NRA Pistol Instructor

Sept. 25

I have evolved!

For years I have been training people to shoot….(usually ad hoc and without a standard curriculum.) I’ve always thought I’d done a fairly good job of it, and frankly my classes have been limited to new shooters or those with very little experience. 

Those that have wanted more advanced training I’ve passed along to a training academy that offers specialized advanced scenario course offerings.

Well….that same training academy offered to take me to the alter and make me legitimate!

See…one of the downsides to informally teaching people to shoot is that my legal liabilities are completely exposed.  As you know I have a real problem with being exposed!  To remedy this the NRA offers a chunk of liability insurance to those individuals that possess NRA Instructor Certificates.  That, and course materials that make the whole teaching thing a little more systematic, and frankly professional.

(Besides, being able to say “I’m an NRA Pistol Instructor” just kinda sounds more badass then “Yeah...I shoot a lot so I guess I’m competent to teach you)

So…the training facility I use decided to offer an NRA Instructor Certification class.  Now….these trainers are primarily Law Enforcement, Military, or Security Operators.  They do teach civilians, and do an exceptional job of it, but their main function is expanding on the talents of their fellow operators. 

A couple of interesting things:  First off when you are at a tactical range that is populated by spooky ex-special forces guys preparing to go back to Crapistan and do unmentionable things, you get to see some pretty friggen cool stuff.  The coolest though is the people themselves.

I had the chance to sit down and talk with a young man who just recently left the British SAS.  (For those of you who don’t know, the SAS is similar to our Navy Seals).  I asked him if the training he acquired in the UK relied on different fundamentals then what is offered here in the US.

His answer was interesting…..He said that in the UK where gun ownership is for the most part non-existent most service personnel pick up their first firearm when they enlist in the military.  As such their shooting skills are waaaay behind those of us that have been shooting since we were kids.

At the same time, while our US shooters may be more technically proficient our bodies don’t get the same attention.  Our diet and exercise patterns either bulk us up too much to be useful on the battlefield, or we just don’t bother with exercise at all and “let our bodies go to rot”. 

He has a point….our dedication to mastering marksmanship seems a bit misplaced if we are too exhausted to keep our sights on target.  On the other hand, in the US civilians…and again I’m only focusing on civilians…exclusively shoot defensively.  We really don’t need to have the body of marathon runner to chase down a target because, …well…it’s just not our job to “chase down a target”.  We hire guys like my Brit friend to do that for us!

At the end of the weekend I had passed my test, shot a whole ton of lead down range, and even became the Range Safety Officer for a while on a tactical range.  (Ok….just got to say being a RSO on a hot range is pretty friggen cool!!!)

So, now I’m not just that “guy” with a bunch of guns that is willing to teach you to shoot…..now I’m that “guy” with a bunch of guns that is also an NRA Instructor who is willing to teach you to shoot.

Pretty cool!!!