I find that troubling, because Sight Shooting is NOT used in most all CQ self defense situations. And it is in CQ self defense situations where one is MOST likely to be shot or killed.

Those are the facts of the matter as backed up by investigations and studies like the NYPD's SOP 9 study of 5,000+ police combat cases. And I have yet to come across scientific data or studies that refute them.

If you only know Sight Shooting, and you are faced with a life threat at close quarters, then in all likely hood, you will end up with nothing in your hand but a lethal noise maker.

And that may be more than just unfortunate, it may be terminal.

However, there is a saving grace, sort of.

It is that since most everyone has been taught Sight Shooting for self defense, then in a real CQ life threat situation, most everyone will not use Sight Shooting or be able to use it. They will not default to their trainin, but to instinctive or "Spray and Pray" shooting. And the hit rate will be the norm for armed encounters of less than 20%. So, unless one is having an unlucky day, chances are that he/she will survive.

As to the hit rate figure of less than 20%, it often is attributed to the use of instinctive type shooting (read point shooting).

Whether such statements statements are accurate, they do acknowledge that Sight Shooting is not employed in CQ life threat situations. Yet seldom does one read of the need for training first in a practical and realistic alternative for use in CQ situations, namely Point Shooting.

To me, instructors in the use of lethal force (handguns), for self defense, should as a minimum, know that Sight Shooting will fail to be employed in most all CQ life threat situations. So continuing to teach it for use in life threat situations, is like knowing that a type of airbag is faulty, and will not deploy in most critical crash situations, yet continuing to install them in cars.

To me that is wrong, not right.

Another very simple reason for not teaching Sight Shooting first, is that nowadays, most young people already know how to Sight Shoot.

Our grandsons and their friends Sight Shoot when using airsoft pistols.

Our grandsons did that from the get go. No teaching was needed. They just did it, and with good to excellent results at CQ distances.

And as they are typical teens, I suspect that the same is true for most all teens. I attribute that to years and years of watching movies and TV shows, playing electronic and video games, and interactive play.

I have suggested to them that they try Point Shooting, have told them why, and even showed them how; but with limited success.

Brainwashing via TV works, and tradition and peer pressure rule.

However, I will continue my effort's, because in a CQ life threat situation, the truth is that instinctive shooting will be used in most all cases.

As such, developing proficiency in Point Shooting, will better insure one's survival.

Another and a very practical reason for not teaching Sight Shooting first, is that it is very difficult to use Sight Shooting when moving. And being able to move and shoot in a CQ life threat situation, is critical.

Those who conduct CQ FOF sessions say point blank, that unless you move you will be stabbed or shot.

Further, if you move, you can LITERALLY step out of the line of fire, or attack.

Getting of the X can shift the initiative/advantage to you, and "force" the threat to respond to your action.

IF POSSIBLE MOVE LEFT

And if possible, move left as:

1. Most people are right handed. So it is easier for them to move left and shoot right, and that also allows you to blade to the threat while keeping the gun "closer" to the threat.

2. Also, under high stress, most shooters will tend to shoot low and to the left (your right), due to grasping and torquing the gun down and around to the left, and/or due to the natural rotation of the wrist at full extension.

So, in a CQ self defense situation, you should always move when drawing/shooting, and if possible to the left.

This of course, goes against what stand-in-one-spot-range-lane shooting (with or without drawing allowed), ingrains in everyone from day one. However; standing in one spot and delivering, may get you stabbed or shot.

On the plus side, where legal, you can practice moving and shooting with an EMPTY gun, or an airsoft gun.

LEARNING POINT SHOOTING

Point Shooting is simple and easy to learn, and with little or no training.

And once learned, little training/practice is required to maintain one's proficiency in it.

Point Shooting can be used when Sight Shooting can't: in poor light, when there is no time to use the sights and squeeze the trigger, or when fine motor skills, which are needed for Sight Shooting, are lost to use as will be the case in most all high stress situations.

Exceptions may apply to highly skilled or exceptional persons such as SWAT or Special Ops type operators, but not your "run of the mill" folk.

Point Shooting employs our instinctive abilities and large muscle groups which can be used effectively in high stress situations.

However, it does not just happen by magic.

Learning Point Shooting is like learning how to ride a bike or tie your shoes. Both are impossible tasks until done. But once mastered, they become automatic, and can be done with little conscious thought.

Such, is not the case with Sight Shooting.

In a life threat situation, the eyes and mind of a Sight Shooter will be struggling to try and do many things at once, some of which may just not be able to be done due to environmental conditions like bad light, or because of the activation of the SNS and its affect on the ability to use fine motor skills and near vision for focusing on the sights.

They include:

1. threat identification, making shoot - no shoot decision/s,

2. achieving a proper stance, body index, or hand index, or grip,

3. seeing and focusing on the sights, and on a stationary or moving target,

4. holding one's trigger finger aloof from the gun and squeezing the trigger for the first and any subsequent shots,

5. and etc..

In contrast, a trained Point Shooter's eyes and mind will be free to identify the threat, and if needed, use a simple and effective method of shooting that is not dependant upon most of the traditional marksmanship requirements such as proper stance, grip, trigger manipulation, and use of the sights.

Now, some Point Shooting methods have requirements which call for body or hand indexing, or positioning the muzzle on an aim point. But as far as I can determine, they do not require the use of fine motor skills. Point Shooting methods also can be used effectively in poor light and while moving.

Lastly, Point Shooting is not a bar to the use of the sights if conditions and circumstances allow them to be employed.

I believe that Point Shooting, and in particular P&S which is the simplest of Point Shooting methods, should be the basis of any self defense shooting program, and not an afterthought.

..........

Here are links to 3 papers that provide information on what happens in life threat/high stress situations. They support the use of Point Shooting.

Survival Stress in Law Enforcement by Steve Drzewiecki of the Traverse City Police Department

Understanding the Human Physiological and Mental Response to Critical Incidents by Lt. Darin M. Clay

Perception and Memory Distortion During Officer-Involved Shootings by Alexis Artwohl, Ph.D.