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The world has changed.

Starting sometime around March 16, 2020, the United States of America changed. I am writing this about six weeks later and a lot has happened.

Like everyone I know, I have experienced a huge range (and rage) of emotions. Teetering on the edge of 60 years old with health complications, I am the fresh meat this virus feeds on. I have a family that I care for that includes my wife, adult children and grandson.

Most of my friends fit into the demographic of coronavirus targets. Most of my friends, like myself, have also served our communities and countries for most of our adult lives. We Americans, We the People, look on ourselves as patriots.

This “new reality” has stretched and pulled at the definitions of words like patriot and freedom. The fictional struggle of Star Trek and Spock with the needs of the many and the needs of the few…and the one, have turned into an historic battle between THE People, THE Government and a thousand tiny fiefdoms scattered throughout the land of the quarantined and the home of the N95.

Predictions of death and suffering triggered responses from all aspects of society. We will spend the next decade debating the appropriateness of these responses. Right now, we are in the middle of the forest and cannot even see where the trees stop.

The one thing that I have seen that has troubled me is the lack of consideration for the basic rights of the People. From mass house arrests to local governments prohibiting the sale of clothing, the petty tyrant has impacted the People in ways we do not even yet comprehend. And they did it without any resistance.

John Adams spoke about this issue during the American Revolution. Read his brief speech and look at it through the prism of current events.

“Let it be known that British liberties are not the grants of princes or parliaments. That many of our rights are inherent and essential.

Agreed on as maxims and established as preliminaries even before parliament existed. We have a right to them, derived from our maker. Our forefathers have earned and bought liberty for us at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasures and their blood.

Liberty is not built on the doctrine that a few nobles have a right to inherit the earth. No! No! It stands on this principle: That the meanest and lowest of the people are, by the unalterable, indefeasible laws of God and nature, as well entitled to the benefit of the air to breathe, light to see, food to eat and clothes to wear as the nobles or the king. That is liberty… and liberty will reign in America!”

I recently took time off from instructing to attend a class at my favorite local range. The class was the third in a series of five, building on solid principles and foundations of defensive shooting. I have jumped in on these classes on several occasions and have always been impressed with the instructor and his students.

I had not attended any classes with this particular group of students, so I was unfamiliar with their skill level or attitudes. Students have always been very solid after the first class or two, so I expected the best.

The class formed up for the start of drills. I took my place in the end of the line. I always like to watch and learn, and I was the “new guy” to these students.

A scan of the class showed that everyone was equipped fairly well for this level of training. Like many students I have encountered, they seemed to have spent good money on a gun, less money on a holster and almost no money on a belt that was specifically designed for concealed carry. The instructor had advised them to have the proper equipment, but many skipped the advice on the REALLY good holster and REALLY good belt. The class was about to show them the error, and also how important good belts and holsters are. The class was focusing on move and shoot techniques.

The one thing that did catch my attention was two shooters with high-end 1911s. These guns easily cost over $1,000 each. Anyone that has been around guns would recognize the manufacturers. One shooter had an FN 5.7 and everyone else had safe-action pistols such as a Glock or Smith and Wesson. I used my EDC Glock 17.

Now, I can appreciate a pretty gun, and these 1911s were pretty guns. They were expensive, too. Like most of you, I have owned a lot of guns over the years. A good percentage of those have been 1911s. I have carried 1911s as a personal defense gun. I am not a 1911 basher. I am also not a member of the Temple of the Gun God John Browning, established in 1911. When it comes to personal defense, I want my students to carry a reliable gun that they can deliver quick, effective strikes on anyone that is a danger to them or their families.

One of the 1911 owners was very quiet and seemed very confident. The second 1911 owner talked a lot about his gun ad how reliable it had been for him.

The second, more talkative 1911 owner turned out to be the first shooter in one of the two lines. The first drill was introducing shooters to the methods of shooting while moving. It was a fairly simple drill, as it should be for the first time. The students started out moving toward a target that was about 30 feet away and fired a single shot on a command. The goal was to fire a round at about 20 feet and about 10-15 feet while moving. We were to stop and walk backwards, firing twice again on the command.

The talkative 1911 owner had a malfunction on the first round. It appeared to be a failure to eject. This was their third class, so the instructor had the students clear malfunctions as they had been trained previously. The 1911 guy tried to clear it and ended up with a double-feed. The 1911 guy was clearly frustrated. He talked about how reliable the 1911 was and how he could not imagine what the problem was.

I did not really see what happened to cause the original failure to eject. I went there with the intention of focusing on improving my skills and knocking off some rust, but the instructor mode kicked in pretty quickly. My first concern was that a frustrated student sometimes gets impatient with his or her gun and does some things out of frustration and anger that can be dangerous. I was going to leave the range with the same number of holes in my body that I had when I walked in. The instructors handled the situation well and made sure the situation was safe, while continuing the training on clearing a malfunction.

As an instructor, I wanted to see what was happening and learn from the situation. I was not surprised that the most talkative student in the class was having problems. We have all probably seen that before. He had a quality 1911, so I was watching for the perpetual 1911 vs. Glock debate as well.

The class moved forward and the 1911 guy had some type of malfunction at almost every drill. He voiced his frustration at the expensive gun that had never let him down before. The instructors took some time to review his techniques to ensure the shooter was not inducing the failures. They also test fired the 1911 and did not have any problems. This process continued throughout the first two hours of the class, and then we took a break.

A fly on the wall can learn a lot of interesting things, so I just hung out during the break and listened. I learned that this 1911 was the FIFTH 1911 our 1911 guy had purchased within the last two months. He had problems with ALL of them. The 1911 guy said that the 1911 was the only good defensive gun there was, so that was the gun he was going to carry. I wanted to walk up and ask how that was working out for him in this class, but I was a fly on the wall. He continued to talk about how great the 1911 was.

The class continued and the 1911 guy continued to have problems. Some problems may have been caused by the gun; others were clearly induced by the shooter. The REAL PROBLEM was that the 1911 guy could not recognize he was not capable of shooting a 1911 in a defensive situation. The class scenarios intentionally induced stress, had reloads, shooter movement, multiple targets, moving targets, “good guy” targets and all the things that induce stress and push the shooter to simulate a dynamic critical incident.

The instructors quickly recognized that this 1911 was a poor choice for a defensive hand gun for this person. They politely and skillfully pointed out what had happened in the class and how that could, and probably would, happen in a real-world confrontation. The 1911 guy continued to blame the equipment and did not take any responsibility even though it was clear a significant portion of the malfunctions had been induced by the shooter. It was clear the 1911 guy was not open to what the instructors had to say.

By the way, the other 1911 shooter never had a problem. The course of fire illustrated the disadvantage of a smaller capacity firearm when engaging multiple targets, but the quiet 1911 shooter never had a malfunction.

The problem on this day at the range was not the 1911. The quiet student completed all the training objectives without malfunction. He had a quiet confidence in HIS SKILLS and his equipment. I suspect that he could have picked up my Glock, or a Smith and Wesson and performed well. He knew the basic fundamentals.

The danger was that the 1911 guy believed that a hunk of steel was imbued with supernatural powers. He looked on this particular gun with what appeared to be a spiritual reverence. This same gun had consistently failed him throughout this class. Apparently he had purchased five other 1911s and yet he still believed that this magical talisman would keep him safe.

Dogma is dangerous. Do you have some personal defense dogma in your life that needs to be re-examined? Did you buy a holster that you thought would work, but is not really safe? Are you emotionally invested in some concept or equipment because “Dad did it that way”?

I entitled this article “The Danger of the 1911 Dogma”, because this situation was thrown in my face. I could have replaced “1911”with any number of sacred cows that are worshipped in the world of self-defense. Dogma is a dangerous thing in personal defense. Dogma, defined as a “prescribed doctrine proclaimed as unquestionably true by a particular group”, is dangerous. We should always question and review our training techniques, equipment and mentality.

Are you convinced that you will only carry a particular caliber, make or model? Take a minute to examine EVERYTHING about your personal defense. Consider the gun, caliber, cartridge manufacturer, holster, flashlight, gun storage and anything else that affects your safety and the safety of your family.

Reviews like this do two things.
1) Reviews shake out the cob webs and dust of old, outdated ideas
2) Reviews build confidence in the solid, trustworthy and proven decisions you have made

Consider these things. Change what needs to improvement. Keep what is proven and dependable. Your family deserves the effort.