Trainer or Therapist?

Maybe we’re approaching the I Percent Problem from the wrong perspective.

We know, by the numbers, that almost 82% percent of all armed encounters end without a shot being fired: All the armed citizen needed to do was a) have a gun with them and b) be able to present it in a timely manner.

That’s it. That’s all you need to do in order to come out ahead in over four out of five violent armed encounters.

However, we also know that only one percent of gun owners are willing to take the steps needed to insure they will have a firearm with them when that need may arise. We know that changing our daily routine in a small, unobtrusive way can potentially save our lives, yet we don’t do it. Is that a training problem, or a life coach / therapist problem?

For instance, I know that hitting the gym for a hour every other day will help me live a more comfortable life as I age. Do I do that? No. Is it a lack of knowledge about the benefits of regular conditioning which stop me from doing this? No. Is it a lack of equipment? No. A lack of training opportunities? Also no. What is keeping me out of the gym is that going to the gym was never part of my lifestyle growing up and therefore is alien and foreign to me now that I am in my later years. Yes, I know I should do it, but it’s a hassle getting up early to go, and I keep forgetting to work out at home in the evening. Would a one day class on how to work out help change that? Probably not, as it’s not the one-time boost that I need, it’s a lifestyle change to make going to the gym something I prioritize over other activities, like napping.

Now let’s reword those previous few sentences for our firearms students. They know that 15 minutes of dry fire at home will help improve their accuracy and firearm manipulation skills. They know about how having a firearm with them is essential to surviving a lethal force encounter, and there is no lack of either equipment or training opportunities. However, going to the range is not part of their lifestyle, neither is dry fire practice. They don’t need a three-day class in Advanced Real World Defensive Pistol Techniques, they need to carry their guns wherever and whenever they can.

A trainer cannot show them how to do this, but a therapist or a life coach can.

Or to borrow another analogy, the firearms training world is full of advanced theologians who can debate for hours the tactual equivalent of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. How many of them are good at counseling a student on making the changes in their life needed to carry a pistol with them every day? We have plenty of tactical theologians, what we need are armed lifestyle guidance counselors.

Yes, that is an AI header image, and no, I don’t care.