At the beginning of 2023, my friend and colleague at KR Training, Tracy Thronburg, told me that I was now obligated to attend TacCon after she congratulated me on earning my Rangemaster Advanced Instructor certification. My response to that was, “What is TacCon?” After poking fun at my ignorance, she filled me in and I was determined to attend. Since TacCon 23 was sold out, I had to wait for registration for TacCon 24 to open up. I snatched up a seat as soon as registration opened. I consider myself extremely lucky since registration sold out the very same day it opened. Then, like all the other registered attendees, I waited. And waited. And then waited some more for almost a full year to pass from the day I registered until the event took place. And now that it has, I can tell you all about it.
What is TacCon?
TacCon is short for the Rangemaster Tactical Conference, which is a mouthful.
Okay, but what is it?
Dr. Sherman House had a slide in his presentation for a classroom block titled, Becoming the Civilian Defender: Philosophy and Best Practices, that answered that question. It read, “A curated collection of teachers who aim to pass on the wisdom they’ve collected over years or lifetimes of experience!”
While I think that answer captures the vision and mission of the annual event, it doesn’t capture the enormity and magnitude of the conference. Sure, there are larger conferences with attendance that dwarf TacCon. However, the logistics involved in running a conference that had six hot ranges with live fire activities, a defanged bay running a force on force session, and lectures being delivered in three classrooms that are packed by hundreds of armed attendees simultaneously and safely is, in my opinion, a feat to be marveled at. To the best of my knowledge, there is nothing else like it.
Yet, we are still only looking at the tip of the iceberg that TacCon is. I suppose it’s only fair that I attempt to answer the question in my own words, which will undoubtedly be rudimentary since I’ve only attended the annual conference that’s been running since 1998.
To me, TacCon is a gathering of self-defense practitioners who are eager to get a taste of the latest happenings and offerings in the always evolving and growing self-defense community from top tier trainers who were carefully curated by Rangemaster. This year the conference offered 85 classes taught by 45 trainers over three days. There was also a pistol match that provided attendees a unique opportunity to see how they fared against their peers which included a notable number of world class pistoleros who competed against each other in a shoot off for the championship.
What was TacCon like?
That’s a tough question to answer. In many ways, TacCon felt like an extended family reunion. The type of reunion where you see familiar faces that you’ve seen recently and many more that you haven’t seen in a long while. Also the type where you get the chance to finally meet cousins you’ve corresponded with in person for the first time. Yet also the type where one meets distant cousins they didn’t know they had including a few black sheep. As one would expect in such an event, there were a lot of stories told in the form of lectures, but instead of playing cornhole and bocce ball the activities involve shooting guns and grappling.
With 85 classes taught by 45 trainers, there was no shortage of learning opportunities. The lectures I attended were well thought out and presented masterfully. Some were a bit more emotional than others, but that is expected given the gravity of the topics covered. After all, self-defense deals in life or death situations all of which are life altering.
The live fire blocks were fun. Albeit a lot less shooting took place than I had anticipated. With the exception of one live fire block, they only used about half of the round count specified in the equipment list for the class. This was a function of class attendance which was frequently the maximum capacity the range allowed. While learning took place, the classes were a brief taste, or preview if you will, of what one could expect from taking a class from the trainer since the classes were a compressed block from one of the trainer’s flagship multi-day courses.
I suspect the force on force classes were similar to the live fire blocks. However, I can’t confirm since I didn’t participate in any of those this time around. There was simply too much to choose from and not enough time.
Overall, it was a good time. Without a doubt, it’s an event that avid self-defense practitioners of any skill level should consider attending.
What Did I Do at TacCon?
The first day began with attending the Conquering Concealment Challenges lecture presented by Jon and Sara Hauptman from PHLster. The session was an abbreviated review of their guide to concealment mechanics, which is available on their website free of charge, followed by some troubleshooting demonstrations. In the demonstrations, students were set up with a not so well concealed blue gun. Then the class was guided through identifying the problems and making adjustments to improve concealment. Even though I was previously familiar with PHLster’s guide, the session put things into perspective prompting a series of sudden comprehension moments. The most memorable “aha moment” occurred when Jon explained how pulling your pants up impacts one’s ability to effectively conceal a pistol in a manner consistent with the struggles I’ve had with getting AIWB carry working for me. It looks like I will be getting some new pants and giving the Enigma and other AIWB holsters I’ve already tried another go.
Pull your damn pants up.
Jon Hauptman, PHLster
Then I attended Revolver Fundamentals live-fire block led by Wayne Dobbs of Palisade Training Group. This was a treat for me since the last time I received any wheelgun instruction took place when I attended the Rangemaster Master Instructor development course (IDC) where Mr. Dobbs was my relay mate. Given how well Dobbs ran his revolver during the revolver block at the Rangemaster Master IDC and his effectiveness at coaching me through it, getting a couple of hours of six shooter work under his supervision at TacCon was something I didn’t want to pass up and I wasn’t disappointed. I picked up two drills in the session that I think will help me improve my fundamentals with revolvers. I don’t recall a specific name for them, but I’ll describe them anyway. The first drill started with a full revolver and firing one good shot, then spinning the cylinder, and pressing the trigger until another shot was fired. That process was repeated until all six rounds were fired. The drill yields a lot of trigger presses many of which are dry making it a great way to diagnose and fix grip and trigger control issues. The second drill was very similar except it involved firing one shot, spinning the cylinder, firing two, spinning the cylinder, and firing three. The second drill also yields a lot of trigger presses most of which are live which provides an opportunity to work through grip durability and learning to keep the revolver trigger rolling. It was two hours well spent.
After lunch I learned about writing lesson plans from Tiffany Johnson and Aqil Qadir of Citizens Safety Academy. Unless a firearms instructor was previously an educator or studied education in college, chances are writing lesson plans is a self taught skill assuming it is something that happens at all. Self taught skills aren’t always as well developed as they could or should be. Like any other skill it is susceptible to the Dunning-Krueger effect. This session, which is a component of part 2 of Citizens Safety Academy’s Building Your Firearms Course, provided attendees with a framework to write effective lesson plans along with some examples of well written ones.
I sat in the first part of Dr. Sherman House‘s Becoming The Civilian Defender: Philosophy and Best Practices, but left early in order to shoot the qualifier of the pistol match at my scheduled time. I’m content with my performance in the match, but not thrilled. While I had no misses and got all my hits under the time limits, two hits fell outside of the “A-zones”. I know it was a qualifier that I could have cleaned, but alas match pressure is a thing. Pressure creates stress. Stress induces tension. Tension leads to mistakes. It’s a lesson all competent marksmen are intimately familiar with. Still, ending up in the middle of the pack using the everyday carry equipment is something I’m proud of. Especially given the skill level of those who made it into the shoot off.
Day two started with listening to Claude Werner, also known as The Tactical Professor, tell us about off-duty shoutouts of the LAPD. The content was based on information contained in the Abridged Summaries of Categorical Use of Force Incidents and Findings by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners which are available to the public on the LAPD website. The summaries of off-duty incidents are great case studies regarding the use of lethal force, decision making, and corresponding outcomes for self-defense. Given the similarities between off-duty officer-involved shootings and armed citizen self-defense, the aggregated data provides insights and trends that can be used to prioritize development of self-defense skills and tactics. Moreover, notable individual incidents can be used to challenge accepted best practices while reminding us that truth is often stranger than fiction which also made for an engaging and entertaining presentation. A few notable incidents Mr. Werner shared with us were:
- This domestic dispute [PDF],
- This animal attack [PDF],
- And this unintentional discharge [PDF].
Next up, I spent a couple of hours working on Target Transitions under the tutelage of Tim Herron. This was a wonderful, but short session that was packed with attendees which required four relays to execute. That translated into only a little bit of shooting per attendee. While I was bummed about not getting to shoot as much as I would have liked, transition time is something that I’ve been working on reducing to help me “class up” and be more competitive at matches I attend. The principles and mechanics used for fast accurate transitions were things that I was already familiar with. However, Mr. Herron provided a new perspective to approach the process that I think will help me. The new perspective came from the phrasing of the process he stated and had us repeat which was something that he learned from Rob Leatham: “I will aim first, then shoot, and then move.” Moving, even visually, before shooting results in dragging a hit into the C or D zone of the target one is leaving. Shooting before aiming results in a hit in the D or C zone as one comes into a target. It’s little nuggets like these that make revisiting well understood concepts with other capable trainers worthwhile.
I will aim first, then shoot, and then move.
Tim Herron quoting Rob Leatham
With a full belly from lunch, I then sat in on a two part lecture where Eric Gelhaus of Cougar Mountain Solutions and John Hearne of Two Pillars Training shared what they learned from two recent research studies they studied. Hearne reviewed a study titled, Negative Consequences of Pressure on Marksmanship May be Offset by Early Training Exposure to Contextually Relevant Threat Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, which is a mouthful. The way I understood Hearne’s presentation was that the study looks at what stress from task complexity has on perssons mission to, as Hearne put it, “put bullet holes in assholes” when the preferred alternative options, such as deterrence or avoidance, have been exhausted. One of Hearne’s key takeaways is that there is a difference between training a skill and training application of a skill. Gelhaus’ study looked at the effects of elevated heart rates on performance. One of the findings in that study was that the effects of elevated heart rates due to physical exertion are very different from the effects of elevated heart rates due to mental stress. Both studies and their corresponding findings provide insightful data that can be used to help inform what and how we should be training. Additionally, watching these two characters play off each other in a joint presentation was delightfully entertaining.
Once the preferred options have been exhausted, it’s time to put bullet holes in assholes.
John Hearne
The day came to a close with a discussion regarding Principles of Effective Instruction from one of the founding fathers of firearms training for the citizenry, John Farnam of Defense Training International. Anyone who doesn’t know who John Farnam is and considers themselves an avid armed self-defense practitioner needs to rectify that. I’ve heard folks who’ve mentored me refer to Farnam as the father of the traveling trainer industry. Several others adamantly claim that the state of firearms training industry for the citizenry wouldn’t be what it is today were it not for the contributions Farnam has made to it. That level of praise and reverence isn’t something that should be disregarded. Farnam’s presentation was filled with dozens of golden knowledge nuggets and amusing quips filled with wisdom trainers can use to improve the quality of instruction they provide students with.
The professional has failed more times than the amateur has tried.
John Farnam
I attempted to crash Riley Bowman‘s live fire class, Building a Buffer: The Quiet Eye In Shooting, but I was unsuccessful. I hung back and listened in for a bit before heading over to catch the last part of Caleb Causey’s (Lone Star Medics) presentation, EDC Med Gear: What To Carry & How To Carry It.
While the pistol match shoot-off took place after lunch, I attended John Holschen’s (West Coast Armory) live fire class, Integrating the Perception-Cognition-Decision Cycle in Handgun Training. This was another treat I was really looking forward to since I missed Holschen’s class when he was hosted at KR Training last year due to a personal emergency. The two hour session utilized the NURO Shooting System which incorporates lasers as visual threat or non-threat stimuli and wrist bands to track shooting performance. The combination of these provided randomized cognitive load to individual shooters on the line providing them with unique unpredictable drills that can train the application of marksmanship skills. In some respects it was reminiscent of Hearne’s Cognitive Pistol class, but different. A class from Holschen was already on my radar and this two-hour block only hardened my resolve to take one as soon as an opportunity presents itself.
The final block of the conference for me was the Broadening the 2A Tent discussion led by Tiffany Johnson and Aqil Qadir of Citizens Safety Academy. Honestly, I couldn’t think of a better session to close out my first TacCon with. Helping folks take the leap to become gun owners and sparking (or fueling) an interest in armed self-defense, hunting, or competitive shooting sports is the primary mission of this blog. As such, this topic is near and dear to me. There were several stories shared and micro discussions were had as Aqil and Tiffany shared their top seven tips (7) for broadening the 2A tent. These tips were:
- Meet them at 60%
- No politics
- Be relatable
- Be honest
- Be nice
- Speak up
- Escape the bubble
Who Else Did I Meet?
The social and networking value of TacCan can’t be and shouldn’t be understated. I met a lot of folks. So many in fact, that I have almost zero chance of listing them all. However, here is a list of a few folks I met beyond the trainers of the sessions I attended:
- Chris Baker of LuckyGunner.com
- Dan Brady of Apache Solutions
- Annette Evans of On Her Own
- David Hernandez of Citizens Safety Academy
- Jonathan Low of Defensive Pistolcraft
- Guy Schnitzler of DFW Defensive Training
- Derek Watkins of Apache Solutions
I also bumped into a slew of folks who were classmates or instructors in classes I’ve attended in the past. A few of those were:
- Memphis Beech
- Greg Ellifritz of Active Response Training
- Tom and Lynn Givens of Rangemaster
- Chris Griese of The Practical Guardian
- Mindy Kay Ray
- Tim Reedy of TDR Training
- Gabe White
There were a bunch more.
One of the things that I found most interesting was that the makeup of those in attendance was quite the melting pot. According to the number Tiffany Johnson shared, there were almost five hundred folks present at TacCon with about four hundred being attendees and the rest being trainers, range safety officers, and staff members. The attendees were evenly split between folks who were attending TacCon for their first time, folks who had been to one or two prior ones, and veteran frequent flyers. More than one in five attendees was female. A little over half of those present were in their 40s and 50s with the remainder being evenly split between those who were younger or older. It was quite the hodgepodge of ethnicities present as well. Hearing the numbers was one thing. Seeing the numbers warmed my heart given that the right to self defense is one that belongs to every individual regardless of their background or genetic makeup.
Will I Be Returning to TacCon in 2025?
You bet your ass I will do everything in my power to attend next year. It truly was a fantastic experience filled with laughter, sweat, and the smell of burnt gunpowder. I can’t think of any other event that offers the same opportunity to form new friendships and a wide exposure to top tier trainers who are sharing everything from the history to the latest innovations regarding all of the interdisciplinary topics that relate to self-defense. For some, this event may be the only opportunity to meet and listen to instructors they may not otherwise have the chance to learn from. For others, it’s an event that can serve as a launch pad to plan how to spend their training budgets in the future by investing it in specific classes or on topics they were newly exposed to.
The word is that ticket sales for TacCon 2025 will go on sale in a week or two following the publishing date of this post. It is currently slated to take place at the Dallas Pistol Club on March 28-30, 2025. I strongly urge those who are interested in attending to keep their ears to the ground for the announcement as I suspect the tickets will sell out within minutes of the announcement. More information on the next TacCon will be available on the official TacCon website as soon if it isn’t already.
