Train as You Fight
you train”. This saying is equally important for a concealed carry permit holder or anyone who is serious about protecting their home and family from harm.When you make the decision to obtain a concealed carry permit or even purchase a home defense gun, it often represents a significant change in lifestyle. Everything from how you perceive other people to how you dress and move will undergo a change in one form or another. In order to make this transition, the best advice is to practice.
This goes beyond regular target practice which may or may not have been part of the CCW qualification course. Obviously being a good shooter is a requirement if you should someday have to use your firearm in a self-defense situation. Yet, simply standing and shooting at a paper target is not an effective way to do this.
Criminals are predators. When a criminal seeks to attack someone 99% of the time it will be someone who is perceived as weak. This does not literally mean physically weaker, but someone who may be preoccupied or has their hands full or at any other type of a disadvantage. Some criminals will attempt to engage in a conversation beforehand so that they can size up their victim.
In other words, they will not be standing 15 yards away waiting for you to don hearing protection, assume a weaver stance and aim your handgun at them. The attack will often come when you least expect it. More than likely your firearm will be holstered at the time and not in your hand when you need it. Perhaps of utmost importance is training how to draw the handgun from a concealment holster and shoot it.
Practicing how to draw and fire from a holster can be safely practiced with an unloaded firearm in one’s home. This activity will aid your reflexive muscle memory in the event that you should have to draw down and fire at an attacker who is intent on causing you grave bodily harm. After you feel comfortable with performing this without live ammunition, it can be duplicated with live ammunition at most shooting ranges if the Range Safety Officer allows you to draw from the holster on the firing line.
You could potentially come under attack while changing a tire on your car or truck; incorporate a drill while on your knees 
where you draw and fire at the threat. Carrying a bag of groceries or a parcel may be an invitation to a mugging, anticipate this by carrying something similar at the range and making yourself drop it as you draw down and fire at your target.
Attacks while in your home can come from a burglar or home invader. Study the layout of your house and learn where there are points of cover or concealment behind furniture or appliances. In your range training, seek to adopt shooting from around or behind objects of a similar size.
The stress of surviving a deadly attack will diminish your fine motor skills as adrenaline pumps through your body. Never expect that when the time comes to use your firearm in self-defense that you will rise to the occasion and save the day without being prepared.
The truth is that you will fall back to your level of training. It is up to you to ensure that your training is as realistic as possible and ready for most contingencies.
What drills are you going to incorporate in your practice?
