[Rob87]

:)

I'm giddy just thinking about it. I'm 21 next May, and over my winter break, in January, I'm taking a firearms safety course with my best friend.

asdf :)

To be serious for a moment, I do have a few questions and concerns:

1. When I'm taking the class, are there certain questions I should bring up?

2. Are there specific things I should pay extra attention to?

3. How do I know if the class will be "good"? I've heard some people on here tell stories of terrible classes.

4. Any advice you guys/gals want to share?

/happydance

[News Shooter]

I work in a gun store in MA and I can tell you I am astonished at the number of people who come in, plop down an LTC Class A and ask "Is that a revolver or an automatic?"

What I'm saying is that if you are taking the basic NRA safety course you may not get any range time and that is crucial if you haven't handled guns. Some of these guys are just collecting the money. I think the best questions you could ask are before you take the course. How much range time do we get? What type of guns? If you don't get the right answer take the loss and hook up with a real course.

[Rob87]

How do people not know what the difference between a revolver and an automatic is? :(

I know the class itself is taught at the shooting range in my town, so I imagine there will be some hands-on involved. If not, like you said, I'll find something else.

It's nice to see someone else from MA here. :)

[News Shooter]

There are a few of us. Anything else I can help with just PM me:)

[BothellBob]

I teach the NRAs Home Firearm Safety course. It does not include range time, or shooting. It is a very basic introduction to firearms for those who know almost nothing about firearms. It covers the three safety rules, basic firearms types, ammunition, safe handling, and how to unload (the only hands on portion of the class). It's only about 4 hours, so there really isn't time for shooting. Maybe some people offer the course for profit, but our club offers it as a community service, we intructors get nothing, and the small fee covers little more than heat, light, and the administrative time to do the registration. If you want to learn to shoot, take the Basic Rifle, Pistol, or Shotgun courses. These will last much longer, probably cost a little more, and likely have several more instructors available to help with the shooting activities (we take safety very seriously, and try to have someone right on top of every shooter to ensure safe handling). These courses are designed to include people who may have never fired a gun in there lives. It would be wonderful to offer a beginner class that did everything, but is way too much information for a novice to take in, and would need to be virtually one-on-one to work safely.
We all have to start somewhere. Enjoy!
-BothellBob

[BothellBob]

Deleted duplicate
-BothellBob

[Rob87]

Even if it's not hands-on, I'm okay with that. I'm still excited to be taking it. The place I'm taking it at has a good reputation, and seems to be very strict with safety, so I'm sure the class will be fine.

If it isn't, then I'll just go somewhere else, and not curse what I was able to learn.

[politicalgeek]

Go with an open mind and listen. Every instructor will have a different way of teaching and different ideas. Just look at the variety of opinions here at THR. There is no such thing as a stupid question. If you are thinking it, so are others, so don't be afraid to ask.

[Rob87]

Thanks for the responses. :)

Anyone else have anything to add?

[hockeybum]

I took the hunters safety course. Don't know if its the same thing your talking about. They just talked to us about the basic gun rules, game identification, knowing what your shooting at, basically the basics... We did go to the range and we were able to put rounds downrange with the 4 main kinds of guns, bow, .22, 20 gauge, and a muzzleloader. I'd never shot a muzzleloader so of course, I'm gonna buy one for Christmas now :evil:. They also showed us videos of what can happen if you aren't careful with guns. Pretty straight forward course, but for the avid hunter pretty boring, but I did learn a couple of things and it wasn't a complete waste of 10 hours...