:17:18.652 --> 00:17:20.372 No blood yep 00:17:20.372 --> 00:17:28.732 Yep 100 so uh what's the what's the first unsafe thing that you've witnessed 00:17:28.732 --> 00:17:30.652 that we're referencing from this article jacob. 00:17:30.652 --> 00:17:34.652 Yeah i've actually thought about the order of these many times and not come 00:17:34.652 --> 00:17:37.212 to any conclusion about changing it so we'll just go with the order in which 00:17:37.212 --> 00:17:40.572 they're written in the article and the first one is unsafe reholstering and 00:17:40.572 --> 00:17:44.612 i kind of break it down into two subcategories or two two methodologies or two 00:17:44.612 --> 00:17:47.812 ways we see people commit this safety violation. 00:17:48.092 --> 00:17:53.472 But it comes down to me done shooty, need put gun back in holster thing, 00:17:54.092 --> 00:17:55.952 me do it in a way that's not safe. 00:17:56.890 --> 00:18:01.970 So the two kind of subtypes, the first one is muzzling the hand. 00:18:02.510 --> 00:18:09.630 And this is another one of those where it's a challenge because it's really 00:18:09.630 --> 00:18:14.630 easy to muzzle your hand if your hand is anywhere near the holster. 00:18:14.750 --> 00:18:20.050 But you can technically kind of use your hand to move clothes, 00:18:20.450 --> 00:18:25.350 even open the holster or kind of tip its angle or shift it away from the body 00:18:25.350 --> 00:18:30.230 or make it so you can see it over your gut and not muzzle your hand. 00:18:30.390 --> 00:18:33.930 But what happens a lot of times an RSO or an instructor is looking at an angle, 00:18:34.170 --> 00:18:38.990 you know, 10 degrees off, 20, 30 degrees off, and it looks like you're muzzling your hand. 00:18:39.110 --> 00:18:43.610 So I'm suggesting that it's one of those things that is such a close call that 00:18:43.610 --> 00:18:48.850 sometimes you might think you're clear, but it takes very little for you to not be clear. 00:18:49.150 --> 00:18:52.450 Or it takes very little for someone watching to think that you just muzzled your hand. 00:18:52.450 --> 00:18:55.210 But i'm trying to give you the benefit of 00:18:55.210 --> 00:18:58.010 the doubt um and that because the reality is you probably did 00:18:58.010 --> 00:19:00.770 just muzzle your hand but if you're using your hand 00:19:00.770 --> 00:19:04.050 if you're touching your holster at all while reholstering 00:19:04.050 --> 00:19:08.230 you're probably muzzling your hand or at very least you're walking next to the 00:19:08.230 --> 00:19:13.230 edge of the cliff in a way that we deemed to be unnecessary and bad practice 00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:18.890 because it's it has the potential for a lack for for an accident for an issue 00:19:18.890 --> 00:19:21.290 right so we know we're not supposed to point guns at things we don't want to destroy, 00:19:21.750 --> 00:19:24.130 But you might say, oh, I don't actually muzzle my hand. 00:19:24.250 --> 00:19:27.830 I carefully sweep it like this and then bring it in at this angle. 00:19:27.910 --> 00:19:29.910 And it's like, well, why are you flirting with this, man? 00:19:30.030 --> 00:19:33.710 Like just get your hand off your holster or buy a holster or use a holster that 00:19:33.710 --> 00:19:36.670 doesn't require you touching it to put the gun back in it. 00:19:37.050 --> 00:19:41.630 And so that's the first, call it, sub-issue of reholstering. 00:19:42.270 --> 00:19:47.230 You know, and you talk about this in the article that one of the ways I think 00:19:47.230 --> 00:19:48.310 some people develop a... 00:19:49.643 --> 00:19:53.003 A habit of using their 00:19:53.003 --> 00:19:57.123 support hand to kind of open the holster 00:19:57.123 --> 00:20:00.363 opening as they're reholstering is because 00:20:00.363 --> 00:20:03.023 of like soft sided holsters or some of 00:20:03.023 --> 00:20:05.843 the leather holsters nylon holsters and things 00:20:05.843 --> 00:20:11.303 that people may have used in the past and you know they're they've used something 00:20:11.303 --> 00:20:15.503 like that that collapses after the gun's drawn from it and so then they want 00:20:15.503 --> 00:20:18.843 to be able to reholster and the The only way you can do that is to kind of get 00:20:18.843 --> 00:20:23.863 your fingers in there and spread the opening back open so you can put the muzzle back in, right? 00:20:25.223 --> 00:20:30.643 There's a reason we don't allow soft-sided or collapsible holsters in our training 00:20:30.643 --> 00:20:31.883 at the Guardian Conference. 00:20:31.883 --> 00:20:37.863 And you see the same thing prohibited at many other training events and instructors' 00:20:38.043 --> 00:20:42.723 courses and things around the country for this very reason because they're just not safe. 00:20:43.903 --> 00:20:47.843 So, I mean, people are free to use what they want to use, but we would advise 00:20:47.843 --> 00:20:50.763 you again and again and again that you want a holster that does not collapse 00:20:50.763 --> 00:20:55.243 on you when you're carrying a gun. 00:20:55.543 --> 00:20:59.503 Because part of carrying a gun is at some point we're going to draw that gun, 00:20:59.563 --> 00:21:01.963 and that means we've got to put it back in the holster. 00:21:02.123 --> 00:21:06.523 You did address it in the article where if you are using a holster that collapses 00:21:06.523 --> 00:21:09.523 upon itself a little as you draw it out, 00:21:10.295 --> 00:21:13.975 then you should probably go ahead and remove that holster from 00:21:13.975 --> 00:21:17.875 your belt or whatever from inside your waistband to 00:21:17.875 --> 00:21:20.595 then reholster the gun to then put the holster and 00:21:20.595 --> 00:21:25.615 gun back inside your waistband let's say uh so but even that can be problematic 00:21:25.615 --> 00:21:28.855 because you have a gun out still in one hand and now you're going to remove 00:21:28.855 --> 00:21:32.515 a holster with the other hand like that could be difficult and awkward too so 00:21:32.515 --> 00:21:38.315 the point is get a quality holster like a ksg armory holster imagine that um. 00:21:38.315 --> 00:21:43.675 Nice nice nice job on the shameless plug yeah yeah the other way this happens 00:21:43.675 --> 00:21:47.755 a lot in addition to the holster has to be opened manually the other thing we 00:21:47.755 --> 00:21:51.895 see a lot of is almost like a spot check like i because of the shape of our 00:21:51.895 --> 00:21:54.595 bodies some of us put a holster where we can't see it 00:21:55.695 --> 00:21:58.795 And so if you can't see it and sometimes by the way i'm not just talking about 00:21:58.795 --> 00:22:02.855 i got a big gut and it's in the way i see plenty of people who are carrying 00:22:02.855 --> 00:22:07.335 at three o'clock and their dexterity or maybe 334, 00:22:07.475 --> 00:22:10.335 but their dexterity is just such that turning their neck and head and getting 00:22:10.335 --> 00:22:14.735 the, like the whole thing is, it's actually hard for them physically to see 00:22:14.735 --> 00:22:15.815 the gun into the holster. 00:22:16.275 --> 00:22:21.275 And so I think our body naturally says, well, I got this hand that's not doing anything right now. 00:22:21.555 --> 00:22:26.355 I'll use it to touch and verify where the holster is. 00:22:26.455 --> 00:22:30.595 And this creates what, there's a term for this, something about like proprioception or something. 00:22:30.855 --> 00:22:33.435 There's some fancy term. Did I just, did I just get it? Good, 00:22:33.535 --> 00:22:37.695 good for me if I did. But it creates a situation where because my brain knows 00:22:37.695 --> 00:22:43.055 where left hand is, my brain can bring right hand to left hand and get gun into the holster. 00:22:43.675 --> 00:22:48.115 So that's another situation where, like I said, we don't even allow those holsters 00:22:48.115 --> 00:22:49.975 that you were talking about at our event. 00:22:50.155 --> 00:22:52.715 And most of these events I go to, they wouldn't be allowed. 00:22:52.915 --> 00:22:56.375 And yet we still see people touching their holster, not because they need to open the holster. 00:22:56.375 --> 00:23:02.315 But the majority of the time I observe it in those circumstances is because they need, 00:23:02.475 --> 00:23:06.995 or I shouldn't say they need, but they're utilizing that empty hand to confirm 00:23:06.995 --> 00:23:11.655 the position of the holster as they walk the gun back into it. 00:23:12.653 --> 00:23:16.553 So, and you talked, you touched on this a little bit ago about, 00:23:16.553 --> 00:23:19.613 you know, needing to clear cover garments or something out of the way. 00:23:19.713 --> 00:23:23.793 And that's very much that has to happen, right? And the support hand is there to do that job. 00:23:24.733 --> 00:23:29.533 When we do that, just a tip here, like we should get the garments up and out 00:23:29.533 --> 00:23:34.253 of the way, just as if we were the same way we would when we're drawing the 00:23:34.253 --> 00:23:35.613 gun from the holster in the first place. 00:23:35.693 --> 00:23:38.433 Which means we rip the shirt up. If I'm in appendix position, 00:23:38.433 --> 00:23:40.973 I'm going to reach down, you know, towards the midline of my body. 00:23:40.973 --> 00:23:44.333 The shirt's going to come up and I'm going to bring it up pretty close to the sternum of my chest. 00:23:44.653 --> 00:23:49.413 If I'm drawing from my hip or behind my hip, I'm going to rip that shirt up. 00:23:49.473 --> 00:23:53.753 Not literally rip it, hopefully, but I'm going to rip that shirt up basically to my armpit. 00:23:54.633 --> 00:23:58.513 My hand is up and away from the holster on the draw. That's what we want to 00:23:58.513 --> 00:24:00.833 do when we reholster it as well, ideally. 00:24:01.013 --> 00:24:05.753 So the hand and the shirt and everything is not just cleared a little bit out of the way. 00:24:05.873 --> 00:24:08.013 We're not talking about the minimal amount here. We're talking about getting 00:24:08.013 --> 00:24:10.833 it clearly away from the holster. 00:24:11.053 --> 00:24:14.313 Now the holster is free and open to us to put the gun back in. 00:24:14.453 --> 00:24:15.693 That's what I would recommend here. 00:24:16.133 --> 00:24:21.373 Another thought to this is I've observed this, that people, 00:24:21.793 --> 00:24:29.373 some shooters have a tendency of bringing the gun in kind of from the side of 00:24:29.373 --> 00:24:32.933 the holster and sort of like rocking it into the holster. 00:24:34.088 --> 00:24:37.668 And I understand some of the logic there. 00:24:37.808 --> 00:24:41.568 In fact, I've seen some instructors. It's less common now, but years ago, 00:24:41.568 --> 00:24:45.128 it was a little more common to sort of talk about rocking the gun into the holster. 00:24:47.188 --> 00:24:50.268 I think it was a way of sort of finding the opening of the holster a little 00:24:50.268 --> 00:24:54.328 bit, you know, so you didn't have to maybe look at it, for instance. 00:24:54.588 --> 00:24:58.848 But in today's world, that's really kind of where I'm going with this a little 00:24:58.848 --> 00:25:04.268 bit. But I want to caution people about the kind of rocking of the gun into the holster motion. 00:25:06.148 --> 00:25:10.528 That, especially if we have our hand somewhere down near there because either 00:25:10.528 --> 00:25:15.448 we need it for some little extra help proprioceptively, or we're still trying 00:25:15.448 --> 00:25:18.068 to get a shirt or some other thing out of the way of the holster. 00:25:18.548 --> 00:25:22.868 What happens is we end up bringing the muzzle across the support hand. 00:25:23.068 --> 00:25:25.868 Like we basically just sweep right across the support hand. 00:25:26.488 --> 00:25:29.608 So I'm a big believer especially if I'm carrying in the appendix position, 00:25:30.168 --> 00:25:33.148 of trying to always keep the muzzle of the 00:25:33.148 --> 00:25:36.868 gun going in a north-south fashion that 00:25:36.868 --> 00:25:40.848 means when it comes out of the holster the muzzle is basically straight down 00:25:40.848 --> 00:25:45.208 just in front of my feet and when it when I start going out to the target it 00:25:45.208 --> 00:25:49.588 just draws a line straight from my just in front of my feet right up to the 00:25:49.588 --> 00:25:53.268 target when I come back to reholster it just retraces that path 00:25:53.668 --> 00:25:57.508 So we're not moving the muzzle over to my left or anything like that because 00:25:57.508 --> 00:25:59.588 I'm right-handed as I'm doing the reholster. 00:25:59.688 --> 00:26:02.668 No, it just comes straight back into the body and goes right into the holster. 00:26:02.828 --> 00:26:06.368 Now, if I was coming from the hip or behind the hip, it's a little bit different, 00:26:06.368 --> 00:26:09.048 but still a somewhat similar concept. 00:26:10.241 --> 00:26:17.701 So here's one way I think that we can really help ensure that we are extra self-aware 00:26:17.701 --> 00:26:19.881 as we're doing reholstering in particular, 00:26:19.881 --> 00:26:26.061 is to actually look at it and what we're doing with our eyes. 00:26:26.501 --> 00:26:29.581 I know that some people out there get angry when you suggest things like this. 00:26:29.661 --> 00:26:30.741 Well, I need to keep my eyes up 00:26:30.741 --> 00:26:33.341 in case there's a threat or another threat appears or something like that. 00:26:33.341 --> 00:26:37.381 Uh well i ain't reholstering unless 00:26:37.381 --> 00:26:41.041 i've dealt with all available threats where 00:26:41.041 --> 00:26:43.861 possible could there be some exceptions sure and in those 00:26:43.861 --> 00:26:48.601 circumstances i may need to take my chances i suppose either with looking or 00:26:48.601 --> 00:26:56.641 not looking but in 99 of situations like look at your holster and if you can't 00:26:56.641 --> 00:27:02.601 look at as much as you can at the very least look and follow the muzzle of the gun, 00:27:03.161 --> 00:27:06.301 follow where your support hand is and try to keep all those things separated, 00:27:06.781 --> 00:27:11.361 and if you're doing it visually then you can have a lot greater self-awareness 00:27:11.361 --> 00:27:13.521 and a lot less likelihood of muzzling yourself. 00:27:15.084 --> 00:27:20.984 Yeah, I'll add two specific tips that might be helpful. One of those is instead 00:27:20.984 --> 00:27:27.884 of using the hand to touch the holster to help identify for your brain where it is, 00:27:28.064 --> 00:27:33.764 use your hand to move the body that's in the way of you seeing the holster so 00:27:33.764 --> 00:27:37.324 that your eyes can do the job that you're trying to use your support hand for. 00:27:38.384 --> 00:27:41.224 And that will greatly decrease the odds. 00:27:41.624 --> 00:27:49.524 Second, there's no way around this. We have to make training sacrifices for the sake of safety. 00:27:50.284 --> 00:27:53.144 So anytime someone says, well, you got to train how we fight. 00:27:53.244 --> 00:27:57.264