The importance of solid firearms training cannot be overstated. You will sometimes hear people say that, “without ammunition, a gun is just an expensive paperweight”, but it’s more rare to hear people vocalize how important proper training is.

The reality is however, that if you own a firearm but haven’t been trained on it, that gun is a liability. Just having it in your house is a liability, but if there were ever an emergency situation where you needed to use a gun to protect yourself or loved ones, things could be really scary.

Types of Firearms Training

As an armed citizen, the goal of your training is to be safe and proficient. You don’t need to be a trick shot. You don’t need to be a tactical badass. You need to be able to defend and protect yourself and those in your care if and when the need ever arises. Safety can’t be emphasized enough. Improper handling and storage of guns leads to a lot of accidents every year.

In particular, we emphasize the importance of handgun training, because handguns are such a versatile tool. They come in all calibers and makes, they can be carried concealed, kept in a vehicle, a bag, or used in home defense. We recommend that you give yourself a solid foundation of handgun training, that you can build upon further down the road.

Solid firearms training should focus on the fundamentals of center-mass defensive shooting, safely reloading, and incorporate some movement and body mechanics.

Where to Get Your Firearms Training

If you live near a decent-sized metropolitan area, there’s a good chance that there are firearms academies local to you. There are also several firearms trainers that will travel around the country, offering select training dates in different areas.

There are also a lot of online firearms training courses that are very good, and offer an extremely comprehensive training. The major downside of this is that you miss out on the immediate feedback loop of an in-person instructor, that can correct things he sees you doing, and offer additional advice. On the positive side however, online training courses (usually videos) can be paused, slowed down, and played again and again, whereas an in-person training event obviously can’t.