Taught my first NRA Rifle course for youth

[iamkris]

I've been a NRA Rifle Instructor for about a year. One of the reasons I got the rating (in addition to wanting to help drive people to the sport) is to teach "the next generation"...without boys and girls taking up shooting -- a difficult thing in many urban/suburban areas -- our sport will die within 2 or 3 generations.

I took my first shot at this last weekend. Had 4 boys -- aged 8 to 10 -- from the neighborhood go through a NRA First Steps class (focused mostly on safety, one model of firearms function and basic benchrest marsmanship). One of them was my oldest son. The course is roughly 2 hours of classroom and 1 hour of range instruction. The participants get a certificate and a "rocker" (shirt sleeve patch) at successful course completion.

I was really impressed with the boys. They listened (as much as any 8-10 year old will) to safety rules, showed that they understood by following them and really showed improvement on the range (abysmal groups to begin with...eventually decent groups.) I was proud to say that my son had the best groups of the day (that pellet gun training is paying off!).

Here's stuff I learned that worked well:

• Stress safety. I repeated myself constantly on "muzzle control, finger off the trigger, unloaded". I put up a bounty on myself ($0.10 each offense) for the kids to watch to see if I performed these each time I handled a firearm -- BTW, I ended up owing $0.20...put my fingertip over the muzzle to show its location and swept my foot with muzzle. I was also very strict. I told the boys if there was any horsing around that compromised safety, they would not be able to shoot. They listened.
• Make it fun! Joke around. Make fun of the dads (if you know them). Be positive. Reward ANY improvement.
• Make it interactive. No lecture scenario. Lots of visual aids. Constantly have the kids come out and have them demo how to do something. (The course is structured well to do this)
• Food. I served donuts and juice to the kids and outrageously strong coffee to the dad's.
• Involve the adults...get them to shoot at the end if you have time. Get the kids and dads (or moms) to make it a fun competition.
• Lots of adult supervision. One-on-one if possible. Boys, especially groups of boys, can spin out of control very quickly.

Here's the stuff I learned for "future improvement":

• Get a youth-specific rifle. I taught the boy's on my Mossberg 46m(a) -- the one I learned to shoot on -- and even at 5 lbs it was too heavy and the length of pull was too long.
• 2-on-1 instructor ratio if possible. As many boys on the firing line at a time is good because otherwise they get ansy and into trouble.
• Try to find a range that is either uncrowded or private. We had to set up on a crowded range next to a guy shooting a .44 Mag...no good. Even when he left it was noisy and severely distracted one of the boys who jumped after each loud shot on the range.

Hope my experiences help you in intro-ing youth to shooting.

BTW, wish I'd taken pictures.

 

[PATH]

Sounds like a great day! The kids learned a lot and so did you. Thank you for taking the time to volunteer to teach kids. We need more people like yourself.

 

[jobu07]

Thanks for taking the time to teach them!

 

[Standing Wolf]

Good for you and the lads alike!

 

[Edmond]

Kris,

Why didn't you use that evil black rifle I sold you last spring?

Where did you guys end up shooting at?

 

[halfgone]

question

iamkris,

I was wondering how you found the certification course for the NRA? Was it useful and informative? Expensive?

I am planning on taking some safety-then-tactical courses coming up, but I am a teacher by nature and was planning on eventually getting the NRA trainer cert. I've been meaning to ask someone what it was like and what your repsonsibilities are.


Thanks for taking them out!

HG

 

[Edmond]

HG,

In order to become certified by the NRA, you have to first take their BIT or Basic Instructor Training course. It teaches you how to teach. It goes over things like lesson plans, marketing, costs, etc...

After you take the BIT, which is 6 hours, you select the specific discipline that you wish to teach. In this case, it was the rifle instructor. I think the minimum is either 10 or 12 hours for the rifle, shotgun or handgun.

I am certified in basic pistol.

Go to www.nrahq.org and you can look up trainers in your area. What you'll need to look for are Training Counselors, they "teach the teachers."

Costs for the BIT are usually less than $100 while each discipline is in the $100-150 area. The NRA does not mandate how much to charge. Some guys do it to make money while others do it just to do it. I say that because when I took my BIT and Basic Pistol, it was 20 hours total and I paid $190. Factor in materials and the TC's time and I don't see him making very much money.

 

[iamkris]

HG -- Edmond pretty much covered it. I really want to teach kids as I think that's the future of the sport. Safety is my "lever" with the suburban mom's up here. So far (in small doses) it is working. I'm trying to get the mom's interested in taking a course themselves. I have (surprisingly) a fair amount of interest.

EDMOND! Good to hear from you. I put several hundred rounds through the WASR you sold me (in addition to some upgrades). Sold it this spring to fund a new AK pattern rifle. Working my way up through the food chain. The boys wanted to shoot it but when we went up to Bristol, they say that Wisconsin has a law that says no one under the age of 12 can have a firearm in their control. Stupid law. We ended up going to The Outdoorsman in Withrop Harbor.

As an aside, if anyone is going to the NRA Annual meeting in May in Milwaukee, stop by the airgun range during the weekend. I'll be working.

 

[North Nick]

Hats of to you! Teaching kids is a lot of fun (and very trying at times)

North Nick

 

[Molon Labe]

Great report, iamkris!

I know this may comes as a shock to many THR members, but I am on my way to becoming an NRA-Certified Rifle Instructor. I attended Basic Instructor Training last Saturday, and will be attending the two-day rifle class in a couple weeks. I'm doing it for the same reason as iamkris... to teach young folks how to shoot.

 

[Edmond]

Kris,

I hope you got your money's worth out of the WASR. I'll end up getting another one someday. Did you sell locally or did you ship?

I'll probably end up conducting my first Basic Pistol class sometime over the summer. Can't wait to do it. It'll be adults, not ready to teach kids yet. LOL.