UPDATE: The recording is now available as a download for $9.95. Link

In the wake of the San Bernardino massacre, there have been increasing calls, even by the police, for legally authorized people to carry their guns wherever and whenever they can. In addition, the FBI recently reported a record number of gun sales on Black Friday.

While I firmly believe that Armed Citizens and off-duty police officers can make a difference in preventing and stopping such massacres, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Gunowners, whether carrying a gun or keeping a gun at home, can and do make mistakes, sometimes very serious ones. I have some concern about brand new gunowners carrying their guns with them everywhere without some education about how to do it safely. That may not be a popular view but that’s the way I see it.

I have often chastised the training community for failing to create non-traditional educational materials that can reach a broader array of gunowners. As a step toward alleviating that, I have created a new audio CD called:

Serious Mistakes Gunowners Make – Real life examples of how they get into trouble and how to prevent it

This audio CD is a refined version of my Negative Outcomes with Firearms presentation at the 2015 Rangemaster Tactical Conference. My Rangemaster presentation was very well received as groundbreaking about issues that are rarely discussed openly in the gun community.

The ‘Concealed Carry Mistakes’ lists I frequently see usually revolve around simplistic issues, such as:

• Equipment issues; gun, holster, clothing, etc.
• Not getting enough training
• Not ‘knowing’ the law

But the really serious Mistakes that gunowners make are things like:

• Shooting yourself
• Shooting someone you shouldn’t have, either intentionally or unintentionally
• Getting needlessly arrested
• Getting shot by the police
• Leaving guns where unauthorized persons can access them, resulting in tragedies
• Frightening innocent people around you
• Endangering innocent people needlessly

The 12 tracks, over 1 hour, on the CD are:

1. Introduction
2. Brandishing/threatening
3. Chasing after the end of a confrontation
4. Downrange failures (shot an innocent while shooting at a threat)
5. Intervention
6. Lost/stolen guns
7. Mistaken identity shootings
8. Negligent discharges, including self-inflicted gunshot wounds and Unintentional shootings
9. Police Involvement
10. Poor judgement
11. Unauthorized access (generally by small children)
12. Unjustifiable shootings, including warning shots

Each track explains the topic and the issue, provides a real life example of an occurrence and the consequence, and gives some thoughts about how to prevent it. My object is to provoke thinking about the fact that firearms are deadly weapons and can be terribly unforgiving of carelessness, incompetence, and stupidity.

Note that I can’t possibly explain nor control every way to avoid the Mistakes so I don’t assume any liability for those who listen to the recording and still end up having an issue. Life is not fair; if you want guarantees, buy a toaster.

This could be your most important purchase of the year. Making any one of the Mistakes almost inevitably leads to tragedy or significant legal expense. The price of the CD is miniscule in comparison.

The CD is available on my mobile friendly webstore.

Final note: Because I want this information to be widely distributed, I am granting a limited re-distribution license to anyone who purchases the CD. People do it anyway but I will make it formal and encourage it.

Purchase of the CD includes a license to reproduce five (5) copies of the CD for distribution to fellow gunowners. This is a limited license. It does NOT include posting copies of the CD or any of its tracks on the Internet in a downloadable format. Nor does the license include widely broadcasting the CD nor its tracks via email.

Please be safe and encourage fellow gunowners to do the same. I hope I can make a contribution to that with this CD.