In my blog on light discipline, a reader commented that advising someone to search with a light is wrong and unsafe, and in many situations he is right. However, I personally think that each person must make that decision for himself. I cannot tell someone exactly how to protect his or her family and home because I don’t have enough information about the person’s home or skill level. My job is to provide hints, strategies and training tips to make you think so you can survive a deadly encounter.

I agree that most people should probably not go in search of an intruder. But what if someone has to go in search of a child who has gotten out of bed? This is why you have to train for every scenario, including missions you don’t really want to do.

During training at Gunsite, I was presented with a fictitious scenario in which a friend calls me saying he has intruders in his house. “The police are 45 minutes away and he needs help now. It’s a bad situation, in fact, it’s a suicide mission, but he’s a friend. Go get him.” I went into the shoot house knowing that this was not something I would normally do, but also knowing that I would do it for a friend who needed my help.

I believe that we should train for every possible outcome in a situation, even if the main plan is to barricade the bedroom door and call the police. There are too many variables that can change a situation, and you should be able to handle all of them.

What do you think?