Jim Cirillo wasn’t looking for action…
He took the NYPD “stakeout job” to curb the city’s rampant murder rate because a friend of his told him it was completely safe and a “cush job”.
But 2.5 hours into his first shift, he was “slinging lead” against 3 armed gunmen in a store, shooting one in the head and wounding the other two as they fled the store.
All in all over the years, Cirillo was forced to kill at least 11 men in the course of more than 20 gunfights during about 250 stakout jobs conducted by his unit’s 40-cop special team.
Cirillo had a lot to say about the realities of a real gun attack and… what he shares will change how you think about preparing for a gunfight.
Discover The 3 Secrets Of Real-Life Gunfights With “Modern Day Gunfighter” Jim Cirillo
There’s one important thing to know about Jim…
He trained for real-world gunfights… not shooting pieces of paper.
Range training can help you train for abstract accuracy… but it’s not enough to prepare you for a real-life encounter where a gunman is trying to take your life.
How Your “Technique” Training Will Go Out The Window
It’s nothing like the movies…
Cirillo was an expert marksman and a real-life “gun guru” before he suddenly realized the realities of gunfighting.
One of the biggest revelations was that the “techniques” he had worked so hard and long on during gun drill training…
…stance…
…gun presentation…
…sight picture…
…all fell to the wayside when you have a real person shooting back at you vs. a “paper target” that just took your shots without a fight.
When you’re in a real-life gunfight everything you think you know about shooting goes out the window… even if you’re using the best shooting drills.
Your palms will be sweating…
…your heart will be pounding…
…your vision might go totally blind!
You need more than just the best gun drills at the range to prepare you for the stress of a real-life gunfight.
Lesson: Seek out force-on-force training opportunities where you’re facing a live training “attacker” to induce the same kind of stress you will encounter in a real-life gunfight.
Use safe training aids such as dry-fire, airsoft or SIRT pistols to create your own scenarios.
How “Sight Picture” Training Destroys Your Decision-Making Abilities
Forget everything you think you know about sighting a target!
In fact, all that “front sight target” training at the range can be dangerous…
…in a worst-case scenario it can get a totally innocent man killed!
Cirillo once said, “In law enforcement, your problem isn’t at your front sight, it’s in the background.”
He further explains that “If you’re looking at your front sight you can’t see that some poor guy is pulling a black wallet out of his back pocket—you think he’s pulling out a gun.”
Much like a police officer, you’re legally obligated to ensure the person you’re shooting is actually a threat to your life.
You simply can’t “kill ’em all and let God sort ‘em out”… a jury will be looking at your actions and it’s biologically impossible to focus on both your front sight AND the actions of the threat in front of you.
Lesson: Focus on your attacker and responding to the threat… your front-sight won’t be a factor in a close-quarters gunfight.
Why Your “Subconscious Shooting” Will Rule Over Your “Rational” Mind
You can’t fight basic science…
In an adrenalized state, you won’t have access to the same logical, controlled response tactics that work so well during your gun range training.
When the bullets are flying, your ingrained training will happen without thinking.
That’s a good thing for you because it means that all the gun drill training you do BEFORE an attack will automatically be there when you need it.
The bad news is that, if your training is the typical “marksmanship” style training done down at the range, your training ISN’T aligned with what happens in a real life-or-death attack.
Lesson: Training counts… but it has to be the RIGHT training to come to your rescue when you need it. Since most real gunfights happen less than 9’ away, your training should focus primarily on close-quarter tactics rather than the typical range training distances.
point shooting is what you will more than likely do.when at the range, have your friend bring the target out to 21ft, then when he says GO. drawn your pistol/revolver and see how many good hits you get before the target gets back to you.it will be coming at you on GO and it truly is a different game.
Instead of buying do-dads for your gun to look tactical cool. You should spend your money on ammo, targets and scenario equipment
Clear, concise and coherent. Others don’t articulate this content as well.
Don’t forget to practice Duck, Roll, and Shoot while Recovering from the Roll.
YOUR “DRAW” – Practice your “Draw” as much if not more than accurate shooting. Your Draw needs to be on Auto Pilot, I call it -“Unconscious Competence” ie You dont have to “Think” about it. I “Just Happens”. MY “1st” serious Draw Practice Session – 300 reps. You can Practice it just sitting on your couch watching TV.
Say 200 reps/day – to start. So, like the article says, you can focus on “the Threat”.
mental training. Ol Doc. Holiday was a terrible shot, but fearlessly mentally prepared. Everyone ran for cover when he started shooting.
One thing that “surprises” people, is this is not 1776. You don’t just stand there (like at the range) and trade shots until someone falls down. You have to move! Look for a home defense class near you. You will learn movement and cover, and how to shoot off angle and around corners, etc.(kind of like a shoot house, only inside out) Plus, they are a lot more fun than just putting holes in paper at the range.
As a training aid you can tape up your sights and practice shooting without them, and it wouldn’t hurt to include mag changes in your drills as well. Also, if you have a safety on your auto pistol take it off, could cost you precious seconds, your finger is your safety.
Regards