Crowds, Doorways, and Parking Lots
Dry-Fire · At Home
No gun for the first part. Walk through a store, a parking garage, and a doorway with the sole job of noticing where you would move and what is behind the people around you. Then run fifteen dry presentations at home with a partner calling targets that have something behind them.
Live-Fire · At the Range
Fifteen rounds on the scan strip at 7 yards, three rounds per section, with the caller specifying which sections are safe to shoot and which have a bystander behind them.
Service Pistol
Backstop is a legal question as much as a tactical one, and it is your responsibility either way.
Concealed Carry
In a crowd, moving is almost always better than shooting. Train the movement.
Carbine
At rifle velocity, what is behind your target matters even more.
AUX (when ready): correct identification with no shots fired on the unsafe sections.
You are responsible for every round, including the ones that miss.
Your Daily Callout — By Archetype
Your instinct is to solve the problem. In a crowd, moving people is often the solution.
You already scan. Add what is behind the target to the list of things you are reading.
Everything behind the threat is someone else's family.
Backstop awareness is a rule you can apply consistently, which makes it easy to keep.
Layer: the caller adds a bystander mid-string.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.
Dry-fire: no ammunition in the room. Verify the firearm is clear — twice. Use a safe backstop. When you finish, say it out loud: “Dry fire is over.”
The Four Universal Safety Rules
Non-negotiable. Every drill, every rep, every time. This applies to live fire and dry fire.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.