Schaefer Academy: 512-785-4800
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In my decades of teaching people to shoot and qualifying people for the Concealed Handgun permit, it has become very obvious that there is more education necessary to defend one self from harm besides just carrying a pistol. I first observed this when I was an instructor at the Austin Police Academy. You would like to think that policemen are very knowledgeable about firearms and know how to shoot well. Such is not always the case and is evidenced by the amount of rounds fired at offenders and they are not hit or incapacitated. It follows one of the traditional sayings a Range Master for DPS used to say, "you can't miss fast enough to stop a bad guy and nobody was stopped by a well placed miss".
I believe that our brain is our primary weapon and it is what we use to observe danger and react to it. A firearm is only a tool to do the will of the primary weapon. There are many tools other than firearms to avoid trouble at the earliest opportunity. The first of these is observation and situational awareness.
This class goes over the reasons for carrying tools for self defense and how to properly use them when the time comes. Also there is some discussion on what tools are available and best for you and your life style. It is also knowing what is going on around you and having a mind set to avoid trouble — not at all costs but when practical. I firmly believe that it is far better to perceive trouble and SAFELY avoid it rather that to get in to a physical confrontation if at all possible. I have observed that the best way to get good in a gun fight (as in combat) is to be in a lot of gun fights and that is not recommended.
This is not a shooting course per se however there is shooting at the beginning and end of the class to evaluate where you are in your shooting skills. Many CHL/Permit To Carry (PTC) students are quite surprised that they don't possess the necessary skills to survive a gun fight just because they have a State issued permit. You will need your self defense gun and holster just as you conceal it for carry in public and about 100 rounds of ammunition, as well as eye and ear protection on our range.
Beside the shooting, the class addresses the issues of how to detect and avoid confrontations with dangerous lawless people if at all possible and when to know what to do. The class is about honing your perception and awareness and how to be most effectively legally violent if it becomes necessary. There are some physical skill sets addressed but this is not a martial arts class. From taking marshal arts I know it takes years to become competent and skills can be overcome by superior strength and extreme violent behavior. Marshall arts can give you an edge in some situations so it is a valuable tool to learn but most people don't spend enough time on those skills to be effective.
I like to think that this class teaches mind set and tools to aid you in dealing with violent/dangerous maybe uncivil individuals that hopefully enhances your probability for survival if avoidance is not possible. Taking this course qualifies you to use the range for free and you may bring guests with you to shoot. You can practice on multiple targets and shooting and moving as long as you do it safely and no rounds leave the range. I will go over safety rules in the class and alumni are required to follow the rules if they use the range and you are to be your guests range safety officer.