Today's missive is addressed to all the sensible folks out there who carry a designated weapon for the, hopefully never occurring, circumstance of defending your life, or of your loved ones in the face of violent attack. Whether this weapon of choice be a firearm, a tactical folder, fixed blade of legal length, a collapsible baton, or a full-on authentic medieval mace it doesn't matter-what I've got to say still pertains to you. I know that those who carry do so to be prepared and I admire this mindset to the utmost degree, I simply want to emphasize a few points to ensure that you get the most out of what you carry.

            First things first, if you do not carry a designated weapon, not even a teensy pocket knife, that's fine-I am a respecter of all personal decisions that do not affect me. But, I would ask why you do not? If the answer is along the lines that you find those who do carry a bit paranoid in the mode of an over-zealous prepper, I would then ask do you find folks who have smoke alarms in their homes and/or a fire extinguisher in the kitchen paranoid or wise?

            If the "I do not carry" answer is of a moral character in the vein of "I never want to harm another human being no matter the circumstances," well, chances are the person who answers that way is not even reading an essay on this subject.

            If the answer, assumes that you do not need to carry because your tax money goes to professionals who will protect you in your time of need, then I will concede that you are partially correct. Yes, there are indeed men and women with professional training who are but a phone call away who will readily to come to your aid, but...How is this any different from having smoke alarms with fresh batteries and a fully charged fire extinguisher in your home? We do not possess these items because we expect to forgo the fire department and take all firefighting matters into our own hands. We use these tools as backstops, as "I need to deal with this right now" aids if and until the professionals can arrive on the scene and do their jobs. We don't call those who learn CPR wacky because there are professional life-savers at the hospital; we know our CPR-certified folks are simply doing what needs to be done until the better trained/better geared hit the scene.

There is something that those who do carry and those who do not carry have in common-when trouble rears its head both contingents call folks who do carry. Those who do carry are simply (hopefully) a little ahead of the game in the smoke alarm/fire extinguisher sense.

Back to topic---

When we make a decision to carry we accept that some responsible training should be thrown into the mix, after all, what's the use of a smoke alarm or a fire extinguisher if you have zero idea how to use it? Mere possession of any of these items (firearm, tactical folder, fire extinguisher) does not render you safe. You must admit that a good working knowledge of using the item in question is of utmost value.

Here's where we get into the meat of today's topic, most training is merely in use of the carry item not in how we carry or how we access the given tool. That is to say, more time is spent with a firearm on the range with the weapon already in hand or tabled than working dry-fire access to the firearm. More time is spent working blade flows and mock blade scrimmage than carry and access drills. More time is spent stick-fighting or running tit-for-tat flows than collapsible baton reach-into-use, et cetera.

I get this short-shrifting, the fun, the excitement the drama of weapons training is in its actual use, not in its non-use, but this is where we are making a huge mistake in our training continuum. What does it matter how well you group your shots under stress, or how facile your blade flow is, or how powerful your caveman club swing is if the weapon access is not equally deft? Our weapons skills mean little if we fumble our access, take our eyes off of our assailant to "see our reach," or in the worst case dropped. We don't want to dig for our safety devices in time of stress. We would not want our kitchen fire extinguisher buried behind numerous pots and pans and antiquated phone books when that stovetop fire flares up, we also would not want our tactical folder caught in a cramped pocket under a billowing shirt tail when we need it N-O-W.

Around here we emphasize weapons access with a meticulous dry fire drill unit to make such access second nature. We don't want you fumbling for what you need when you need it most. We want you to be able to keep your eyes target-focused and still come out with your own personal designated weapon no matter where or how you carry it.

We want you treat the tool you carry as something you can actually use when you need it and not merely as a wardrobe accessory to transport to the next drill session or range day.

You must work your carry choice(s) access with all your typical wardrobe choices. Don't assume accessing your semi-auto of choice will be the same for your revolver. Don't assume that your tactical folder cross-appendix draw is just as smooth with your sloppy go pick up pizza sweat shirt as it is with your tucked in T-shirt draw.

With all carry choices remember the following: If you wear it, or carry it-Drill it!