>>>>>You have to remember John that there are those who expect our police to never pull their weapon - just walk in and if someone is already poised and ready to shoot you must be quick draw mcGraw! :o)
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>>>>You and John may be aware of the "Tueller Drill" ( named after a SLC police officer ) showing that an aggressor armed with a knife can cover 21 feet before a highly trained officer can draw and fire. Good argument for going in cocked and locked. Aggressor rethinks his options or stops abruptly.
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>>>Yes, the defense tactic, is merely to step aside while drawing and firing. I was fortunate enough to get to attend a weeklong seminar at the Mid-South Survival Shooting Institute, which is just south of Memphis. they train the Seals, Green Beret, British SAS, HALO, Rangers, and SWAT teams from around the country. We learned tactical shooting and I thought I was pretty good going in. I was able to hit three targets, from about 15 yards on a 45 degree swing in just under three seconds. When I left, it was just over 1 second! To keep that kind of skill, you have to do three things - practice, practice, practice!
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>>I thought I knew how to shoot because I shot competitavely on a range since I was a kid. Ha! Got some combat training on snap shooting and got a big wakeup call that target shooting was like hunting at the zoo. I actually ended up better at pointing than aiming as I am left handed and right eyed.
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>>The most memorable part of the experience was the guy who told me "Remember, the goal of a gunfight is that only one side gets to shoot. Make sure it's you." <g>
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>Funny you should mention "pointing" that's exactly what they teach, as a matter of fact, they said shooting is as simple as pointing at someone and saying "hey you". To this day, one of the SWAT guys I trained with will say that to me if he sees me. Another favorite phrase was "slow is fast."

Aiming is a tough habit to break for a target shooter, but when you get the hang of the pointing thing it sure is faster (and a lot easier if you're in motion <g>)

My problem is the size of my hands. I've always had custom grips on my own weapons ( except for my replica black-powder 3rd model Dragoon ) as that's the only way I can get the right distance between web and trigger finger. Me shooting a stock SW 38, Ruger MkIII or Sig is like a bear ride a tricycle (and results in a pattern about the size of a bear on a tricycle). Sometimes if I have to shoot a public weapon I'll tape a wadded up target to the back of the grip to get the right distance for trigger pull. Of course people think you're just making excuses, but ergonomics is a very big deal, especially on snap shooting. I even got pretty good at making custom grip mods with epoxy resin. If I still did much shooting I think I'd build some portable sleeves for a 1911, Sig, Glock, Ruger and Browning just to have ready if I had to use somebody elses weapon. My own CZ 75b, 1911 and P226 were tricked out long ago. When I used a Python I was able to modify a Packmyr. The Buckmark Target Bull has some expensive target grips but I'm really tired of them because I don't enjoy that kind of shooting much anymore and I think it would just handle better if I built something like what's on the CZ ...

( wow, long time since I geeked out talkin' guns <g> My wife doesn't even like to know they're in the house, though for some reason handguns seem scarier to her than the long guns. There's a Franchi SPAS-15 and even a Colt 1878 coach gun ( the TTN replica actually ) that are a lot scarier - the latter being my personal favorite along with the 3rd model Walker Dragoon. Guess I'm old fashioned <s>)