The Supreme Court's decision in D.C. vs. Heller is a landmark. It will shape gun rights for decades to come, and could determine the outcome of the presidential election.

In a 5-4 decision, the court held that the Second Amendment secures an individual right to keep and bear arms unconnected with militia service. The court also held that the D.C. ban, under which a person cannot even have a handgun in their home for lawful personal protection, unconstitutionally violates that right.

In one sense this is a tremendous victory for gun owners. For a long time there was a consensus among liberal professors that the Second Amendment was not a private right. Historical research, legal precedent and analysis of the amendment's language proved otherwise, and this week the court decided that it was always intended to secure individual rights.

In another sense this was less about victory and more about avoiding defeat. Had Justice Kennedy voted the other way, it would have been catastrophic for gun owners. Such a ruling could mean critical loss of support for the individual-rights view in just one generation.

Many questions are left open by this decision. The first is whether it is incorporated - meaning that it applies against state and local laws - by the Fourteenth Amendment. The Bill of Rights only limits the federal government, and it applies directly to Washington, D.C. But whether it controls the states and anti-gun cities like Chicago and New York remains to be litigated.

The opinion also does not specify what gun control laws are unconstitutional, short of an absolute ban like D.C.'s. It expressly does not strike down D.C.'s licensing and registration requirement, so D.C. is free to create burdensome licensing requirements, such as attending classes, paying fees, and passing a difficult exam on gun laws. It also allows that some types of firearms may be subject to more rigorous regulation than others, and that gun rights in public places may enjoy less protection than in your home.

This is like the NCAA basketball tournament. This wasn't the championship game. We haven't even reached the Sweet Sixteen. All we did was win the first tournament round. Heller is the first case in what could be 30 years of litigation over the nature and scope of this right.

That means the future of gun rights will turn on who wins the White House. John McCain promises to appoint Supreme Court justices like John Roberts and Sam Alito, who today voted in favor of an individual right. Barack Obama promises to appoint justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who today voted to uphold D.C.'s handgun ban, saying that the Second Amendment protects no individual rights whatsoever.

Heller is now the Roe vs. Wade of gun rights. All gun legislation will now be tested in court, and the biggest battles over firearms will hereafter be won or lost in the Supreme Court. Gun owners need to ask candidates one question: What kind of justices will you appoint?

More than 30 years ago Gunsite was founded by Jeff Cooper as the first privately owned firearms training school in the United States.  Initially envisioned as a laboratory where shooting and fighting skills could be defined, the school soon bowed to demand and began offering regular classes to qualified individuals.

From his days in Big Bear, to the opening of Gunsite and the founding of IPSC, Cooper had been developing a training methodology, initially focusing on the fighting handgun.  He was aided in this effort by a number of friends, competitive shooters and the instructor cadre he began to develop at Gunsite.  When formalized as the Modern Technique of The Pistol, this training philosophy became the core doctrine at Gunsite.

One of the things that separates Gunsite from many others who are involved in firearms training is the adherence to a core doctrine, or a set of core values.  It permeates every plan of instruction and every training technique taught at Gunsite and is the foundation upon which new programs are developed. 

The Modern Technique is a living doctrine, in that it continues to evolve and prove its value as time goes on.  This evolution has involved developing programs for shotgun, rifle, carbine, sub-gun, long range precision shooting, SWAT and military training and, even, Soviet era weapons systems. 

One of the core training methods used at Gunsite involves “layering”, or, more formally, “progression of training”.  First, a basic foundational skill is taught.  Almost immediately, a new skill, which is dependant upon the first skill, is “layered” on top of the first.  Then a third skill, dependent upon the first two, is added, and so on and so on.  By the end of a week of training, the student is performing very complex skills, which all depend upon correctly applying all the previously learned skills.

In order for this to work, each skill being taught has to be valid and the student must have an emotional buy in to the rationale for teaching the skill.  In other words, the system has to have validity, the instructors have to have credibility and the training has to appear reasonable and important to the student.  When all this comes together; a motivated student, a validated training program and a highly skilled and credible instructor, real learning occurs quickly. 

This layering of skills occurs throughout all of the programs at Gunsite, from the beginning to the advanced classes.  The pistol program, for example, is a progression of courses from 250 Defensive Pistol, to 350 Intermediate Pistol, to 499 Advanced Pistol, and finishing with Pistol Advanced Tactical Problems.  Each level of training adds more complex skill sets, develops greater speed and accuracy and improves decision making in a lethal environment.

Another key to the speed with which learning occurs, and the success of the programs at Gunsite, involves the use of live fire tactical simulators.  Cooper pioneered the private use of tactical simulators in the United States, although earlier examples were used in Shanghai in the 1930s, and later, by the British SAS.  He understood their value, not only as a means of teaching tactical movement, but also as a key to developing marksmanship skills. 

The Gunsite simulators are used to reinforce the lessons taught on the square range.  Students are carefully instructed in combat marksmanship skills on the range and then must apply these skills while moving, negotiating obstacles, manipulating and entering through doors, identifying shoot and no shoot targets, and using correct weapon manipulation skills (such as keeping the gun loaded and clearing malfunctions).  All this is pretty complex.  In most people it produces a self-imposed moderate stress reaction.  Managing this stress while attempting to safely seek out bad guys, then getting good hits to eliminate the threat, is a daunting task. 

Many students discover that their shots were poorly placed, or that they missed the threats, even at close range, the first time in a simulator.  Careful questioning will usually reveal that the student has failed to apply the marksmanship basics taught on the square range.  Staring at the threat, rather than obtaining a flash sight picture, jerking the trigger, and other errors can cause poor hits or complete misses, even at a range of just a few feet. 

After the student has settled down from the stress reaction, a de-brief is conducted and the marksmanship principles and training lessons are carefully emphasized again.  Then it is back to the firing line for more reinforcement.  The next day, when the students go through another simulator, the improvement is usually remarkable.  As clients go through progressive classes the simulators become more complex, they are run at night, and force on force scenarios, with the student interacting with role players, are used extensively.

All this learning takes time and the time between classes is best used practicing training skills and letting the lessons sink in by giving them some serious thought.  Although everyone seems to be in a hurry, and looking for an easy answer these days, you can’t “get” all this in just one experience.  For most of us it takes time, practice and moving through more complex levels of training. 

When I first came to Gunsite as a student I was a very well trained federal agent and had been working as a firearms instructor for some time.  On the first day I had what I now refer to as the “Gunsite Epiphany”, which is the “Why don’t I know this?” reaction to the training.  And, I guess I’m not very smart, because I didn’t really “get it” until I had attended the Advanced Pistol class. 

Cooper would sometimes be asked if he ran a shooting school and his reply was usually, “Among other things.”  Mental conditioning for combat is another cornerstone of the Gunsite doctrine and it is applied throughout the training.  Cooper’s statement, “Man fights with his mind, and his hands and his weapons are merely extensions of his will.” summarizes a very complex subject.  Most people who come to Gunsite and get the full effect of the firearms training and mental conditioning feel that they have had a life changing experience. They come away from it with a different outlook and a heightened level of confidence. 

The real “secret” to the Gunsite training approach is this:  If you know that you can control yourself, your emotions and your weapon, for the small moment in time it takes you to solve your problem, then you know you have the ability to command your environment.  Having that ability gives you the real product sold at Gunsite, and that is peace of mind.  As Jeff would say, “It’s priceless.”

 

Bio:  Ed Head is a retired Border Patrol Agent and the Operations Manager at Gunsite Academy, Inc.  He trained with, and taught for, Jeff Cooper.