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This months Tactical Tip is not about guns or gear and it’s not about the act of shooting. It’s not even really about the gunfight. Rather this article is about a little discussed topic of the periphery of the gunfight--Off Hand Access
Sound boring? It shouldn’t. Ask any cop or professional gun carrier which they’ve done more: Operate with their weapon drawn, or operate while firing their weapon? The answer is obvious; every single one will say they have had to operate with their weapon drawn covering a suspect or danger area a thousand times more than when they have actually had to fire their weapon. This has implications not only for law enforcement professionals but for those civilians protecting and defending themselves and their loved ones.
A couple of years back I was at a great IALEFI conference (International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors –- I’m not kidding that’s the real name of the organization). As we reviewed films of actual and training shooting scenarios, we noticed a reoccurring phenomenon. The good guys were winning the actual gun fights. But right after the gun fight, many were fumbling, bumbling and making flawed but fortunately non-fatal decisions.
As with any group of committed teachers, we took a hard look at ourselves –and found the answer. We, the firearms instructors were the problem. We were training our guy and gal students to draw, announce and issue verbal warnings just fine. But we were ending our scenarios right after the shooting stopped. That’s not how real life actually works in a law enforcement setting or a civilian self defense scenario. Anyone who has been in or at a shooting will tell you that the post shooting situation can be as or more grueling than the actual gunfight. This brings me to Off Hand Access.
While you probably normally fire your weapon with two hands, much of the time you will only be able to have one hand on your weapon. Your support or off hand will be otherwise engaged by your radio, cell phone, flashlight, stair rail, car door handle, or whatever your job or the immediate environmental circumstances may dictate. Furthermore, it is not uncommon that a simultaneous combination of the above examples may be required.
The fact that those defending themselves with firearms prefer hand guns to shotguns because they can have one hand free to call for help, was even acknowledged by Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia in the now famous decision that overturned the DC hand gun ban.
Post or non-shoot scenarios should then begin and end with good Off Hand Access planning. What that means is -- if you need to call for backup or help, your radio or cell phone needs to be on the opposite side of your body from your weapon. If you need a flashlight, a set of keys to open a door, or any item that you may need when your weapon is drawn, keep them on the opposite side of your body from your weapon.
Don’t think this is important? Try it out. Make your weapon safe! Clear, check and double check your handgun. Put your cell phone on the same side as your strong arm or the same side you would normally holster your weapon. Now try covering with your handgun an imaginary adversary down range in a safe direction. Next, just reach over where your cell phone is located with your off hand and draw it from its pouch or holster. Not so easy is it? Now think about having to do it under the physiological and psychological stress of a potential gunfight. How about if you are wearing a sweater, jacket, heavy coat, body armor, or are a few pounds overweight?
If you have to shoot someone in self defense or hold someone at gun point, what’s the next thing you are going to have to do? Call somebody obviously. Conclusion? You need to put your cell phone, knife, flashlight, keys, and back up on your off weapon side always----and every day.
I know what comes next. Some dear GG&G Tactical Tip reader will shortly write that they will simply switch hands. After all don’t many law enforcement courses of fire and qualification actually teach and require switching hands?  Well yes, you are right. Any responsible gun fighting school teaches switching hands. But real life situations don't always follow class scenarios. Switching gun ha  nds is taught because the natural phenomena of tunnel vision that often occurs in gunfights, results in the shooter’s vision focusing and enlarging on the threat, that is the gun barrel of the adversary. Thus shots tend to cluster around the threat of the gun barrel. Since these shots cluster around the gun, they often strike the gun hand or gun. If your adversary has the opportunity to get a shot off, you may be wounded in your strong hand or arm, thus requiring you to switch from the wounded hand to the off hand in order to continue the gunfight. This is why switching firing hands is taught. "So there" says the armchair gunman, "I’ll just switch hands". Actually, you may not be able to do so. Another phenomenon often observed in gun fights is adrenal lock. That is, during a life and death crisis your hand will not release what is all ready in it, especially if it is the weapon you believe will save your life. But it doesn’t have to be a life saving tool. It could just be a little plastic card. The most famous example of this phenomenon was tragically recorded by the cruiser camera of a Texas constable who stopped a car load of drug smugglers. The cruiser cam records the lone officer as he is overwhelmed and murdered by the dopers. Yet through it all the constable was never able to draw his sidearm because his hand was locked on the smuggler’s driver’s license. The last thing the doper scum does after he murders the officer with his own weapon, is to rip his driver’s license from the officer’s still warm hand. That brings us back to Off Hand Access. What if you are a police officer and have to have to execute a PIT maneuver, or as a civilian are involved in a road rage car accident and need to draw your weapon?
Try reaching across to unlock the seat belt with your handgun drawn. Difficult at best isn’t it? Try unfastening it with a sweater, jacket or heavy coat on. Think about having to do this after a crash with your weapon drawn. I have had to do just that. You may have to do as I did and cut the seat belt. You can make it easier to do by placing your folding blade off side so that you can slice your way out of the seat belt while having control of your handgun. There is a lot to consider when planning ahead for good Off Hand Access, and I haven’t even touched on using the blade as a back up weapon. That will have to wait for a separate Tactical Tip.  Remember the fight is not finished just because the shooting has stopped. Proper Off Hand Access to the articles and tactical tools you need will help you win the entire battle. | 
