What certification do you NEED to teach people to shoot?

[1KPerDay]

I've taught probably a couple hundred people to shoot. People say they really like my teaching style and I've helped them a lot. Many have said I should charge $100/hr for "private lessons." Thinking about trying a side or primary career.

Purely beginners or intermediates at this point.

I have taught (unrelated) classes as a grad student and locally and enjoy teaching. I have no formal firearms instruction/training other than the BS I had to go through to get a MA "carry" permit, which included classroom and range instruction, and CCP class. Is there a regulatory group that you need to satisfy? NRA instructor certification?

I'm interested in what's REQUIRED, not "it would be a good idea to...."

I live in Utah.

Thanks for any helpful info.

 

[RX-79G]

Just as much certification as you need to teach someone to cook or drive a car.



To teach the CC course there are requirements, but the course doesn't include shooting instruction:

http://bci.utah.gov/concealed-firearm/information-for-concealed-firearm-instructors/

 

[Old Fuff]

You need nothing, unless your training is part of a procedure involved in the issuance of a state concealed weapon permit or license; or any other license or permit issued under government authority. An example would be training private security guards or investigators so they can carry firearms as part of they're employment. Here, state certification is usually required.

However, certification by some authority, such as the NRA, is highly desirable for what should be obvious reasons, and as a hedge against liability. Also if you plan to train members of the general public consider liability insurance.

Information on instructor training is available from the NRA.

 

[ford8nr]

I'm pretty sure NO state requires you to be 'certified' to teach someone basic skills. As a business you may run into insurance issues without certification. The NRA offeres both for their instructors. You also run into less liability issues teaching a standard course.

 

[FL-NC]

The same as teaching anything else, at least from an instructional standpoint. You need to insure that the content is applicable to the target audience (you aren't at the level to teach SF guys- any more than a kindergarten arithmetic teacher is at the level to teach ivy league math majors). You also need to be able to deliver the content in an easy to understand, logical format, and be able to perform all of the tasks flawlessly on command.

 

[EIB0879]

NRA Instructor and RSO certifications are good to have. I don't use mine anymore but keep them up to date. I will say that the certifications didn't really teach me anything that I didn't learn in the military as an Instructor, Range OIC, and Safety Officer. They are just more tangible i.e. you can pull out a card and supposedly prove you are qualified.

I will second the liability insurance. If I was still instructing, getting liability insurance would be the first thing I would get.

 

[Telekinesis]

Absolutely needed? I can't think of anything. There's no national regulatory body per se.

Thinking about trying a side or primary career.

What you SHOULD do is
a) get a NRA certification so that you can use their insurance. Otherwise rates (reportedly) suck. They're also one of the few nationally recognized training certifications.
b) take your role as an instructor seriously and get as much training as you can from as many instructors as possible. Your students deserve to get the best training you can give them, and you can't do that if you don't continue to improve yourself.


Think about what you would want to say should one of your students negligently shoot themselves or someone else and you be called to testify. The other side's attorney is going to LOVE when you tell them "I have no certification and no additional training beyond a CCW course". However if you can rattle off a list of well known instructors you have trained with you'll have more weight (rightly or wrongly) behind your training decisions. And you definitely want insurance. You'll also want to be in something like a LLC or Corp for the protection of your personal assets.

 

[Jim Watson]

All good points. In addition to the certification that is required for some people to take you seriously, I will add, that if you are going to do business, you must do business.

Have you got a range available? Does it have "modern conveniences?"
Have you got a course of study? Different ones for different levels?

Have you got a plan to get customers in? Word of mouth, plugs from gun dealers, advertising.

Have you got a table of charges? And bookkeeping to control expenses (range rental, targets, loaner gear) and tax returns.

How big will a class be?

 

[hdwhit]

I'm interested in what's REQUIRED,

Contact your state's Attorney General's office.

 

[1KPerDay]

Thanks all. One on one or couples at most. Insurance and LLC for sure. I am an experienced SO but will look into getting the paperwork and also NRA training. Good ideas.

 

[Old Dog]

I'm interested in what's REQUIRED, not "it would be a good idea to...."

Well, then, the next question would be, "Do you want to make any money teaching people to shoot, or are you simply doing this as a labor of love?"

The reality is, we live in a society where credentials are vital, and that's what people are looking for. NRA certification at a minimum, otherwise, your credibility will certainly be open to question. There are several reputable shooting schools that offer instructor training (Tom Givens, for example is a member of this forum, and his organization does a great instructor training course); if you haven't availed yourself of some good training, frankly, you're probably not going to be able to succeed in an already over-crowded industry.

 

[strambo]

Agree with pretty much all above. Technically nothing, but prudently at minimum NRA certification and liability insurance. LLC is a good idea to protect your personal assets.

Other instructor certs beyond the NRA would be good for your personal development but not needed up front if you are starting off with word of mouth business on occasion.

If you have any current security or LE/military credentials, the NRA LE instructor courses are very good and very reasonably priced. You can add the civilian certs just by having the LE credential and paying the fee. I have the LE Handgun/Shotgun instructor cert. and it is the primary one I keep up (24hrs continuing ed. req. every 3 years). I don't think the civilian certs. require any continuing ed.

 

[Warp]

Consider going to a couple Appleseed events. Shoot Rifleman. Take an orange hat. Start learning to instruct people in the fundamentals of rifle marksmanship (including safe gun handling) for free.

http://www.appleseedinfo.org/

http://www.appleseedinfo.org/search-states-map.php

If you want to bring in paying customers/strangers as a business kind of deal, you are going to want some certifications, probably from the NRA at least as a start.

http://www.nrainstructors.org/search.aspx

 

[taliv]

not required, but in the "really good idea" category is instructor insurance