MODESTO - Carrying a concealed firearm is for the defense of life and not of property.
That’s the mantra of Rich Stubbert who trains some 200 citizens a year in the legal and proper handling of a firearm.
Stubbert operates the On Target Firearms Instruction academy on Bangs Road in Modesto and issues training certificates required by the California Concealed Weapon (CCW) permits issued by city police chiefs and sheriffs.
“I’m not here to teach you how to kill people, but how to defend your life,” he said.
Stubbert has some 25 years of experience as a reserve police sergeant for the cities of Escalon as well as Lynwood in Southern California. He also operates the Private Security Center where some 1,000 students are given similar training each year but “exposed weapons” in the role of private security guards.
He has been credited with developing courses for training and instruction for police officers in firearm safety and proficiency and has been a firearms instructor for a Fortune 500 company for seven years.
Stubbert is also a qualified firearms instructor for the California Police Officer Standards in Training (POST).
The veteran firearms instructor is quick to ask his students if they feel that they can take a human life if their life is in danger. If they can’t, they might put themselves in more danger by drawing a gun, he said. And some women, who say they can’t hurt someone, realize it’s quite another matter if their children’s lives are being threatened.
“There are people out there who will do what they need to do to get what you have,” he warned. “Awareness is our first defense. If I can avoid it, I don’t have a problem.”
Average gun fight lasts 1.5 second
Stubbert said the average gun fight lasts only 1.5 seconds. He told his students they should always have a non-lethal weapon with them such as pepper spray. Not all situations require deadly force, he said. The initial use of a secondary defense will often support the shooter’s defensive arguments in court.
Safety starts at home, he told his students. Fences, gates and bushes of all sizes are places where subjects can hide, adding that he is a strong believer in dead bolts on the doors of a residence.
“A barking dog alarm – why hasn’t someone invented it?” he chuckled.
He noted that actually having a dog for a pet is also a good defense, because by their very nature they are curious and will be quick to alert their owners.
Stubbert made a strong point that a gun in a home with a child under 16 has to be secured in a way that the youngster can’t harm themselves.
“But for home self-defense, it has to be with you,” he noted.
He said he doesn’t support being paranoid, only being prepared. When walking down the street he suggested carrying the car keys in one hand with one key serving as a weapon emerging between two of the fingers.
Shubbert told his students that if they have to shoot to defend their life or that of someone else, they must aim for the body mass. The intent must be only to stop the threat and not to kill the aggressor. It is more difficult to hit an arm or a leg than the body, he added.
“The person who worries me is the one who can’t wait to get into a gunfight,” he said. “Our best defense is awareness, especially when we are in a vehicle at a stop sign. You want to see the backs of the rear tires ahead of you so you can pull out quickly if necessary.”
As for using pepper spray, he quoted the rules of making sure the vehicle window is down and when using it outside and the aggressor must be down wind so it doesn’t come back in your face – just pay attention, he urged.
The windows in mall and department store windows “are great for watching those around you.” He said members of the public don’t have to confront gang bangers they see in those reflections – they can often just avoid them and a confrontation.
And for shoppers making a quick run to the store, they should pay attention to their intuition and look through the store windows before walking in the door.
“If the hair is standing up on the back of your neck, pay attention to it,” he warned. “Prevention is the best approach, and you won’t have to go to court.”
Stubbert explained what a person does in a dangerous situation should be a natural reaction and not a thought process and being able to draw proficiently from a holster.
“You need muscle memory in drawing a gun – not a thought process,” he stressed. “Stand in front of a mirror and watch yourself draw a gun and putting it back in the holster. Don’t look down at the holster. In real life you can’t look down.”
The practice of drawing a weapon is essential
The firearms instructor said most people don’t practice drawing. If you can’t get it out of the holster, you can’t use it, he added.
To legally use a firearm against another person the threat must be “immediate” to the life of the person with the firearm or to someone else, Stubbert said.
“The last person you want carrying a gun is someone who wants to shoot somebody,” he said. Of great concern is that the shooter doesn’t know all the circumstances of a given situation.
He also warned of the danger of someone owning two or three guns without being dependent on just one weapon to be used for self-defense. The safety lock lever will go up on one and down on another. In a split second the gun might be locked when the shooter has thought he has, in fact, unlocked the lever.
“This is a defensive weapon only – not offensive,” he said of a concealed weapon.
“In training we want to build up confidence and yet not be over confident. We’re not required to right all the wrongs we see in public. The number one rule: no drinking, no drugs.”
Stubbert also told his students that if they are going out to dinner and having just one drink, leave the gun at home.
Taking a gun into a city, county, state or federal building is also prohibited, he added.
However, a gun can be carried within a federal park if doing so is not against state law, he said. Most sports venues are now posted prohibiting firearms even for police officers, he told his class.
Brandishing guns gets you in trouble
“Brandishing gets a lot of people in trouble,” Stubbert said. A gun is permitted as a concealed weapon for the defense of life only – not property,” he added. “It can be a tremendous advantage and a tremendous problem when using it in a threatening manner.”
Not all states in the country recognize a California CCW permit. Florida as an example uses California residents’ CCW permits to obtain that state’s non-resident permit as does Utah and Nevada.
Stubbert said that one good book to read on the subject was authored by a former ranger and psychologist analyzing shooting entitled, “On Killing.” He said there is not one word in its pages on how to kill someone.
Its chapters include the knowledge of living the experience of having killed. What happens to your body in the fight or flight experience and how to own a gun and stay out of jail.
“Be careful what you say after a shooting. Don’t embellish what you tell people – it can be used against you,” he stressed. “A lot of TV is good for cops to watch – seeing things not to do.”
There are nearly a dozen states posted online that accept California’ CCW permits within their borders.
To reach Stubbert and obtain more information on his classes go to www.ontargetfirearmsinstruction , www.ontargettrainingcenter.com . Telephone is (209) 575-2308 or electronically rich@ontargetfirearmsinstruction.com.
Their mission statement: To provide effective, quality firearms instruction and training to individuals and groups in a safe professional manner.
A permit can cost up to $300 with training and is good for two years before a refresher course is required with additional police agency and training fees.
