How good do you have to be with a handgun, and what type should it be to defend yourself? Tough questions. Not everyone lives in Mayberry RFD or in an urban ghetto. Not everyone has the time or money, despite their interest, to practice regularly, let alone attend "gun school." The problem with self-defense is that we don't get to determine the nature of the threat, or the level of it; the bad guys do. Sure, I've read, as most of you probably have, of the many cases where the mere display of a firearm has been used effectively for self-defense without ever having to fire a shot (at least according to various and sundry reputable sources, that is). But, of course, this is of small comfort to someone who becomes an exception.

Private and convenient practice is often an option if a non-lethal arm is used. This is a shooting position that is seldom acceptable on live-fire ranges.

Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife, played by Don Knotts on "The Andy Griffith Show" in the 1960s, might have just had it right, what with carrying an empty revolver with but one round for it in his shirt pocket. On the other hand, for those living, working or traveling in high-crime areas (fill in your locale of choice here) the more and bigger guns the better.

Regardless of circumstance, we can't begin to train without a base line, one from which we can then either stop or move on, gaining more skill. So let's get the tool to be used--the handgun--out of the way first. The handgun, regardless of action type--semiauto or revolver--must be as reliable as is mechanically possible and hold at least five rounds.

Semiautos have been the overwhelming gun of choice for the last 25 years or so, but the viewed-as-obsolete revolver continues to have much to offer. Not everyone--far from it, as a matter of fact--is into guns. A revolver is the perfect fit for the Dave Spaulding axiom "Simple is Good." The less you have to remember to do to get the gun into action, the better off you are in real-world applications.

Along with choosing the type of handgun goes choice of caliber. While bigger and more powerful should be the better choice, the reality is that any centerfire cartridge will do as long as one recognizes that as the caliber decreases, so does its thump at the receiving end of things. A .22 rimfire round is not acceptable, given any choice in the matter because this round simply does not have the level of reliability in handguns that is possessed by centerfire cartridges.

Once you get past choosing the gun and the cartridge, you must next learn to operate it reflexively, without conscious thought. Finally, you need to develop the skill to be able to place one or two hits where you want them to go out to a maximum distance of 10 feet.

The qualifier to this is that you should be able to do so using either hand and while in every conceivable body position, under any lighting conditions and regardless of the weather. It would also be very beneficial if you could learn to fire the gun with any finger and with any grip, good or bad. You may not be in any condition, due to the nature and intensity of the situation, to do any more than grab it and fire.