Pinnacle wrote:Point Shooting is a real cute euphamism for = UNAIMED FIRE (you should remember that until you learn ALL of the Fundamentals of Pistol Shooting and get good using sights FIRST) There is a time and a place for unaimed fire and - well if you are using that "skill" you have just been in the fight of your life and if you liveto tell the tale consider yourself fortunate.
While I do believe that our first choices should always be ‘Avoid, Disengage and Escape’ whenever possible. Shooting is always the last option form of self-defense… ‘Avoid, Disengage and Escape’ is not always an option.
Besides under attack at extreme close quarters, there is literally no time to focus on the front sight, none, nada. Keep in mind that a ‘threat’ can change into a ‘non-threat’ in an instant, so you’ll need 100% target focus to identify your adversary. By watching the threat, you’ll also be able to see more of what’s going on down range. The more you see, the more you’ll know. This visual input will help make your shooting decisions (which are the most important decisions of your life) faster and easier to make.
The reason for this is the vast majority of street gunfights and home evasions occur at or near contact distance, and usually in low light. So, there is a very good chance you will not be able to push the gun out to full extension or even see the sights…....A Rule of Thumb is this: If you have the time, use the sights. But TIME IS A LUXURY we can’t always afford. Lethal confrontations are usually “time competitive”.
On the street, you must be sure of your target (the threat) and what’s beyond (backstops and bystanders). This is all based upon a fundamental rule of safe shooting. Not only is sighted fire slower than index and point shooting, it teaches people to look at their front sight and NOT identify the target and what’s beyond it.”
“At longer distances, yes, sighted fire is definitely more accurate. But at street combat distances (usually 7 yards and closer), the target is big and closing in on you. Index shooting and point shooting is much faster. Besides, it’s very hard to watch your front sight when shooting at reactionary targets under stress. Your adversary will most likely be moving towards you and require multiple shots to stop. If you punch the gun out to full extension you can get disarmed very easily. You could also have the gun deflected and the shot may not go where you want it to, thus endangering bystanders. The reality is that you may not actually get a chance to use the sights. What we need today is center of mass hits on demand and under stress in REAL TIME while moving. This requires a completely different focus, a completely different mindset and a completely different method of firearms training.
Statistically speaking, the average handgun fight takes place well within 7 yards, so the sights are not nearly as important as indexing and pointing at close range. But the farther you get away, the more important the sight become. With global terrorism on the rise, the dynamics of street survival have forever changed. It’s no longer as simple as just some punk who wants your wallet. It could be a terrorist who wants to take you and your loves ones with him to see Allah, and the time for employing evasion tactics or de-escalation techniques is over. The bottom line is you had better have some good handgun shooting techniques to fall back on.
Besides, guys in the military and those in police work are the most likely people to be involved in an actual street shootout. They have to go into harms way, it’s their job. Civilians, on the other hand, should go out of their way to avoid it. Anyone who says you have to get into a gunfight in order to be qualified to teach is preaching to the gunfighter wannabe types.
