Yeah, I see your point and I didn't like the driving analogy all that much either. The truth is, the vast majority of gun owners don't care about training at all and won't get much, if any, be it formal or informal. This can be seen on this forum, look at the number of posts/threads in the S&T forum vs. any other. Buying and talking about guns and stuff is easy, training is hard.
Having just witnessed my wife taking 2-day defensive handgun class this fall and seeing her skill go from about zero to what it is after was very informative. She is light-years ahead of where she would have been w/o considerable study and practice on her own (that she would never do).
I would recommend every gun owner serious about self-defense attend at least a 2 day high quality training course. If you have to sell a gun(s) or save for a year, or make it your vacation, so be it. After that, they will be able to effectively self-practice and improve their skills and add to them via information products with a firm foundation of "what right looks like" to build upon.
The ammo cost is a wash for someone who shoots regularly because you would shoot those rounds and more anyway on your own throughout the year, you just need 600-1000 at once. If it's local, your added cost is just tuition, if not local then add travel expenses, but no more so than any weekend getaway.
A week-long course is better, but the tuition for those is over $1k, round counts also over 1k and 2+ times the hotel/food cost as for a 2-3 day class. I can totally understand the typical gun owner considering a week at Gunsite out of reach. Heck, I went with free tuition for veterans and I bet it still cost me north of $1500.
I also would bet that top level trainers come within easy driving range of well over 90% of people, just have to check out their schedules. The bread and butter courses are 2 day defensive handgun, easiest to find these. More East coast than West.
This website is a monster of info, but the best single-source listing of training around the country: http://aliastraining.com/
http://aliastraining.com/mikepannone2-daycovertcarry-oct24-252015-southhillva.aspx
Having just witnessed my wife taking 2-day defensive handgun class this fall and seeing her skill go from about zero to what it is after was very informative. She is light-years ahead of where she would have been w/o considerable study and practice on her own (that she would never do).
I would recommend every gun owner serious about self-defense attend at least a 2 day high quality training course. If you have to sell a gun(s) or save for a year, or make it your vacation, so be it. After that, they will be able to effectively self-practice and improve their skills and add to them via information products with a firm foundation of "what right looks like" to build upon.
The ammo cost is a wash for someone who shoots regularly because you would shoot those rounds and more anyway on your own throughout the year, you just need 600-1000 at once. If it's local, your added cost is just tuition, if not local then add travel expenses, but no more so than any weekend getaway.
A week-long course is better, but the tuition for those is over $1k, round counts also over 1k and 2+ times the hotel/food cost as for a 2-3 day class. I can totally understand the typical gun owner considering a week at Gunsite out of reach. Heck, I went with free tuition for veterans and I bet it still cost me north of $1500.
I also would bet that top level trainers come within easy driving range of well over 90% of people, just have to check out their schedules. The bread and butter courses are 2 day defensive handgun, easiest to find these. More East coast than West.
This website is a monster of info, but the best single-source listing of training around the country: http://aliastraining.com/
http://aliastraining.com/mikepannone2-daycovertcarry-oct24-252015-southhillva.aspx
Last edited: