defensive firearms Archives | Personal Defense Network

Pistol Caliber Carbines: the Rodney Dangerfield of defensive firearms

April 25, 2017 By Grant Cunningham & filed under Blog, Long Guns, Self Defense Firearms.

“I don’t get no respect, no respect at all!” — Rodney Dangerfield If there ever was a gun which “experts” delighted in ridiculing, it’s the pistol caliber carbine or PCC. “No use for them”; “inferior to a rifle”; “why bother?”; these are some of the predictable comments made by… Read More

Future of Defensive Red Dot Sights, Part 2: Testing and Evaluation

August 2, 2012 By Grant Cunningham & filed under All Articles, Defensive Issues.

Testing began when I received the Bowie Tactical mounted Trijicon RMR on my M&P. I highly suggest using someone with a depth of knowledge about this subject if you plan to get a gun modified for a red dot sight. I stated the premise of… Read More

Framework for Firearms Owners

June 20, 2012 By Grant Cunningham & filed under All Articles, Defensive Training Concepts.

Acquiring, Owning, and Training with a Defensive Firearm Proper instruction for defensive shooting is critical to your training regimen. A framework is a structural plan for a project. I find that, when training new defensive shooters, common questions are “What type of firearm should… Read More

Home Defense Shotguns Part II: Training

June 6, 2012 By Grant Cunningham & filed under All Articles, Long Guns, Self Defense Firearms.

As a trainer, I have conducted a good number of home-defense shotgun courses over the years. Having seen a lot of people of all descriptions and walks of life running their household scatterguns, I couldn’t help but notice a few things, and those are the basis of this article. In… Read More

Weapon Strikes: Uses and Application in a Fight

May 2, 2012 By Grant Cunningham & filed under All Articles, Defensive Issues, Unarmed Defense.

During a recent episode of The Best Defense TV show, my co-host and I demonstrated the use of a weapon strike against an opponent. I thought viewers might wonder why we would promote such a non-standard technique when simply shooting the person (if warranted) was possible. Read More

Top Shot: Lessons From Hollywood

April 5, 2012 By Grant Cunningham & filed under All Articles, Defensive Training Concepts.

Author's official Top Shot photo. Image Source: History Channel I have accomplished many things that I’m proud of, including being a Marine, becoming a firearms instructor, starting my own training company, and becoming a director of training. Some time ago, I decided to apply for… Read More

Test Drive: A Defensive Shooter Visits the Rental Gun Counter

April 2, 2012 By Grant Cunningham & filed under All Articles, Defensive Training Concepts.

Top: Beretta Nano; Left: Kahr PM9; Right: SIG Sauer P-290 I’m a very lucky guy: I love what I do for a living and I’m grateful that I get to do it at Black Wing Shooting Center in Delaware, Ohio. From a defensive-minded shooter’s perspective,… Read More

The Defensive Shotgun Part I: Accessories

March 24, 2012 By Grant Cunningham & filed under All Articles, Long Guns, Self Defense Firearms.

Consider the shotgun: traditional provider of meat for the pot, defender of hearth and home, and long regarded as the ultimate in anti-bad-guy ordnance. Having conducted a fair number of shotgun home-defense courses over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of different people, with a lot… Read More

Future of Defensive Red Dot Sights, Part 1: Research and Set Up

March 21, 2012 By Grant Cunningham & filed under All Articles, Defensive Issues.

Bowie Tactical Glock with red dot sight. While I don’t recommend building a defensive gun without backup iron sights, I do think the sights are now getting durable enough to consider it. I’ll make a bold statement: I think the future of sighting systems for… Read More

Fighting with a Home Defense Shotgun

December 16, 2011 By Grant Cunningham & filed under All Articles, Long Guns, Self Defense Firearms.

Shotguns are incredibly versatile weapons that can be used very successfully as self-defense tools. I am often asked about using a shotgun for home defense, probably due to the fact that the majority of the population owns one for hunting purposes. This article… Read More