I personally feel that beginner firearms classes are going about training their students​ in the worst manner possible. When you try to get a new shooter to manage and control 10 things at once, it is like telling a first grader to solve trigonometry equations before they even know multiplication, angles, fractions, etc. The standard for teaching people how to shoot a firearm has remained relatively unchanged for decades. These students are taught proper firearm safety and all the fundamentals before being taught how to shoot. The current way of teaching the fundamentals to new pistol shooters, is FUNDAMENTALLY flawed.

There is a short list of firearms that I was looking forward to testing in 2018, and the SAR9 was on it. On the surface, it seemed to be a blend between a Glock 17 and the H&K VP9/P30 series of pistols. But, on the inside, the pistol is entirely different. The pistol is basically like a fully modular Glock on the inside. Everything in the frame is removable and is beefed up compared to a Glock. But shooting the pistol is not quite like shooting a Glock.

Recently I returned from a very much needed vacation in Hawaii with my wife while my guns and my animals all remained under the care of another person. After about 2 weeks it was time to come home to a frozen winter wonderland here in Alaska and get back to doing my routine with my animals and my firearms training. So what is it like to go 2 weeks without even thinking about guns and then jumping back into it again? Well it is not the first time that I have had to jump back into the game after a bit of a pause, but it is an interesting discussion to have.
First thing you gotta realize is that the first priority I have is to my household and to myself. I have to come home and establish control of my environment. Check all the animals over physically, play with them, feed them. Them I have to make sure the house is arranged the way it should be and make sure all the dishes are done and all my luggage is unpacked and getting put away or washed. Only then can I comfortably move onto the firearms aspect of my life. You see, in my life, firearms are not things I need in order to feel safe 24/7. There are plenty of times that I go out without a gun inside my waistband. Some of you may feel differently, and that is okay.

Ever since I got the opportunity to shoot and use a PX4 Storm, I have become a believer in the platform. The platform itself has seen some attention, but not to the extent that I would have expected. Now, contracts for the PX4 have been increasing around the world, but it is slow. Most of the contracts are with police forces with contracts numbering a little less than 50,000 pistols per contract. The list of countries using them in their militaries and police forces is getting longer. This is something I like to see because I find the PX4 to be a refreshing design that brings an old design back into the world. Furthermore, it proves that we are not stuck with the Browning lock-up system when it comes to pistol technology that is reliable.

There are times that I go for a week without even looking at my guns. This is not a common occurrence at my house, but it has been something that has been happening recently. When this happens, I have to find out how good my skills are and what firearm I can work with while I get back into the grind of focusing on remaining proficient with a variety of firearms and trigger systems.

I took out three pistols in order to see how well I work with these pistols and which one I will have to work with in order to get back into constant practice. All of these firearms were 9mm DA/SA and are about the size of the Glock 19. This size pistol is seen as a fine option for those looking for a good pistol that offers the best size/capacity ratio. The pistols used were the Beretta PX4 Compact, the CZ P-07, and the H&K P2000. 

There is a huge trend in the training community that says that you need to start out at the pace of a Turtle in order to build up accuracy. For whatever reason, accuracy comes before shooting fast. I have found that training to shoot fast can be taken slow.

As a gun owner, you can't help but feel that it is a never-ending issue of finding the perfect gun to do it all. Unfortunately if you are into guns for personal protection and for fun, it will be hard to find that one gun that can satisfy every need you may have. I know, because I struggle with it every day.

With the firearms community growing and more people wanting to get more accurate and faster at shooting, I feel like people are hitting a wall where they concentrate on shooting faster and completely omit the idea of hitting. It is as if they forget that shooting fast and having alot of rounds downrange means nothing if you don't hit anything. I understand that it looks cool, but I think we can agree that hitting is cooler.

Rifles are all the rage right now, as is the methods in which people use to run them and keep them running. People like to sacrifice guaranteed function for speed in their reloads. it is said that reloads can be done so fast on a rifle that it doesn't matter what you do in that short amount of time. I have a different point of view on this subject based on my combat experience.