Teamwork While Armed – Three Tips
More and more people carry guns every day in America so that they are prepared to defend themselves or others. If you carry, there is a good chance that you spend time with others who do as well.
Have you thought about how you can improve your safety by planning to work together with other armed people during a defensive event? Have you considered that not being prepared to interact with other armed people could put you at risk? Here are some tips to help you be safer and be better prepared to deal with threats when there is more than one armed “good guy” on the scene:
- Get Together. As soon as you can during a defensive event, you should get together with the second armed person. If you are next to one another, you are much less likely to end up posing a threat to one another accidentally. If you spend time with another armed person regularly this should be the first part of your planning. Find one another, and get together. If you are back-to-back, you can see more of your environment.
- Use a compressed ready position. Extended ready positions look more threatening to observers and are more likely to lead to negligent discharges (because your finger is more likely to go to the trigger the closer you are to a shooting position). If you look like a threat, you are less likely to get cooperation from other armed persons and might even be shot by someone misunderstanding your intention. Luckily, compressed ready positions are better in almost every way, not just in this regard.
- Communicate. Concisely tell people what you need or what you see. Especially when dealing with strangers, it is imperative to keep communication to a minimum and be very clear. If you have gotten together, you should try to communicate without looking at your partner, so that you can keep your eyes on your area of responsibility.
These tips can be employed even if the person you are working with isn’t armed. If you are in a public space with an unarmed family member, for example, you can get them to hold your belt and keep an eye on things behind you.
Rob Pincus
Rob is a leading international personal defense educator specializing in the area of Defensive Shooting. He has conducted training courses around the world for armed professionals and people interested in personal or home defense for over two decades. He is the author of several books and producer of over 100 DVDs on self-defense topics. He has spent thousands of hours researching, developing and teaching the courses that he and his team of certified instructors offer.