Remember Mark Miller? He was a long-time Tulsan and jeweler at the Diamond Center, his life that ended last November at age 53.
He grabbed a gun and went after a suspected burglar who broke into his neighbor’s home that day.
The bad guy ended up grabbing Miller’s gun from him and killed Miller. He was man known to always look out for others, he lost his life trying to protect a friend’s property.
If you own a gun, how prepared are you to put your finger on the trigger to defend yourself?
"Present your guns downrange,” shouts concealed carry instructor Don Roberts.
His group of students are taking his concealed carry license class where they are now shooting to qualify for their permit.
Michael Ford of Broken Arrow is a beginner.
"When I first came out here I was very nervous and scared because I had never fired a gun before never thought I would even have to,” says Ford.
Now he as a reason.
“I just brought a little girl into the world and I want to be able to protect her as well,” says Ford.
Liz Karriman has shot a gun before but with these types of guns.
"This is my first time to really shoot a handgun,” says Karriman. "I run a lot and it's just nice to have."
Even retired Stillwater Lieutenant Rex Finnegan who was on the force for 27 years, wants a refresher.
"Violence is increasing in society and everything else I wanted to make me feel more comfortable when I am with my wife and grandchildren,” says Finnegan.
All three are learning the mindset of a gun owner.
"I had to wrap my mind around if I ever had to draw a gun in self-defense would I be prepared to kill somebody,” says Ford.
Karimann says she needs practice.
"I'm definitely not comfortable with it at all yet,” says Karriman.
Oklahoma law requires fifty rounds on the range and eight hours in the classroom.
Students learn about Oklahoma law, deadly force issues, safety, shooting fundamentals and handgun operation.
Between 2002 and 2010, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI) has issued 143,025 concealed carry permits.
Don Roberts is a certified firearms instructor.
"If you're going to exercise your right to conceal and carry then you have a responsibility to know what you are getting into and the law is a great tool to have,” Roberts.
After his class, students take a 15-question test and must answer 11 correctly.
"It's knowing how courts have ruled in certain cases and that really determines the laws in practice,” says Roberts.
Ford understands the class isn’t just about shooting a gun.
"It was useful information and it made me really think about the responsibility of having the privilege to even be able to conceal a weapon and held to a higher standard,” says Ford.
Once you have the class under your belt, pay $100 application fee to the OSBI and pass a thorough background check, you qualify for the state’s concealed carry license.
However, is a piece of paper and a class enough to shoot in self-defense?
"If it gets too hard people will just ignore it. So you want them to have a digestible amount of course room exposure without overwhelming them,” says Roberts.
At the Unites States Shooting Academy, instructor Mike Seeklander uses scenarios to prepare gun owners for the worst.
"Our priority is not to get shot, right so we want to make sure we get off that line of attack,” says Seeklander.
He says not everyone packing heat on the street has a permit or a the right intentions.
"It's not something that you can learn from a mistake. If you get in a fight where you have to use your handgun on the street and you make a mistake it could be your own life,” says Seeklander.
Former Marine Rick Muston is trained to protect and defend his country but that still doesn’t give him the power to protect his own life.
"You want to be the best at whatever it is that you are doing especially when that's staying alive,” says Muston. "That one thing may be the one thing that saves my life and gets me home to my family."
An Owasso native, Muston now lives in North Carolina and flew to Tulsa for the U.S. Shooting Academy’s five-day tactical handgun course.
"We are hanging out in the Wal-Mart parking lot and for whatever reason we have our gun out. Something has happened that has caused us to arm ourselves,” says Seeklander.
He instructs the class on where they need to be if face-to-face with a gunman.
"This is the line of attack. Why is this the line of attack? Because the bad guy is shooting directly at me and if I stand here that's where the bullets are going,” says Seeklander.
Under stress, that could cost you your life.
“Every time you stick that gun out there. Think about what you need to improve. How you need to stabilize that gun,” says Seeklander.
Roberts says it all goes back to the basics and getting on the range.
"Arnold Palmer once said, ‘the more I practice, the luckier I get.’ How true that is?" says Roberts.
Whether a beginner or a proven marksmanm Seeklander urges practice and continued work on the range.
If you can’t answer the question, are you willing to take someone’s life? You can still defend yourself without using deadly force.
There’s pepper spray, tazers but it all goes back to self-defense training and how to escape an attacker.
The U.S. Shooting Academy also says it offers classes where an instructor will go inside your home and train you how to fight off a bad guy in your own house.
This year, the governor approved making June 28th, the annual Second Amendment Day in Oklahoma.
Lawmakers who support it say last year on that date, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Second Amendment, which is the right to bears arms, applies to all states and they want to honor those liberties.
This year lawmakers killed an open-carry proposal with a background check to carry a weapon without a concealed carry license.
The state does not have an open carry law.
On Thursday’s FOX23 News Daybreak during the 7 a.m. hour, seasoned defense attorney Allen Smallwood will join Ron Terrell and Michelle Linn to talk about your rights to defend yourself against an attacker and using deadly force.
