From: Dr. Ignatius Piazza Founder and Director Front Sight Resorts

In training thousands upon thousands of students over the last ten years, we have created or heard hundreds of interesting quotes, catchy phrases and sage thoughts.
I would like to share some of the better examples with you, and for some fun, also share some of the questions that made me go “Huh?”

In the category of gun fighting:

It‘s better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun and not have it.
Never bring a knife to a gunfight!

Any gun will do — If YOU will do!

YOU are the weapon, your firearm is just a tool!

The best gunfight is the one you AVOID.

You don’t win anything in a gunfight, you just get to keep what you have.

The only thing worse than being in a gunfight is losing one!

If you have to think if you should shoot, you probably should not shoot.

Only hits count. You can’t miss fast enough to catch up in a gunfight.

All you really need is one gun. If you are good with it, you will acquire more… with each opponent you vanquish.

No gunfight was ever won with a speed re-holster. Bring it out fast and put it away slow.

Plan A is two shots to the thoracic cavity. Plan B is one shot to the cranio-ocular cavity. Make Plan B count. There is no Plan C.

Headshots separate the gun fighters from the gun owners!

The loudest sound in the world is a “click” when you need a “bang.”

In the category of tactics:
Tactics are an art, not a science. However, there are some principles you should apply… (More on this when you attend a course…)

All tactics do are put you in a position where your opponent must react to you. It gives you the brief opportunity to fire first. If you miss, the playing field is now level. He who hits first and most wins!

All the high speed, low drag, SWAT Dog tactics in the world don’t mean a thing if you can’t hit with your first shot.

Never move faster than you can deliver a first round hit with a long gun or two hits with a side arm.

Always maintain your shooting platform, otherwise you are just an observer!

If you hear breaking glass in the middle of the night, hunker down in a position of cover with your weapon in hand and wait for them to come to you. If you hear your daughter scream in the middle of the night, there is no waiting. That is why we teach you how to move tactically.

The proper order for room clearing is corners, open areas, behind objects, and finally in closets.
Distance is your friend.

You are trained, your opponent is not.

Stay out of "the fatal funnel" (doorways)!

In the category of Dry Practice:
Only perfect practice makes perfect.

You can practice crap for 20 years and all you will ever be is a Crap Master.

Definition of a poor tactical reload: Craptical Reload.

Shooting doesn’t make you good. Dry practice makes you good. Shooting is merely a validation of your dry practice.

When it comes to your life, how good is good enough? We are never good enough!

We don’t want to make you good. We want to make you perfect!

The second loudest sound in the world is a “bang” when you were expecting a “click.”

In the category of questions that made me go “Huh?”
Note: At Front Sight, there is no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid people who don’t ask questions when they should. So please ask away. Here are a few questions that prove we will pleasantly answer anything.

Question: Since the earth is spinning, should I lead the target on a long distance shot?
Answer: Only if you are shooting for the moon! Otherwise, put your sights on the center of mass, focus on the front sight and press the trigger straight to the rear without disrupting the sight alignment.

Question: What do I do if I press the trigger and the gun does not fire?
Answer: If the slide is closed, that is a Type 1 Malfunction. Fix it with Tap, Rack, Flip.

Question: What if my magazine is empty?
Answer: Then you have an empty weapon so perform an emergency reload with a full magazine.

Question: What if I don’t have a magazine with ammunition in it?
Answer: How are your negotiating skills?

Question: Did you plant those pretty pink flowers or do they grow here naturally?
Answer: Those are plastic survey feathers. Our surveyors plant them.
From a big city newspaper reporter AFTER attending a one day submachine gun course.

Question: What are these things on the ground all around us?
Answer: These are the brass cases that eject from the weapon as the bullet travels down the barrel.

Question: We were firing real bullets?
Answer: Yes. And you were great at it!
From the same reporter after the one day course.

Question: What is that thing on the front of the gun that you named the school after?
Answer: Front Sight.

From another reporter who picked up a pistol bullet that was slightly deformed, dirty, and grooved from the barrel rifling.
Question: Did this fall out of someone’s gun?
Answer: Yes, at about 1000 feet per second!

Question: Instead of changing the target, why don’t you just turn it around?
Answer: Because there are just as many holes on the back as there are on the front.

Question: In the Man-on-Man shooting competition will there be two people shooting?
Answer: Only if we want it to be interesting!

Hopefully you have enjoyed reading Quotes, Catchy Phrases, and Sage Thoughts—plus some questions that made me go, “Huh?”