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Assissted by Jim Cirillo
Jr. during a Close
Quarter Survival
Course, Josh works
on shooting from a
downed position.
Josh practices leveragebased
handgun retention
techniques with Massad
Ayoob during an LFI-2
class at the Firearms
Academy of Seattle.
a
Benson
challenges—for two reasons. First, he
believed that he wanted more ammunition
available to him than a revolver
generally carries. The second reason
was minor, but still worth considering:
Less felt recoil. Josh explains, “The action
of the slide absorbs some of the recoil.
Since I have only one arm to hold
the gun, less felt recoil means faster follow-up
for me.”
Was there a specific incident that
caused you to carry a gun?
No. I grew up with my dad carrying,
so when I turned 21 it was one of
those natural things. Plus, I moved to
Memphis, and they kind of have a high
crime rate down there. And being in the
chair I wanted to have all the advantages
I could if something happened. It was
all just very natural.
What training methods do you employ?
Friday nights at Rangemaster we have
shooting league, a competition basically
similar to IDPA, that helps keep my manipulations
and gunhandling skills up.
For regular practice, I like just going
to the range and dedicating 50 rounds
to going through various qualifications.
Tom Givens has a list of different qualifications,
different tests from various
places like the FBI Qualifications and
others. I just take 50 rounds and run
myself through one of those qualifiers
so I’m doing something structured and
not just putting holes in paper. I like using
the qualifications because it’s a specific
bar that tells you this is how well
you’re doing. It gives you a structure
to shoot and something to evaluate it
with to see where you’re at. Plus I take a
class probably every couple of months
so that also helps. I take classes just as
often as I can.
Have you had any difficulties with
safety in any of the classes you have
taken, or with shooting while there
are a lot of other people on the line?
Not really. I’ve just gotta be aware of
my muzzle during my one handed reloads
and watch the angles from my
crossdraw holster. I always take the far
right hand side of the line so I don’t
sweep anyone. It’s more positioning
than anything, and making sure the instructors
are aware of what I need, and
also my fellow classmates.
You’ve taken a lot of different classes.
Which specific classes have been the
most helpful to you personally?
The most helpful class was LFI-1, easily.
Judicious Use of Deadly Force, the
classroom part of the class, covers what
happens after a shooting, the aftermath
and the legal concerns. That’s a subject
a lot of people don’t like to talk about,
but it’s probably the one thing that will
save you after an incident. If you manage
to survive the incident there’s a
whole other world that a lot of people
aren’t aware of.
JULY 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
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