I have not read all the answers on this post so I'm sure mine have been mentioned, but here they are anyway:wacolivin wrote:As I anticipate receiving my license at the end of this week, I would really like to hear some advice from the experienced CHL folks. What would you tell your child/spouse if they received their license and asked for advice? If you had to tell them 3 things, what would they be? Thanks!
1. Know the law, read as much as you can and make sure you know what you can and cannot do. By far I think this is the most important thing and using your firearm in self defense could easily change your life in many ways.
2. Plan your actions ahead of time. Go through scenarios and decide ahead of time what you will do. You will never prepare totally for every situation, but you can have a good idea of what you plan on doing. Use news stories to ask your self what you would do, learn from the mistakes of others. Once you are in the middle of a situation it is no time to start thinking about what you can do. An example, I have decided that I will almost never use my firearm for loss of property. To me it is not worth the legal trouble and possible financial cost. May would disagree but that is why you need to decide what YOU will do.
3. Practice with your carry gun. Use your self defense ammo and practice drawing, shooting, reloading, malfunction drills etc. When you get into a stressful environment you will go back to what you trained on and ingrained into your head while training.