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Whatever you do, keep your co your temper… If you lose your will also be close to losing con BOOK REVIEW: How to Win A Gunfight by Tony Walker [ B Y R E V . D A V I D B E E S O N ] idea is to keep control of the s Short and Sweet: The first thing I noticed about Tony Walker’s book How to Win A Gunfight is its length. At slightly fewer than 100 pages, it is much shorter than most gun books. What a relief! While no gun book can cover the entire subject, that doesn’t keep a lot of authors from trying. Some people want to learn more about gunfighting, but they don’t want to read a book 250-350 pages long. Enter: How to Win A Gunfight. Walker opens the book with a great statement about awareness: “Although many crime victims have claimed that their attacker ‘appeared out of nowhere,’ this is simply not the case….What really happened was that the victim was totally unaware of what was going on around him.” (p. 5). Chapter Two covers the psychological and physiological changes that occur in an armed confrontation. He mentions adrenaline increase, fine motor skills degradation, and the Tachy-Psyche Effect. Walker goes on to discuss “psychological domination,” commonly known as command voice. He recommends shouting “No!” to your adversary. This does two things. First, it alerts others to your predicament. Second, it lets the assailant know you are not going to be a victim. Chapter Three focuses on stress management. The Half Second Advantage Chapter Four addresses reaction times and how to decrease them. In the following section, Walker lists several ways to gain “the half second advantage.” One is particularly ingenious. He lays out the scenario: someone walks up to you and demands your wallet. As you comply and begin reaching for it, you clearly say, “Listen, I want to tell you something.” This puts the attacker into “receive mode” as he waits to hear what you have to say. This split-second delay will allow you to do whatever you feel necessary: go for your gun (instead of your wallet), turn to run, etc. Another neat suggestion involves a little foreign language. If someone approaches you and asks for money, respond in another language and tell them you don’t understand. While that person is processing what you just said, you can again take whatever action you deem necessary. In Chapter Six, Walker discusses verbal altercations and makes a good point about temper. “Whatever you do, keep your cool. Don’t lose your temper… If you lose your temper, you will also be close to losing control, and the idea is to keep control of the situation.” (p. 31). This is an excellent point, but few mention it. A lot of writers focus on mindset, but don’t entertain the idea that you might go too far, get ticked off, and make the situation worse. You must be levelheaded when you carry a firearm! Walker also mentions Ayoob’s “cash stash.” If you need to deescalate a situation, give the other guy a few bucks and invite him to have a burger on you. Will you lose a few dollars? Yes. Will you avoid a potentially dangerous situation? Possibly. It’s worth a few dollars to try. Walker suggests that you learn how to count your shots to avoid running your gun dry. He is the first firearms instructor I have heard of who suggests this. I believe the consensus is that it would be too difficult under the stress of a gunfight. Extreme stress distorts our perception of time, gives us tunnel vi- 24 USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n JULY 2008
ol. Don’t lose temper, “Although many you crime victims have claimed that their trol, and the attacker ‘appeared out of nowhere,’ this is simply not the ituation.” case….What really happened was that the victim was totally unaware of what was going on around him.” sion, and reduces our fine motor skills. How then, with all of these things working against us, can we manage to count how many shots we have fired? Guns and Ammo Chapter Nine covers weak hand shooting. Its descriptions and photographs are clear. The next segment addresses what occurs after the shooting. Walker does well to mention that some officers will make accusatory statements to try and get you to defend yourself and make a statement. In Chapter Eleven, the author covers choosing a handgun. He makes a good recommendation against derringers: “You should avoid derringer-type pistols in all their forms. These two-shot pistols have one single advantage, concealability, which is far outweighed by their disadvantages.” (p. 68). Walker finishes this chapter commenting on laser sights. He correctly states that using a laser may not cause your attacker to freeze in fear. Chapter Twelve covers ammunition from .22 caliber to .45 Colt. Walker makes two good points here: first, women don’t need underpowered, low caliber guns. They can handle what we men can handle. Second, one should never use handloads for self-defense. There are too many good self-defense rounds out there for someone to homebrew his own. The only thing I didn’t care for in this chapter is the percentage effectiveness rating. I have never been a fan of stating a cartridge is “65% - 85%” effective. There are too many factors involved to label a cartridge with a rating. Chapter Thirteen covers shooting exercises, while Fourteen features holsters. He makes a great suggestion for fanny packs: “One way to disguise the fanny pack is to have a pair of Walkman, MP3, or iPod earphones hanging out of the front zipper pocket – perfect urban camouflage!” (p. 92) How to Win A Gunfight is a good book. Its brevity lends it to be popular among those who don’t like to or don’t have time to read. However, don’t let the page count fool you. This book has enough information in it to make it well worth the purchase. n How to Win A Gunfight © 2007 by Tony Walker. Infinity Publishing: West Conshohocken, PA JULY 2008 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM 25
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Page 6 and 7: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor:
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Page 42 and 43: FORCE-ON-FORCE NOTEBOOK 42 MOVE! Ge
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