The Making Of A Firearms Instructor - Part III

How I Went From Being A Crime Victim To Becoming A Firearms Instructor - Part 3

I Became Relentless In My Pursuit For Knowledge

I discovered and studied the works of many authors: Colonel Jeff Cooper's "The Art of the Rifle," Massad Ayoob's "In the Gravest Extreme," David Kenik's "Armed Response," Gabriel Suarez's "Tactical Pistol," Andy Stafford's "Surgical Speed Shooting," Chris Byrd's "Thank God I Had A Gun," Marc Young's "Street Safe," and Chad Cantrell's "No Bull Gun Fighting." The gun section of my library is comprised of over 100 works that I have read, re-read, highlighted, and studied relentlessly.

I have practiced the concepts and techniques explained in those books faithfully. I have spent hundreds of hours at neighboring target ranges shooting thousands upon thousands of rounds of ammunition to perfect my shooting ability.I have befriended numerous local firearms instructors and gunshop employees throughout the metro-Detroit area to glean and retain whatever knowledge they had to bestow. I joined gun themed Internet bulletin boards: Michigan Gun Owners, Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners, AR-15, The High Road, Glock Talk, and many others.

Finally, I had reached a point where I felt that my learning curve had steepened to such a point that further research was delivering diminishing returns. Simply put, now the act of spending a day to read a new book "might" teach me something that I didn't already know. I then turned to and joined the nation's oldest firearms organization: The National Rifle Association (NRA).

Currently, I have NRA certifications to teach Personal Protection, Basic Pistol, and Home Firearm Safety. To qualify as a NRA certified instructor, a candidate must meet certain admission requirements, take a grueling 40 hour course, and pass six timed examinations with a score of 90% correct or better on each exam, and must meet the Training Counselor's expectations of teaching ability. Not many people qualify. Also, I am a NRA Range Safety Officer (RSO). RSOs are certified to safely oversee shooting activities at a shooting range. Further still, I am an authorized Membership Recruiter for the NRA.

I have personally provided firearms training to people from all walks of life: ex-military, FBI agents, business owners, stay-at-home mothers, college students, real estate agents, business executives, bar bouncers, waitresses, club DJs, and etc.

I truly feel that I am doing what God has called me to do. He has placed me on this path and I have accepted his mission to do His will. I am hands-down the best firearm instructor in the metro-Detroit area. I stress safety, teach with enthusiasm in an entertaining manner, and never take any shortcuts.

I have met many people in this industry and some don't measure up. Some of them don't cover legal training. Some of them use airsoft pistols for the target qualification. Some have questionable certifications. Some of them commit felonies punishable by four years of prison time by selling certificates. Some of them, quite simply, can't teach. Bad instructors not only do a disservice to their students but also to the community as a whole because their practices make the streets more dangerous.

I have a drawer full of testimonials that attest to my ability to clearly explain complicated concepts, to make newcomers to firearms comfortable with the experience, and to teach a person who has never shot a firearm before reliably hit the X on the target silhouette.

Firearms instruction is my passion and it shows. I am literally making a difference in my community - one class at a time. No one, in my opinion, becomes an instructor to get rich. Quite simply, if you have integrity and do things by the book it won't happen. The scam artists turn up dead or become imprisoned.

I teach because I want to empower people to defend themselves in an increasingly violent time. Many folks are surprised to learn that the police do not have a legal responsibility to protect you. Their job is to uphold the general peace and to investigate crimes. If you become a crime victim, you can't hold them responsible. Very sobering thought.

I am a firearms instructor, a defender of freedom, and an empowering force in my community.

Activism Is The Next Logical Step

Once a person, for whatever reason, decides to exercise a right he eventually acquires a great appreciation for having that right. Accordingly, he will do whatever it takes to keep that right. Gun ownership and the right to keep and bear arms is continuously under assault by those persons in our society who want a disarmed populace. Nevermind that gun ownership was granted to citizens of our fine nation as a means to prevent tyranny and to preserve liberty, I am most concerned with having the ability to defend my life and those that I love. After all, in case after case, the courts have proclaimed that the police do not have a legal responsibility to protect us.

It would only be too easy to let others fight for my rights. I could merely write a check and let various gun rights organizations, such as the NRA, The Second Amendment Foundation, and the Citizens Committe RKBA, do my fighting for me. The future of gun ownership depends on us - you and me.Many people could care less about the Second Amendment until they need a gun. If gun ownership is made illegal, how can you get one in your time of need? There are currently over 20,000 gun laws on the books and more are being drafted with the purpose of being enacted into law with each passing day. We don't need more laws; we need enforcement of the ones already on the books.

We need citizens like you to exercise your right: get a permit to carry, go hunting, teach your family and friends how to shoot, engage in hunting sports, and teach people you know the truth about guns.

Everything You Have Been Told About Guns Is Probably Wrong

Until you remove emotions and uneducated opinions about guns from the public discourse, you may believe the lies that are being told to you. For example, the biggest lie ever told is that guns cause violence and crime. Nothing could be further from the truth. A firearm is a tool - nothing more - nothing less. It is far more important to discuss how a tool is used by a particular person, rather than to debate whether an inanimate object is bad. Is a ball-point pen evil? How about a cane?

While a gun has several obvious purposes that most people can readily enumerate, other tools - designed for other legitimate tasks - in the wrong hands can create as much mayhem. A person could misuse the following items and cause severe bodily harm or death to another: a baseball bat, a pair of scissors, a ball-peen hammer, a nail gun, a golf club, an automobile, a steak knife, an awl, an ice pick, a tire-iron, a crowbar, an axe, a garbage can lid, a fireplace poker, a jump-rope, a bowling trophy, a text book, a container of gasoline, rat poison, a garden rake, or a bottle of battery acid.

A gun placed on a kitchen countertop can not harm anyone all by itself. It requires assistance - pressure on its trigger - to be used, whether those purposes are for good or bad. No one wants to debate the folly of banning matches whenever an arsonist starts a "car-becue" on Angel's Night. Likewise, no one wants to ban the usage of water every time a young and unattended child falls into a back yard swimming pool. Even more outrageous is the idea than gun manufacturers should be sued for violence committed by criminals. Has anyone ever sued the Ford Motor Company because a drunk driver mowed down a schoolyard full of children?

Guns Don't Kill People - People Kill People

Some people want you to "think" that guns somehow turn otherwise law-abiding citizens into homicidal sociopaths. The truth of the matter is that if a specific person with a gun is crazy, that same person without a gun is still just as nuts. University of Maryland professor and gun control researcher, Dr. John R. Lott, has extensively studied the supposed guns and crime relationship - most notably in his critically acclaimed tome "More Guns - Less Crime." The conclusion of his work is abundantly clear - the absence of guns creates more crime. Reversely stated, more guns in a community decreases crime.

An unarmed populace creates a hazard-free working environment for violent criminals. Robbing, raping, and pillaging is a dangerous career choice. Everytime a criminal plies his trade, he risks at least an injury and perhaps death. Criminals, if given a choice, will choose an easy target rather than get into a life-or-death battle with an armed citizen.

Correspondingly, if many people in a community are armed with a gun, crime plummets due to the fact that the criminal is reluctant to assault someone "that may be packing." Thus, the unarmed people in the community are, as a direct result of the armed people in the community, shielded from crime. Don't believe me? When was the last time you saw an advocate for gun control post a sign in his home's front yard that stated, "We are unarmed! We hate guns!" File that event under something you'll never see.

By definition, a criminal is a person who breaks the law. Thus, if it was ever possible to outlaw guns, only the criminals would have guns. You don't expect a criminal to disarm himself, do you? Of course not! Only law-abiding citizens would consider such a thing. What result would expect in a city full of law-abiding and unarmed citizens and a sizeable quantity of armed felons? This type of environment would create an "open season" state of lawlessness among the criminals. The rapists, jackers, and killers could ply their trade with impunity. This result has been observed with predictable results in our country.

Time and time again, the cities with the highest rates of crime are in those cities with the most strict gun control laws - legal and de facto. To name a few - NYC, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Detroit - are among our nation's worst when it comes to gun control and violent crime. These cities happen to also be where large populations of minorities live. It is no mistake - gun control has racist roots that trace back into time when newly freed slaves were barred from owning guns to prevent any "score settling" with their former masters.Stop being a pawn: Buy a gun, exercise your right to self-defense, and help spread the truth about guns.