CBS 21 News report on firearms training

[TonyF]

If Terri doesnt get the thumb of her support hand out of the way, she's going to be using her nursing skills to apply a bandage. Her thumb was sticking straight up - I thought she was hitchhiking!

What part of the slide is going to cause an injury?

If she is in fact applying pressure to the slide, and it's not evident in the picture that she is, at worst she'll induce a malfunction in the form of an failure to eject or extract due to retarding slide velocity.

[BullfrogKen]

You guys a are a tough crowd. This story took about 6 months of effort with CBS News to make happen.


Rather than nitpick about proper terminology; vocabulary and what the word sheepdog means; or a new shooter's proper style - or lack thereof - that she was there to try to learn as a new student . . . perhaps you might want to consider some larger issues?


Was this a positive story about gun rights?
Was it personal - i.e., did it grab your attention and make you identify with Teri?
Does this story advance the ground on gun rights and how people view the possession, carry, and use of a gun on the local level? Or was it a negative hit piece on how awful it is (tisk, tisk) to own one?


You know, I can find things about the piece I might disagree with, too.


On balance, for me the positive far outweigh anything negative I could nitpick over. Anytime a positive news piece about gun ownership goes out, I'm happy.

[shadowcat187]

i thought it was a decent news report for once.

all tho there were some mistakes with the language. it was still a decent report.

i dont understand teh thumb sticking up tho.....

Id like to see a good news report on open carry......

[ProShooter]

What part of the slide is going to cause an injury?

If she is in fact applying pressure to the slide, and it's not evident in the picture that she is, at worst she'll induce a malfunction in the form of an failure to eject or extract due to retarding slide velocity.

After a few rounds fired, that hitchhiker thumb will start to fatigue (or relax) and will lay right atop the slide.

You say the worst that you see happening is a weapon malfunction. Is that a grip that we really want to teach a new shooter? One that had a great potential to take her weapon out of battery when she needs it the most?

[Dakota 35-1]

After a few rounds fired, that hitchhiker thumb will start to fatigue (or relax) and will lay right atop the slide.

You say the worst that you see happening is a weapon malfunction. Is that a grip that we really want to teach a new shooter? One that had a great potential to take her weapon out of battery when she needs it the most?

I agree that the left thumb should be in-line with the right thumb, pointing forward. It is still a relatively "good" exposure for the good guys.

[ungawa]

It wasn't perfect. My biggest problem was that it seemed to suggest you need to take a weekend-long course to get LTCF. That is a huge blunder, and will dissuade many people that read the article.

As for Warsoki, I wouldn't want to face him. Some nights in Central PA, after all the courses have ended and people have left, and after the Sun goes down, you can still hear the *ping* *ping* *ping* coming from the club. From a guy with a few hours' drive to get home and who needs to work the next morning.

[BullfrogKen]

After a few rounds fired, that hitchhiker thumb will start to fatigue (or relax) and will lay right atop the slide.

You say the worst that you see happening is a weapon malfunction. Is that a grip that we really want to teach a new shooter? One that had a great potential to take her weapon out of battery when she needs it the most?

Allow me to point something out for you.


This piece was not done for you.


I'll say that again. This news piece was not done for you.


This is not Clint Smith's newest training video.
This is not a training piece done for knowledgeable shooters, by knowledgeable trainers.
This is not the IPSC Regionals.
This piece was not done for you.


It was done to show a positive side of gun ownership, to non-gun owners, or those ignorant of why someone might carry a gun, the reasons why we do it.


And don't you all think you're being a little tough criticizing a student, a relatively new shooter on her style and form? She's a student for Pete's sake! In what field do students perfect anything they're learning while they're a student?


If you came home from work, and your 4 year old son ran up to you with a piece of paper showing you he just learned how to write and correctly spell his name, would you criticize him for failing to capitalizing it? Or rather than discourage him from trying and learning, would you tell him he did a good job, and figure you'll correct that later?


Tough crowd here guys . . .

[TonyF]

After a few rounds fired, that hitchhiker thumb will start to fatigue (or relax) and will lay right atop the slide.

IMO, it's kind of presumptuous on your part to assume "it will happen". I know allot of shooters, good shooters, who shoot "thumbs up" as opposed to "thumbs forward" and if executed properly, there is not a hill of beans worth of difference.

You say the worst that you see happening is a weapon malfunction. Is that a grip that we really want to teach a new shooter? One that had a great potential to take her weapon out of battery when she needs it the most?

It's part of the learning curve and it can be corrected. That's what instructors do.

[TonyF]

And don't you all think you're being a little tough criticizing a student, a relatively new shooter on her style and form? She's a student for Pete's sake! In what field do students perfect anything they're learning while they're a student?

Couldn't have said it better myself.

That's why we train. That's why we pay for good instruction. As training courses proceed and new material and techniques are introduced, mistakes are to be expected and corrected.

[dunsho]

I used to shoot with thumbs up (strong hand), I knew it wasn't the proper grip but i did it cause on my sig if i did thumbs forward it rests on the slide lock causing the slide not to lock back when empty. I stopped doing that after jeff Gonzales said to another student, "would you rather have 15 good shots with a proper grip or worry about reloading" something like that. It be nice if they ran a story like that in CBS 3 in philly. but thats like waiting for nj to be a shall issue state.