In today’s society the professional law enforcement officer must realize that performance in deadly force encounters will ultimately come down to muscle memory obtained from hours and hours of training.  This doesn’t take away from our physical fitness requirements.  In particular though, our weapons handling skills will most likely be the final determinant of our successful or failed attempts to stop an armed subject.

From drawing your firearm so many times that you literally don’t think about it, to shooting enough rounds to know your weapon intimately.  From so many magazine reloads that a day without them is boring, to sight alignment drills that teach the shooter to be on target every time they raise their pistol.  So far I know I’m preaching to the choir, so the point of this article goes to the next step on training and preparation for deadly force encounters.

When I started in law enforcement 13 years ago my agency’s standard pistol qualification course involved shooting at static, paper targets from a variety of distances.  And let’s face it; most agencies were about the same.  About the only significant movement we had was to put up our off hand to simulate blocking strikes at the 1 and 3 yard range, and maybe do a step and drag to create distance.  At greater distances the only “stress” was getting your shots off in the prescribed amount of time.

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