A Lesson From The Day Job

I don't talk about specifics from my day job very often. Here especially, and only rarely on my personal blog. I work in the insurance claims industry handling high exposure and litigated commercial liability claims. From time to time, I get assigned to handle claims involving the use of firearms in one form or another. It can be anything from a security guard discharging a gun in self defense to drug deals gone bad to drive by shootings and more.

Yesterday, a claim was assigned to me involving a tragic set of facts. I won't go into too much detail because anyone with more than novice Google Fu skills could probably track it down without too much trouble. Long story short and the lead in to the point of this post, a police officer had to shoot two dogs that had attacked someone.

I was able to meet with my insured this afternoon, and (unusually) there is security video of the event including the shooting. On the plus side, I get to see what happened and when. On the negative side, the incident happened more than 25 yards from where the security camera was mounted making details a little fuzzy (literally).

While I do not know what caliber the officer used, I feel pretty confident in assuming it was some flavor of Glock or Sig 9mm as the majority of the departments in my area issue either Glock 17s or Sig P226s in 9mm. I mention this only to say that the make and caliber of the gun are likely irrelevant given what I saw in the video.

Quick warning to the squeamish, I am about describe what I saw which resulted in the deaths of two dogs. I am a dog lover, and I had to watch it. So, I will do my best to mitigate the imagery.

The officer shot the first dog from a distance of about 5 yards. The first shot was not a killing shot, and the dog started spinning around very quickly. Now, I'm not going to fault the officer for failing to kill the dog on the first shot. I wasn't there, I don't know the officer's experience, etc. What my point here is that the response of the dog to the first shot made all subsequent shots much harder. The second dog, seeing what happened to dog number one, became very agitated and started a spin cycle of its own. I could not tell how many rounds were fired; however, I didn't see a reload involved. So, less than 17 is a safe assumption.

Here are the lessons I would like to offer up in light of this video.

1) Shot placement is everything. Make it count because you might only get one chance. It does not matter how fast you shoot or what caliber you use if you miss the target. Conversely, caliber (within reason) does not matter if you hit the target.
2) Moving targets are harder to hit. This should be self evident to most people, but it bears repeating.
3) Movement buys you time. In this case, the dog could potentially have survived the first shot had it had an avenue of escape and run away. In the self defense context, it's better to be a moving target than a static target.

I Am Done Hiding

For years, unconsciously, I 'caved' to the anti-gunners by defending my gun ownership under the guise of 'sporting'.  I'm certain I'm not the only gun owner who has opted out of the anti-gunners' arguments by not engaging in a discussion, by simply saying, "you know, I compete with my gun".

I've been open here on the blog about the reason why I own my guns, about the reason why I train the way I do.  But I haven't been so honest in my daily life, mostly because I don't want to be perceived as a "gun nut" or "paranoid".

You know what?

Screw that!

I'm a gun owner because it's my Constitutional right.

I'm a gun owner because shooting is fun.

I'm a gun owner because I am 5' 1/2", female, and not physically strong enough to overpower someone bigger and heavier than I am.

I compete with my gun, not for sport, but because it's the best way I know to practice with my gun.  Standing at a line and shooting in a bay at paper targets is not practice for self-defense. 

Defensive pistol matches - THOSE are excellent practice for self-defense.  Or as close as you can get for practice.  Moving, drawing from concealment, learning to use cover and concealment. Engaging multiple targets while not "killing" any good guys, learning to distinguish between shoot/no-shoot targets.  (The best practice ever would be to train regularly with simunitions, but that's difficult training to come by, at least in our area.)

So the next time, in real-life, someone asks why I own guns, they're going to get the honest answer, not the politically correct one: I use my guns in "sport" to practice for self-defense.

Travesty Of Justice.

This came to my attention today, from a pistol forum I am a member of. Read on... everyone who carries for self defense needs to be aware of this.

**The information below is from a source I trust implicitly. If you would like to contact the gentleman for additional information, please leave a comment on this post or email me directly and I will make it happen. Email is: swequine@yahoo.com
~Mrs Mom
**EDIT: If you would like to read this piece on the forum, please visit PISTOL TALK. It is a closed forum, so you will need to be buzzed in by an Admin. The magic key to enter is my name: Mrs MatHar1. Use that and the doors shall open. Act like an ass, and you will be promptly escorted out and the doors will be locked behind you forever.



"DB is sitting in jail, charged with 5 counts of 1st degree murder and a handful of other charges.

Back in April a buddy called him to ask if he could help a girl move some things from her house because she had an abusive boyfriend, and DB had a truck. DB did not know the woman.

DB's wife told him to go help her after dinner and the kids went to bed.

DB was standing on her front porch while she grabbed some bags and belongings. While she was tossing stuff into his truck, one of her friends called her boyfriend and told him that she had a strange guy at the house.

That guy, the boyfriend and one other guy (all 3 convicted felons and known drug dealers) came screeching into the driveway and blocked DB's truck. They jumped out with clubs, knives and brass knuckles and approached DB on the porch. They backed him into the house and proceeded to beat the dog-squeeze out of him. After taking one good punch to the face with the brass knuckles, DB went down on his back. As the guy with the brass knuckles moved in for the kill, DB drew his licensed Xd .40 and lit all 3 guys up.

One died there. One drove himself away (to the hospital), and the last one collapsed there. DB called 9-1-1, unloaded his pistol, and proceeded to give first aid to the wounded guy (who survived).

The cops showed up and questioned DB and the girl. Their stories matched.

13 detectives ended up working the case. 12 called it “the clearest cut case of self defense they had ever seen.” But the lead detective called it 1st degree murder.

The DA was up for re-election and pushed for trial (he ended up losing the primary, but the new DA also pushed for charges and trial.)

The detective tried to say it was a drug deal gone bad, but toxicology on DB came back clean even though he has a prescription for serious painkillers due to a back and knee injury. Clean for everything.

At a pre trial hearing the judge tried to dismiss the charges, but the lead detective would not drop it. The other 12 detectives said it was all BS and that DB was clean. And it came out that the lead detective never even examined the evidence, including the brass knuckles, clubs, and knives. The brass knuckles were covered with DB's blood.

DB was denied bail, and has been in jail since April. He was due in court this week, but the prosecution just asked for an extension until May 2013.

DB has the two best professional witnesses in the world and both agree that this is the thinnest case they’ve ever seen prosecuted. All of the other cops and detectives have agreed to testify for the defense. The lead detective tried to force DB's wife to testify against him, and she told him he was nuts. He threatened her, and she told him to talk to her attorney. When he found out she really did have an attorney he went nuts. Her attorney had to have the judge intervene to get the detective to back off.

And to top it all off, DB's wife was pregnant when he was arrested and she just gave birth. He now has 3 small children and a wife being harassed by the detective, while he rots in jail.

He has a very good attorney, and everyone is confidant that he will be found not guilty. But the stress and costs are unbelievable."


DB's kids are 7, 5, and a newborn. This young family is being put through Hell, all because a DA is too stupid and cowardly to do the right thing.

To help the family, Southern Winds Solutions will be sponsoring a bracelet drive- all proceeds will go directly to the family. This situation is liable to drag on a considerable amount of time, and I will continue to keep you updated as information becomes available. As more information is available, that will be posted as well.

Again, if you would like to verify this story please feel free to email me at: swequine@yahoo.com and I will connect you to the source.

Help A Survivor and Help Yourself

Northern Colorado, as a general rule, is a warm, welcoming area.  The people who live there are generous, as evidenced by the MAKE IT RAIN BENEFIT CONCERT that raised tens of thousands of dollars to help the survivors of the Highland Park Fire.

Now, we have the opportunity to help out another survivor.

In July of 2011, Lydia Tillman was attacked and violently raped. In order to save herself, she jumped from her second story apartment to save herself after her attacker set it on fire.

This didn't happen in a "big city", this happened in Fort Collins, Colorado. Yes, Fort Collins is much bigger than it was thirty years ago, but it still has the small town "safe" feel. For years, it has been ranked one of the best places in the nation to live over and over again. Part of the draw is that it has a fairly low crime rate compared to other cities in the state.

Two businesses have teamed up to offer a free self-defense class and fundraiser to help Lydia cope with the medical expenses.  My friend, an instructor with Xodus Group, forwarded this information to me.

FORT COLLINS, CO—Trybz Martial Arts is hosting a free women's self-defense class on Sunday, November 11, 2012 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, in honor of Colorado rape victim, Lydia Tillman. The event, co-sponsored by Centerra Rock Bottom Brewery and Trybz Martial Arts, hopes to raise awareness and financial support for Lydia Tillman, following her violent attack last year.

Thirty-year-old Tillman was brutally raped on July 5, 2011, and then was forced to jump out of her second story apartment building to survive being burned alive by her attacker. Her attacker was subsequently caught and sentenced, but the injuries Tillman incurred as a result of the attack were catastrophic, as were the expenses related to her treatment.

Trybz Martial Arts is offering its staff and facilities to train women in self-defense techniques, and promote awareness to help them avoid becoming victims of violent crimes.  Trybz Martial Arts and Centerra Rock Bottom Brewery hope the event will draw a large number of participants and donors alike to both empower women and support Tillman's cause.

For more than 25 years, Trybz Martial Arts has been offering students instruction in the original martial arts of Japan, China, and Southeast Asia, and Indonesia. Trybz staff includes two of the highest ranked black belts in Colorado, as well as four Masters in Martial Arts, a Champion MMA fighter, a Muay Thai Champion, and a World Pancrase Champion. Trybz Martial Arts is located at 1128 West Elizabeth St., Fort Collins, CO 80521. For more information contact Trybz Martial Arts at (970) 443-9425 or on the web at trybzma.com.

Knife Fighting Class

Tara and I had been looking forward the the Knife Fighting Class that Double Tap organized.  Of course, some of our friends looked at us askance.  They weren't suprised so much, as perplexed, after all, we're shooters, why on earth would we need a knife fighting class?

The answer is, because sometimes you don't have time to employ your gun.  And, quite honestly, I think shooters tend to become too dependent on their guns.  It's not always the answer.  Once a gun comes into play, it's a whole lot harder to de-escalate a situation.  I've always believed that a gun is the last resort - the very first thing that should come into play is your brain.  I would not hesitate to shoot if it was necessary, but you can't unpull a trigger and recall a bullet.

While I'm a firm believer in gun training, I also believe we should train in other types of defense.  Hence, the knife fighting class.  We were issued training knives by Keen Edge Knives.  They look like the real deal, but will only leave bruises.

And - look - it's wrapped in paracord,
it's for survival :)

The "blade" is nice and wide and dull.

The back of the blade is even wider.

I've handled children's toys that are more dangerous.

Let me tell you, I'm not an easily intimidated woman, but I was intimidated by this class.  It was completely out of my comfort zone.  One of the first drills we did was a simple test to see how big our personal bubble is.  Now, I know I have a big bubble, and I don't like people in it, but because of the out-of-my-element factor, it almost doubled.  I actually let the instructor take a couple of extra steps into my bubble before I stopped him so I wouldn't look so freakish.  I stopped him about eight feet away from me - I would have rather stopped him at twelve feet.  Interesting, though, I have *no* bubble with Tara.  None whatsoever, we can occupy the same space in the universe without a problem.  My bubble with Double Tap is about two feet, so it was a good demonstration (to me at least) of how comfort impacts our bubble.  My bubble with other people in the class was pretty much the standard six feet until I relaxed.

I learned that the fetal position (albeit standing) is a defensive pose: hands and forearms up around your face, palms in, abs tight so you're curled down a bit, knees bent and rotated toward each other.   Standing that way protects all major arteries, yet still allows you to move.  We practiced moving across the floor that way, pushing with our front leg and stepping with our back.  After we'd chased each other across the floor, we did some unarmed defense, where we slowly walked through the three basic steps that became the basis of pretty much everything we did.

Our attacker stood with one fist extended, as though they had just thrown a punch.  Our first contact was with our weak hand, to brush their hand aside (away from us); second, our strong hand came up under our weak hand to make contact with their arm, at just below the elbow, we brushed our strong hand down their arm until we got to their wrist, at which point we locked our middle finger and thumb around their wrist.  Our third contact was a strike with our weak hand to their arm, just above the elbow.

Tara and Double Tap,
just before the third contact

Tara's not very big,
but she figured out how to put Double Tap down

After we mastered those three steps, we started incorporating moving to our weak side as we made contact with the attacker and built from there.  We learned wrist locks and arm bars, all from the same basic first couple of contacts.  We learned how to strike to cause the attacker to lose their weapon.  We learned how to re-direct an overhead strike, causing the attacker to stab himself.  If we missed the re-direction, we learned how to dance under their arm and execute an arm bar.

I had an a-ha moment when I realized that if I could move 1100# horses around, I could certainly move a 200# man if I just quit fighting it and used their momentum against them.  After that, I felt a bit like Steven Seagal and things started clicking.

We didn't get to "attacking" with a knife until the last half hour of class, and I'm still very shaky with the "Flowing Hands", but I'm much more confident in my ability to defend myself and create space between myself and a bad guy should the need arise.

My take-aways from class are:

• You're going to get cut and it's going to hurt; it's up to you to direct where you're going to get cut - protect the major arteries (radial, brachial, carotid, femoral, aorta).
• This is not something that the instructor verbalized, but I found that once I made physical contact with the attacker I felt more confident that I could "read" his movements and I felt a whole lot more comfortable tucked up against my attacker, with my hand on his wrist than I did at the sharp, pointy end of the knife.
• It doesn't take a lot of force or brute strength to do any of the moves we did.
• A lot of what we learned would work against a bad guy with a gun as well.

I will most certainly be taking more of these classes, and will pay for Ashinator to take them as well, because I think it's important to train not only with your gun, but in a variety of different disciplines.

Self-Defense in the Home

Brigid over at Home on the Range has an excellent post up about Self-Defense in the Home.  My sibs and I were just talking about tactical mindset and how most anything can be used as a weapon, the primary one being our brain.

Do yourselves a favor and go read her post and put it into practice.

~~~~~~~
And don't forget, when we hit 100 followers, there will be a t-shirt give-away (and a little something extra - still deciding).

"Die In The Parking Lot" by Tara Janzen

Yep, that was my motto way back when, BG, Before Guns came into my life. It all came about because of a college girl in my town. She worked at a clothing store in the mall. One night, I went into her store with a little extra cash to buy the coolest new outfit in the latest style – layering. Remember back when it first became cool to wear two shirts at the same time? With the under one showing via rolled up sleeves and an extra unbuttoned button at the throat? It was all too cool, and I wanted two shirts to wear together. The clerk was marvelous, spending all the time in the world with me to make sure I had just the right two shirts. The underneath one was a hot pink T-shirt material, and the on top one was a purplish, bluish plaid. I looked so cool when I walked out of the mall that night, got in my car, and went home. Safely.

A few weeks later, that beautiful, wonderful, precious college girl who had helped me was dead. Her picture and story was front page news in our local newspaper. She’d been kidnapped leaving work one night while walking across the mall parking lot to her car. They found her body someplace else.

You know the awful details. We all do, and I have read similar stories too many times since, local stories about a girl who lived two blocks from good friends of mine, another girl who went to junior high school with my children, a woman whose home in our town was burglarized twice before she was killed by the thief on his third foray into her home.

At the time of the college girl’s death, I swore to myself that I would die in the parking lot before I let anybody take me anywhere. That I would fight to the death, either my attacker’s or mine, before I would let myself be terrorized, raped, burned, beaten, mutilated or anything else. The list of atrocities is endless. Death I could handle, but not the rest of it, not without a killing rage welling up inside myself that screamed “FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE OR DIE TRYING.”

Then along came the Steele Street boys. They had guns, lots of guns, and they knew how to use them. As the author of these operators, I figured I should get to know guns. I’d never even held a handgun, so I figured that would be a good place to start. I was right, and it was while shooting a Springfield 1911 that I had a life-altering epiphany: “There is nothing like a semi-automatic .45 caliber pistol to level the playing field. Any playing field.” To hell with dying in the parking lot.

Now, after years of shooting and training (TRAINING IS IMPORTANT!!!), I am still amazed that owning a gun and knowing how to use it for my own self-defense never crossed my mind before I started writing the Steele Street novels. The fact astounds me. Unless you really are Skeeter Bang or Red Dog, a woman is at a severe disadvantage in a physical struggle with an attacker. A .45 or a .38 or a 9mm changes the odds, drastically and in your favor, if you are willing to learn and train and step up. Let me repeat that last part: STEP UP. That’s right, step up and take responsibility for your personal safety.

A woman I know lives alone up in the mountains and thought maybe it would be a good idea if she got a gun, but her friends (friends????) convinced her that if someone broke into her home, they would only take her gun and use it against her. I could only stare, slack-jawed, at the mountain woman while she was telling me this story. When she finished, I said, “Well, they won’t take your gun and use it against you if you shoot the bastards first.” Duh. This is called Tactical Thinking, and I highly recommend it, especially when it comes to personal safety.

As for the woman who was killed by the thief, I still wonder why, in the very least, she didn’t get a big dog. The burglar only stole her underwear, which is so creepy, and ended up being deadly for her. She, of course, reported the incidents to the police, but even if you’re married to a policeman, he’s not going to be with you 24 hours a day. We all need to be responsible for our own safety – that’s the prime directive.

Until next time, GunDiva and I will be out there, practicing, practicing, practicing, putting those rounds downrange, armed and in charge.

What I Learned From FATS

You know, with a nickname like GunDiva, people kinda expect me to know one end of a gun from the other and, you know, be able to shoot said gun(s).  And I can.  Unless it's FATS training and both Jeffery Deaver and Lee Lofland are in the room watching my group.

I can honestly say, though, that once the scenarios started I forgot they were there.

Everything Mrs Mom's DH (Anonymous) wrote in the comments section of yesterday's pop quiz is true. 

• The whole losing 50% of your fine motor skills.  Check.  Lost some fine motor skills. 
• The whole shooting until the threat is stopped.  Check.  Did that - of course, the scenario didn't end until the bad guy was neutralized. 
• The whole attitude is everything.  Check.  I can grip and present a gun with the best of them.  Couldn't hit anything, but, man, if attitude would have taken down the bad guys, I wouldn't have ever needed to squeeze the trigger.

I've shot Defensive Pistol off and on for a long time; I've been under pressure from the clock and other competitors.  But that didn't do much to prepare me for FATS.  I had a hard time interacting with the screen - screaming alpha commands at it just wasn't working for me.  Lucky for me, one of the girls in my group had that down pat.  In Defensive Pistol, it's just one person killing all the bad guys.  Makes for a bad team player when grouped with others.  So, #1 and #4, I apologize for being a bit scattered.

I did okay with most scenarios, but there was one that raised my frustration level like you wouldn't believe.  The scenario was that we were called to a wholesale warehouse (like Sam's Club or CostCo) where a man with a shotgun was confronting an employee.  My frustration came when we couldn't get the person who called to shut up and get out of the way, then we were moved through the aisles until we came to the end of one.  I found myself peeking around the corner just like I would in a match, but the camera took us into full view of the bad guy.  #1 killed him dead; I followed a shot or two behind.

I was completely disoriented by the camera movement; in matches, we're expected to move around the course, standing still and being moved by the camera view was just plain weird.  By the end of our eight million scenarios, I'd adapted to the camera movement and was doing better.

The other thing that frustrated me about FATS training was the lack of immediate feedback when firing.  I squeezed the trigger and had no idea where my bullet went.  I know that sounds horrible, and it was horrible.  Any time a gun is fired, the shooter should know where the bullet went.  I thought I had my sight picture lined up and I know I wasn't jerking the trigger, but I consistently was a little high on playback. 

Despite my disorientation with the camera movement and my frustration with not knowing where my bullets were going, I loved FATS training.  It was excellent for shoot/no shoot training and made me really analyze what I was doing and why.  There were people that I didn't shoot (and correctly, it turns out) because they didn't feel like a threat, but I couldn't articulate why I chose not to shoot them.  However, I can absolutely understand why people would shoot them; their actions could absolutely be interpreted as aggressive or dangerous.

In the half hour we had with FATS, we must have shot seven or eight scenarios.  I can happily say that I did get better with every scenario and that I had an *amazing* head shot on a bad guy holding a baby in a car seat in one arm and swinging a machete with the other.  I fired one round and killed him dead.  I am also thrilled to say that no one in my group was killed or shot an innocent.

I thought we were going to get to see Jeffery Deaver shoot - apparently, he's quite the competitive shooter - but we moved onto the next round of simulation training, the VirTra simulator.

With the VirTra simulator, we all got to shoot individually and I LOVED IT!  It may be that we got to start off shooting steel poppers.  I love shooting steel poppers.  Doing so gave me a chance to get to know my weapon and gain confidence.  Again, I had trouble giving alpha commands to a screen, but I had a blast shooting the bad guys.

One scenario completely threw me for a loop.  I was called to remove an employee who had been fired, but was refusing to leave the building.  He was standing at his former desk, with a cardboard box of his belongings on the desk and he was flat-out refusing to leave the premises.  The problem was that I was giggling because all I could think of was the movie "Office Space" - I just wanted to give him his red Swingline stapler and usher him out the door.  Instead, he reached in the box and pulled out a Glock.  I knew he was going to eat lead a split second before he did.  I hesitated, not wanting to shoot him and be involved in a "suicide by cop" situation.  In the moment of my hesitation, he shot himself.  "Oh Shit," was all I could say.  That scenario was set up for failure - either I shot him to neutralize the threat or I let him shoot himself - either way he ended up dead.

Defensive Pistol 9/5/10

I have had the greatest weekend so far!  Went shooting with Tara on Friday, rode with Monster yesterday, and shot Defensive Pistol today!

I'm a bad, bad, bad GunDiva and didn't clean my gun or magazines after shooting Friday.  I only ran through about twenty rounds, so I didn't think that I really needed to clean the Para.  I also didn't think about cleaning my magazines, because I have to do it so rarely.  Funny thing, if you never let them hit the ground, you don't have to worry about dirt build-up.  Except...when I did the magazine change video, I put them all on the ground.  And then didn't clean them.

I'm not sure which contributed to the problems I had at the range today - the dirty gun or the dirty magazines - but I had issues with my gun not going into battery, so I had to smack the back of the slide more times than I should have to get it to go into battery.

That said, here are the videos - critique away.  I know which errors I made (not cleaning my gun/magazines being the biggest), but I'm interested to hear from some other shooters.

The first stage is "Twinkle twinkle" because of the Texas star at the end.  We started in position one and had to "slice the pie" from cover, hitting all of our targets with at least two rounds, then move to position two.  Since I was shooting from the left, I switched hands and shot left-handed as I sliced the pie.  (I'm comfortable shooting either right or left, but that took lots of practice.)  After clearing all of the bad guys from the right and left, we had to move to position three, the Texas star.  I usually do okay with the star - I don't know anyone who does really well with the star - but chose to take the time penalty instead of wasting time chasing the last arm of the star.


In this stage, we had to start from a semi-surrender position (true surrender position would have us facing away from the first target, pivoting and then drawing), shoot the first target from a retention position - just means one handed - as we moved back to cover, then slice the pie to shoot the other targets.  Then I had to move to the other side of cover (yes, I switched hands again), shoot the "tires" off of the car and put two in the driver's head.  I got a miss because I only put one in his head.  Bummer.

Practice, Practice, Practice Part II

Last week, after I had an abysmal day at the range, I put up a post about practice.

Friday, my friend Tara (aka GunDiva II) and I went to the range for some of that desperately needed practice. 

She has a little five-shot revolver that she now carries in her purse and we decided that she needed practice drawing and firing from her purse.  While I'm a big proponent of strapping your gun to your side, so that you always have control over it, there are a lot of women who are much more comfortable carrying in their purse.  That's fine as long as you spend the time learning how to draw and fire from your purse, just like you do learning to draw and fire from a holster.  You can't buy a gun (or take the one your well-meaning significant other gives you), throw it in your purse and expect to be able to find and use it when the feces hits the air circulating device.

The first thing we did was take a look at how she normally carries her purse.  She carries it over her left shoulder, hanging straight down.  She's a right-handed shooter, so in order for her to draw from her purse, she had to perform a cross draw.  Luckily, the zipper on her purse had two pulls, so we arranged them so that one pull was secured to her strap and only the other pull would work to open her purse.

Once we had it arranged the way we thought we wanted it, she practiced holding her front strap with her right hand, while pulling open the zipper with her left.  With her left hand out of the way, and her purse open, she then slipped her right hand into her purse and grasped her gun.  She was careful to never cross herself with the muzzle of the gun while she drew from her purse.

Now this is where attitude comes in.  Without even realizing it, the moment her hand closed over her gun, her whole demeanor changed.  She took a step forward as she presented her gun and continued to move forward as she squeezed off all five rounds.  No matter how big you are; if you're a predator hunting what looks like easy prey and that prey attacks back, you're going to re-think your choice.

Over and over, Tara practiced presenting from her purse and dry-firing at the target until she felt comfortable to go live.  Her first run-through from beginning to end took less than three seconds.  That's three seconds to secure and unzip her purse, get a good grip on the gun, present and squeeze off all five rounds while moving forward.  Were all five rounds in a nice half-inch circle?  Nope.  Were all five rounds in center mass?  You betcha.

Next week when we go to the range, I'll be sure to take my video camera.  Until then, keep on practicing.