Dear trainers: The cost of the NRA *Basic* Pistol course is too damn high!

[BravoMike]

You guys don't count. You, especially the training freak Jackson, always train.

I'm talking about the guys who think training is too expensive.

If I trained as much as Jackson, my wife would divorce me... no doubt about it.

 

[VERT]

Are you sure? I bet Yeager's beard would tickle.

Just what I need, my wife to find strange hair on my shirt. That is as uncomfortable as finding an unknown pair of underwear in the laundry basket.

 

[Jackson]

If I trained as much as Jackson, my wife would divorce me... no doubt about it.

And yet, I still suck.

 

[Jackson]

Just what I need, my wife to find strange hair on my shirt. That is as uncomfortable as finding an unknown pair of underwear in the laundry basket.

You can always ask him not to wear underwear.

 

[VERT]

If I trained as much as Jackson, my wife would divorce me... no doubt about it.

Yeah but no zombie would be safe. You know you have had enough classes when they run out of burning helicopters for you to leap out of.

 

[the1kidd03]

You're assuming that someone who wont go out of their way to watch YouTube or conduct an internet search will go out of his way to pay $50.00 for a basic handgun class. Hell, they probably did the internet search to find the class in the first place.

True. I just wish there was more data research in this field.

 

[VERT]

You can always ask him not to wear underwear.

I always thought he was the Commando type

 

[the1kidd03]

We need the affordable firearms training act.

We do. It's called asking your friendly neighborhood gun owner to take you to the range. But that's evil here. Only people who teach for money are qualified to do that.

 

[iChokePeople]

True. I just wish there was more data research in this field.

there is no price low enough to keep "that guy" from looking around, adding up the students and fees, carry the 2, use your toes, and figure out that the instructor is getting FILTHY RiCH from teaching these classes. That guy should just keep choosing entertainment, IMHO. Not the business I would want if I were inclined to be an instructor.

 

[cedartop]

"Military experience" is WAY too broad a brush to come to any conclusion about what training/experience someone will have. On the old 1 to 10 scale, "military experience" will get you every single notch on the scale.

You are correct there my friend. I have been in classes with alleged .mil guys who were so incompetent I wanted to ask to see their DD214's. On the other hand, I have been pretty lucky with the ones that have been in my classes. From you, to sloughfoot, to those NG guys in my AK class and others. Those are example of current or former military who were not only were competent and safe, but just as importantly, took instruction well.

But back to the OP. In MI we have to take Basic pistol and PPITH to get our CPL, I am also a NRA RSO. Up until about a year ago I would have said a NRA class wasn't worth $25 let alone $100. Then I met some guys (VERT, Craig) who are NRA instructors and very much impressed me with not only their abilities but also there dedication. Where there are two, there are probably more. Unfortunately this means there are probably a lot of good instructors saddled with bad material doing the best they can. (public schools anyone?)

If the prices seem to high, don't buy. I wanted to take a class with a well known person this year before he wasn't teaching anymore, but when I saw his price had went up to $625 for a two day class, I passed. Even I have my limits. We all have to decide what it is worth for us to get good training.

 

[iChokePeople]

We do. It's called asking your friendly neighborhood gun owner to take you to the range. But that's evil here. Only people who teach for money are qualified to do that.

could have sworn I saw Jackson offer to do that earlier in the thread...

 

[bwframe]

It's much easier to whine that you could do it cheaper, then not back up your words...

...Now I'm being trolled

Never mentioned your name, yet you call me a name?

 

[the1kidd03]

there is no price low enough to keep "that guy" from looking around, adding up the students and fees, carry the 2, use your toes, and figure out that the instructor is getting FILTHY RiCH from teaching these classes. That guy should just keep choosing entertainment, IMHO. Not the business I would want if I were inclined to be an instructor.

Business is business. A lot more people look at services in this way than you might think.

 

[Hoosierkav]

Reading a course description makes me think that the NRA basic pistol class is most suited for the complete newbie--this is a gun, and this is how to keep yourself and others safe. I may be mistaken and am open to being corrected.

I would presume that people taking the class are planning on carrying, so why not design the curriculum around that? I would have no problem paying $150 for information and training to develop my mindset, reduce my liability, etc.

 

[CB45]

Never mentioned your name, yet you call me a name?

Now I'm confused...

 

[cedartop]

That's exactly what I was attempting to convey in that post. Most people, especially those who would seek an NRA basic course don't look at it that way. Especially, when only about .5% of the country are affected (victims) of violent crime per year. That means, that the training industry already has a lot of odds working against them.

Not so sure about that .5

BUREAU of JUSTICE STATISTICS, US DOJ

In 2011 there were approximately 5.8 million violent crimes in the U.S. That works out to 22.5 violent crimes per 1,000 people. To put it another way, that is 1 violent crime for every 44 persons in the U.S. in a single year.

What does a violent crime consist of for their report? Murder, Rape, Robbery, and Assault.

 

[Jackson]

Reading a course description makes me think that the NRA basic pistol class is most suited for the complete newbie--this is a gun, and this is how to keep yourself and others safe. I may be mistaken and am open to being corrected.

I would presume that people taking the class are planning on carrying, so why not design the curriculum around that? I would have no problem paying $150 for information and training to develop my mindset, reduce my liability, etc.

In my experience, this is correct. NRA Basic Pistol is a gun safety, terminology, and basics of marksmanship class. There are plenty of classes out here for people interested in carrying, too. But that is not NRA Basic Pistol.

 

[the1kidd03]

could have sworn I saw Jackson offer to do that earlier in the thread...

He mentioned that people can do that/have done that. I agree. I don't feel that scenario would depict the majority however. Someone who's likely interested in NRA basic is literally a brand new gun owner, if the they even own there own yet at all. Such a person is not as likely to know of INGO and such web forums to locate and communicate with knowledgeable gun owners. I'm not saying it can't/doesn't happen, but rather not enough to depict the majority IME.

Yet, at the same time such an effort is also heavily criticized, often by the "training snob" community here (or so I've heard it referenced), with snarky remarks downplaying the value of gun owners helping newbies. I believe such a comment was made somewhere in this thread upstream even if I remember correctly.

 

[the1kidd03]

Not so sure about that .5

BUREAU of JUSTICE STATISTICS, US DOJ

In 2011 there were approximately 5.8 million violent crimes in the U.S. That works out to 22.5 violent crimes per 1,000 people. To put it another way, that is 1 violent crime for every 44 persons in the U.S. in a single year.

What does a violent crime consist of for their report? Murder, Rape, Robbery, and Assault.

Odd that they report such a higher number than the FBI. That is where I figured the roughly .5% from their ~1.2 million reported violent crimes

 

[Jackson]

Yet, at the same time such an effort is also heavily criticized, often by the "training snob" community here (or so I've heard it reference), with remarks snarky remarks downplaying the value of gun owner helping newbie. I believe such a comment was made somewhere in this thread upstream even if I remember correctly.

I haven't noticed this. Can you point to some of that going on? Which ones are the training snobs?