Becoming an NRA instructor

[horseshoe crab]

What are people's experiences with this? I really enjoy teaching people to shoot, and have experience in teaching. I'm not sure if there are other organizations I can teach for. The NRA is the only one I really know about. How does one go about becoming an instructor? Do you get some kind of certificate? Is it valid nationally?

 

[ping]

You can go to NRAInstructors.org and find when and where to attend a course to become a NRA Instructor for pistol, rifle, shotgun, etc. I did it several years ago with an Instructor in Vermont and enjoyed it very much. Yes, you get a certificate that certifies you as an Instructor for the discipline you choose. I also sent in my certs to the State Police to become certified in MA as an Instructor. Maybe someone else can chime in on whether you have to be certified in the state in which you will hold a course, I am not sure about this as life changed for me and I never got around to holding any coursed.

 

[twinbrook86]

I'm about to sign up for this too. I know goal also teaches the class that you need to be certified from the state

 

[andrew]

I have been one since 1991. I am a "community service" instructor. When I teach -- rarely these days -- I do it for cost of NRA materials, period. When I lived in FL, I kept a stack of CCW permits and at the end of the Basic Pistol course, we would fill it out. I was a FL notary, so I did that too. He'll, I even took them to the PO.

It is good to hone one's skills and this does help. That said, I think Rob Boudrie has an excellent rant about how some of us instructors suck very, very hard.

 

[garandman]

I have been one since 1991. I am a "community service" instructor. When I teach -- rarely these days -- I do it for cost of NRA materials, period. /

I am taking the course because I want to invite Boston politicians to come to the range with me, and I think it will be more difficult for them to say no if I have all possible certifications.

 

[SamH]

Scouter-Rick has the NRA Pistol Instructor w/ HFS Instructor certification course this month

and also in February

 

[Independence Arms]

There you go. Scouter Rick is a great guy, and holds a great class.

 

[mike01824]

I am taking the course because I want to invite Boston politicians to come to the range with me, and I think it will be more difficult for them to say no if I have all possible certifications.

Doesn't GOAL already do this every year?

 

[Navy Moose]

I took Jon Green's GOAL NRA Instructor course back in March 2012 and it was fantastic.

 

[BringTheRain]

There you go. Scouter Rick is a great guy, and holds a great class.

This.

Know that it takes a while for the NRA to turn around credentials. It seems longer lately, think more people are picking up the ball and trying to expand the "community".

 

[Rob Boudrie]

The instructor course tends to run $300ish - NRA training counselors have to pay to travel to the location of their training class, and they usually do it in part for the money. I have run into many volunteer NRA instructors, but have not yet encountered a training counselor who volunteers his/her services (though there may be some).

For MA licensing, only a cert issued by a MA instructor "counts". The good news is that a simple application, $50 check, and copy of your NRA cert and MA LTC # gets you a 10 year MA instructor certification.

 

[RLBreton]

Scouter-Rick has the NRA Pistol Instructor w/ HFS Instructor certification course this month

and also in February

THANK YOU!!! The missus and I were just talking about where to start with becoming and NRA instructor

 

[rep308]

I took the class 20 years ago and help teach classes 3-4 times per year. The class was very good and I learned a lot.

 

[scouter-rick]

My 2013 schedule for the the first 6 months with many Instructor level courses will be released in the next few days. Please PM me with an email address if you would like to be included in the email list.

-Rick

 

[Rider]

My 2013 schedule for the the first 6 months with many Instructor level lurses will be released in the next few days. Please PM me with an email address if you would like to be included in the email list.

-Rick

Thanks Rick. So the class you are teaching this month is all that one needs for MA, and then once certified, I can get the state approval(for whatever that gets me). Is that correct? You're a bit of a drive from me, but I haven't seen anything closer.

 

[scouter-rick]

You are correct. It is not uncommon for me to have VT, ME, NH, CT and RI represented in my classes. I have even had NY and NJ.

-R

 

[yanici]

Rick helped me out and I didn't even take the Instructor Class from him. Thanks, Rick for sending the necessary fillable PDFs that I needed.

 

[SkuaSeptember]

Thanks Rick. So the class you are teaching this month is all that one needs for MA, and then once certified, I can get the state approval(for whatever that gets me). Is that correct? You're a bit of a drive from me, but I haven't seen anything closer.

I'm north of Boston and the class with Rick was absolutely worth the drive!

 

[MisterHappy]

I have taken both Rick's course (shotgun), and GOAL's (HFS, BP) with Jon Green. Both are top-notch.

One thing to remember that if you take an NRA Instructor course, you're agreeing to teach their material, their way.

No "W" word; their system, their rules.

Not that I'm implying that you're a loose cannon, but there have been posters here, saying that they "augment" the NRA materials- that's not what you're supposed to do.

The other thing that you will find helpful is if you can assist an experienced Instructor, at least until you find your footing. There's a crapload of info; it's a long day. At our Club, we have a Training Team, with a core of every-timers and a bunch of when-I-canners (myself and my son included), so different faces can keep the class fresh, and so you, as the Instructor, don't get wiped out 2/3 of the way through.

Best of luck.

 

[Arto]

if you're an instructor/RSO, you can take the scouts shooting...

 

[daddybld]

I took my course with Jon Green at GOAL (back when Darius helped, RIP). Jon Green is a phenomenal instructor and a phenomenal proponent of the 2A. As someone stated above, you teach the NRA class the NRA way.

Another option is Sig Sauer's instructor courses. These are PHENOMENAL as well. I highly recommend getting NRA under your belt, and then if you get really involved in teaching check out the SIG instructor classes. They will teach you how to teach techniques outside the NRA curriculum if you want to go that far.

 

[noxin]

So, beyond starting your own Certification company, are existing companies looking to add Instructors (in general)?

Also, besides the joy of teaching and spreading the 2A gooey love, are there any other (less important, but still important) benefits to being an Instructor?

 

[daddybld]

So, beyond starting your own Certification company, are existing companies looking to add Instructors (in general)

Hey just in case this is in response to my post, Sig Instructor courses are not to become employees at sig. Anyone already an NRA instructor (or other type) can take them (but check the prereqs, I am doing this from memory).

I am a "public service" instructor. Basically only charge enough to cover ammo (which my students typically use a lot of), targets, gas and insurance. Its all about the gooey 2A love for me, civil service, and empowering women to defend themselves.

 

[garandman]

Where/when are RSO courses available?

 

[andrew]

Where/when are RSO courses available?

Once you have a primary NRA instructor's cert (like Basic Pistol), you can take the RSO course via mail order and (I think) teh intrawebs. At least it used to be that way.

 

[daddybld]

Where/when are RSO courses available?

A lot of people do mail order. But I highly recommend taking the class with Jon Green at GOAL. He does a phenomenal job and takes you around to different ranges. Lots more than the mail order can do. Well worth it.