Don Myers

Recently I was at the pistol range giving a lesson to a client on how to shoot in a deadly force situation, i.e. how to shoot rapidly and accurately. Someone began shooting in the bay next to us while I was explaining proper trigger control. Right away I could tell that the person who was shooting knew how to shoot well even though a concrete wall separated us. The shots were coming in series of six with a rapid cadence that is the mark of a very good IDPA or USPSA competitor. I mentioned to my client that the person on the other side of the wall was using the kind of trigger control that I was trying to teach him and that I was sure that the person was shooting accurately too since that kind of control usually yields good results.

Later we backed up to give a short lesson on shooting at a distance of fifteen yards. This new position allowed us to see that the person making the wonderful noise next to us was a strawberry-blonde shooting alone. Now, I've seen a lot of surprising things (I've been to California twice), but I have never seen a pretty lady shooting by herself at that range. And she was not just shooting, but shooting well. Her shooting gear, her grip and her trigger control was evidence that she must be an accomplished USPSA competitor.

I mentioned again to my male client that she was doing what I was trying to teach him. I eventually asked the friendly lady if I could have my client watch her as she shot to explain to him finer points of her accomplished shooting. In doing so, I met a very interesting shooter named Carina Burns Randolph with whom I talked for a few minutes when we were done shooting.

It quickly became apparent that her story would be interesting to CCM readers, but I was not sure that she would qualify for the Profile section as an every-day person who carries a pistol for protection since she was the women's champion at the 2004 USPSA nationals and possessed several titles in regional matches. However, she told me that she had grown up in the anti-gun culture of California, and until 14 years ago, had known nothing about guns except that they were "dangerous and bad."

When Carina was about eleven years old her family moved from northern California to the San Diego area where she saw the television movie, Annie Get Your Gun. She begged her parents for a rifle, but their reaction was as if she had asked if it would be okay to rob a bank with a gun, i.e. the answer was a firm, "No!" After that one abortive attempt to participate in the shooting sports, the disappointed young lady didn't have any contact with guns until after she was married.

Carina said that her husband had a single-stack government model .45 and told her that if it was going to be in the house, she should learn how to use it. As a result of her husband's fortuitous suggestion, Carina took an extension class from the San Diego Community College in gun safety and marksmanship held at the San Diego police range. Yeah, I know, it's difficult to imagine that a California school would have anything to do with guns, but the people in the San Diego area have not completely lost their minds about protecting themselves with firearms as they have in L.A. and northern California.

As a result of taking that safety course, Carina fell in love with shooting, especially with the "honesty of the shot." She explained that "the whole process of aiming and having the shot break at exactly the right time can't be conscious thought because by the time you think about pulling the trigger, the opportunity of a good shot has already passed. I just fell in love with the whole process, especially since I was getting good results."

Her mentor at the police range was a Grand Master in Police Practical Course action pistol and was friends with several big name shooters and instructors. Because of these contacts, Carina received some of the best training in the world. So good, in fact, that within one year of taking that first gun class, she became an assistant instructor at the police range helping teach law enforcement and civilians basic and advanced pistol work. She said "I was a range rat, spending five, sometimes six, days a week shooting matches or practicing." In that same year, her mentor became her coach, forming an all women action pistol team; the first in the nation. Glock was kind enough to help with match fees, parts, and ammunition on occasion. Later Carina was asked to join the gold team at S.T.I., an elite competition pistol manufacturer here in Texas.

When Carina decided to shoot in her first USPSA match she did not have the proper equipment, most notably, no magazine pouches. In this kind of competition there are a great number of magazine changes, usually while running from one shooting position to another with the clock running. Since the new shooter did not have magazine pouches, she tucked three loaded magazines in her hip pocket. As she began running, she felt one of the magazines drop into her pants through a hole in the pocket. She ran to the next shooting point while reloading and felt the magazine slip lower. This process continued until she realized at the final shooting point she would need that last magazine that was now in the lower part of her pants. She ran to the last position, stomping her foot as she went in Quasimodo fashion and, to the dismay of the safety officer, pulled the last magazine out of her sock, reloaded and completed the stage. "I thought the R.O. (range officer) was going to have kittens," Carina laughingly told me. "He said, 'I didn't know if you were going for a back-up gun or what the heck you were doing.'"

"In spite of that experience I still carry a spare magazine in my pocket when I'm carrying my concealed handgun although now I'm certain to check for holes," she laughed. "Of course, I have all the proper equipment to use in competition."

Carina realized the importance of carrying a handgun while she was going through a very bad divorce from the same husband who had introduced her to guns. Although she did not have a carry license, her carrying protected her from potential violence on more than one occasion from her ex-husband. The difficulty with her ex and the difficulty of legally carrying a handgun in California were two reasons why she moved to Texas, which is a "shall issue" concealed handgun license state.

I was glad to get to sit down with Carina and ask her some specific questions:

CCM INTERVIEW

CCM: Was there a specific incident that caused you to carry a gun?

Carina: No, I wouldn't say that there was a specific incident, but since I have been carrying there have been several incidents that made me glad that I was armed.

CCM: Then I need to ask you if you have ever had to use your firearm in a defensive situation?

Carina: Yeah, I had a '81 Toyota 4X4 that had a carburetor problem that randomly caused the engine to flood and slowly wind down. I had to pull off the freeway into a gas station in southeast San Diego. I knew that I was in trouble because when I went up to the woman in the booth who showed me the tow companies' phone numbers through the window, I could not help but notice that she was behind bullet proof glass with visible cracks.

The first call that I made from the pay phone at the gas station was for a tow truck and the second one was to my friend to whom I said, "Bring magazines and your gun and sit with me while I wait for a tow." I had just come from the police range, so I had my pistol with me in my truck. Unfortunately, I did not have a concealed handgun license at the time, so I was illegally carrying when I left the pickup. But, if I hadn't carried it with me, they would have been finding bits of me out in Jamul--which is out in the sticks.

Across the street at a little convenience store was a group of enterprising youths hanging around the pay phones. There may as well have been a sign that said "Crack" above the phone booth as it was pretty obvious what they were doing.

One of the guys across the street started walking toward me asking if I needed help. He was followed by two of his buddies who spread out to partially surround my truck like a pack of hyenas stalking an antelope. One of them snidely said, "Pop your hood; we'll fix you up."

I began opening the pickup's door as I replied, "I have a tow coming and I have friends coming. I'm okay. No really, I'm fine; leave me alone." I had my gun in my hands at a low ready behind the door out of their sight. I'm thinking that I'll keep warning them, but if I see a weapon or if they get too close, I'm going to have to do something.

So, the closest guy came toward me saying, "Don't be like that. We're just trying to help you out." His words were one thing, his meaning was something else.

I said, "You're scaring me; leave me alone. I'm fine." I pushed the door open a little more and tapped it several times with the pistol. And I repeated that, "I'm fine."

The tapping of my gun got an immediate reaction. "Shit, serious bitch! White girl gotta' gat! It's cool! It's cool." And they just walked right back across the street just as if someone pointed a gun at them every day.

CCM: Were there any other incidents?

Carina: Well, I generally keep myself out of bad situations by paying attention to what's going on around me. I had a few incidents with my ex-husband, but I really don't want to go into detail about that. I'll just say that the gun probably prevented something terrible from happening when he showed up one time unannounced and drunk.

CCM: What training methods do you employ? Do you have any recommendations?

Carina: I have so many drills that I use. I have competition drills. I have carry drills. But, I figure it all comes down to sight alignment and trigger pull. Anything else is just a distraction. That's my philosophy.

I've gone to a lot of schools such as Thunder Ranch, Gunsite, and Insights Training Center. I have trained with some of the best instructors in the country. Obviously, the more training you do, the better. It's not just training, but training properly. Your goal should not just be proficiency; it should be efficiency.

I believe in shooting competitions because it is about the only place that you can get some of the pressures present when having to defend yourself. Yes, the targets aren't shooting back at you, but being on the clock will give that huge adrenaline rush that needs to be controlled the same as it would need to be in a defensive situation. It also gives you practice at shooting on-the-move. Being able to shoot and hit while moving is an important skill. Also, at some time you are likely to have a malfunction, so competition teaches you how to clear it and stay in the fight.

The reason that I know competition training can be useful is because of a personal experience I had with a lady cop who went through the advanced officers training class I was involved with. We completed shoot and move scenarios in the class making the officers compete with each other in both accuracy and speed. She and her partner were bicycle cops in downtown San Diego when they got a call that a man was walking around with a gun.

As they came up on the guy--he had a big ol' government model .45--she actually came upon the suspect before her partner. She un-holstered her gun and in spite of her training, put a hole in her bicycle tire and her water bottle, but with the next five rounds she tagged the guy.

Her partner was at a different angle and about ten yards away from the guy. The partner pulled out his gun and fired his entire magazine without hitting the bad guy. Unfortunately, he killed an innocent bystander down the street at an outdoor café. There were so many things he could have done differently to change the outcome, but in the stress of the moment, he was unable to. There is no doubt, in my mind, that the lady officer's advance training, having to perform under pressure on the clock, helped her avoid doing what her partner did.

CCM: How long have you carried a concealed weapon?

Carina: As soon as I got to Texas and they would let me sign up! There was a six month residency requirement that they had back then. I think it was the end of December of 1995. It is difficult to get a carry license in California in many counties. That's one of the reasons that I moved to Texas. Now there is no residency requirement or waiting period in Texas. It's a gun friendly state and I'm a gun friendly girl.

CCM: What kind of weapons do you carry?

Carina: I carry either a Glock 21 (.45 cal.) or Glock 35 (.40 cal.)

CCM: What type of ammunition do you carry?

Carina: I carry Federal Hydra--Shoks.

CCM: What concealment holsters do you use?

Carina: An old, trusty Bianchi Pinch and Ky-Tac drop offset on occasion.

CCM: What do you do for a living?

Carina: I'm a database administrator for a school district.

CCM: Do you have any advice for our readers?

Carina: Train, train, train and then train some more. You need to practice to the point where sight alignment and trigger pull happen on auto-pilot so that you deliver accurate shots on demand. And, train perfectly, not sloppily. Perfect practice makes perfect response. Take lessons from a qualified instructor. The instructor may see something that you are doing of which you were not aware. If you don't know what you are doing wrong, you can't train to correct the problem. And above all else, pay attention to your surroundings and that little voice that is telling you something is odd because it's likely to be right.

CCM: After the interview Carina and I did a little shooting. Yeah, I was beaten by a girl. I cried. But, I cried in a manly way.