Becoming a firearm instructor can be a rewarding and fun experience. There are many different types of instructors, including hunter’s safety instructors, shooting range instructors, private security instructors and more. The first step to becoming a firearm instructor is to get your license and certification.
First you will need to go through the application process for your state. You will need to submit an application with your fingerprints and passport photographs. You will also need to provide proof of completion of firearms training courses or other training in firearms instruction as well as proof of completion of any other course or training required by your state. Once you have submitted all of this information, they will issue you an approved license and give you information on how long it will take before they can process your application so that you can start teaching classes right away!
Next comes getting certified as an instructor. This is something that must be done by every state so it does not matter where you live; however each state has different requirements for certification depending on what kind of class it is that you are teaching. Most states require that all instructors take a course from one of three main organizations: NRA (National Rifle Association), PSA (Precision Shooting Association), or 3-Gun
How To Become Firearm Instructor
As a firearms instructor, your job is to teach students how to use firearms responsibly or train personnel or customers on how to use specific firearms. Firearms instructors can work at shooting ranges, weapons manufacturing companies, or government or law enforcement agencies. Although your particular responsibilities differ depending on the field in which you work, most instructors’ duties are similar. You may oversee police academy recruits during training, work with private security companies to lead coursework, or teach citizens on how to use guns.
How to Become a Firearms Instructor
The qualifications needed to become a firearms instructor can vary depending on your field. To instruct police or military personnel, you typically need to have an associate degree and previous experience in law enforcement or the military. If you teach students at a private shooting range, you need certification from a national association, such as the NRA. You can start your firearms instructor career early by becoming an apprentice in the NRA’s apprenticeship program. Excellent communication skills and situational awareness are crucial for this career.
1. FIRST OF ALL, YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO SHOOT YOURSELF AND BE GOOD AT IT.
The sad truth is that I see many students trying to sign up for advanced courses without completing a fundamental one. Everyone wants to be an advanced shooter and instructor straight away — too much of YouTube videos, computer games and Hollywood movies. This is not the way I see it.
Get solid fundamentals, learn how to operate firearms safely, learn manual manipulation of the firearms of your choice. You need to know the tools of your craft and feel comfortable with them.
To do this, start from taking fundamentals Firearms Classes. Learning fundamentals is crucial, and this process can’t be skipped if you want to fully understand the weapon system you are planning to work with and become confident when operating them. This process takes some time and would be different for each individual, and it’s also related to how much time you spend on training, how many training classes you take per year, how often you are going to train and also how much effort you put into your training.
YOUR BACKGROUND.
Your background may be a good addition to your skills or it may be something that due to old school teaching methods will limit you as well. There is a common misconception in the industry that the firearms instructor role is reserved for those who served as police officers or Military personnel only. We need to divide two things here: first the fact that you served does not make you a better instructor in terms of how you communicate with your students on the firearms class, how you pass the knowledge and how you guide them to become better shooters. Your Military or police background may be a good addition to your teaching skills though. Being a good operator does not make you a good instructor, and being a good instructor does not mean that you will be a good operator. However, I know personally very good operators with vast experience in the battlefields who are also brilliant instructors. Another thing is if you are coming from the strong Military background even as an instructor working in the private sector is way different – now you do not have a bunch of soldiers who will listen to our orders and whatever you scream at them, but you are dealing with private customers and this has to be taken into the account. You need to adapt also your teaching programme for your audience as for example Military procedures may have no applications for a concealed carry permit holder in a civilian environment. Does your background really matter? Yes and no. I know guys with Military experience teaching civilians and I know civilians teaching Military and police units. It’s only up to you which way you choose, how much time you spend on following your dream and how well you prepare yourself for the role.
2. YOU NEED TO EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE.
Attend subject-based firearms workshops and classes such as:
- – Shooting on the move
- – Close Distance Shooting
- – Dynamic shooting
- – Precision Shooting
- – Low Light Workshop
- – Concealed Carry
- – Home Defence
- – CQB Close Quarter Battle
- – Etc.
Attending additional workshops designated to a specific subject are very important if you want to become a firearms instructor. You will not only expand your knowledge but also at this stage, you may choose the specific path of your interest. For example, you may find our that you are not interested in any tactics and you want to teach in the future only pistol and run precision shooting classes. You may also decide that your favourite weapon system is AR15 and you’d like to master that platform in the future and teach people how to use it in a dynamic environment. You may also choose you’ll focus on self-defence side of carrying a firearm and will teach concealed carry permit holders how to use a pistol for self-defence. The choice is yours. Just remember the fact that you need to have at least basic knowledge on most of the subjects that are available as your students will be asking questions, and you need to be confident to either answer it straight away or admit that you don’t know it and you’ll find out. Do not try to make the answers on the spot if you are not sure about it. It’s better to say “I do not know, but I’ll find out” or “This is an interesting question, but I never thought about it” than make a bullshit answer pretending that you know it all. I got those questions too, as students think that a firearms instructor is a walking Wikipedia and know everything from historical weapons to long-distance ballistics for every calibre. Be ready for that!
3. IT’S GOOD TO HAVE A MENTOR.
I was lucky to have one, a former soldier with vast experience in the battlefield of Afganistan and Iraqi conflict. Your mentor will guide you and help you grow first as a student, then as an assistant instructor, and finally you’ll start running your drills, classes and workshops under his watchful eye. In the beginning, let’s say a year or two, it’s good to work with the same mentor. The reason being is that you’ll learn one system of teaching which you can easily adopt. If you choose however to have a few mentors you need to understand that they both may teach you different ways of firearms handling and sometimes there may be a conflict of specific techniques which can be performed in a few ways. For example, one mentor will show you slingshot slide release technique for your slide lock reload and say this is the best way to do it when on the other hand your mentor number two will show you powers stroke or slide release button technique and claim that this is the best way. They both have a right because no one technique works for all shooters and its efficiency varies from many factors, but you may get confused with it as a young firearms assistant or instructor. I was there too.
4. ASSIST AS A JUNIOR INSTRUCTOR/ASSISTANT AT AS MANY COURSES AS YOU CAN.
Running own class after let’s say completing only a few firearms courses and let’s say five days instructor course it’s for sure something that I do not recommend. Becoming proficient in running a quality class on the range requires time, practice and studying such as reading firearms designated books, reading online articles from valuable sources and being involved actively in the firearms community.
Being a firearms instructor is a journey which never ends. There is always something that can be improved, always something to learn, techniques and tactics are changing, and you need to be up to date with all of that if possible.
A good practice is to start from something small such as assisting Senior instructor on the class, watching him, making notes and starting to run single drills. Doing admin stuff, sorting the ammunition and equipment for the class is also something that you can start with and slowly progress to taking more control over the class. Remember that we are dealing with deadly force weapons and you need to be prepared to control the class in full, recognise the students that need extra attention, those who do not behave safely on the range and react appropriately. It’s good first to get to watch how the Senior instructor deals with those issues to learn additional solutions which have not been covered on your instructor course.
YOU AS AN instructor ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SAFETY OF EACH PARTICIPANT ON THE SHOOTING CLASS!!! IT’S A HUGE RESPONSIBILITY.
5. START RUNNING CLASSES TOGETHER WITH A MORE EXPERIENCED INSTRUCTOR AND STICK TO HIS COMPANY.
This is the next step. You prepare a class together, or Senior instructor will do it, taking into account drills that you want or feel comfortable to run with the students. It can be some basic stuff such as teaching a pistol grip, trigger manipulation or explaining sight alignment on a pistol. It’s good practice after you finish talking to ask the senior instructor if he has something to add. If he has brilliant! Then you’ll learn the extra points that you have missed, and you can include it in your next presentation, and also you show him respect in front of the group. Plus you both look like a good team. Everybody benefits from this simple trick.
6. GOING ON YOUR OWN.
As a natural progression, you may choose to create your brand or even circumstances will force that one day you may decide that you want to run firearms courses on your own. How to do it? I understand that you are not planning to run firearms courses in the uk due to strict legislation and you’ll be seeking to do it abroad. Poland is a good choice, but I’ve heard that some also run the courses in the Czech Republic.
a) LOGISTICS
- RSO – RANGE SAFETY OFFICER
Depending on where you want to run your firearms course, there are always legal restrictions which you have to consider first. I can explain how it works in Poland, but you are responsible for checking it how it works in your own country. In Poland and probably in any other country, RSO (Range Safety Officer) has to be present. A person with RSO qualifications is, in fact, the one who runs the show. He’s responsible for the shooting class and safety of the participants. If you want to run a firearms course in Poland you need to have a local person with RSO qualifications to be present on the range at all times. This is required by Polish law. Major shooting ranges in Poland can hire you RSO if you prove to be a trustworthy person and proof your firearms instructor Qualifications. I, of course, have RSO qualifications as well as recognised by Polish authority instructor Qualifications, but I have many foreign firearms instructor friends who are coming to Poland and run their courses without having RSO and Polish firearms instructor Qualifications. Cost of hiring RSO is normally between 100 – 150 EURO per day considering that RSO is not acting as an instructor. If you want to hire an instructor as well to help you with the course costs are between 200 – 500 Euro per day.
- THE shooting range
You need to find a shooting range, which will be suitable for the content of your courses.
To start with basic pistol courses, you don’t need anything super sophisticated. Basic 15m line with 8 – 10 shooting stances would be enough. If you are planning to run a carbine course, of course, you need a range with at least 30m – 50m would be ideal. It’s good to find a range which can supply you RSO to work with that you have everything in one place. Whenever is the shooting range the RSO must be there! Cost of Hiring shooting range depends on the range, and it can be anything between 100 – 500 EURO per day depending on the facility.
- WEAPONS
The facility can hire firearms. It’s good to find a facility which got firearms you need to run the class. Cost of firearms hire is usually between £10 – 30 EURO per day depending on the weapon system and lace. The facility should supply holsters for the pistols and mag pouches for FREE when you hire pistols for your class. Some facilities charge an extra 5 – 10 EUROS for hiring additional equipment such as carbine slings and plate carriers.
Ear and Eye protection should be provided by the facility for FREE.
- AMMUNITION
You going to need it. Find a facility which can supply you with ammunition as well. It should not be a problem. Cost of ammo is depending on the calibre and type between 0.4 Euro for 9mm to 2 Euros for .223 FX Simunition per round.
- ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD
You need to provide those for your clients if you are selling training packages and take people to shoot abroad. The facility should arrange this for you. Contact the manager and let him know about your requirements. Cost is between 20 – 50 EURO per person per night in double rooms. (Prices in Poland)
- AIRPORT TRANSFERS
