We have all seen it. I’m not talking about the PSY music video, but instead, the gangster shooting his gun canted 90 degrees to the side. Sometimes it seems as if the gun is almost held upside down. But is there some sort of practicality to this controversial shooting style and is it just a method or an actual shooting technique? I guess I will need to provide a working definition for the terms method and technique. The term method implies the simple use of the style, while technique suggests that there is an applied practical use for the canted shooting style.
I recently appeared in a YouTube video with FateofDestinee. In the video I was shown firing my gun with a 20-degree cant. The YouTube comments that followed were somewhat predictable; “He thinks he’s a G”, “Gangster Style” or even some other racially motivated comments that I dare not rewrite. However the canted shooting method is perceived, this is a technique that I learned from Richard Nance, SWAT Team Leader, firearms instructor and host of Personal Defense TV. His philosophy for using this technique is simple to understand. The better you track your sights, the better your shot placement will be. Of course, there are other mechanical factors that are required in making good shots, but sight picture is a significant part of the shooting process.
The science behind this technique has many parts. One of the largest groups of shooters to benefit from one-handed canted shooting are those that are support side eye dominant. For example, if a shooter is right handed, he or she is left eye dominant and uses this eye to track their sights. When shooting single-handed, it is paramount to align the front sight of the handgun with the dominant eye. The canted technique allows the front sight to be placed in front of the dominant eye faster than a traditional zero cant hold. I am right handed and right eye dominant. However, when shooting single handed, I tend to use my left eye more to acquire my sights. I shoot both eyes open and this technique helps me to track, or pick-up, my sights a lot faster with minimal shifting of the firearm.
Another practical use for canted shooting is when using the support hand to fire the weapon. For shooters who are weapon side eye dominant (ex: right handed and right eye dominant), the cant allows the support hand to place the front sight in front of the dominant eye. Shooting with the support hand is difficult enough for most people and need not be made more complex by having to try and acquire your sights using a less-efficient technique.
Some of us shoot for sport and some of us shoot for fun. Many of us also practice shooting for the dreaded day when we may have to use our firearm as a defensive tool. I implore us, as shooters, to learn to embrace new styles, methods and techniques of shooting into our lives. We need not be so stubborn and ignorant as to think that we know and have learned all there is to know about shooting simply because we have been doing it for a great period of time. This “gangster style” may actually save your life.
