There's a reason you should wear your PPE on the range – it's all fun and games until you get shot in the head.

David Merrill and I are at Ed Lovette's Optimal Snubby Skills course with Handgun Combatives near Cincinnati – his last one ever, apparently, before he retires for good. It's a great course so far, though we're training with something more like a rogue's gallery than a typical group of students.

This afternoon I caught an Ammo Labs .38 ricochet from about the 3 yard line. Although it did a great job of ringing my bell, a cyclop's eye bruise is all I walked away with. Had it been a little lower and more to one side, however, it might not have ended quite so well.

As interesting a training opportunity as it was, it certainly wouldn't have been worth losing an eye.

Wear your PPE. Remind the others around you to do the same.