The Civilian Gun Training (Cottage) Industry (or Community): Collected Posts on Gun Culture 2.0

I recently tabulated the amount of time I have spent wandering around American gun culture at formal events. Many of these were gun training classes or courses.

This page collects my blog posts on the private citizen (i.e., civilian) gun training industry (or community). These posts offer my initial reflections on the topic as part of my ongoing research. Therefore, I welcome readers’ reactions, responses, references, elaborations, and corrections.

I begin with my posts on the rise and organization of the civilian gun training industry as a whole, followed by links to collected posts on particular gun trainers, and concluding with miscellaneous other posts about gun trainers/training.

Selfie at Gunsite 250 Defensive Pistol Course, June 2017

On the civilian gun training (cottage) industry as a whole (in reverse chronological order, most recent first):

• On the Shoulders of Giants – Again
• Subject Matter Experts and Expertise in the Firearms Training Industry
• Branding in the Firearms Training Industry
• Credentialism and the Do-It-Yourself Approach to the Firearms Training Industry
• The Apprentice – Private Citizen Firearms Instructor Edition
• Contemporary Private Ctiizen Gun Trainers – Like Dwarfs on the Shoulders of Giants?
• How Rangemaster Puts the “Certification” in the Instructor Development and Certification Course
• Observing Tom Givens’s Rangemaster Instructor Development and Certification Course
• Certifying Civilian Firearms Instructors – A Non-Governmental Approach
• Occupational Licensing of Civlian Firearms Instructors?
• The Association of Defensive Shooting Instructors: Semi-Professionalization of Civilian Gun Trainers?
• What is a “Professional Civilian Firearms Trainer”?
• The Viability of the “Full Time” Firearms Instructor Job by Karl Rehn
• The Rise of the Private Citizen Gun Training (Cottage) Industry

 

My multiple posts on Col. Jeff Cooper and Gunsite Academy.

 

Massad Ayoob and David Yamane at MAG-40 course, Phoenix, AZ, November 2012. Photo by Sandra Stroud Yamane

My interest in firearms training for private citizens is as longstanding as my interest in gun culture. Some of my earliest posts (see below) were about my experience at Massad Ayoob’s MAG-40 course back in 2012!

• Massad Ayoob on Guns, Early 1980s Edition
• Shooting the MAG-40 Qualification Course
• Massad Ayoob’s MAG-40 Course – A Humanitarian Approach to Armed Citizenship
• Massad Ayoob Checks the Accuracy of My Handgun

 

John Correia appearing at HK SHOT Show booth. Photo by David Yamane

Collected posts on John Correia of Active Self-Protection.

 

Craig Douglas teaching Extreme Close Quarters Concepts, Carthage, NC, March 2019. Photo by Sandy Yamane

Collected posts on Craig Douglas of Shivworks.

 

Tom Givens on the range at Rangemaster Instructor Development and Certification Course, May 2017. Photo by David Yamane

Collected posts on Tom Givens and Rangemaster, including the (formerly Polite Society) Tactical Conference.

 

Travis Haley teaching HSP D5 Handgun course in North Carolina, November 2018. Photo by David Yamane

Collected posts on Travis Haley of Haley Strategic Partners.

 

With Brian Hill, owner and head instructor of The Complete Combatant. Photo by Sandy Yamane

Collected posts on Brian Hill of The Complete Combatant.

 

Paul Howe teaching tactical rifle course at CSAT, February 2019. Photo by David Yamane

Collected posts on Paul Howe of Combat Shooting and Tactics (CSAT).

 

With John Murphy at Concealed Carry: Advanced Skills and Tactics course, June 2018.

Collected posts on John Murphy of F.P.F. Training.

 

Rob Pincus at Combat Focus Shooting Instructor Conference, 2017. Photo by David Yamane

Collected posts on Rob Pincus of I.C.E. Training.

 

Gabe Suarez teaching Pistol Gunfighting. Photo by David Yamane

Collected posts on Gabe Suarez of Suarez International.

 

Daniel Shaw and David Yamane with instructors Cory Hupp and Joe Weyer at Alliance Police Training. Photo by Tamara Keel, https://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com

Collected posts on Joe Weyer and Alliance Police Training shoothouse course.

 

Gratuitous photo of Greg Ellifritz teaching at Rangemaster Tactical Conference, 2018. Photo by David Yamane

And, last but not least, here are my miscellaneous posts by and about civilian gun trainers and training (newest first):

• What a Study Military Small Arms Innovation Has to Teach Us About Civilian Defensive Firearms: Defining End Users (3 of 3)
• Science-y $#!^ as a Red Flag in Gun Training (Bob Keller and Lee Williams)
• Show Me The Money – Pitfalls of Gun Training as a Commercial Product (Bob Keller and Lee Williams)
• Post-9/11 Gun Training Doctrine According to Bob Keller and Lee Williams
• Two Gun Trainers, Three Opinions; or, One Gun Trainer, Two Schools?
• Distinguishing Responsibly Armed Citizens from Mere Gun Owners (Erik Utrecht, Michigan Defensive Firearms Institute on Ballistic Radio)
• Talking with Karl Rehn on the Handgun World Podcast
• Gun Guys: Legend Bill Wilson Interviews Legend Ken Hackathorn
• Jiu-Jitsu is the Answer. What was the Question?
• Firearms Training and Gun Safety: What is Actually Taught?
• Back to Basics: Taking the NRA Basics of Pistol Shooting Course
• From the Lucky Gunner Lounge: Five Reasons Firearms Training Fails
• Gun Trainer Drama (fake Recoil magazine cover)
• The Tactical Professor Claude Werner on Negative Outcomes, Standards, and Gun Culture 3.0
• Ken Hackathorn on the American Warrior Show
• NRA Carry Guard “Insurance” and “Training” Program Launched
• Mike Seeklander: “The Way is Training”
• From Armed Self-Defense to PreFense While Armed (Steve Tarani)
• Defining Problems and Offering Solutions in the Private Citizen Gun Training Industry
• Civilized Violence: Lessons from Gun Schools (sociologist Harel Shapira)
• Bridging the Gap by Greg Ellifritz
• Someone is in your home. Can you shoot him? Should you? by Grant Cunningham
• The Cornered Cat Kathy Jackson on What Women Want
• Lt. Col Dave Grossman on Sheepdogs and Violence