There are several ways to improve your combat mindset, the most basic of which simply making yourself walk with your head erect, and observe as much as possible. This does not make you paranoid, this makes you AWARE. This is the first step into getting the proper combat mindset that you need to defend your home and loved ones.
The second step is to arm yourself with a carefully selected weapon that fits your needs, budget, and situation. When it comes to self defense and the defense of others, there is no set price to pay for that defense, however there is no need to go out and buy the most expensive weapon that you can find simply because it is the most expensive. What you need to look for is suitability, which includes how the weapon fits you, how well you can use this weapon, the probable lethality of this weapon that you have chosen, and most importantly the reliability of this weapon. It is necessary to point out here that ammunition selection is important as well. If you do not have the knowledge or the ability to decide what will work best for you, than you can simply choose to use whatever ammunition that your local police department has chosen to carry as they will have done much more exhaustive testing on it and all the other types of ammunition than you will ever do, and if you do have to shoot somebody in self defense then that is one less thing that the prosecutor can use against you in the courtroom, if it comes to that.
The third step to being self capable is to get quality instruction on the functions and safeties of that particular firearm. This does not only apply to yourself but also anyone else that may end up using it. Once you have done this, spend some quality time at the local square range getting used to the weapon, make this a family event if possible, get everyone that may use this weapon some trigger time, and ensure you drive the five safety rules into them and yourself as you do this. Also use this time to see if your method of employment, be it a holster of some sort, or simply leaning a shotgun against the wall of your bedroom, is viable and not more hindrance than useful. Practice all the basics of marksmanship, reloading, and your malfunction and stoppage drills.
Once you have practiced all of this and have a good foundation in the basics, move on to more advanced drills such as hammer pairs, failure to stop drills, and my personal favorite, box drills. Practice shooting and moving, utilizing cover, and reloading and shooting under pressure. All this falls under training like you fight and is the fourth step in becoming adept at self defense. There are documented cases of police officers who were trained on the range to empty their expended brass from their revolvers into their hand, and then put that brass in their pockets so it did not end up on the range floor. Some of these same police officers after a gunfight found brass in their pockets, and they had no idea how it got there. They had taken precious seconds in a gunfight to put that brass in their pockets instead of just dumping it on the ground. This is an example of what is referred to as Habit of Action. If you do something often enough for long enough it will become a subconscious action and you will do it without thinking about it. Make sure the actions that you practice like this are the right ones. You want all the basics to become a habit of action because the first thing to disappear under stress is your fine motor skills that are necessary to pulling the trigger, finding the slide release button, or the magazine release.
When you are back home and have a little down time practice moving through your house with your weapon, learn your house from a tactical standpoint because you will possibly have to defend it at some point and time and you should know it as thoroughly as possible. Practice moving through it with the lights out, from room to room, and see what furniture will present an obstacle to yourself or someone else in your house that may or may not be friendly. Practice dry firing your weapon, reloading it, and even employing it from different places in the house such as your bedroom, the living room, and even the bathroom. The people breaking and entering into your house to steal and possibly cause death or serious bodily harm to you and you loved ones will not wait until you are in a defensive posture and ready for them, they will come at whatever time suits them best.
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