training – SemperVerus

Church Security Team Pistol Qualification Course

Keith Graves, founder and trainer of Christian Warrior Training, has developed the following 43-round course-of-fire pistol qualification for his church security team.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Interview with Keith Graves of Christian Warrior Training ]

Before allowing people to carry a firearm to protect the congregation, they must demonstrate competency with their weapon; at the very least, safe drawing and re-holstering, accurate shot placement, reloading magazines without prompting, and malfunction and stoppage clearing.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, What to Take to the Shooting Range—Including a Prayer ]

He says, “A proper annual qualification test is a non-negotiable requirement for church security. You know exactly where your incident will occur: in your sanctuary, your parking lot, your classrooms. Your qualification course should reflect that.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Firearms Training: A Directory of Shooting Drills ]

To qualify, he requires that all rounds must be verified on target; any miss from the target is considered a fail. If at any point a person’s firearm has a malfunction or stoppage, it’s up to the person to clear it and continue with the course-of-fire within the set time limit, otherwise it’s considered a fail. He allows 3 attempts to qualify; after 3 the person must practice and schedule another qualification session.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Organizing, Training & Running a House of Worship Armed Congregant Security Team ]

Watch him demonstrate the course-of-fire in the video below:

By semperverus
Posted on 04/02/202504/02/2025

Self-Defense and Church Security: Breathing and Mental Techniques to Reduce Anxiety

When stress and anxiety take hold during life-threatening criminal or terrorist self-defense and church security encounters, your body can feel like it’s working against you—your heart races, your chest tightens, and your mind starts spinning. But one of the most powerful tools for calming your body and mind is breathing.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Concealed Carry Daily Prayer ]

Spiritual First Aid^™ has created two complimentary resources to help you regain your composure in critical incidents.

1. Breath-Based Grounding Techniques: 3 Evidence-Based Exercises to Reduce Stress and Restore Calm introduces three evidence-based breathing skills to help bring you back to a state of calm and focus:

Box Breathing — a structured method used by Navy SEALs to regulate stress.
Resonance Breathing — a rhythmic pattern to balance the nervous system.
Coherent Breathing — a slow, steady technique that promotes relaxation.

For example, here are the steps in the Box Breathing Pattern:

By semperverus
Posted on 03/31/202503/31/2025

Practical Situational Awareness Training: Prepare for the Ambush

Situational awareness is often described by suggested methods of observation in color-coded categories of perception: observing surroundings to avoid trouble; locating exits in a room to quickly escape trouble; or achieving advance knowledge of travel routes to change course in the event of sudden trouble.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Jeff Cooper’s Principles of Personal Defense ]

The familiar color-code is White for “totally unaware,” Yellow for “relaxed but aware,” Orange for “potential threat identified,” and Red for “threat verified, engage self-defense action.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Simple Chart for Situational Awareness ]

Professional firearms trainer, author, consultant, and executive director for PersonalDefenseNetwork.com, Rob Pincus, identifies one area that might too often be overlooked; he calls it the “fantasy of situational awareness.”

By semperverus
Posted on 03/25/202503/25/2025

US Circuit Judge Video Records Expert Gun Tutorial Dissent to Anti-2nd Amendment Court Ruling

US Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke The San Fransisco-based US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled 7-4 March 20, 2025 to uphold California’s ban on standard-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 cartridges.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, 20 Reasons to Concealed Carry a Defensive Firearm ]

The case was a Second Amendment challenge to California’s 2016 law that bars possession of such magazines.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Senior US District Judge Declares Gun Magazine Capacity Limits Unconstitutional ]

The US Supreme Court in 2021 remanded the lawsuit back to the Ninth Circuit following the high court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, US Supreme Court Affirms Right to Carry Arms in Public for Self-Defense ]

The Ninth Circuit’s latest ruling says California’s ban does not violate Second Amendment rights because such magazines are not “arms” within the US Constitution’s meaning, nor are they protected accessories.

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

But US Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke demonstrated the logical reason for his dissent by video recording himself handling several personal handguns and explaining their mechanisms to educate viewers on why his judicial colleagues wrongly upheld the California law.