Page 13 - December 2018

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
■ BY RAY CASIANO
■ CPD FIREARMS INSTRUCTOR
It’s that time of year again for many of us to blow the dust bunnies off our prescribed duty weapon and check our equip- ment for serviceability and safety. Every year, starting within the first police period and before the end of the fourth period, the Department attempts to have all sworn members qualified.
Coming into one of the area ranges to qualify can be quite nerve-wracking for some. If you are one of those members, you can put your nerves to rest knowing that you can stop by one of the three area ranges on the second and third watch or the academy range on midnights during December to practice pri- or to being scheduled to qualify in 2019. By taking the initiative to practice or seek out marksmanship tips from a department range instructor, you will be putting yourself on a path to in- creasing your skills and chances for a successful annual qual- ification.
Remember, “prescribed weapon qualification” is not train- ing. Training is training! Training is the time to discover new skills or practice learned skills to a level of competency. The idea is to improve your ability to accomplish the task at hand; in this case, your shooting ability to perform on demand and under pressure. There are many drills and techniques you can run to improve your overall marksmanship and basic weapon - han- dling proficiency.
Understanding the five fundamentals of shooting and ap- plying them to every shot fired are essential to reaching marks- manship proficiency:
1. Stance
2. Grip
3. Sight alignment and picture
4. Trigger control
5. Follow-through (continuation of the fundamentals
during and after a shot has been fired)
Techniques you can do with a completely empty firearm are dry firing and drawing your pistol from your duty holster while getting familiar with manipulating the retention devices to get your pistol out faster, giving you more time to press the trigger. Little things like this can reduce your stress level on the range and improve your hits on the qualification target. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, which leads me into care and maintenance.
Care and maintenance are essential to keeping your firearm in good working condition. Qualification day is not the time to discover that your firearm is dirty and not working. Or to learn that you are missing one of your sights and are unable to hit the target. These things can cause you not to be able to qualify. Make sure to refer to your firearm owner’s manual, and clean your firearm after every time you shoot and at least twice a month. It is during care and maintenance that you have an op- portunity to closely inspect your firearm and ammo and pre- vent most malfunctions. Remember: you don’t want to hear your firearm go click when it should go bang, or bang when it should go click. Happy holidays and be safe!
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ DECEMBER 2018 13