Target Sports

At the range what distance do you practice most at?

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  • easy rider

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    I'm a bit confused. So they have you show that you can shoot from 15 yards testing to obtain an LTC, but claim that you can't use lethal force to defend yourself from that distance? I'm sure as hell not trying to shoot to wing.
     

    Charlie

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    Charlie.
    Relax. Did I state there was a passage in the law? I stated this was a recommendation from two retired police officers. Both had over 20 years of service. If it is good enough for them, it is good enough for me.
    (42,386 posts in 10 years - 4,238 per year. Man are you retired?)
    Nope! You said ..."I have been told that Texas Law considers seven yards the maximum range for legally using lethal force." Post #92.
     

    ZX9RCAM

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    Hope you don't get into a situation where you are being fired on from 25 yds. away, and all you have is a handgun....
     

    OLDVET

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    Gentlemen, you can do whatever you feel is right.
    As usual with social media, you post something and you get blasted.
    God love this country.

    As far as qualifying for a CHL permit. Texas wanted a person to prove they were competent with a firearm before they were issued a permit to carry one around. At the beginning, Texas wanted the test to be hard. Texas hoped this would severely limit the number of people carrying a firearm. Remember police and the general public were against the CHL permit going in effect.

    A couple of friends of mine (man and wife) taught the CHL classes for years. They tell stories of many people that couldn't pass the shooting part of the exam. One poor woman had a very hard time hitting the target (I mean the entire paper) at 7 yards. Not one hit past that distance. She had to take the test three times in order to finally pass.
    As you know, the CHL shooting exam is a pass / fail situation. No record of your scores are kept. This prohibits your scores from being used against you in a court of law.
     

    easy rider

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    Gentlemen, you can do whatever you feel is right.
    As usual with social media, you post something and you get blasted.
    God love this country.

    As far as qualifying for a CHL permit. Texas wanted a person to prove they were competent with a firearm before they were issued a permit to carry one around. At the beginning, Texas wanted the test to be hard. Texas hoped this would severely limit the number of people carrying a firearm. Remember police and the general public were against the CHL permit going in effect.

    A couple of friends of mine (man and wife) taught the CHL classes for years. They tell stories of many people that couldn't pass the shooting part of the exam. One poor woman had a very hard time hitting the target at 7 yards. Not one hit past that distance. She had to take the test three times in order to finally pass.
    As you know, the CHL shooting exam is a pass / fail situation. No record of your scores are kept. This prohibits your scores from being used against you in a court of law.
    Not trying to blast you, I just believe you may be misinformed. As far as I know they take each case and the circumstances on an individual basis.
     

    bigwheel

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    I have two friends who are retired police officers.
    One was a Fort Worth Police detective and the other was a Dallas Police officer. Both have recommended the 7 to 10 yard maximum distance for using lethal force.
    We all know if you use lethal force, you will be arrested. Charges will go before the Grand Jury. If you acted within the limits of the law the charges should be dropped. Of course you will probably have to face a wrongful death civil law suit.
    A shrewd lawyer could come onto this web sight and read these texts about how we practice and the rounds we shoot. He could then potentially use it in a trial to show premeditation.
    "Your honor this man practiced shooting several times a month. He practiced to become a better shot. Your Honor, this shows intent to use lethal force at his first encounter.
    Your Honor, the victim never had a chance!".
    Thankfully, the laws in Texas concerning lethal force have become clearer and more lenient since the inception of CCL or LTC.
    I hope I never have to use lethal force against someone, but if the time comes, I will have no qualms in protecting my family or myself.
    Would also recommend having a bug out location..in case the deceased alleged perp is of some protected species and the angry democrats come to find the person responsible. Or at least a place to send the family. It would not be good to have to move up to Montague County and bunk with Officer Wilson and the Z. Man.
     

    sharkey

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    Charlie.
    Relax. Did I state there was a passage in the law? I stated this was a recommendation from two retired police officers. Both had over 20 years of service. If it is good enough for them, it is good enough for me.
    (42,386 posts in 10 years - 4,238 per year. Man are you retired?)
    Well in post 92, you mention TX law so you made it sound like it was law.

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    cb51

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    In all my life I've never seen or heard of a long range mugging or car jacking. When my friend Eli was shot in the stomach outside a bar, it was fist fight distance. He had been fighting with a rival gang member he had run into, and the other guy pulls a gun when he was loosing.

    When our friend Al was killed in a D.C. parking garage by a metro station by a gang banger mugger, it was contact range. Al tried one his karate moves and missed and the ghetto kid with the Raven .25 didn't. All the witnesses said it was like arms reach.

    When old man Caruso had an attempted robbery in his barber shop, it was contact range. Thug had a grip on Mr. Caruso's white barbers smock with his left hand while sticking the gun in his face with his right, demanding everything in the register. Old man Caruso slapped the gun aside while pulling his old High Standard derringer with right hand and putting it right against the chest and pulling the trigger twice. Killed the thug dead immediately.

    My own shooting in an alley off P street at 1am was almost contact distance. The guy had just missed my head with the crow bar, and by the time I stuck the gun out to shoot, the gun was only maybe two feet from his coat over his stomach.

    I think it's safe to say that most civilian self defense shootings are 5 or 6 feet distance. It's fun to plink at clay birds at long ranges, and shooting is fun in general. But most my serious defense practice is how smooth I can get that gun out of my pocket and shooting into he target at a few yards, if that. Mostly I reach out and touch the target and then take one step back and practice pulling and point shooting with one hand at very close range.
     
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    OLDVET

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    Man you need to move.

    Seriously, my two police officer friends told me seven yards was the practical range for using lethal force. We won't go into their reasoning again. It stirred up too many folks first time around.

    I practice at distances out farther than seven yards occasionally to boost my ego.
    I concentrate my shooting at seven yards because I want it to be instinctive. I shoot 3" shoot-n-see targets and I do not stand there making sure my sight picture is perfect. I raise my firearm while looking at my target. When the sight come into my sight plane, I shoot. I do not think about this, I just react. Over time and with hundreds of rounds, I have arrived at a point where I keep most of my rounds in the 3" target.

    My police friends were both in shoot outs during their careers. Both tell me they never saw their sights. It was draw, level the firearm, and shoot. You can bet your ass that if someone is posing a lethal threat against you, your butt will be puckered up tight and your heart will be racing. Calm reactions go out the window.
    Your reflex training takes over.
    This method works great for me, but you have to determine what works best for you. You also need to practice to stay familiar with your firearm.
     

    cb51

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    Man you need to move.

    I did move!

    Soon as both me and the better half retired, we sold the house in Maryland's suburbs just outside of D.C. and moved to Texas. After a lifetime of living in and around D.C. it's nice to be able to carry a gun legally, even though I don't feel anywhere near the threat level as the greater D.C. area. All those shootings I mentioned were from my younger days as a gang member in North East D.C. My better half and her sisters all are native Texas girls, so for her, we're back home.
     

    sharkey

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    If I practice at up to 15 yards, what's my chances of missing at 6?
    Still pretty good since the gunfight is dynamic between 2 or more people and everyone is moving and heart beat races and there is an adrenaline dump. Square range practice is important but most do not move beyond that. Adding stimuli to the training or taking some classes to include force on force will help improve anyone's fighting ability with a handgun.



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    popper

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    Texas law does NOT say you must retreat. For SD you should be able to hit the target using either hand, no glasses, etc.
    Just read a security guy got shot by LE, gun in hand with the real perp on the ground.
     

    easy rider

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    Still pretty good since the gunfight is dynamic between 2 or more people and everyone is moving and heart beat races and there is an adrenaline dump. Square range practice is important but most do not move beyond that. Adding stimuli to the training or taking some classes to include force on force will help improve anyone's fighting ability with a handgun.



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    Not saying you're wrong, just saying that I vary distances up to about 15 yards most times.
     

    OLDVET

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    I don't know if this was brought up yet, but here goes.

    Texas law allows a person to use deadly force against an attacker if they fear their life is being threatened.
    There is "no justification" under Texas law for shooting a bystander or other innocent person.

    Make damn sure you are right, before you react. Your life may be threatened by the courts instead of the "thug" you were first worried about!!

    The use of lethal force is going to cost you a lot of money, even if you are no billed. The victim's family will sue you for wrongful death of their family member.

    The first case in Texas where a guy used lethal force after the law passed, cost the guy over $250K.
    He was no-billed by the Grand Jury, but had to face a trial brought by the family. He won the case and the judge awarded him damages. The pert was an African American and his family had no money, so the guy lost after all.
     
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