I have and still do. I hope I never have to find out, but I hope I have trained enough to be ready when that time comes.

Before I mention the benefit of training regularly, I want to be clear when I say this… Citizens should NOT be required by the government to have training to participate in an inalienable right. If you must get permission, that is called a privilege, not a right.

With that said… Should we as individuals personally seek to improve our skills if we choose to carry? Absolutely!

I started off my journey to be better skilled at self-defense and shooting over a decade ago. When I started, I was like a lot of folks and thought, "I have grown up around guns, and I know how to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done." After many years and more money than I will admit to my wife, I have concluded that my personal need for training will never end.

While hog hunting, I kept running into the issue of only killing one or two hogs before they were gone into the brush. Many people know what I am talking about. I recognized I was not great at transitioning to other hogs during the chaos. It was at that point I decided to participate in competitive dynamic shooting to improve my skill set. I wanted to be the guy that could shoot several hogs before they got away and impress my friends in the process…and thus also be better at defending myself and my family should the need arise.