The Ghost of Christmas Self-defense

 
What would you do if the Ghost of Christmas self-defense came to you in a dream and said.
“Today you will be brutally attacked.”
Would you go to work as usual, not changing anything? Would you maintain the same schedule, go to the same places, talk to the same people, act in the same way as you always do? I doubt that you would. Here’s what I might do.

1. I would get down on my knees and repent, getting my life straight with God, the keeper of my soul, just in case.
2. I would get my relationships right, along with all my legal and financial issues. I wouldn’t want to leave my spouse and the ones I love with problems like that.
3. I would operate at a heightened state of awareness, carry my best pistol, with extra ammo of course.

In short, I would be ready for that moment of reckoning. I wouldn’t go to high-risk areas. I would stay away from the big city. In fact, I would probably stay home that day on my own turf where I have more control and can better see the threats coming.

The bottom line is this:  If I truly believed what the ghost was telling me, then I wouldn’t do the same things the same way. But the problem is none of us get a message telling us the day we’ll be brutally attacked. It usually happens out of the blue, and, many times, we get surprised. Let’s face it, life is long and no one can operate at a heightened state of awareness twenty-four-seven.

But here’s my point. Shouldn’t we always expect to be attacked? When I walk into the gas station for that Mountain Dew, I expect a robbery to occur while I’m in there. That’s why I look through the glass door before walking blindly inside. When I walk out the door to my house I expect to be ambushed. When I go to church I’m the only one who keeps his eyes open while the pastor prays. I listen and I wait for the first shots of an active killer, and then I’m emotionally, physically and spiritually ready to launch a counterattack.

To the average American, that probably sounds a little excessive – certainly distasteful and not the lifestyle they want to live. I was teaching a concealed carry class once, and was talking about situational awareness. A man raised his hand and said, “I’m not going to do what you’re suggesting.” I asked why, and he responded by saying, “Because you’re paranoid. You live your life every moment expecting something bad to happen to you, and if I did that it would take all the joy out of my life.”

I told him, no, that’s not true. You don’t understand. When I expect the killer to jump out from behind the hedge and attack me, there’s no fear involved, no emotion, nothing to take away my happiness. It’s just a conditioned behavior I’ve practiced so many times that I do it automatically without any conscious thought. My joy and happiness remain safe and intact.

Most people do not prepare for disaster. They have the belief that at the moment of truth, they will magically rise to the occasion and become better than they’ve ever been in their life. They will be calm, cool and collected. They will fire fast like Wyatt Earp, and shoot straight like a Marine Corps sniper. But here’s the problem: at the moment of truth, you will not rise to a level above your training – you will sink to a level below your training. And, if you have little training, then you’ll simply be a yucky puddle of blood, puke and urine. If your bullet group is six inches at twenty feet while on the range, then it will be twenty-four inches while someone is trying to kill you.
The only thing that will save you on that day of reckoning (barring divine intervention) is your training base. Most of my concealed carry students want to be safe, but once they discover how much effort it takes to train, they settle for “feeling” safe. And the “feeling” of safety without proper training is just an illusion. There is no safety from violent attack without training. There are no shortcuts. Training to survive a deadly threat is a life-long process. Gunfighting is a skillset, and the skillset is perishable.

The feeling of safety is a deadly illusion. You can never make yourself totally safe from danger. Sure, Jesus can save your soul, but when it comes to physical protection, then all bets are off. I encourage you to get as much training as you can. Don’t settle for just a basic concealed carry class; they are designed for beginners and seldom teach more than gun safety and firearm basics. They are just the starting point for a long life filled with training.

Stay alert – stay alive – and Merry Christmas!

Skip Coryell