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Greetings Jarrad and Paul,
I have a question that has remained unanswered for years. I am right eye dominate and I shoot right handed. I have a really difficult time acquiring my front sight and shooting a handgun accurately and rapidly, as you would in a defensive situation.
I am a former police officer, and professional firearms instructors that train cops for a living could not help me resolve this issue.
I used to train to shoot with my left eye closed. Thankfully, I never had to shoot a suspect in the line of duty, but virtually every time I was involved in a felony arrest where a suspect was taken down at gunpoint, I realized after the fact that while I was running on auto pilot during the incident I never once closed my left eye while looking at the suspect through my gun sights (or visa versa). So much for falling back on my training. I guess my brain doesn’t operate that way no matter how many thousands of rounds I send down range in training.
The old, “I’ll just blink my left eye when I bring the gun sights to my eye” thing never even occurred to me while I was in a high stress situation. I tilt my head, I cant my gun to bring the sight picture into alignment, I even went to a Glock shoot with a stupid black sticker on the left lens of my shooting glasses to block my vision in my left eye. None of these things work reliably for me.
I have blacked out the rear sight of every pistol I own with a Sharpy, and that does help draw my eye straight to the front sight. This morning I ordered the XS Big Dot for my Glock 42, and the Warren Tactical Sevigny style sights for my Glock 22. I will come back on here and report the difference they make for me, if any, when I get them installed and shoot them. If they help, I’ll put them on some of my other pistols too.
But in the meantime, it can’t simply be an equipment issue. It has to be me. There has to be some technique out there that can help. With as many students as you have trained, I’m sure you have come across this situation more than once. I appreciate any advice that you can give me. The Lenny Kravitz story in the 3rd hour was one of the best stories ever heard on Student of the Gun. Thanks so much and keep up the good work!
Best regards,
Mike Haralson, Portland, Oregon
