What to Take to the Shooting Range—Including a Prayer

Whether you go to the shooting range to qualify for volunteering on your church security team or to train to improve your personal armed self-defense skills, you go to increase your defensive marksmanship to be consistently accurate.

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

The more you train, the more you become proficient in handling firearms and the safer you are as a defender, because you know you are responsible for every bullet that leaves your gun.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, The 4 Basic Rules of Gun Safety ]

The time you spend at the range is not an expense, it’s an investment, since…

…you don’t rise to the level of a crisis, you fall to the level of your training.

In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argues that to achieve world-class expertise in any skill, you need about 10,000 hours of deliberate, focused, and purposeful practice, without error or bad habits.

When developing proper technique in defensive arms use, it’s not that mere practice makes perfect, it’s that…

…perfect practice makes perfect muscle memory permanent.

Muscle memory is the cognitive function where your brain stores and automatically recalls motor skills you’ve practiced, allowing for smooth (and ideally correct) execution of physical movements without conscious thought.

[ Get the SemperVerus booklet, The Case for Biblical Self-Defense ]

The biblical King David had extensive experience with weaponry, as evidenced by the way he began Psalm 144:1—”Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Concealed Carry Daily Prayer ]

So when you go to the range, remember to take with you gear from the list below, as well as the the following prayer:

Lord,
 
Help me to be a safe defender by having a responsible mindset, possessing defensive knowledge, and being the most accurate marksman I can be.
 
I pray for safety at all times when I use my firearm.
 
I pray that, in my training today and if I’m ever called upon to defend against evil, you will:

    Focus my mind.
    Sharpen my eyes.
    Calm my breathing.
    Steady my hands.
    Direct my feet.

Thank you, Lord.
 
Amen.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Prayer for Church Security Team Members ]

Items to carry in your range bag:

  • Eye protection
  • Ear protection
  • Empty chamber indicator
  • Hat or visor
  • Ammunition
  • Ammunition loader (e.g., an UpLULA)
  • Magazines
  • Magazine holster(s)
  • Firearm(s)
  • Holster
  • First-aid kit with tourniquet
  • Target(s)

[ See the links to Personal Training and Church Security Training websites in the SemperVerus Self-Defense Training Directory ]

Optional items to carry in your range bag:

  • Trauma kit with tourniquet
  • Multi-tool
  • Lead wipes
  • Cleaning towel
  • Gun cleaning kit
  • Gun oil
  • Rods
  • Shot timer
  • Stapler
  • Spray paint (to use on targets)
  • Sunscreen
  • Sunglasses
  • Water for hydration
  • Cooling towel
  • Flashlight / extra batteries
  • Permanent marker
  • Masking tape
  • Rain poncho
  • Elastic sports KT Tape for pain relief and support
  • Scissors
  • Gloves

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the subject of TRAINING ]

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