Historical Handgun

Historical Handgun, Tom Givens and Karl Rehn

These two trainers have made a life study of the evolution of defensive handgun training from 1920 to 2020. Over this 100 year period, modern defensive firearms training was born and matured into the effective techniques we all have access to today.

Tom Givens will provide a detailed, heavily photo illustrated lecture on the history and development of firearms training over the last century. This session details the contributions of 40 individuals and several events that shaped the changes in training, techniques, and equipment in the defensive training world. Especially if you are a trainer, you need to know the genesis of current teaching and give credit to those who put in the sweat and blood that earned this knowledge for the rest of us.

After lunch, Karl Rehn will put the class through a series of live-fire qualification courses that have seen wide use throughout the 20th century, from 1920 to 2000. See how your skills match up against those of the New York State Police in 1920, the FBI in 1947, or the Border Patrol in the 1930’s, plus several others. There will be firing with both semiautomatic pistols and revolvers, for those who wish to be period authentic.