when are you ready to teach?

[DaveInTexas]

I was pleased with the 'class' and the outcome.
I made up some visuals (gun rules printed each on a large sheet of paper - large font and appropriate photos I found on the internet) which I posted above the 'gun' table. Uncovered rules one at a time as we talked and the class progressed.
We spent maybe 45mins in the garage, all ammo in separate location, weapons triple checked empty by me.
First rule we did was 'trust no one including yourself that the weapon is empty - assume they are all about to go off until YOU personally check it is safe'. Talked, demonstrated, asked participants to demonstrate. Explained the consequences of not following this rule. Mentioned real life happenings. Tested them "here, this weapon is unloaded" and handed it to them - to see that they checked it, and properly & thorougly, themselves. Had a revolver, several pistols and 2 rifles so a good range of firearms to handle and discuss.
Next the finger off the trigger rule. Talked, demonstrated, tested, explained consequences and 'what can happen'.
Next - muzzle awareness - discussed importance, some situations, how easy it is to sweep people and property accidentally, tested by asking them to pick up pistol and safely move muzzle downrange without sweeping past everyone. Used dowel rod to help show where bullet is going if careless. Caught a few 'rule 2' trigger finger infractions during this time, corrected immediately.
Had them recite the 3 rules I gave them so far, then covered some other rules as previously posted, some range safety rules, home storage etc.

Then to the range. On drive over, asked them to recite rules again.
Had them load one firearm at a time with one round under close supervision. Following range rules, then allowed them to fire on target, watching for any violation. None. so on to 2 and 3 rounds in mag/cylinder. A little less closely on supervision. (standing back but watching like a hawk). A couple finger violations, one muzzle direction violation. Immediate correction and no more violations the rest of the hour. Progressed to full magazines. Revolver jambed so unloaded it, put it away for inspection later. Shot pistols and rifles for an hour+, had a great time. All safe, lots of smiles.
Guy with an M1 offered youngster to shoot it. Should have asked him later if our guy followed the rules, bet he did.
Am following up this week with reminders, videos on safety.
Let me know if I need to do anything different.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Ram Rod]

I'm always ready to teach. My confidence to teach comes from knowing I know the subject well, and being able to separate some of my subjective outlooks and form a generic curriculum. Past experiences should always be on the agenda once the basics are taught. Only then will they be accepted. If I am not fully schooled in the subject matter, then I am not ready to teach.

[Bunny]

Excellent! Sounds like it all went really well. You should be proud! :)

[Rcher]

Sounds like you had a fun and (most important) safe day! My wife says I'm anal about my classes and that I beat a dead horse deader (is that a word?). In other words, I repeat things over and over again. To me, it's like dog training. Dogs learn from repetition and in my classes, so do my students. If you get another chance to take them to the range for a refresher, I say go for it. The more a gunhandler is confronted with firearm safety, the more cognizant about safety they will be. Thanks for helping us all.

[sgtD]

Good job Dave. Sounds like everyone had a fun and safe day of shooting. You are doing the right thing. I believe it is our duty as gun owners to share our knowledge of gun safety and actively recruit people into shooting.

Like Ramrod said, I too love to teach. I came home from the range a couple of weeks back after teaching rifle shooting to a hunter's ed class and I told my wife that there is not anything that I do in life that gives me that feeling of both accomplishment and outright joy. And it doesn't matter if it's my own kid, an adult, or some kid in my class that I just met. I get the same satisfaction out of it.

I had one kid who walked up to the bench and said, "How do I hold this rifle?" He had been through the gun handling safety class, but had never actually touched one for the purposes of firing it. Within 10 minutes, with some instruction on cheek weld, sight picture, trigger squeeze and breathing, he was putting them in the black. I felt like I was on cloud 9. He said, "Man, this is fun." Heck, I was having more fun than him, he just didn't know it.

Keep up the good work.

[DaveInTexas]

thanks folks.
at the end, the young guy was shooting at a metal plate with his 22 rifle - over 100' away. Kept on hitting that thing!

One thing I noticed about him on times Id met him in past was that he is tentative, and 'not firm' about a lot of things -even handshakes etc. I said, 'Now when you handle firearms, you really need to have control of it. No limp wrists, no feather touches (of course be careful around the trigger) - we can't have you dropping it, or simply not positively controlling it'. I think that helped with the firearms and in another, perhaps elusive way I think it is helping on his way to manhood.
His gentleness in other parts of his life is great - and now he is learning how, and when, to use some of his physical strengths - in a positive way.

[DaveInTexas]

ha, have a look at this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Cooper_(colonel)

I found it while looking at
Gun safety - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[tbmccord]

Dave,

The 100% correct answer is: You are ready to teach when you have NRA Instructor Certification.

Someone else mentioned FTF and FTE. Got to: http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulle...ease-read.html to see a good example of what inexperienced people need to know to keep them from going to the hospital.

[SIXTO]

In my mind, NRA cert doesnt really mean much at all beyond teaching the basic of the basic. You need real world experiance to back it up.

[gilraen]

Dave,

The 100% correct answer is: You are ready to teach when you have NRA Instructor Certification.

I don't think I need to be an NRA Instructor to teach my best friend the 4 rules, and why they are the rules, and watch over her at a range while she shoots off a few.

But if she were going to start CCing, I would highly recommend that she get get qualified instruction first.