DEFENSIVE USE OF FIREARMS:
Revised and Updated

Copies purchased directly from the author
come autographed, at no additional charge.

• Defensive Use of Firearms serves more than one purpose. It's a primer for those new to the world of defensive firearms, a purpose it serves admirably. Stephen Wenger condenses his considerable training and education into easily understood and concise blocks. It should be a primary text for CCW instruction.
  
  It's also a refresher for the Old Salts. From his unique description of the basics of gunhandling (including the use of Clive Shepherd's wonderfully useful Safety Circle) to his understanding of the law, he gives the instructors among us another way to explain 'what we know."
  
  Defensive Use of Firearms will share my reference library with Spaulding's Handgun Combatives, Cooper's Principles of Personal Defense, and Ayoob's In The Gravest Extreme as an "essential."

  Sgt. Richard Grassi (retired), Shawnee County [KS] Sheriff's Office; Editor, The Tactical Wire; Author of Police Firearms Instruction: Problems and Practices

• This comprehensive book should be mandatory reading for anyone considering using a firearm for personal protection and anyone who is currently doing so. There's no other book quite like Defensive Use of Firearms and the subtitle of A Common-Sense Guide... adds focus to one area that is all too lacking when it come to firearms use: common sense.
  
  Whether you are a grizzled big city cop or a soccer mom who is contemplating purchasing a firearm for self-defense, you'll want to own Defensive Use of Firearms. This book won't give you the physical skills you need, but it will provide you with a comprehensive blueprint of what you need to know if you own a firearm for self-defense.
  
  Look at it this way: purchase a firearm, ammo and holster - $600; take self-defense shooting lessons - $400; read Defensive Use of Firearms - priceless!

  Ed Nowicki, former Executive Director, International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association; nationally recognized use of force expert

• My good friend Steve Wenger knows what he is talking about. Take the advice he puts forth in this text seriously. You're in good hands!

  John S. Farnam, President, Defense Training International, Inc.

• The first edition of Defensive Use of Firearms has been a welcome contribution to my understanding and knowledge of firearms and their employment. It should not only be read by gun owners, but also by those who don the uniform to protect and serve.
  
  With regard to survival priorities, Steve Wenger separates mental awareness and mental preparedness. The distinction is invaluable. Most folks only think they are prepared - unfortunately, that includes many in uniform. Many are shooters; few are gunfighters.
  
  We all have, at some point, met those who deem themselves experts in the defensive use of firearms - some are good; some are better. Just as leadership is not a position so much as it is an action, expert status is not so much a position as it is a process. Steve continues to go through the "process." He keeps an open mind and evaluates training by asking, "Is this going to do me any good once I get off your range?" He distills the information gathered into common sense practices - and this is the value of Defensive Use of Firearms. Its common sense approach in developing a skill set that can be utilized by all gun owners is what separates this book from most. The second edition, with its expansion of usable skills, is witness of Steve's desire to share gunfighting skills with those who are willing to differentiate between shooting and fighting.

  Officer Richard Nickoloff (retired), formerly Senior Weapons and Tactics Instructor, California Highway Patrol Academy

• As a teaching tool, this book provides answers that other books don't know enough to ask. In a world of shooting schools and publications that are locked into non-evolving "doctrines" based more on "gunfoo" than real world experience, it's refreshing to read a book that clearly explains the need for flexibility in the world of tactics and survival for those of us that carry a gun.
  
  The fact that the author also has a background in martial arts helps prepare the reader for what actually happens in close-quarter confrontations. The author doesn't hesitate to challenge the fossilized techniques of some of the most well known shooting instructors, while showing the reader viable, life-saving alternatives. This book is for serious students and open-minded teaching professionals who are willing to set their egos aside and wear the "student" hat again.
  
  I admire and perhaps even envy the electric odyssey that the author took in gaining the experience and knowledge to write this book. While most people attend several schools and declare their training complete, this author chose to declare his training as a beginning. The odyssey continues with a new edition of his book that expands the use of the handgun at extreme close quarters. Understanding the OODA loop and a person's instinctive reaction to danger, the author has integrated the proper techniques to confront that danger at close range.
  
  Unlike the majority of law enforcement trainers who received their training and experience on departments with few actual officer-involved shootings, I gained much of my experience as part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Training Bureau, which investigated numerous officer involved shootings, in order to modify officer survival training at all levels. I then taught these lessons at the LASD Laser Village Tactics and Survival unit and finished my career as a Sergeant, working the infamous South Central reporting district, where we averaged one officer-involved shooting a month for five consecutive years. Much of what I learned is in this book, and although I have an extensive library of books, tapes, and DVDs on self-defense shootings and confrontations at my disposal, I GIVE a copy of this book to my most serious and dedicated students. What more can I say?

  Sgt. Harold R. Flynt (retired), Los Angeles Sheriff's Department; rangemaster/firearms instructor, private security

• Stephen Wenger's Defensive Use of Firearms is really excellent. The skills chapter I thought especially well done. I think the emphasis on shooting to the pelvic area is great! That is what the SAS and others teach as an immediate disabling shot if possible. They do not advocate it for combat situations, but for defensive ones. I think the book has a better layout than many I have read on this subject. This is an outstanding book for the "choir." For the beginner or neophyte, there may be too many tangents, names, and sources, risking confusion.
  
  Defensive Use of Firearms WILL go on my "must read" shelf, and WILL be required reading in this household of firearm-owning and loving Americans! And, it won't be on the back end of the shelf, either! There are so many examples of what to know and how to use it, that it could easily by used in a classroom, a reading room, or in back of a barricade if you REALLY need the info NOW!

  TSgt Paul Andreasen (retired), USAF Special Operations (ROMAD, CCT), former reserve deputy sheriff

• Defensive Use of Firearms contains some thought-provoking tactics, both new and old, and will be a welcome addition to any gun owner's library. In fact, the book would complement any firearms instructor's curriculum, for his students to read and study, and that is hard for one book to do. It all flows very well and a is very thorough firearms book that will be timeless.

  Sgt. Dean Caputo (retired), formerly head of the Firearms Training Unit, Arcadia [CA] Police Department

• Just finished reading your book. I must say as a former police officer, firearms instructor and a student of self defense, I find your thoughts to be clear and concise, not someone else's thoughts restated. I had to reread almost ever sentence to make sure I didn't miss anything. Your writing reflects your knowledge and your concern for public safety.

  P.F.

• ...With only a few interruptions, some lasting longer than others, I was unable to put the book down until I read it all...As expected, it was a refreshing look at the fundamental issues surrounding the defensive use of firearms with a flare of common sense lacking in most articles, books and other media relating to this subject. I can't wait to get home this evening so I can start absorbing every detail of each chapter.

  D.A.C.

• Defensive Use of Firearms is a must read for anyone who is carrying a firearm for defense, whether a "newbie" or already experienced with firearms. This book presents a common sense approach that other articles, books and instructors simply overlook. There is much invaluable information in this book. This book especially emphasizes the mind set which a person who relies on a firearm for protection needs to continually develop and practice. After reading this book, I felt like I had taken a one on one refresher course with you. [This comment is from a three-time student.]

  P.H.

• Two of the best features of this slim volume are its clarity and its brevity. These two qualities are not to be airily dismissed. Prose that is crisp, precise, and accurate is not easy to come by anywhere, especially in firearms publications... Wenger's prose is like an athlete, lean and spare and stripped of ornament. Furthermore, the very shortness of this book ensures it will be read, rather than nibbled and tossed aside... My only quibble is its brevity. But, you say, I thought that was one of its virtues. Alas, true. Yet I was sorry to see it end.

  W.A.

• I received your book, and enjoyed reading it (finished it this weekend). It is thought-provoking and educational. There is a comment towards the beginning where you question its value to a newbie, and I can say this with some confidence: as a newbie, I found the book to be very helpful. I am encouraged by your book to try some new things, and question some of the things my instructor is teaching.

  B.S.

• I have been reading your book and enjoying it a great deal. I've been reading it slowly and stopping to consider various points in my reading to try and truly absorb it rather than just read it. It's amazing; the book is not very long as far as books go, yet there's so much in it. I got to the point where I had to decide to be a lot more discriminating in what I chose to highlight because I realized that, if I didn't, most of the book's text was going to be yellow. I'm a bit of a writer myself and I have to commend you on being as concise as you are in your writing, without sacrificing any substance. Your book is one of those rare mixtures of economy of words and a wealth of information. Excellent job.

  D.McL.

• I'm the guy who is a librarian that got my library to buy some of your books. I thought that you might be interested in an update on the interest and circulation of them. Originally, the Library District bought two copies... Your book began to circulate after there was a violent rape on a jogging path in an upscale "model" development based around the village concept which is about a mile down the road from the library... Your book began to be checked out, primarily by women, shortly after this. One book disappeared and as circulation was now brisk, I asked the library to buy more. They bought 4 more. At present there are still 5 circulating copies...

  A.M.

• Everything is well organized, informative, and interestingly presented...I like your use of line drawings to depict concepts...I especially liked your chapter on "Tactics." Was exposed to several new (to me) topics and issues. Your expanded explanations regarding "Where To Aim?" are excellent.

  R.B.

• I must say, what I have read so far is quite removed from dogma for dogma's sake, and teaches thinking and situational appraisal right off the bat. You are not repeating "the company line" for anyone. Independent thought, a far too rare commodity.

  D.L.N.

• Defensive Use of Firearms is a clear, concise telling of what every armed American needs to know and understand. There is no fluff or inessential information; Stephen Wenger dispenses with that which isn't part of the kernel of knowledge necessary when responsible people carry a firearm for self-defense. Defensive Use of Firearms provides basic knowledge to the novice while being quite thought provoking to the more experienced, exploring all of the essential elements of what it means to "go armed".

  M.P.

• I found Defensive Use of Firearms to be a needed update on the state of the art in using a firearm for self-defense. It was 21st century, versus Massad Ayoob's In the Gravest Extreme, which shows the practices and prejudices of the more than 30 years ago, when it was written, and before licensed concealed carry became widespread. It is an easy read - Wenger does not use a $50 word when a 50 cent one will do the job. His tips on shooting, use of cover, movement to avoid getting shot, are all valuable.

  D.B.

• The precision of language in this tightly written big little book is greatly appreciated. So, too, is the clarity of definitions and consistency of word use... Wenger's writing style is clear, concise, brief, and wastes no words in describing processes, procedures, or concepts... In many cases I could close my eyes and see a process or concept as though it were in a picture. And, speaking of pictures, the illustrations by Jeff Cahill and Paige Robbins are wondrously simple and clear - great job! Communication ability is a gift from God; Wenger, Cahill and Robbins have it.

  M.B.D. and L.D.

• Among the talents Wenger has, the one that shines through in this book is his ability to sift through many competing and complementary self defense issues and clearly state a synthesis of the best and most workable. Reading Wenger's slim book saves a person the trouble of needing to assimilate a dozen other treatises on self defense.

  G.M.

• ...Although I am an experienced pistol shooter, I found myself quite surprised at how much I was learning from you. The first item of these that comes to mind is how to draw and present in a way that not only protects my control of the gun, but also "automatically" points the weapon in a useful direction and won't foul its slide. The second is how to modify my well-learned Weaver stance, the better to point-shoot. The third is how to correct Jean's hold on her S&W snubbie for better trigger control. The fourth is the concept of shooting for the pelvis, and the many good reasons why. There's more, but you can see from my examples that you have produced a lot of information that is very useful to even a pistolero with wide experience...

  S.H.

• I'm new to using a handgun for self-defense but I'm not new to self-defense techniques. I find the book Defensive Use of Firearms very well written for those who are like me or are new to self-defense altogether. The material is written in common-sense language which makes it easy to understand and therefore easy to put into practice. As a beginner in the use of handguns, I can read the book and go to the range and practice the techniques described in the book without getting confused. I feel that by reading Defensive Use of Firearms and practicing the fundamentals contained in the book, I'll get more out of any defensive firearms course I take in the future.

  G.G.

• The updated material in your revised & updated edition makes a great instructional manual even better. I like your added and expanded comments on the issue of letting a dropped gun just fall, info about other defense-related products, different operational issues with different types of firearms, etc. I appreciate the new section regarding point shooting and its historical perspective.

  R.B.

• It's a first-class training manual that goes far beyond the 'guns-and-loads' stuff that's so common. Defensive lessons that apply to everything from guns to driving to personal awareness of danger. This one's a 'must read.'

  D.W.