Firearms Training – Information Tidal Wave Versus The Dripping Faucet

U.S.A.  –-(Ammoland.com)- We have over a hundred million gun owners in the US. When we ask them, self-defense is the most frequent reason given for owning a gun. We’ve also seen the number and diversity of gun owners increase sharply in the last 10 years. Surprisingly, we never saw a similar surge in firearms education. I wonder why?

There are firearms courses available. You can find out about them and read the reviews online. Search through them and you’ll hear this well-worn phrase time and again, ‘I liked the class but it was like drinking from a firehose.’ It is clear from these reviews that the students certainly had an immersive experience.

How much did the student take home with him? Were they educated or were they baptized?

Let’s back up and take a different approach to the entire question. How should we teach firearms safety and self-defense given how people learn? The existing model of firearms training is taken from an itinerant preacher. “The expert” rides into town and lectures for two days. That training experience might be good enough for agency training. For civilians, it certainly is a fun way to check the box that says you had continuing education. The real question is how much, and what, will we remember in a few months.

I’ve been in those classes. While they provided an avalanche of information, I can only drink a cup at a time. Equally important, no one is sure what part of the tidal wave of information ends up in the student’s cup. The instructor knows what he taught, but no one knows what the students actually learned. Too much information simply flowed in one ear and out the other. Too few of the new