I’m sure if you’ve been around the shooting community for five minutes you’ve heard of IDPA. It stands for International Defensive Pistol Association. It’s designed for an individual to take the pistol they carry and compete in a match.
The idea is for people that carry a pistol for defensive purposes to be able to practice and compete while using the pistol they carry, in the holster they carry in. For you CHL type of people, this is key. A lot of us with a CHL take the class and maybe brush up every couple of months with a trip to the static range. Wouldn’t it be a better idea to practice drawing from the holster we carry in and putting shots on target?
Pistol shooting, just like everything else, is a perishable skill. I know that me personally, I’ll get heavily into longer distance shooting and neglect my pistol. Which is a mistake on my part. Considering I have a CHL and carry, where legal, I should be keeping my pistol skills as sharp as I can. IDPA is a sport that allows me to keep those skills sharp. I tried out a couple local clubs when I first started out but finally settled on Capital Area Practical Shooters. It’s a club local to me that provides an interesting array of scenarios and always keeps it interesting. From shooting under vehicles, around a simulated date with your SO, to shooting stages that require more thinking than shooting, IDPA has it all.
Bottom line is this. If you carry a pistol for defensive purposes than you should be keeping those skills sharp. I encourage you to find a local club that you like and do what I did. Show up with a pistol and a hundred rounds of ammo and no clue what’s going on. I fretted for a long time because I didn’t think I was good enough to compete. Let me save you the heartache, go out and have fun. We all know that shooting is fun. Combine that with practicing a skill that could come in handy and it’s a win win situation. You too could learn to shoot from under a car.
C Smith
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