Getting Out of the Car
Dry-Fire · At Home
Holiday driving starts next week. Verified clear, in your parked vehicle, at home, out of public view. Ten reps of unbuckling, opening the door, getting out, and moving to the rear of the vehicle before you draw. Getting out and away is almost always better than fighting from the seat.
Live-Fire · At the Range
Twenty rounds at 7 yards. Start seated in a chair if your range allows it, stand, take one step to the side, and fire two rounds in the box. If seated starts are not permitted, begin standing with your hands at your waist.
Service Pistol
Getting out of a patrol vehicle in full gear is a skill. Find out what catches on the way out.
Concealed Carry
The seatbelt comes off first and the gun comes out last. The car is also your best way to leave.
Carbine
Getting a carbine out of a vehicle is slow and awkward. Practice it dry so you know how slow.
AUX (when ready): seated to standing with a first hit in the box in under three seconds.
A car is a way to leave before it is anything else. If it runs, drive away.
Your Daily Callout — By Archetype
You will want to handle the problem from the seat. Get out or drive off.
Check your mirrors when you park, not only when you are moving.
Know who is in which seat and which door each of them leaves by.
Park so that you can pull straight out. You make that decision once per stop.
Layer: run five reps from the passenger seat.
- 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.