CQC Handgun usage

One of the biggest misconceptions with defensive handgun use is what is appropriate extension and compression of the gun in relation to the attacker. Unfortunately, in 99% of square range live fire work we are taught to automatically extend the gun and our arms to their maximum all the time without any thought to what the bad guy is doing and how close he may be. That is a good way to get your gun fouled up in a fight, and we see this not just in Force-on-Force training, but in the real world as well. There was a case just a couple of weeks ago where a private citizen confronted a burglar and had his gun taken away because he did not understand this critical issue. In this picture from a recent Close Contact Handgun class, you can see the student fairly close to the outstretched arm of the bad guy so she has the gun compressed and can put rounds on target and keep control of her weapon. This is something that cannot be done without proper instruction and a decent amount of training