One final thought on Tom Givens’s Rangemaster Instructor Development and Certification course before I move on to considering apprenticeship, credentials, and branding in the private citizen gun training industry. Listening to the Primary & Secondary ModCast #93 on how to find an instructor, the Rangemaster course was singled out as a high quality instructor certification … Continue reading
This summer I began collecting data for the chapter of my book that will cover the civilian or private citizen gun training industry. My first stop was a Rangemaster Firearms Training Services instructor development and certification course conducted by Tom Givens. When Givens became a professional defensive firearms instructor in the mid-1970s, he could count … Continue reading
The sun has risen on the 5th and final day of the 250 Defensive Pistol course at Gunsite Academy, the original course at Gunsite designed and taught by founder Col. Jeff Cooper. The 250 pistol course is now referred to as “The Gunsite Experience.” Perhaps it has always been that way, but today Gunsite is … Continue reading
Day 3 of the 5 day Gunsite Academy 250 Defensive Pistol course is the day on which the classroom presentation on mental conditioning or “mindset” is given. Rangemaster Bill Halvorsen delivered the mindset lecture today. The three key elements were: The Combat Triad: Mindset, Gun Handling and Practical Marksmanship The 7 principles of personal defense … Continue reading
I am only 2 days into my observation of the 5 day Gunsite Academy 250 Pistol course — “the Gunsite Experience” — and I can already tell it is going to take me some time to digest all that I am seeing. So, for now something brief (and not at all novel). The only published … Continue reading
Fake Recoil Magazine cover courtesy of Gun Free Zone this morning. Of course, most humor is grounded in some reality. Here the reality is drama in the gun training “community” or “cottage industry” (as Tom Givens called it) about who, what, where, when, why, and how gun training should take place. These debates — much … Continue reading
The recent announcement of a collaboration between the United States Concealed Carry Association, the Personal Defense Network, and Rob Pincus of I.C.E. Training, reminded me of a blog post I began drafting two years ago(!!!) while listening to Paul Carlson’s Safety Solutions Academy podcast (March 20, 2015). The following statement by Pincus to Carlson caught … Continue reading
