TEaching the blind too shoot.

[TAB]

Anyone have any great ideas?   I am strickly at the brain storming stage of this.   there are several levels of blindness.  In this case it will be a group that is on the far end of blindness scale.  This will be for more a sd aspects of shooting, not targets.( they already have sonic sights and targets for that)   The way I see it, there are 3 basic parts to this.       1 safety   2  operational 3 use in sd.    safety is going to be fairly easy, but with some twists.  As they are strickly using thier hands.  So guns with posative slide locks,  swing out,cylinders, tilting barrels... Etc, would be a good thing.   so would "safetys" .   the safe direction is not much of a issue as most know which way they are facing.    Operational, is going to be a challenge.  As they will have to know where the gun is pointed at, not being able to see the target.  Sonic sights would be good for training pointing, but clearly not for sd.    SD shooting will by far be the hardest. 

[tombogan03884]

Keeping the trigger finger along the side of the pistol until ready to fire while safe will also aid with the "where is it pointing issue, since it is pointing were ever the index finger is pointing.

[Solus]

If they are that severely blind, I'd think target identification would be the hardest, if not impossible, obstacle?

I had learned that if a target is at arms reach....as in has both his hands on you and you are facing him, putting the butt of your gun on your hip will align with the low center of a target directly in front of you.

They need a Sleeve Gun. ... One that 'pops' into their hand.

You are a crafty guy, see about making one from a drawer slide.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/ACCURIDE-Drawer-Slide-4KRW1?gclid=CIPVxp7u7bMCFegWMgodxwIAaA&cm_mmc=PPC:GooglePLA-_-Hardware-_-Supplies-_-4KRW1&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=4KRW1&ef_id=UKUotwAAX2DnzHaB:20121127001122:s

some straps, springs, holster and release mechanism and you might have a good weapon presentation for close range SD.

[TAB]

I am sure that if it came to firing the weapon, it would be contact distance.  That is more of an issue with gun selection.  Some guns a small amount of presure on the muzzle will take it out of battery.  You still can't just give a gun to some one and say, stick it in thier belly and pull the trigger.  All kinds of bad things could happen.  Clearly weapon retention is going to be very important.  So is malfunction fixing as contact with autos ( and even wheel guns) can cuase them not to go bang or just once.

[PegLeg45]

I used to work with a guy and have known him for years who about 15 years ago began to go blind. He is legally blind.....totally in one eye, but not totally in the other, he can only make out minimum shapes, if the shape is back-lit......like a human with the sun, or really bright light, at their back.

He has always (even before he lost his vision) carried a Taurus Model 85 that I bobbed the hammer on. He still carries it, now with Glaser Safety Slugs, in his front pocket. His take is that he would only shoot if at contact distance.....as in if the attacker had their hands on him and he knew he could hit them. He figures the Glasers would minimize the potential for collateral damage.

[Sponsor]

[Solus]

Was thinking about this last night and I remembered a story I heard about a round of golf challenge between a blind golfer and a sighted one....

The sighted guy was confident he would win easily so he let the blind fellow pick the time and place for the match...so the blind guy picked the local gold course at 2:00 AM on a moonless night.

Not sure what might work here, but anything that can be done to hinder the bad guys sight, be it day or night, will go a long way in equalizing the fight.

For your training, you might find a weapon with a laser useful.  It can be use unloaded but still show where the shot placement would be.  Should help give the blind folks a feel for when the weapon is 'indexed' properly.

[tombogan03884]

If he can't see the muzzle, or the bad guy how will he know if the laser is on target ?
Assuming he can see the red dot .

[Solus]

If he can't see the muzzle, or the bad guy how will he know if the laser is on target ?
Assuming he can see the red dot .

Hardly.  The trainer can see when it is aligned and tell him he got it right or which way to adjust.

Much safer than firing a shot into some type of target.


Again, I was thinking of the butt of the gun against the hip ...keeps the mechanism clear, pretty good retention position and if held correctly will index low on a close target.

[tombogan03884]

I think it's great that TAB helps the disabled, and I would be the last one to suggest infringing anyone's right to arms, but it seems like an awful high risk factor for accidents at some point in the future.
Then the Ca lawyer asks, "Well, what idiot suggested you get a gun for self defense ?"

[jnevis]

ANY lawyer worth his/her Bar card would question giving a blind person a pistol of any sort for self defense.  Could it be defended, maybe.  Would it be a case against just the person who actually pulled the trigger, hardly.

"Can you identify the person who attacked you?  Are they in the courtroom?"
"Could you identify what was behind the person that attacked you when you shot them?"
"Did you fear for your life and why?"
"Did you take any classes to learn how to defend yourself with a gun?  By whom?  Are they certified to teach blind people?  By whom?"