NRA Basic Pistol Course Introduction

Welcome to the basics of pistol shooting at a Great Start Shooting School. First, we're going to cover some administrative items. Policy regarding ammunition in the classroom: there is none. Security of firearms: all the firearms that we have here in the classroom are real.

Some of them are not, but we ask that you don't touch your firearms until you're instructed to do so. Restrooms and drinking fountains: are the bottles of water you have in front of you, as the restroom is up in the house. Telephones and emergency exits.

At this point in time, I would like you to silence your phones, unless of course there's something that is urgent that you would need to leave the class for.

Policy regarding refreshments and snacks. You are welcome to eat anything you have as we are going along. I do not have anything for you.

As far as policy regarding smoking, there is no smoking here at a Great Start Shooting School.

Schedule for breaks and lunch.

We will go until your eyes start to gloss over because this is such a crazy amount of information.

If you need a bathroom break, by all means, please just raise your hand and say you need to go because chances are someone else did as well and everyone is looking for that break. We will have breaks throughout the event.

Air conditioning and heating.

I will do what I can.

The temperature in this shed goes really hot and really cold sometimes, so I always have suggested layers when you come to a Great Start Shooting School.

Policy regarding cell phones and pagers— that also goes with the telephones. Sorry, I forgot about that.

So no live ammunition in the classroom.

Please understand, in this classroom there is no live ammunition. All of the ammunition that we have, or anything that looks like ammunition, is what we call dummy ammunition or snap caps. There are no chemicals or anything that will make it go bang.

Our course goal: to teach the basic knowledge, skills, and attitude necessary for owning and using a pistol. Please understand, this class is a basic class. This is not going to turn you into Annie Oakley. The NRA is looking to give you the basic information on how to handle a firearm safely. I know when I came into this class, I thought I was going to leave la femme Nikita and know everything I needed to know about carrying a firearm simply for the fact that this is the class that Connecticut requires when we are talking about how to, to apply for our concealed carry class.

So I assumed it was a concealed carry class.

It is not. This is the basic knowledge, skills, and attitude necessary for owning and using a pistol safely. And there's a typo on that.

Anyway, a gun owner's responsibility.

Americans enjoy a right that citizens of many other countries do not: the right to own firearms.

But with this right comes responsibilities.

It is the gun owner's responsibility to store, operate, and maintain his or her firearm safely.

It is the gun owner's responsibility to ensure that unauthorized or untrained individuals cannot gain access to his or her firearms.

It is the gun owner's responsibility to learn and obey all applicable laws that pertain to the purchase, possession, and use of a firearm in his or her locale. Guns are neither safe nor unsafe by themselves. When gun owners learn and practice responsible gun ownership, guns are safe.

All right, so let's unpack a whole lot of that.

It is the gun owner's responsibility to ensure that unauthorized or untrained individuals cannot gain access to his or her firearms.

In 2019, there was a law, a safe storage law, passed, and it was that all guns must be locked up at all times, very regardless of their status, if there was a minor that could have access to them.

Now, this came after a horrible tragedy.

Ethan Song went to his neighbor's house and, um, took a gun in his neighbor's bedroom, uh, loaded it, put it to his head, and pulled the trigger.

And because of that, uh, the Song family came forward and had legislation passed so that all guns would be locked up at all times, and if not, that the gun owner would then go to prison and it would be a felony.

Prior to that, you could have unloaded guns unlocked and only loaded guns had to be locked.

Now here in Connecticut, our laws are always changing.

So at the moment, this is currently 2023 and the laws may change so that all guns may be locked up regardless of whether there is a minor available in the house or not.

Do not know, this is why. If you're going to do anything, join Connecticut Citizens' Defense League.

What I would suggest is Connecticut Citizens' Defense League sends you about one email a month that says, "Hey, this is when our meeting is going to be," and it tells you what they're gonna go over during that meeting.

The other emails you're gonna get are during our legislative session, which will tell you what laws are coming forward.

Like the law that I just talked about, Ethan's Law.

I was up there testifying on that, but it's because CCDL sends an email saying, hey, this law is happening, you want to know about it.

And that is why I suggest you do that. The other place that I suggest you go to to learn more about laws and DC Project is a little bit more at the federal level. You can go to DCProject.org. If you're a lady, you can sign up and be a part of our group here in Connecticut. But if you sign up, you'll get this lovely little handout that will tell you a lot of ways to talk about guns and the proper ownership and that sort of thing.

So CCDL gives you your local laws and that sort of thing.

And then finally, in the little package that I've given you, There's also firearm and suicide prevention. As a gun owner, you should know that 2 out of every 3 firearms deaths are actually suicide. So when people talk about wanting to save lives, we need to really talk about mental health and talk about suicide prevention.