ANYONE IN VIRGINIA: VCDL needs some help...

[John_Wayne777]

I received this from the VCDL over the weekend:



Member Shawn Deehan is coordinating Gun Rights Week coming up this week from February 11-14 (Wednesday through Saturday). Each night from Wednesday through Friday there will be speakers from 7 PM to 9 PM.

I will be speaking on the night of Thursday, February 12th.

Hundreds of students are expected to attend this event from around the state.

URGENT CALL FOR INSTRUCTORS

The event needs ten (10) NRA certified firearms instructors on Saturday, February 14th, from 10 AM to 3 PM top help teach around 100 new college students to shoot.

The shooting will be done at:

U.S. Training and Development Center Top Gun Shooting Range
4883 Early Road
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
540-434-8999

Also needed are nine 9MM pistols for the students to use while being taught to shoot.

If you can help, please let me know and I will forward to Shawn.

For more information on the event, click here:

http://gunrightsweek.org/


If there are any NRA certified instructors out there who can show up in Harrisonburg that Saturday, please contact Phillip VanCleave (philip@virginiasystems.com) and let him know ASAP.

I'm not NRA certified yet, (the cert classes seem to be hard to find) but I've offered to show up and help keep a safe range if they need a hand. I've also volunteered to provide several 9mm handguns for use in instructing the college kids who attend the range session. I would imagine spare eye and ear pro would also be welcome.

If any M4Carbiners plan to attend and help out, I'd be more than happy to buy you some lunch/dinner/whathaveyou. While Harrisonburg isn't a gourmet mecca, they do have some nice restaurants in the area. ;)

[30 cal slut]

I'm not NRA certified yet

That's funny, considering you have more training under your belt than most LEO's do.

[Jay Cunningham]

I was invited to speak to a small group of pistol instructors the other night, some of whom were NRA certified. I have no NRA quals whatsoever.

:eek:

[John_Wayne777]

Originally posted by 30cal:
That's funny, considering you have more training under your belt than most LEO's do.


Yes...well...I wasn't planning on bringing that up. :D

I'm on good terms with a few of the LEO's in my area...but only two of them have any idea what sort of training I have. One happened to be at one of the BW carbine classes I attended. He's now back home (he worked some BW contracts in the 'Stan) and back on the SWAT team.

[ToddG]

I can certainly understand their desire to have certified NRA instructors, especially if they're planning to run the class according to a boilerplate NRA syllabus for Basic Pistol.

There is also a significant difference between someone who has a lot of shooting training/experience and someone who has professional teaching training. Like most prerequisites, you'll undoubtedly lose some good guys along with all the bad ones, but it's a simple checkbox to use as a go/no-go rather than depending on a detailed individual assessment.

[John_Wayne777]

I can certainly understand their desire to have certified NRA instructors, especially if they're planning to run the class according to a boilerplate NRA syllabus for Basic Pistol.


I could be wrong, but I don't think it's going to be an NRA class proper...more like a very brief introduction to firearms and some limited live fire with a heavy focus on safe handling and eliminating the stigma on guns.

I'm still awaiting details from the event coordinator, but my initial read is that the NRA instructors thing is aimed mainly at not having any idiots who do dumb things in a position to supervise rank noobs in the handling of firearms. As soon as I get the contact information for the coordinator I'll try to find out how this shindig is supposed to run.

[ToddG]

Looking over the details again, they may be doing a First Steps class (which is a formal 3-4hr NRA program).

[CarlosDJackal]

I've received this request the other night and have agreed to help.

[John_Wayne777]

Looking forward to seeing you there, Carlos!

If you know any more details about what's happening, by all means share with the class.

[luxor]

Carlos, you and johnwayne just want to go score with some collage girls.

[CarlosDJackal]

Carlos, you and johnwayne just want to go score with some collage girls.

It was either this or the Nation's Goon Show in Chantilly. Chantilly never had a freaking chance!! :D

[Aray]

It is my understanding that a non NRA certified individual can facilitate and coach during an NRA sanctioned class as long as there is a Certified Instructor/Training Coordinator in charge.

[John_Wayne777]

I just received an e-mail from the event coordinator with some more information:



Please do come and bring your friend and the 9mm's you mentioned.

We will begin to prepare students for the line at 9 am. 9 students will go to the line with 9 instructors and one Range Master. We will work in shifts to keep the lanes busy and get student shooters safely to and from the line. The more instructors, the more students we can give an opportunity to experience shooting for the first time.

We are looking for Glock 9mm's primarily and any 9mm ammo that you can spare, to help us defray ammo costs. Not trying to use up your personal ammo, but, if you can spare just a little it would be a huge help.

We really need your connections and your presence.


It sounds like they are really scrambling for help putting this thing on, so at this point I think anyone who can contribute in any way will be put to work somehow.

If anyone has some spare 9mm ammo to contribute to the cause....

It sounds to me like they've really been struggling to put this thing together. Perhaps at future events they could get some sponsorships to help out with some of this stuff.

[John_Wayne777]

For those wondering about directions to the range, it's thankfully very simple.

Harrisonburg has a Cracker Barrel that's just off of Interstate 81:

121 Pleasant Valley Rd
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
(540) 574-3099

The exit from 81 takes you on to route 11. You'll make a right on to Pleasant Valley road. There will be a beat up Ramada on the corner and past that there's the Cracker Barrel. If you keep driving past the CB you'll encounter a stop light on an overpass that goes over 81. If you take the right immediately after that light you'll be on the road you need.

You'll pass an auto auction and the HQ of Tactical & Survival Specialties (some of you in LE may have dealt with them) and a couple of warehouses. At the very end of the road on the left you'll see the US Training and Development Center, which houses the indoor range we'll be using.

I'll have my cell with me and I'll be more than willing to assist in getting folks to the range since I know the area fairly well. PM me if you intend to come and I'll give you my cell number. If you can make it to the CB I can run up the road and lead you back to the range.

[John_Wayne777]

Gentlemen:

The time draws near.

I'll be bringing a bunch of pistols and targets to the range tomorrow. My plan is to be there at 9 am sharp.

If you plan to attend tomorrow and would like a lifeline to help with directions, please PM me and I'll send you my cell number.

My offer to buy dinner for any M4Carbine.net members who show still stands. There's a pretty nice Thai restaurant in Harrisonburg...:D

[CarlosDJackal]

I am bringing two Glock 9mms (19 and 34) plus a Walter P22 and .22LR Conversion kit for the Glock 19 and whatever ammo I can spare.

I will also have my Glock 23 with me and will be using it for demonstration purposes (as needed). Now if I can just find my training barrel. :confused:

I plan on getting there around 9-ish.

I'll see you then!!

[ToddG]

I had to bail, sorry. Best of luck to everyone going ...

[GLOCKMASTER]

I hate I didn't see this earlier. :(

[RWK]

Same here. Although I couldn't have attended I'd have gladly donated a case of 9mm. :(

[vaspence]

I'll be there at 0900 sharp with 2 G17's and a G19 plus some ammo. I guess I can bring a AA kit for the 17 also. Anybody in Richmond need or want to ride PM me before 11pm and we can work it out, I can take a couple easy.

See yall in the morning!

[John_Wayne777]

The event closed down at 3:00 pm. Here's my AAR:

Overall, not bad. I was worried that it was going to be a Charlie Foxtrot but it ran more smoothly than any of us expected.

The event could have been better organized, in my opinion, but then again organizing an event like this is a lot like herding cats.

It was good to hang out with Carlos and Spence and to show some inexperienced shooters the ropes. I didn't keep an accurate count but it seemed to me that nearly half of the students who attended were female....a very positive sign. Most of the brand new shooters turned in phenomenal performance for first timers. We used 4" bullseyes (a little trick I stole from Larry Vickers) for the shooters at 5-10 yards (depending on the performance of the shooter) and several had no problem keeping most of the shots in the black. For the level of shooter we had, that was great performance.

Several of us brought .22 pistols and revolvers in addition to the 9mm handguns...and that turned out to be a life saver. A small group of shooters had no desire to shoot the 9mms. The indoor range makes the bark of the 9mm a lot worse than an outdoor range would, and that psyched out a couple of shooters. Easing them in with the .22 helped out tremendously. It also allowed us to give the students the maximum amount of trigger time possible...a move which most of my trainees noted and appreciated.

We had about 30 minutes with each shooter and despite that limited amount of time and the limited ammo I think we did the shooters a lot of good. I whipped out the ol' ball-and-dummy and empty-case-on-the-front-sight drills to help my shooters and these drills seemed to benefit their performance quite a bit. Lasers on the guns would have been an ENORMOUS help in diagnosing sight alignment and trigger control issues. If you are teaching newbies, do it with a CT Laser Grip equipped weapon. Trust me: It's an invaluable diagnostic tool.

At the end of the day nobody had any extra holes in them and every student I talked to (or who I overheard talking to the press...The TV station in Harrisonburg and the Harrisonburg paper sent out multiple reporters and camera-men to cover the event at the range) said they enjoyed the experience and wanted to do more shooting in the future....and that was the point. Providing a safe environment where folks can experience the joys of the shooting sports. Fewer people today have experience with firearms as a part of growing up than 50 years ago. If we as gun owners don't make these attempts to reach out we will become an increasingly more insular and alienated group.

EDIT:

Here are some links where you can see coverage of the events and where press stories and photos of the event will be found:

http://www.whsv.com/ -- TV station in Harrisonburg
http://www.dnronline.com/ -- Harrisonburg newspaper

[GLOCKMASTER]

Good job. It sounds like everyone had a good time.

WHSV Story (http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/39618042.html)

Gun Rights Activists Worry
Posted: 5:30 PM Feb 14, 2009
Last Updated: 10:22 PM Feb 14, 2009
Reporter: Philip Townsend
Email Address: ptownsend@whsv.com
0 comments
Gun Rights Activists Worry


They're firing off, and still looking for answers from Washington about the future of the second amendment.

Executive Director of GunRightsWeek.org, Shawn Deehan says, "During the election, President Obama repeatedly said that he's always supported the second amendment and he has always urged his supporters to tell people he supported the second amendment. That's a very vague statement and I don't know what he means by that."

Deehan says the gun rights community wants clarification from the Obama administration about his stance on gun control.

Deehan adds, "We are fearful that he may try and limit our access to hand guns, long guns, military style weapons which have been the most common long guns people have owned since the turn of the century."

Those fears are clear for proponents of gun rights in the Valley. Chris Earman at the Top Gun Shooting Range in Harrisonburg says he's seen a rush of people trying to secure their concealed hand gun license.

Earman says, "Within the last six months to a year and a half, they have just skyrocketed. We've had 35 to 40 plus people every Saturday shooting, and new membership just went through the roof. People coming are just scared their gun rights are going to be taken from them."

While students like JMU freshman Kyle Smith aren't old enough to get their concealed hand gun licenses, he says it's still a concern he has for the future.

Smith says, "I'd worry that legislation would eventually block me from getting that."

JMU students got a chance to learn more about gun safety from experts, and also got the chance to shoot handguns Saturday at the range.

[John_Wayne777]

The "Right Now @ 6" video link on the WHSV website has the story on the range session. I tried my best to stay off camera, but it appears that I wasn't successful.

Damn.

[ToddG]

I tried my best to stay off camera, but it appears that I wasn't successful.

TVIP.

[Robb Jensen]

The "Right Now @ 6" video link on the WHSV website has the story on the range session. I tried my best to stay off camera, but it appears that I wasn't successful.

Damn.

Can I have your autograph? ;)

Looks like they got the infamous John Murphy on camera too.

[John_Wayne777]

TVIP.

How do you like that? The guy's logo gets on TV and in front of a bunch of new shooters even after he bailed on me, and he wants to bust chops....

[ToddG]

How do you like that? The guy's logo gets on TV and in front of a bunch of new shooters even after he bailed on me, and he wants to bust chops....

I'm glad we understand one another. :cool:

[CarlosDJackal]

Washington Post Article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/14/AR2009021401668.html)

:D The young lady in the picture with me was probably the best shot out of the six shooters I dealt with that day. I had to make sure she had double-hearing protection when I found out she was a Violinist.

It was nice to catch up with vaspence and John Wayne777 again.

[John_Wayne777]

I didn't know that guy was from the Washington Post.....Wowsers.

Carlos strangely seemed to end up with a string of cute females to instruct yesterday....we're not sure exactly how that happened. On top of that, most of them were good shots.

As a side note, every student I had wanted to take their target home with them to commemorate the day. My little bullseye scheme worked pretty good.

[CarlosDJackal]

I didn't know that guy was from the Washington Post.....Wowsers.

Carlos strangely seemed to end up with a string of cute females to instruct yesterday....we're not sure exactly how that happened. On top of that, most of them were good shots...

I had the whole "puppy dog" thing going that day. :) Unfortunately, I didn't even get scratch behind an ear or a pat on the head!! :(

[vaspence]

I had a great time also, especially beng in the company of the two famous guys. JW will have to tell you all about his first student. I believe there's a pic floating around somewhere. That is followed by a couple of rounds of students coming in, nice looking girl lining up in front of JW and Carlos going "I think we need to dress the line left". JW did get a chance to instruct a female on the 5th round in spite of Carlos trying to dress the line to his favor! And we flat out had some great shooters. I had a kid who had never shot a handgun hit the orange on the first shot at 7 yards and proceed to put 22 out of 30 in the orange or black, with nothing outside the 7 ring. A good time and I look forward to doing it again.

Spence

[30 cal slut]

i am glad this intro experience was safe and a fun time for all.

the participants were in very good company ... (JW777 and Carlos, etc).

these kinds of posts motivate me to try to do the same in my neck of the woods (or at the very least they make me want to move down to VA).

up where i am, there is an explosion of applications for our state pistol permit (our CCW/CHP), even amongst those who admit to voting for BHO. no shortage of bitter irony up here.

[1911sforever]

I ran four 35 minute classes of 6-8 students each.

The Four Rules
Nomenclature
Five elements of an accurate shot
How to load a magazine
Load/dry fire/unload practical exercise

It looked like the kids had a real great time so the whole trip was worth it for me.

The infamous John Murphy

[CarlosDJackal]

I had a great time also, especially beng in the company of the two famous guys. JW will have to tell you all about his first student. I believe there's a pic floating around somewhere. That is followed by a couple of rounds of students coming in, nice looking girl lining up in front of JW and Carlos going "I think we need to dress the line left". JW did get a chance to instruct a female on the 5th round in spite of Carlos trying to dress the line to his favor! And we flat out had some great shooters. I had a kid who had never shot a handgun hit the orange on the first shot at 7 yards and proceed to put 22 out of 30 in the orange or black, with nothing outside the 7 ring. A good time and I look forward to doing it again.

Spence

Can't blame a guy for trying!! :D I even tried to serenade a waitress at the Texas Roadhouse (that didn''t work either). :p