Randy’s Bio

Randy Harris is a life long student of the gun and all things self defense oriented. He began his instructor career teaching Handgun Carry Permit classes in Chattanooga TN in 1999. In 2005 he was chosen by Gabe Suarez as one of the original Suarez International staff instructors (Tier 1 Status). At the time of his departure from Suarez he was the longest serving instructor in the company with 15 years experience and having taught over 200 classes for the organization all over the eastern United States. He now has over 25 years of experience teaching shooting and self defense classes and working in the shooting industry. Randy now  teaches his own original curricula under the banner of Harris Combative Strategies.  Randy also holds  Master Instructor and Advanced Shotgun Instructor certifications from Rangemaster, a  Pistol Instructor certification from the National Rifle Association,  Handgun Carry Permit Instructor certification for the state of Tennessee and is a factory certified Glock Armorer.

Randy is able to share his extensive knowledge from decades of experience carrying concealed weapons in public and an extensive training and teaching resume. Not only is he able to teach students how to win a fight, but when to fight and how to avoid one if possible. He spent several years in college working the door at a night club where he gained practical experience and insight into not only how to end fights quickly, but how to use verbal skills and body language to diffuse situations and avoid them if possible.

Randy is a sponsored Master class shooter in six divisions in IDPA (International Defensive Pistol Association) and has  competed in everything from  IDPA to GSSF (Glock Sport Shooting Foundation) and  Shoot SIG, The Pin Shoot,   3 Gun, and Subgun competition and SASS Cowboy Action (shooting under the alias of Cruel Hand Luke). He has had articles published in several defense oriented internet newsletters and publications and has appeared on several shooting industry podcasts.  He has been a practitioner at the National Tactical Invitational and has attended and been a multi time presenter at the Rangemaster Tactical Conference/Polite Society Match and was a participant at the inaugural Rangemaster Professional Trainers’ Symposium in 2023.  He also scored two Top 3 finishes in the Tac Con/Polite Society match while shooting against some of the best serious gunmen and defensive shooting instructors in the country.

He holds both an Advanced Ranking (and a Red Pin for top score in his class) from the Rogers Shooting School and Turbo Pin # 8 from Gabe White’s Pistol Shooting Solutions class, both of which were accomplished while shooting from concealment. He  won both the Tennessee and the Georgia IDPA State Championships in the Back Up Gun division in 2022 , the Arkansas State Championship in 2024 and finished in the top 20 in the Stock Service Pistol Division (14th in the Master Class) at the 2015 IDPA World Championship and had a 5th place  Master Back Up Gun finish at the 2023 IDPA World Championship and 5th place in Master Backup Gun at the 2024 IDPA National Championship.

“I use competitive shooting as just a part of my overall regimen training for interpersonal conflict , not as the main  reason for my training . I believe it is important to compete to see how well REALLY good shooters perform and to test your skills against them. I use matches the same way I use dry fire and live fire practice, weight lifting, cardio and attending classes and seminars – to make me a better overall practitioner and instructor.  The journey never ends. “

Randy and his wife Brandi have been happily married for 23 years and are active in their church. Randy is a founding member of the church safety team and Brandi is the worship band leader.