Someone on a gun forum to which I belong quoted an interview
attributed to the book Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshall by Stuart N. Lake. There
was a good deal of purported advice on, and knowledge of, coming out the winner
in a gunfight contained in that interview. The book has been alleged to be
largely fictionalized account of Earp’s life. Whether or not the supposed
interview was actually verbatim, or in fact given at all, or whether or not
Earp’s insights on gun-fighting were reality or fictionalized fancy for that
book may never be known with certainty. I don’t know why the person who posted
that interview in the firearms forum posted it there, maybe just to stir up
discussion or possibly because it seemed either like good advice or fanciful
imaginings but I do know that being well trained & practiced in being
proficient with a firearm, shooting & tactics and having the right mindset
can do a lot to get you through a violent armed encounter as the winner.
Of course, there were also the lessons we were taught first
hand by folks, such as Jim Cirillo (and a handful of others), with actual &
fairly frequent first hand practical experience with armed encounters;
although, that was much rarer than the former type of training we received.
Still though, I think the training I received over the years was for the most
part excellent and it certainly helped me prepare for the unarmed and armed
violent encounters I experienced in my career and which, thankfully, were
relatively few and mostly handled successfully with diplomacy and or minimal
force. It also helped me prepare others for likewise when I was doing the
instructing. One thing I learned throughout all the years of firearms &
tactical training I received was from instructors who had some actual experience
with armed encounters. It was probably the best advice I was ever given
regarding winding up in a gunfight and was in essence this:
In all of the law enforcement training I have ever received
relative to firearms and shooting them in tactical situations, I do not recall
an instructor ever once quoting a gunfighter from the old west about anything
except maybe when telling a tall tale or joking. Most instructors also tried to
avoid fancified tactics and use of grandiose catch phrases as well as legendary
stories to teach their trade. While things like that piece that was attributed
to Wyatt Earp may be true or not, if it was not documented and confirmed and
practical to our lessons - it was not used. Advice that was given was mostly
directly to the point with no balderdash or frilly fanciness added. The
training was contemporary and very few advices of legendary gunfighters of the
old or modern worlds were brought into what we learned. There were a few modern
gunfighters whose techniques we learned about such as those of Bill Jordan but
mostly we learned from instructors who knew their tactical stuff as taught by
other instructors who had been taught by instructors before them. They had all
learned and adapted after being taught the lessons – both the successes and the
mistakes - of the experiences of those involved in real life shootings and
other violent encounters. One such was the FBI versus Miami bank robbers deal
(I mention it only because of it being so well known). So much excellent LE
firearms training has gone on for decades as such and will go on likewise ad
infinitum.
In almost every case,
of instruction I received or gave (I was also an instructor), both the students
and the instructors had little to no practical prior experience in actual armed
encounters with armed violent conflicts (other than in the military) and most
of what was taught was second hand information that in essence had been gifted
to us by those who had the actual experience and lived to tell about it.
'Most times the best
advice an individual armed with a firearm can follow is to be
ready-able-willing to use it and have the mindset to come out the winner but
yet to avoid getting into a gunfight as best you possibly can do so when you
have the opportunity to do so without shirking your responsibilities. That
avoidance thing does not always pan out though and sometimes you find yourself
in the middle of an unavoidable armed encounter, maybe because you are duty
bound or by way of defending self or loved ones or because of ethics and morality
demanding you to defend an unknown to you innocent third party from an
attacker. If you wind up there you had best hope you followed that other advice
about being ready-able-willing to use your firearm and that you have the
mindset to come out the winner when doing so.' It may not always mean you come
out of it the winner but it is what will give you a great advantage to help you
get there.
If you are seeking training in firearms use for self-defense
or other similar reasons, seek training along those lines and avoid the fanciful
stuff of legend that is nothing more than legend itself.
All the best,
Glenn B
