As the history of gunfighting has continually shown that the person who gets the first solid hit will normally prevail, I viewed this with great concern. Efforts at getting officers to keep the gun at a 45-degree angle lasted only as long as their strength and concentration would hold out, which was not very long. I would be told over and over, "Why worry? When the time comes I will have it up," but from my personal experience, I knew better.

Col. Cooper understood this problem and actually took steps to correct it, but this seems to have been missed by many officers and instructors. In his excellent book The Modern Technique of the Pistol, Dr. Gregory B. Morrison wrote: "The Guard is ideally suited for working with the Weaver Stance. To get acquainted with it, point in on a target and simply depress the arms--and thus the pistol--by pivoting them down at the shoulders. The arms remain locked in their normal firing position, the finger locked straight, and the safety on (or decocker off). The eyes remain on target.

"One lowers the gun mount until the back of the upper support-arm contacts the rib cage. This bone to bone support avoids much of the fatigue from carrying a pistol around at arm's length for extended periods."

While one would believe that this would solve the problem, it didn't. What happened was officers got tired of keeping the elbow against their torsos and would just collapse the entire package until the gun was actually sitting on their stomachs.

What we needed was a way to keep the gun in a true ready position, one that would not not tire officers out and would still be safe for working around other officers. This led me to start using what I call the Third Eye.

Over the years, the name Third Eye has been associated with positions such as Chest Ready or Air Marshal Ready, but they are not really the same. The reason I call it Third Eye is because once the position is obtained, it allows the gun's muzzle to rotate along with the torso and follow where the eyes look. I could have called it the Bent Arm Ready or Rested Ready but Third Eye was more visually descriptive--something I think is important when teaching anyone a physical skill.

The position I am talking about is actually quite similar to what Dr. Morrison describes but with the shooting arm also bent. To understand what I'm talking about, pick up an empty handgun (double check that!) and assume the classic Weaver stance with the support arm bent downward. Lower the gun until the support upper arm is resting against the torso.

Do you note a bit of tension in the shooting arm? In an effort to relax this, bend the arm until this elbow is resting against your torso. Does this alleviate the weight of the handgun but not relocate the pistol dramatically from where it was in the Guard position? You are now in what I call Third Eye.

It is not the same as Chest or Air Marshal Ready in that the gun is not pointed at the target, as many detractors claim. The gun's muzzle is slightly depressed and is similar to the Guard/Low Ready position. Don't believe me? Get an empty gun with a laser sight attached and see for yourself.

When in this position, the shooter can move safely around other people by merely keeping the muzzle depressed and moving the elbows in and out around the torso while keeping both hands on the gun in a shooting grip. Safety circles or close-chest positions are not necessary unless there is near body contact such as an entry team "stack" where one person is right up against another.