Ken Nelson

I read an article recently that may just ruin TV for me. That might be a good thing.  A tactical pistol instructor wrote the article in which he bemoaned all the silly things he sees people do with guns.  Like rack a round into a semi-auto after he gets up to the bad guy he was chasing. Or take a pistol out of their holster and rack a round in.   Trained people, like “secret agents” and police, walk around ready to shoot.

Tonight’s 24 had lots of gun play. And this tendency:

 
Clearing a room with the gun down

Argh!  The basement is loaded with bad guys. No good guys are in front of you. Have that gun up at eye level ready to shoot!  

I know seeing silly gun moves on TV causes bad habits in real life because I see it in shooters at matches every week. They work through IDPA or USPSA course of fire looking like Jack Bauer above.  They move with gun down, encounter a target, waste 1/2 second or more bringing gun up, shoot.  In competition, with 15 targets, they are 7 seconds behind just off that move. In life, without being melodramatic – they are dead or their mission not accomplished.

Look, I’m not a tactical expert.  I had my Army training. I’ve read, seen videos on the subject, and worked through scenarios at matches with shooters having SWAT and special operations experience. So I’m not a guru, but I have the general concept down.

Guns up – safe to team members. Ready to shoot

I’ll still watch the show. My vision is changing and reading tires my eyes. So TV is more popular with me now than at any time in my life.   But BOY I WISH THEY WOULD GET THE TACTICS RIGHT!

P.S. Don’t believe ANY of the computer gibberish you hear on TV. I am an expert there – and they ain’t even close!