Dunning, Kruger, Smith and Wesson
My friend Alex posted this as a response to a question in a Facebook group on how to become a firearms trainer.
- Sign up for Rangemaster Instructor Development
- Train with other instructors that have been through Rangemaster
- Identify your niche
- Refine your skills in said niche
- Identify target audience (customer avatars)
- Develop a curriculum that’s relevant to target demo
- Develop value proposition that resonates with target demo
- Get peer feedback on curriculum & value prop
- Existential, imposter-syndrome spiral after your first draft needs a total overhaul
- Revise, refine, & run beta tests for friends & peers
- Start marketing & selling classes
And he’s right, if you’re at all interested in becoming a firearms trainer who wants to get off the westward slope of Mount Stupid.
The thing is, though, that the vast majority of firearms trainers don’t go to all this trouble. They get certified to teach by taking a two-day class from one of the big training organizations out there. That class has very easy marksmanship standards and offers little to no thought about the science (or lack thereof) behind what’s in the instructor lesson plans that are in front of you. You walk out think you know how to teach, but what you’ve learned is as relevant to good firearms training as running the fryer at McDonalds is to fine cuisine.
Why do people do this? Because that’s all that the vast majority of gun owners want from a firearms trainer. Most gun owners don’t understand the difference because someone who teaches things like pinning the trigger and “slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” That is just fine for that kind of student, and it works well for them. They checked the box labeled “get firearms training” and can go on with their daily lives.
Which works. Right up to the point where it doesn’t work, when they have to defend literally everything they hold dear with their defensive firearm. At first glance, this also isn’t a problem, because hundreds of law enforcement officers do the same thing every year, and NONE of them have ever attended a Gunsite 250.
It’s what happens after the defensive gun use where a good foundation in firearms training comes in handy. I fully expect to be called in to testify if (more on that later) one of my students has a defensive gun use that makes it to the trial stage. If that happens, I want to be able to say “Yes, your honor, I trained him/her to a standard that exceeded the minimum requirements laid down by the state of Florida,” because I can’t in good faith say “Yes, go out and carry a firearm when all you can do is point it and pull the trigger.” That’s the standard in the state of Florida. This is like telling 16 year olds that they’re okay to drive on the street if they can sit in the car and turn on the ignition. More importantly, remember that “if?” My students learn how to spot trouble before it happens so they can avoid a firefight before it happens, saving both them and me a lot of heartache and expense.
Now, do I think what I teach should be mandated by law? No. Carrying a firearm is a Constitutional right, and putting requirements on that sort of thing is akin to a poll tax. However, history tells us that a right that is abused is a right that eventually goes away, so please, for your sake and the sake of other gun owners, get proper training, and keep that training up to date.
