Originally Posted by
sandsunsurf
What firearms instructor certifications other than the NRA carry some weight? My current employer uses the NRA Basic Rifle, Basic Pistol and Basic Shotgun as the standards for basic employment, and then all of us instructors have to be NRA certified instructors. I really don't care for the Basic classes, although I'll accept that they give a basic foundation to people so that everyone is on the same page. The problem is that they are a) too basic as firearms experience is a job prerequisite and b) not flexible. As an instructor, I think the NRA instructor portal is pretty poor, and I despise using it.
What I'm looking for are reasons that I can articulate to drop the NRA, as well as reasons that the such-and-such training certification is equal to or better than NRA. Something like NAUI vs PADI for scuba diving.
Thanks in advance for all of your professional opinions!
To whom does your employer deliver training? There is something to be said for having the weight of the NRA behind you in terms of general acceptance.
On the civilian side I really don't know of any organizations that have a similar program ready for consumption by the masses.
While working for my former employer I was able to develop and present numerous instructor level firearms programs. I was able to do that because I had the backing of my employer, a state agency, and the background in the subjects, which they helped me obtain.
On of the things that instructors need to constantly remember is that if you say it in front of a class, you own it.
That is the attraction for many of the canned program. There is a degree of safety for a business in following a presentation put together by someone such as the NRA - it is a generally accepted source.
In addition to the LE-related instructor courses I've attended, I'm also an NRA basic pistol, rifle and shotgun instructor. So I feel your pain. What I would suggest is that you leave the base NRA material in place, and flesh it out. Update the lesson plan and document any changes you make. Have an SME look at it and give their approval. Make sure you cover the NRA Material so you can legitimately give them the NRA cert, then develop a cert for what you've added.
I'd caution, don't get caught in the trap of shoving inappropriate material into the program to show the breadth of your knowledge or to satisfy student's Walter Mitty yearnings. Know the reason you teach everything you add to the program and be able to explain it's inclusion in objective terms.
Good luck.
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President... - Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln and Free Speech, Metropolitan Magazine, Volume 47, Number 6, May 1918.
Every Communist must grasp the truth. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party Mao Zedong, 6 November, 1938 - speech to the Communist Patry of China's sixth Central Committee
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