Many don’t realize it, but shooting is a perishable skill that must be continuously renewed through practice and training. Every expert recommends regular range time to both improve and maintain accuracy and the skills needed to ward off a deadly attack. This is constantly proven by the thousands of rounds fired every year by competitors to stay at the top of their fields.

While most of us can’t afford the money or time to fire that number of rounds, regular range time is needed to ensure that muscle memory stays at current levels, and even more to improve on those skills. In addition, it is important to learn your carry gun, as firearms, while similar in many regards, are not all the same with controls located in different locations and working in different ways; a 1911 safety lever is disengaged by pressing it down while the safety on a Beretta 92 must be moved up before firing.

The FBI has released its preliminary numbers of law enforcement officers that were killed in the line of duty in 2012.

While every officer’s death is tragic, the numbers were down from 2011, both in officers killed by suspects and accidents, which is good. Unfortunately, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page website, 2013 deaths are up in both categories.

The best self-defense tool to come out since the handgun is the cell phone. Hear me out before you start screaming or burning me in effigy, OK? Believe me, I was one of the last holdouts on cell phones because I pictured an electronic collar, tracking me, knowing everywhere I went. But regardless of my paranoia issues, I now consider a cell phone as second in importance of daily carry gear. No. 1 is my Kimber.

For many a cell is the primary self-defense tool, even if they don’t consider it that way, as it is the only way they have to call the police for protection. For concealed-carry advocates, it is even more important.

Even though I started as a skeptic, I became a fan of lasers after trying them a few years ago. Since then I’ve attached lasers from various manufacturers to five handguns and one rifle, and can’t believe that I ever doubted their need.

Lasers provide fast target acquisition in almost any situation, and are especially useful at times where sights can’t be used, such as from the ground or in low light. Three of my current lasers are from Crimson Trace, including the one on my carry gun, and I love the speed and accuracy that they add to any shooting situation. Even thought I spend most of my time training without the laser to better improve my mechanics, I do train with my lasers to ensure that I’m completely familiar with these tools. I have also watched the excellent training videos that Crimson Trace has produced—The Art of Survival and The Laser’s Edge.

When talk of triggers arise, everyone always says light is best. This is true whether the discussion is about rifles or handguns. You have to have a light trigger pull for accuracy.

Personally, I’ve always preferred smooth. I would rather have a smooth pull with very little take up that breaks cleanly every time than one that is just light, as I’ve found that smooth and crisp usually makes the trigger feel much lighter anyway. Sure the whole world can be found in some triggers, but how much difference does that really make?

After three months of having his business burglarized on a regular basis, a California business owner decided to fight back with his legally permitted firearm.

Darin Fowler had tried fencing and security cameras to prevent the break-ins, but when he continued to lose product he decided to stay overnight to try and catch the perpetrators. In the early morning hours of Fowler heard a noise and confronted the burglar with a handgun.

While I’ve always been a proponent of dry firing for the early stages of skill development, the recent lack of ammunition in stores has forced me spend a lot more time pulling a trigger on an empty handgun.

While there are many theories on the recent disappearance of ammo, I really don’t know why ammo seems to be so hard to find. I do, however, lend a lot of credibility to Mark Keefe’s well-reasoned idea that shooters are buying everything they can get their hands on out of fear of running out.

Once again a firearm has proven to be the great equalizer when a grandmother of 10 from Spokane, Wash., used a gun to hold a would-be burglar for police.

The suspect had been spotted earlier trying to enter another residence by a neighbor, who called police and scared him off, before the suspect broke into the home of Sandy Mize. While a K-9 unit was tracking the suspect, Mize confronted the man, firing a warning shot, before he fled out the back straight into the K-9 unit that arrested him.

Back in February, I had the opportunity to attend one of the most interesting events I’ve ever seen: Survival Trial III: Winterborn.

Held at the NRA Whittington Center, Survival Trial is an adventure race where two-person teams use urban and rural survival skills to compete in challenges.

In what authorities are calling a clear-cut case of "self-defense,” a retired Washington D.C. police officer shot and killed an intruder in the early morning hours of March 31.

According to the news reports, a Calvert County, Maryland resident heard loud bangs on his door, retrieved a handgun and opened the door to find two men standing there holding weapons. When the door opened, the men made threatening gestures toward the resident. In fear for his life, the resident fired several shots, killing one suspect and forcing the other to flee.