For those who truly live the 2A life, dry practice and training in general are just a part of everyday life. We diligently do our dry practice to make sure we can easily and effectively get our gun into action. In fact, many of us perform these drills in a variety of settings to make sure we can perform under stress and in all the environments we live and work in. We perform draws in our bedroom and conduct drills in our cars, dedicated to training ourselves to get to our guns wherever we are. All this training gives us a sense of confidence and comfort with our weapons.
Training to Fight With Secureit Gun Storage
By training like this, you would think that we had all our bases covered. I thought that until Karen Hunter, Business Development Manager at SecureIt Gun Storage, posed a curious question. “Do you practice getting into your gun safe? I stammered a bit and realized I never gave my safe a second thought. After hearing my jaw hit the floor, she shared that she and SecureIt had developed a solution to this massive training gap.
The mantra at SecureIt is Performance Gun Storage and that can be a bit difficult to wrap your head around. That is until you realize that your gun safe is more than just a metal box to hold things. The gun safe comprises a dynamic part of your home defense plan–so treat it as such. Karen is more than simply a member of the corporate team. She is a certified firearms instructor, national magazine contributor, and industry consultant. With this extensive experience, she brings a unique skillset to the firearms storage industry.
Working with Emily Sereno, Head of Brand at SecureIt, the company developed an entire training program designed to fill this enormous training gap–one completely embraced company-wide. “Gun owners have an inherent responsibility to maintain safety and proficiency with our firearms. While most training starts with the gun in hand, the reality is you might not have your gun on you at home and will first need to retrieve it from your gun safe to address the threat. SecureIt created this course to educate gun owners on the importance of training for fast access and how to incorporate your gun safe into your firearms and home defense training program,” said Tom Kubiniec, President and CEO, SecureIt.
The Program
I jumped right into the program and came away overwhelmed with its detail and scope. The curriculum makes you look at your gun safe in a completely new way. Gone will be the days of a single giant safe parked in a back closet or garage. A safe that you open and have to dig through to find what you are looking for. Karen Hunter shared with me, “It is important that we consider everything when we place our safe, as well as set it up. If you put it in a closet, will you need to clear away garments to access it?” She continued to share that everything about your safe needs to be carefully planned out.
Organization inside provides a great example. A safe for defensive firearms should feature organization that enables easy access. This could mean that you place a handgun peg at a certain height, so it is easy to reach. This material also provides an opportunity to get a better understanding of decentralized gun storage. SecureIt has been the industry leader in this arena and is quick to share things to consider when placing your safes around the home.
With everything laid out and ready to roll, SecureIt organized a special event called SURGE 2023 to release the information to a select group of industry contributors. The event was supported by several high-end sponsors such as LMT defense, Trijicon, Detroit Ammunition, Premier Body Armor, Fiocchi ammunition, HOIST hydration, Icey Tech coolers, Axil ear pro, and more. I was honored to get an invitation to the event held at The Site Firearms Training Center in Illinois. The event was much more than a simple press junket though, and the participants got an emersion into the world of training and performance firearms storage.
On the Range
Everything we needed information-wise was at our fingertips. They even had a safe set up in the middle of our common area we could explore during downtime. While I was honored to even be invited to attend, I was humbled by a request to teach a defensive carbine class for the participants. This square range class would allow us to get everyone spun up for the more dynamic portions of the event taking place later in the week. This was a very enjoyable class, and I was able to co-teach it with both Karen Hunter and her brother, Scott Hunter. Together, we covered the fundamentals of defensive carbine and how to fight with a rifle. LMT Defense was kind enough to provide rifles and suppressors for the event, and they ran exceptionally well. Topped off with Trijicon MRO’s we ran through 5,000 rounds of .223 ammunition provided by Detroit Ammunition.
Unlike other media events I have had the fortune of attending, this one intermixed enjoyable and educational side events each day. From a team challenge to see who could assemble an Agile safe fastest, to a race to open a Fast Box, they gave participants an enjoyable look at SecureIt products. There was even a “last man standing” event using water gel guns and a shoot house. The camaraderie was high at the event and an impromptu “run the gauntlet” event took shape. The participants were challenged to move through the shoot house as teams and avoid being “shot” by Karen and Emily stationed on the catwalk above. While there was some measured restraint to begin with, it quickly became a laughing full auto death trap for participants sprinting through the shoot house.
House Fighting
The event continued to evolve, and the participants practiced moving through a simulation house using UTM rounds. This gave everyone a look at the techniques and principles of moving through a structure with a firearm and engaging threats. The training all came together as Site instructor Joe Lidbury ran students through the live-fire shoot house scenarios utilizing SecureIt safes. Students were given a scenario and told to retrieve their rifles from the safe in order to engage a threat in the house. The scenarios ranged from safes set in a living room area, kitchen, and even a Fast Box attached under a bed. The shooters were set up and given the threat scenario. On the “GO” command, they had to get their gun out of the safe and into the fight. Participants got a firsthand look at how important safe location and internal organization are critical considerations.
The benefit of all these exercises was to really bring the need for training to the forefront. Accessing your gun safe cannot be a second thought or brushed off. When glass breaks at 2 AM you will need to have fast access to your defensive firearm. The event was very enlightening and thought-provoking. Karen shared “SURGE 23 was an opportunity to showcase SecureIt’s performance gun storage in action. This type of training has never been done before at this level with any other safe–especially in simulation or live-fire shoot houses. SecureIt’s message isn’t mere hype and SURGE 23 proved that in action. Secure, fast-access safes are a commonsense, reliable solution to the needs of all firearms owners. “
More Training Intel
The curriculum is extensive. It is housed on the SecureItGunStorage.com website and includes videos and supplemental print material as well. Countering a trend in the industry, SecureIt is offering the program free of charge. Karen shared “Even if you don’t own a SecureIt safe, you are welcome to use the information to better prepare yourself.” This really stood out for me and solidified SecureIt as more than just another safe company. They are a dynamic company that is not only providing exceptional and advancing storage options, but they are also dedicated to the end user.
I believe this is especially important for new gun owners and Emily Sereno agreed. “As a new gun owner, there’s a lot of great information on how to choose a firearm, the gear you need, and the training courses you can take, but they’re often centered around the gun itself. What’s not readily available is information on how to train at home when your guns are stored away. That’s why SecureIt’s training course is so exciting since it walks you through all the steps for setting up and training with your gun safe, so you feel even more prepared and confident.” The importance of the work they have done here with this curriculum cannot be overstated. If you are serious about your home defense plan, you must take the time to go into this world-class program.
