As I prepare to teach my first class as a certified pistol instructor, I’ve been talking to a number of folks whom I respect about training both at the basic level (where I will be), and more advanced classes.  The conclusion I’ve come to, and bolstered by a number of others, is that we can’t really do it right…

These are my thoughts, so take them with a grain of salt (or truckload)…

The Four Rules (compressed to three in the NRA instructions)

RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.

RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.

RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.

RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET, AND WHAT IS BEHIND IT.

What do I mean?  Well, we face a number of limitations any time we go to a range (for the purposes of this discussion range= square range, e.g. most indoor and outdoor ranges…

Obviously, first and foremost is the requirement for safety.  Staying behind the red line, only pointing weapons in a safe direction, shooting at a standard target that isn’t moving (or very limited movement at a steady pace).  Slow fire only (seeming to become more prevalent these days), no observers on the firing line, etc.

If you’re teaching more than one person, everyone does the same drill at the same time’; with one or more instructors observing from behind the line.  Good instructors will do multiple drills to get a chance to observe each person doing the drill; but the maxim of teaching to the 50th percentile means you’re losing the top and bottom 10% (or more) of the class due to either boredom or never grasping the drill, or unacknowledged fear of the drill/weapon).

Even the simple things- proper grip, trigger pull (or press if you will), trigger reset, and sight alignment are sometimes not taught as a single evolution, but as pieces/parts.  One lady I helped had been through a ‘basic pistol’ class (don’t know the certification or instructor qualification), but after EVERY shot she had been told to completely remove her finger from the trigger immediately, regrip the pistol and while she was doing that to look at see where she’d hit the target (colloquially known as ‘prairie dogging’).  But that was all in the name of range safety…

I do believe in the Barney Fife if someone has never shot a pistol, but to effectively ‘train’ someone to Barney Fife themselves just doesn’t make sense.

Coming from rifle shooting for many years, I’m leaning toward three shot sequences, to work grip, trigger press, reset and sight picture.  Also I’m not too proud to borrow from others, like Bill at EIAFT (I highly recommend this particular post as he has links to all the basics if you have some time to peruse it), he showed me a neat training trick with a ball point pen that I will also use.

The other things that I consider limitations are the Bell Curve of knowledge that one encounters with students; another is the fact that it is hard to put yourself in the student’s place, e.g. limited to no knowledge and remember when YOU were there. It takes patience and understanding to be a good instructor and answer the same ‘dumb’ question twenty times.  Also, what ‘we’ assume everyone knows since ‘we’ know it, is often not true or is completely unknown/foreign to basic students. In this I do give a lot of credit to the NRA courses for bringing the material down to basics and their instructor guides that ‘make’ one teach the actual basics at the correct level.  There are also issues with personal dynamics in any class setting that one must manage, but that is a whole nuther discussion as they say…  And when you add in male, female, young and old in the same class… Patience is a virtue and it takes a good instructor to draw out those reticent students to make sure they are actually getting the materials.

At the basic level, what are we really trying to do?

I think it boils down to three things-

1.  Basic knowledge and safety- How to handle a weapon (handguns in this case) safely, safety rules, teaching the different types of handguns and their basic functions (loading/unloading, functions and function checks, safety, trigger types, cleaning and storage).

2.  Fundamentals of shooting (or marksmanship if you will)- dominant eye determination, stance(s), the grip, sighting and sight alignment, and trigger techniques. This is where I believe the advent of various training weapons like the SIRT, or Laserlyte inserts or pistols are a great assist to the instructor, because you CAN do one on one training in a classroom environment and ensure that step 2 above has actually absorbed and understood by the student in a safe environment before you go on the range.  (And as an aside, they make great training/dry fire tools when one can’t get to the range, example HERE.)

3. Practical shooting-  Talking with folks like Bill, Keads, and others, there seems to be a split in whether one uses a blank piece of paper for the student to shoot at, or giving them an actual bullseye to shoot.  One thing that does seem to be common, is using some type of .22 pistol as the basic trainer.  Ruger and now the advent of .22 trainers from a variety of manufacturers has made this much easier.  But it also helps to have a .22 revolver because some students may only have access to that type of handgun (see item one above).  If folks bring their own pistols, you need to make damn sure they are unloaded and safed before coming on the range (As an aside here, I was assisting an instructor a couple of years ago in a classroom session and a lady brought in the pistol her husband had given her for the training. She started to take it out of the rug and I asked her if she had safed the pistol. She didn’t know what I was asking and handed the rug to me.  I went to the back of the room (safe area) and opened the rug. In it was a .45 Colt, loaded, one in the chamber cocked and the safety off!!!). I would still start them on a .22 until they’ve done the basic drills.  Then if time permits, you can run a quick function check on the pistol they brought and give them personal attention while they shoot it.  One does NOT want to have the student leave the class scared of recoil… Just sayin…

Now, where do we go from here?

There are a number of both CCW and home defense courses available, in addition to what I will call advanced courses given by instructors all over the USA.  More and more women are becoming instructors and teaching more women self defense courses with a female perspective, which I for one, think is a good idea!  One can also take 2-5 day courses from a variety of places, organizations and individuals (too many to list, you can look em up, and I don’t want to piss anybody off by inadvertently leaving them off a list).

One of the things I believe is that as basic instructors we must be careful of the dichotomy of basic level training and saying these are the ONLY rules versus the reality of self defense and the real world.  I believe we need to acknowledge and explain to the students the safety we preach and require on the range may not apply in reality and advanced training; e.g. applicable laws of your state; movement, both of ourselves and targets; cover/concealment; and 270 or 360 degree ranges and shoot houses.

Steve Wenger has a great set of points on street vs. range and training HERE, so I won’t belabor those…

What I’ll be teaching is NRA’s The Basics of Pistol Shooting and this is the overview of the course.

Name : NRA Basic Pistol Shooting Course

Short Description : Teaches the basic knowledge, skills, and attitude for owning and operating a pistol safely.

More Details: This course is at least 8-hours long and includes classroom and range time learning to shoot revolvers and semi-automatic pistols. Students learn NRA’s rules for safe gun handling; pistol parts and operation; ammunition; shooting fundamentals; range rules; shooting from the bench rest position, and two handed standing positions; cleaning the pistol; and continued opportunities for skill development. Students will receive the NRA Guide to the Basics of Pistol Shooting handbook, NRA Gun Safety Rules brochure, Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification booklet, take a Basics of Pistol Shooting Student Examination, and course completion certificate.

One thing I will be stressing to the students is go to the range and practice, eight hours does not an expert make, and the more one shoots the more comfortable they become (and the better drilled in the basics of safety, handling and shooting they are). We ARE creatures of habit, and repetition of actions does help ingrain those actions in our hind brain to the point that they become automatic.

Shoot safe, enjoy the range time and realize that shooting is actually a relaxing sport!  The concentration it takes to shoot well forces you to put other things out of our minds, and practice the ‘Zen’ of shooting!