Tactical shooting, sometimes known as action pistol or practical shooting, is a firearms discipline that involves shooting at targets in simulated self-defense or combat scenarios. The United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) is the largest tactical shooting organization in the United States with over 37,000 active members. At USPSA competitions, members “engage in dynamic and challenging courses of fire, where speed, accuracy, and power are equally tested” (USPSA). The International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA), based in Bogata, Texas, is an organization that emphasizes the skills associated with self-defense and concealed carry scenarios. IDPA boasts a membership of over 25,000, representing all 50 states and over 70 nations.
Both of these organizations function as the governing bodies of countless firearms competitions and training classes that occur weekly in the United States and, in the case of IDPA, around the world. There is a wide array of organized shooting sports (skeet, trap, long-range rifle, cowboy quick-draw, Steel Challenge, to name just a few) and associated organizations which cater to those activities, but it is the tactical shooting sports that have exploded in popularity in the United States over the past ten to fifteen years. The current craze in the tactical shooting world is “3-gun,” which requires competitors to use a modern sporting rifle (a rifle built on an AR platform), a handgun, and a tactical shotgun, and where the target distances might vary between one and 500 yards: “Just as it is with the practical pistol matches, 3-gun simulates combat or self-defense situations” (NSSF).
One might reasonably ask why, with all the various shooting sports available, it is the tactical shooting sports that have grown exponentially in recent years. The answer is simple: There is a growing recognition in the United States that average citizens may, in the not-too-distant future, have to defend themselves against ungovernable crime — or tyranny. These are the two primary reasons that over a million guns per month are sold in the U.S.
Most of us grow up believing that the only place to access expert firearms training is in the military or law enforcement, but that is not the case. In fact, many shooters from those backgrounds use USPSA and IDPA training and competitions to enhance the sometimes-perfunctory training they receive in their professional capacity. While it is true that many members of USPSA and IDPA are active/retired military or law enforcement, they are in the minority. The overwhelming majority of shooters come from civilian backgrounds, representing every conceivable profession and demographic. Most competitors are male, to be sure, but there is a large and growing cadre of female shooters, many of them spectacularly talented and accomplished. The point is this: There are currently tens of thousands of highly-skilled, civilian tactical shooters in the United States. Some of those skilled civilians include Hollywood actors such as Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Garner, Micheal B. Jordan, Colin Farrell, Chris Hemsworth and many others who have trained with 3-Gun guru Taran Butler, founder of Taran Tactical Innovations and frequent guest on History Channel’s Top Shot. There is even a small but growing subset of tactical shooters who are also dedicated to extreme fitness (CrossFit, powerlifting, Krav Maga, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, distance running, etc.) — a kind of civilian special forces, if you will.
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