Opinion
New Jersey – -(AmmoLand.com)- A few months ago I was wrapping up a training class with one of my students. In fact, the discourse that usually follows after completing a basic safety and use training course on firearms includes “What else do you teach? What is next? What about self-defense training?”
I’ve been an NRA Certified instructor since 2014 and have had the chance to train several people over the years. My emphasis has always been, whether teaching an NRA class or a customized class to fit the needs of my students, safety, and then following that, marksmanship. In short, teaching the gun safety rules, the parts of firearms, how they work, the loading, unloading, checking of firearms, and focus on the fundamentals of shooting.
My student, like many people out there that are first-time gun owners in our current state of affairs in the United States, was interested in introducing firearms into his life for the purpose of self-defense. After getting a student comfortable and then meeting the outlined requirements of whatever training course I was teaching, I tell them to get out there and practice, practice, practice. I also implore them to seek more training (if not from me, another instructor to get a different perspective).
That one particular day, I said to my student “Well, we can schedule something if you like after you do some practicing. And if you want a more concentrated focus to be on the self-defense aspects of shooting, not just standing erect, putting holes into paper, I can write a course for you.”
My mentality was that if he was serious about this, which he seemed to be, other students who
