The Draw
During the course of your concealed carry journey, you’re going to discover that you need to learn how to draw a firearm as efficiently as possible. The importance of being able to decide that you need to present a firearm, actually present that firearm, and then make hits on target, is one of the most important factors in carrying a firearm for self-defense. When talking about the draw, we have to discuss time in fractions of seconds. Most real gunfights are finished in just a few seconds so the time you have to make decisions and react are short. First, let’s talk about reaction time. The average human reaction time to visual stimuli is .25 seconds. Now, a quarter of a second sounds pretty fast but keep in mind, this is the reaction time for a set stimulus. The tester knew he was supposed to react when he saw movement. What about when you don’t know what you’re seeing, like if you have to decide if someone presents a threat or not? Well, tack on another .25 seconds, if you’re lucky. So now we’re up to .5 seconds. Again, sounds fast. But factor in that a person can draw and shoot in about 1.5 seconds, a fast person can draw and shoot in under a second, and now you start to see why deciding and acting quickly are extremely important. I’m discussing all of this with the idea that someone has trained and practiced the draw. If you haven’t, forget everything I just wrote. You won’t stand a chance against a decisive threat. Watching the video of the recent shooting in a church in White Settlement Texas when a security member stood and tried for 3.5 seconds to draw a firearm. He was shot and killed first. You could clearly see him fumbling, with one hand to try and draw. From what I could see on the video, he never complete his draw before he was gunned down.
During my courses, I teach 4 steps to a draw. Each is deliberate and all have a purpose. No movement is wasted.
Grip and slap. The off-hand (the left hand for right-handed folks) slaps the center of the chest and the grip hand establishes the correct grip on the firearm. This is also where you would clear a cover garment but this should be taught during your training. The reason your off-hand goes to the center serves 2 purposes. One, it stays out of the way. The last thing you need in front of your gun is your own hand. Two, it keeps your arm out the reach of an assailant. You don’t want a bad guy grabbing any part of you if he’s close.
Skin that smoke wagon. Next step is pull the handgun just far enough from the holster that it clears as you rotate and drop the elbow against the body. The firearm will rest against the bottom of your pectoral muscle right on the ribs. You should have the gun canted away from your body and from this position, you can fire if necessary. Having the gun tilted slightly will keep the slide operating and keep your garments from getting caught in the action of the slide.
Retention. Third step is to bring the hands together directly in front of your chest and establish a 2 handed grip. You can also fire from this position if necessary.
Punch. The final step is to punch directly out in front of you with the gun. While keeping your head straight, keep your eyes on the target and intercept your line of sight with the firearm’s sights.
There’s a lot going on here which is why I always encourage people to get training on how to properly draw a handgun. The first rule of a gunfight is; Have a Gun. If you carry a firearm for self-defense and can’t deploy it properly, you may as well not even have one.