Ignatius Piazza: 20/20 Gun Story a Bit Blurry
April 20th, 2009
Diane Sawyer and ABC’s 20/20 aired a story last week entitled “If I Only Had a Gun…”
As a result, I have been flooded with requests from Front Sight’s hundreds of thousands of students to respond to Diane Sawyer and 20/20.
It seems my students feel that the story was a one-sided “set-up” by 20/20 to discourage people from thinking that having a gun would do them any good if ever confronted with an armed assailant bent on killing people.
Well here is what I have to say to Diane Sawyer and 20/20….
Diane, you are right! Yes, you are right about the fact that just because someone has a gun and some minimal training, they are NOT mentally or physically prepared to take down a dedicated killer or suicidal maniac by themselves with their concealed weapon.
(Stick with me and I will also tell Diane and 20/20 where they are totally wrong.)
You see, I have been saying the same thing ever since I had my own personal, self defense revelation during a random, drive-by shooting in my quiet, upscale neighborhood. Even though I owned guns and shot them regularly at the range, I was not mentally or physically prepared to deal with a life and death shooting situation – just like 99% of the gun owning population.
That’s right. 99% of all gun owners are not mentally or physically prepared to win a gun fight against a dedicated killer or suicidal maniac – and that includes law enforcement officers. Just ask the law enforcement community who is still reeling from their recent losses of numerous officers, including SWAT officers to desperate, hardened opponents more than willing to kill or be killed.
Fortunately for me, my wake up call many years ago was nothing more than a random drive-by shooting. I lived to begin my quest to learn from trainers who, at that time, were considered the best in the world.
This is how Front Sight was born and now we train more students than all the other major shooting schools and trainers combined and provide a level of training that EXCEEDS law enforcement and military standards without any boot camp mentality or drill instructor attitudes.
In fact, I could have saved Diane Sawyer and 20/20 a ton of time and money by simply telling them that their “experiment” of giving a paint gun and some minimal training to a group of young adults, and then placing them individually into a situation where a law enforcement shooting instructor bursts into the classroom, blasting away was going to produce exactly what they witnessed — dismal failure by the students.
WHY? Because developing the proper combat mindset and the skill at arms to deal with a dedicated killer or suicidal maniac takes more time and training than just a few hours with a paint gun.
The good news is that at Front Sight, we routinely produce law-abiding, private citizens who have better gun handling, marksmanship, speed, and mindset than law enforcement or military personnel and we do it over four comfortable, yet intense days of classroom, shooting range and live-fire tactical shooting-house training. WANT PROOF?
Subscribe to my free Front Sight Challenge Reality TV Series where you will see average private citizens (including teenagers, and grandmothers) who have never had any training other than Front Sight courses, going up against the best that law enforcement and the military could throw at them in head to head competition – with the private citizens WINNING half of the competitions!
So yes, Diane Sawyer and 20/20 were right about their training experiment, but they were wrong about everything else.
Here is where 20/20 is completely blind to the reality of the streets.
1. Even though I operate the country’s most prolific shooting school and encourage anyone who owns a gun to come to Front Sight to get the very best training available in the world, I still say ANY gun is better than no gun at all when confronted with a lethal encounter – so make sure you have a gun!
2. Even though we can take an average, law-abiding citizen and in four days positively change their lives by instilling the combat mindset in them and providing them with the comfort of skill at arms, I still say ANY training is better than no training at all — so get training wherever and whenever you can!
3. Even though you may not have had an opportunity to attend Front Sight yet and fall into the category of the 99% of people who are not yet mentally or physically prepared to win a gun fight, the chances are your opponent is not trained either — so having a gun and some training is still better than not having a gun!
4. Even when confronted by a hardened criminal bent on killing you and those around you, I’m sure you would rather risk getting shot while fighting with your gun to the best of your current ability than die on your knees, begging for mercy — so get a gun, get some training and at least you will have a chance to defend yourself and those around you.
5. Even though 20/20 tried their best to discourage gun ownership, 80 million gun owners (and that number is growing like never before) didn’t buy their story — so if YOU will send this blog to EVERYONE you know, we can convince the rest of America that it is better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it!
Here is what 20/20 didn’t want to show America:
- Concealed Weapons Permit Holder Stops Bank Robbery
- Off Duty Cop Gets Jumped but Protects Himself with Handgun
- 69-Year-Old Man Shoots Intruder
- CCW Gun Fighter Shoots Two Armed Assailants
- Grandmother Holds Burglar at Gun Point
- Surviving a Gun in Your Face
- Armed Robber stopped by CCW Holder
- Armed Watch Maker Stops Multiple Robberies
And some more videos that 20/20 would rather you not see:
- Armed Citizen – Nashville, Tennessee
- Armed Homeowner Shoots Robbers During Daytime Invasion (AZ)
- Woman With Shotgun Kills Rapist in Self-Defense (MO)
- Robber Killed by Clerk
- Pizza Shop Owner Shoots Armed Robber (OH)
- Houston Self Defense Shooting CCW
- Clerk Shoots Crook
- Holdup victim kills gunman in Manheim
- Armed Citizen – Buffalo, New York
- Armed Citizen – Kinsey, Alabama
- Gunman killed in robbery attempt
- Armed Citizen – Canton, Michigan
- Brave store clerk shoots back
- Armed School Teacher Shoots Armed Invader in Self-Defense (FL)
- Man who shot robber at AA gathering
I could go on and on…
YOU now have the ammunition with this blog post to spread the truth about guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens so please spread this blog to EVERYONE you know and ask them to do the same.
With this blog and Front Sight’s training, I’m doing my part… I’m counting on you to spread the truth so people who don’t know any better, can see through the blurred vision of 20/20’s report, so please spread this blog to everyone you know and ask them to do the same.
And if you want the mindset and skill at arms to handle yourself in a gun fight but do not yet have a 30 State Concealed Weapons Permit, the world class training that Front Sight provides, or a Springfield Armory XD Pistol, then take advantage of Front Sight’s Greatest Course, Gun and CCW Permit Offer Ever. (Also known as the Millionaire Patriot Offer.)
Go to http://www.frontsight.com/free-gun.asp.
I will be posting a different article on this blog each Monday so I look forward to your visit every week.
If you have an interesting photo, story or tip about a relevant topic of interest to gun ownership, firearms training or Second Amendment issues, please feel free to send it to me at:
Again, if you want to take advantage of the Greatest Course, Gun, and CCW Permit Offer in the firearms training industry see this link:
http://www.frontsight.com/free-gun.asp
See you next week.
Dr. Ignatius Piazza
Founder and Director
Front Sight Firearms Training Institute
Entry Filed under: Concealed Carry Training,Dr. Ignatius Piazza,Front Sight,Gun Training,Monday Blog Posts,second amendment.