Great Spaulding Article in Tactical Wire (08/19/14)

[John Hearne]

I'm assuming that I can't post the whole thing here due to copyright concerns. This is the link: http://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/229081

(FWIW, he refers to the same book, Motor Control and Learning by Schmidt that I use in my Performance Under Fire presentation.)

I am respectfully posting my favorite part of the article:
"Recently I monitored a pistol training course directed at new shooters. These folks had no idea what they were doing, so they could be told anything and would think they were learning "magic". The instructor took great advantage of this as he filled them full of useless information that was overly complex (but sounded really cool!), fired a huge number of rounds but never actually taught the students required skills to be a better shooter! His excuse for this was "In a fight you will not be able to achieve a certain stance or proper grip, so we are not going to worry about it." In a nutshell, each student fired 1,000 rounds over two days no further back than 12 feet with no instruction on how to shoot...just grab the gun and smack the crap out of the trigger "because at close range trigger control does not matter!" At the conclusion of the course, the students lined up and praised this instructor, telling him they felt "empowered" or "much safer" due to this course. He even autographed their targets! In reality, he took their money and gave them license to suck and feel good about it, but due to some pretty cool sounding jargon, made them feel enabled."

[Mike Pipes]

That was good and to the point...........thanks John

[LSP972]

The instructor..., he took their money and gave them license to suck and feel good about it, but due to some pretty cool sounding jargon, made them feel enabled."

So... was this a "known" instructor, or some local hambone who picked up an NRA ticket and hung out a shingle?

I understand your reticence to ID the clown (if you even know who he is); I'm just curious about his pedigree, because a REAL problem we have in Louisiana is the plethora of absolutely clueless CCW "instructors"... and all the attendant potentials for disaster that entails.

What causes me to lose a bit of sleep at times is the knowledge that I'm partially to blame. When then-governor Foster pushed the CCW permit legislation through, despite much resistance, I was running the State Police FTU, and was approached about promulgating a program and helping regulate it. I declined, because my plate was already overflowing and I could barely keep up with business as it was. In retrospect, that was a very selfish and stupid decision... one I deeply regret.

There were several attempts by a past head of the LSP Concealed Handgun Unit (that was formed after the legislation was vetted) to clean that house up, but the nimrods have become too entrenched. The fact that our program has been running smoothly since its inception, with practically zero notable issues, I credit to the people holding the permits utilizing common sense. What I refer to here is the almost total lack of incidents of derpes amongst permit holders in the almost twenty years the program has been in place.

And truth be told, many of the instructors do a creditable job. But there are just as many of the "Two weeks ago I couldn't spell instructor; and now I are one!" variety.

.

[Jay Cunningham]

So... was this a "known" instructor, or some local hambone who picked up an NRA ticket and hung out a shingle?

I understand your reticence to ID the clown (if you even know who he is); I'm just curious about his pedigree, because a REAL problem we have in Louisiana is the plethora of absolutely clueless CCW "instructors"... and all the attendant potentials for disaster that entails.

What causes me to lose a bit of sleep at times is the knowledge that I'm partially to blame. When then-governor Foster pushed the CCW permit legislation through, despite much resistance, I was running the State Police FTU, and was approached about promulgating a program and helping regulate it. I declined, because my plate was already overflowing and I could barely keep up with business as it was. In retrospect, that was a very selfish and stupid decision... one I deeply regret.

There were several attempts by a past head of the LSP Concealed Handgun Unit (that was formed after the legislation was vetted) to clean that house up, but the nimrods have become too entrenched. The fact that our program has been running smoothly since its inception, with practically zero notable issues, I credit to the people holding the permits utilizing common sense. What I refer to here is the almost total lack of incidents of derpes amongst permit holders in the almost twenty years the program has been in place.

And truth be told, many of the instructors do a creditable job. But there are just as many of the "Two weeks ago I couldn't spell instructor; and now I are one!" variety.

.

A known instructor would certainly never just take someone's money.

[LSP972]

A known instructor would certainly never just take someone's money.

Right. What was I thinking???

.

[Mike Pipes]

LSP972...........THANKS for everything you did then! Just because some wads call themselves instructor does not diminish your contribution. I am now carrying legally.................cya mike

[LSP972]

LSP972...........THANKS for everything you did then! Just because some wads call themselves instructor does not diminish your contribution. I am now carrying legally.................cya mike

Well, thanks... but I didn't do much, just offered some some suggestions. Not nearly enough.

They wanted State Police to handle everything. Good idea, but when I said I'd need a 500% increase in staff to do it right... they said thanks, we'll get back to you on that.

Still, it has been a successful program, by any yardstick in my estimation. There have actually been some revocations of instructor status and revocations of permits when a permittee got retarded. No legitimate wrongful death incidents that I know of.

So much for the "Blood in the streets and homes!" doom-sayers...

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