A Harsh Reminder: Mindset Matters More Than Marksmanship

A good concealed carry course should shock you a little bit. Many students go into a class thinking they’re getting training that could possibly make them a hero, and as TTAG and the NRA-ILA regularly point out, this does actually happen. But, we also have to face the ugly reality that things can also go horribly wrong.

You can do everything right, but end up spending years in prison…like Harold Fish. As one off-duty California police sergeant learned the hard way, innocent people can die in an avoidable gunfight. Or, confused police can mistake you for the bad guy and kill you.

At the end of a good training course, you should come away with a balanced attitude and mindset. You should have the determination not only to survive, but to prevail over evil. You should at least walk away with a foundation of fundamental shooting and defensive skills that you can build upon at the range and with more training.

But you also need to know when to fight and when to deescalate a situation, or maybe even retreat and head for the nearest exit with your loved ones.

Even the best training by the best instructors is only good to the student as far as they actually learn from it. Paying minimal attention, passing a written test, and then promptly forgetting what you’ve temporarily learned gains you nothing but a piece of paper you can use to apply for a permit.

The responsibility for doing the right thing still rests firmly on your shoulders, regardless of whether you live in a state that requires training for a permit or one with constitutional carry.

A recent tragedy in Florida shows us that carrying a gun without good training and a balanced mindset can cost you your life.

Before I go further, I want to point out that this shooting is still under investigation and more facts could emerge. What the ghostly voice on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland says is also true: “Dead men tell no tales.”

The story I’m going to share is based on current reporting. The point is to review a situation we can learn from and not to defame anybody or play politics.

Not the First Time

We don’t know what John Kuczwanski’s training background was. To get his piece of Florida plastic, he might have showed proof of a basic NRA course, hunter’s education, or proof of military service (none of these necessarily mean you know much beyond which end the bullets come out from). But, for all we know, he could have had extensive training from the best shooting schools available.

What we do know is that in 2014 Kuczwanski made a very bad call that would cause any instructor worth their salt to plant palm on forehead. In the course of some sort of altercation, he pulled out a pistol with a laser sight and took aim at another driver.

Doing this can be justified in some circumstances, but if that’s the case, your best bet is to contact the police immediately and report the other person’s threatening behavior so that you aren’t reported first by the other party and seen as an aggressor.

Kuczwanski didn’t do any of that, and when police were called, they tracked him down. They found him sitting in his car in his driveway with a gun matching the description the other driver gave.

With something as specific as a laser sight, the other driver’s story holds a lot of credibility. This arrest led to a conviction for which he served several years of probation. Kuczwanski was an otherwise law-abiding citizen, and well-respected in the community, so the court didn’t slap him with a felony or prison time. He couldn’t possess a firearm legally while on probation, but that ended in 2018 and things went back to normal for him.

From the current reporting, Kuczwanski apparently learned nothing from the 2014 incident.

At the same intersection where he drew the gun in 2014, Kuczwanski reportedly caused a relatively minor traffic accident. Kuczwanski and the driver of a Prius that he struck drove to a nearby parking lot, probably to exchange information and dial 911.

The other driver reportedly verbally accosted the Kuczwanski for causing the accident and then sat in his car to wait for police to arrive. Sources familiar with the investigation told Florida Politics that Kuczwanski was so enraged at being screamed at over the accident that he . . .

…rammed his BMW into the Prius on the driver’s door, and began pushing the car sideways in the parking lot. Then, he reportedly pulled out a pistol and began shooting rounds into the Prius.

At that point, the Prius driver pulled out his own gun and shot through the BMW’s windshield, killing Kuczwanski and stopping the attack.

A shooting has occurred at the Circle K on Bannerman and Thomasville Road in Northeast Tallahassee. Waiting on the press release for the official information. pic.twitter.com/fhIqxtM53x

— 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐠 𝐓𝐢𝐬𝐡 📻WVFT Real Talk 93.3 (@Greg_Tish) January 6, 2022

Police examined the evidence and later released the Prius driver without charges, likely because it appeared to support the Prius driver’s claim of self-defense.

What We Can Learn Here

Assuming everything that’s been reported is correct, and Kuczwanski wasn’t assassinated (as his wife has claimed), it looks like a situation that a few deep breaths and maybe a quick prayer could have prevented. We all get angry sometimes, and no one likes getting their ass chewed, but responding with deadly force to some foul language and a finger-wagging isn’t a good idea.

If you have a history of losing it with people like the driver of the Prius some kind of help is probably warranted. Therapy, talking with clergy at your church, or taking up meditation are all good ways to get more control over your impulses and be a better person.

A good instructor will also tell you about things like resting heart rate, verbal Judo, deescalation techniques, and other tactics that are useful in situations such as these. Talking about religion, prayer, and/or Buddhist-style meditation might not be popular with some, but they’re all proven ways of keeping your resting heart rate low and improving your mental well-being.

On the other side, it’s not a great idea to chew out a stranger over an honest mistake on the road. You never know how that someone might react. They could lose it — as Kuczwanski apparently did — and get violent. Then things can spiral from there, as they seem to have in this case.

Once again, taking the high road and forgiving people (another thing you can pick up at any house of worship) is not only good, but could keep you out of trouble and even save lives.