Class 36

Last weekend we graduated CCW class 36.

This class was diverse, in gender, age, and occupation.

Two of our students were doctors, and the conversations I had with them bears mentioning.

Our first doctor is an Anesthesiologist, and he discovered something about himself this last weekend.

His mastery at skill at arms is perhaps not as advanced as his ability to keep someone unconscious during surgery.

Still stuck in the recreational shooter mindset, and looking for diagnostic feedback (ie: well placed holes in his target) Doctor Sleepy Time, became frustrated at his lack of A+ shooting.  So frustrated, that a couple of times he became more focused on his missed shots than on his firearm safety.

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This was quickly remediated, and proved to not be a chronic problem while at the range.  Still his frustration with his lack of progress…. (after only doing defensive shooting under live fire conditions for about an hour)… gave me pause for concern.

This is not the first time we have seen highly accomplished individuals become frustrated at their lack of sophistication or muscle dexterity.   This is not only unnecessary… it is counter productive.  If in their roles as Doctors, Lawyers, Judges, they are asked to mentor a new member of their community, would they expect that new participant to have the same skills, and developed understanding, on day one that they have achieved over a career?

Of course not… so it should be of little concern to them on the firing line that they are not able to engage in magazine manipulations, or targeted shots with the same finesse and accuracy as one of our instructors.

They WILL reach this level…. but only after dedicated practice.  No one achieves this “naturally”.

Our other Doctor was a surgeon.  During the two day course I think he underwent a political and philosophical change as well.

At the end of our live fire day our Surgeon came up to Kavon who was running the range and told him a little story.  Apparently a few years back he was working as an emergency room surgeon when a guy was brought in with nine .45ACP rounds still in his body.  Evidentially, this patient was a fairly successful economic participant in the blackmarket narcotics trade.  During an undercover DEA operation, the paragon of virtue lying on our students operating table had attempted to put a DEA agent in the same predicament he now found himself in.  The DEA agent turned out to be a much better gunfighter though.

Our surgeon’s initial response upon learning that he was going to have to fish nine .45’s out of this guy was annoyance at the DEA agent who shot him.

“Honestly, nine times?  This was obviously an execution!”

Sure enough, his patient died while on the operating table… a tragic loss I am sure to someone, somewhere.

When he told Kavon about this he said, “I get it.”

“I never understood the dynamics of a gunfight.  Looking at it now, nine rounds was not excessive… in fact the DEA agent might have been a showing restraint!”

It is hard for someone that has no experience in the use of violence as a tool to end violence to grasp the complexity and fluidity of a use of force event.  Our surgeon who is now moving into the ranks of the legally armed citizen is now beginning to view these things empirically and less normatively.

Progress has been made.