A Treasure Trove of Gun Information: The Defensive Use of Firearms Website

The website you ABSOLUTELY MUST bookmark if you are at all interested in learning as much as you can about self-defense and firearm insight is spwenger’s Defensive Use of Firearms.

It’s founded and maintained by Stephen P. Wenger, whose extensive credentials include hundreds of hours of law enforcement, self-defense, lethal force, armorer, public safety, and threat management training and teaching. He created the site in response to his frustration with seeing erroneous defensive tactics being taught by firearms instructors.

Along with the website, Mr. Wenger publishes the DUF Digest, a comprehensive examination of the practicalities and realities of the use of firearms for defensive purposes in a free, daily email digest of firearm-related news (subscribe at this list server site). He is also the author of the book, Defensive Use of Firearms (also see book information on Snub Gun Study Group), which he offers as a free PDF download.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Directory: Informative Free Email Newsletters From a Variety of Sources ]

The website’s valuable information is organized in the following categories:

• This Site & Its Logo
• Common Sense
• Basic Concepts
• Firearm Safety
• Street vs. Range
• Handgun Selection
• Holster Selection
• Ammunition Selection
• Long Gun Selection
• Instructor Selection
• Role of the Wrist
• Point Shooting
• Shooting with Flashlights
• Night Sights and Lasers
• The Naked Emperor
• Deadly Force
• A Winning Attitude
• Just Say Nothing?
• S.P. Wenger Credentials
• Useful Links (SemperVerus is honored to be included as one of the links!)
• Favorite Quotations on the RKBA, politics and life in general

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Important Judicial Decisions Regarding Self-Defense Law ]

Mr. Wenger explains he intentionally chose an obsolete firearm (the Smith & Wesson New Departure Safety revolver, .38 S&W, Fourth Model, “selected because it was obviously designed as a defensive firearm, not a sporting one”) for the logo to symbolize his belief that the operator is more crucial than the equipment. He ranks his self-defense priorities as follows:

1. Mental Awareness: Know the current status of your surroundings and its occupants. Take note of people and things that depart from normal patterns. You should actually be able to avoid most unpleasant encounters.
2. Mental Preparedness: You must decide in advance what circumstances will trigger your use of deadly force; you cannot wait until you are threatened to make the decision that you will respond with such force. Once you recognize that you have become a target you must become proactive.
3. Tactics: In the simplest terms, this is using common sense to take any “unfair” advantage which will help you under the circumstances. While most instructors emphasize use of cover, most attacks come at close range, where side-stepping, coupled with deflection of the attack, are the crucial tactics that can give you the time to access your firearm.
4. Skill: For the shooter this includes being able to place shots where you need them in a reasonable time frame, one-handed, with either hand, if need be. This is but the lowest-common-denominator example.
5. Choice of Equipment: Last on the list is the actual choice of the gun and its ammunition. It’s on the list, but the other issues are more crucial.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of Situational Awareness ]

The Defensive Use of Firearms website “deals with the defensive use of firearms, not their sporting use nor their misuse in any form.” Mr. Wenger’s “fervent desire is that his information and opinions may help good people prevail against those who would do them harm.”

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