Handgun Draw for Close-Quarter Shooting

When we think about shooting while in contact or contact shooting as its sometime referred to, we need to remember that when we have a firearm and when we have someone inside of a closet with us, someone who's pushed us down on the ground maybe our contact shooting situation is a horizontal plane, we've been pushed down inside of our home. Maybe we're trapped in a hallway. We're trying to keep someone from getting to a bedroom where our family members are. And now all of a sudden we're in a situation where we're in contact with someone, but that someone isn't just a piece of paper that we can shove away or hit or strike. Real people are three-dimensional. Real people have energy. Real people are what we're actually trying to defend ourselves against. Andy is gonna step into the shot, and if I have someone who's come up into my world. Maybe there's a bump in the night. Maybe there's a scratch. Maybe my alarm has gone off. Maybe I've put my firearm into my holster. I put my holster on, in middle of the night or maybe it's the middle of the day. Maybe I'm supposed to be at work. And someone was using a screwdriver, for example to get into my window, to get into my door. Now, that screwdriver becomes a lethal threat. I'm in an extreme close quarter situation. And this is why I call it shooting while in contact, as that threat comes in, I need to worry about deflecting that attack. I need to worry about protecting myself from that screwdriver. So as that screwdriver comes in, my focus can't be to reach for my gun. As the screwdriver comes in, my focus can't be to simply shove the bad guy away. If I do either one of those things I'm gonna end up catching this in the chest. I'm gonna end up catching this in the face. I'm gonna end up putting my hand out and getting knocked over. I need to simply worry about first and foremost, controlling this attack. Clearing the screwdriver from me clearing myself from the screwdriver, whatever it may be. Maybe this hands coming in as a punch, as a grab as a shove, as a choke, whatever it is I need two hands worried about this close quarters threat. At some point, when I get some type of control here. Now, if I can push him against the wall if I can pull him back towards me, I can transition to a counter and that counter is going to be my shot. But I need to remember that shooting while in contact is shooting while in contact with a person. Now, of course I can't take a live fire shot against Andy here. So let me demonstrate what we're gonna use as a shooting technique. We're going to get him out of the way. I'm going to switch this blue gun for an actual firearm. Hearing protection in, eye protection in. Now as I think about engaging this actual target, this actual threat, when the target is here, I'm actually in contact with it. I'm not shoving and rocking back because if I could shove and rock back this probably wouldn't be an actual legal threat. So I'm in an extreme close quarters situation. I've had to do some type of fighting. I'm push it against the wall, I'm in the hallway, I'm in the closet, I'm on the floor, I've cleared and controlled that initial attack, and now I'm going to access my firearm. Pinning him against the wall, pinning him against the ground, controlling the knife, controlling his size, controlling the screwdriver. Maybe the firearm, whatever it is, get my firearm up and out of my holster and oriented right against my body. And here's the two key components to this. One, I've got the magazine well jammed against my torso. Two, I've got my strong side thumb lagged also against my torso. This gives me a very high likelihood of not being pointed at my own body. If I were to pull back and not have the magazine well against myself, I might cover myself with the muzzle, especially if I got twisted to the side and I was able to cover part of my torso, my abdomen with the muzzle itself. My thumb is flagging here so that my slide is gonna move freely so that when I'm in this situation, I fought to a point of control. This is what Craig Douglas calls in-fight weapons access. I can come up, orient, touch and press. And significantly affect my Target's ability to present a lethal threat. That's how we're going to use a firearm while in contact and extreme close quarters in our home. Now there's another situation for extreme close quarters shooting, where we might not actually be shooting while in contact. In this situation, if someone bursts through a door and I'm in a very small room with my family behind me. If I go to full extension and that were a three-dimensional person swinging their arms around, they might be able to affect my aim. They might be able to take the gun from me, jam the gun upwards or downwards, or in other ways affect me from being able to actually shoot them and stop them as a threat. If I keep the gun in close, however, because of the distance involved, I don't have that contact arrangement where I absolutely know that I'm aligned on their body. Now there's a chance that I could stop them here. But if I have a laser as a tertiary aiming device, I significantly increased my odds. I pulled the gun back in. I orient, I turn the laser on, I touch the trigger, then slowly smoothly press. And I know that I'm going to be able to hit my target. When you're in extreme close quarters, but not in contact, using a laser as a tertiary aiming device is a great way to increase your ability to defend yourself or your family.