The blind guy who wants to become a NRA Basic Pistol Instructor.

All right, here we are, gentlemen. Thank you for being willing to be interviewed by me. Um, first and foremost, introduce yourself with your name and say yes, it's okay that I put this on YouTube and the internet in general.

Uh, okay, my name is Sal Ortiz, and it's okay for you to put me on YouTube.

All right, I want to say first, yes, And my name is Jorge Diaz.

All right, and what are you guys here for today?

Um, to get started on being able to pre-qualify for the NRA pistol instructor class.

Okay. Yeah, I would second that as well.

Okay. All right, so you came for the pre-qual where it is shooting and gun handling, correct? And we spent all our time on the shooting portion and we found places that we need to work on improvements, right?

Yes.

All right, anyone can improve, right? You guys are happy, sad, indifferent over what you learned today?

I'm actually quite, um, impressed with myself in the sense that I was able to shoot it at a— shoot the target at 45 feet, being that I'm vision impaired, legally considered blind by the state of Connecticut.. And it's, it's a great learning experience of some things that I needed to learn on.

So very cool. And for those of you who didn't hear, George here calls me and says, so I got a friend, he's blind, and but he wants to be an instructor. And I'm just like, okay, how are we gonna do this? Because like we talked about earlier, the NRA is all about We want to be equal opportunity as much as humanly possible. And meeting you in the driveway today, I will say that I wouldn't have known that you had any vision impairment, but George made me really nervous. Like, am I going to have like a dude with a walking stick and, you know, the red tip and all of that?

He was going to bring that.

Was going to bring that.

Okay. All right.

Yeah. So. All right, so George, what was your experience like today?

Uh, my experience was eye-opening in the sense that I don't know what I think I know.

Ah, yes.

I actually have a— hold on, can I make it over here? I actually have a thing that says, you don't know what you don't know. There you go. And, um, that was absolutely— I think that's true for most shooters.

Yes.

Um, uh, it's one of those things I talk about often, is that whole Hey, we're as good as we think we are. And sometimes we're better, sometimes worse. Alright, so more importantly, why? Why do you guys want to become instructors?

Can I go? The reason why I want to become an instructor is I've known Sal now for the last 8 years. We work in the same place. That's where I met him. What a What attracted me to him was the— I seen him a couple weeks when I first started there, a couple weeks before I actually spoke to him. He had an NRA hat, and I'm like, oh, look at this guy.

The bromance began.

Yeah, but this is the funny part. A couple days later, I see him with a Glock, and in my head I'm like, he don't own guns, he's just, you know, wearing that just to wear that. But then I'm a big zombie guy. So we're at a department where we're cutting open product, getting it out and whatnot, and I had beef jerky in my hand and I just— oh no, he was cutting up boxes that had beef jerky. So I walk up to him and I'm like, hey, that's good for the zombie apocalypse. Yeah. So usually zombie apocalypse, firearms go together. So that's when we started talking about, you know, and he's— we've become so good friends and family. He's actually the godfather of my baby girl.

So very cool, very cool. What did you think of this weirdo coming up to you out talking about the zombie apocalypse?

That's the real question. To be honest, uh, I'm a little bit of an introvert, a little antisocial, but when you started talking to me and I was like, why is this guy talking to me? I'm just here trying to work. And he just broke through the, you know, the hard candy shell and got in, and that was it. It was, it was history from, from then on out.

Now Sal is all squishy.

Yep. The reason why I want to be an instructor is because I've seen the heartaches that he goes through when we go to the range. Yeah, when we go to a gun store and he takes out his, uh, his magnifier. Like today, I didn't know he had that huge magnifier today. Yeah, um, I usually see him with a little one. Yeah, size of a phone. But the looks that he get, and it angers me because it's like, hey, I get Second Amendment for everybody.

Um, you know, I get the employees peeking over my shoulder, like, what is this guy doing? Um, why is he buying a gun? I'm hearing like, you know, things under their breath, and I'm like, whatever, I work through it. It fills me up with a little bit of anxiety, but I, I push through it. I push through it, you know. And, um, one of the reasons that— well, the main reason I want to become a firearms instructor is because I have passion for firearms. Like, I get into the nitty-gritty technical side of it, like what are the materials made out of, how the mechanisms work. Where they come from, how are they made, you know? And why not get into, you know, firearm instruction by, you know, helping further educate other individuals.

All right, so you're here with your vision impairment. Yes. What advice would you give to others who may feel they're too old, they're too young, they're too weak, they're too strong, they only have one arm? What— how did you get here? Do you know what I mean? Yeah, because you have all those detractors of, wow, people think this or that because of that, your mentor.

So yeah, yeah, my, my old man, he, he, he doesn't treat me any different. He treats me like if I have, you know, normal vision. He doesn't baby me. He does— he's just, do it, screw everybody else, you know. Um, just do it. Just if you have a passion for it, don't let anyone stop you from doing what you like. That's your passion.

But I never asked you, have you had this vision problem your entire life, or is this new?

It's hereditary, so it's since birth.

Absolutely.

All right. Yeah. And then it's just do it. Don't be like, yeah, you're gonna go through, you know, be nervous, you're gonna be have some anxiety, you're gonna have people look at you a certain way. Whatever, man. Just, you know, if that's your passion, if you're into cars, yo, just go for it. Go for it. Don't, don't let no one stop you. Because, because if you do, then you're just going to be stuck. You're going to fill yourself more with depression, and that's a whole nother rabbit hole. And that's, you know, it's never good. So just do what makes you happy. And this is what makes me happy. Awesome. Firearms are— I don't know, if I, if I didn't have firearms, I don't know where I'd be.

Like, that's— so you realize though that you're already an instructor in that, not a certified NRA instructor, but because you got George here all excited about doing this So it's like, is this a little bit of a proud moment here that you got him here today?

Honestly, honestly, yes, it is. Because, um, and if you don't mind me saying this, George, it's, it's too late now, it's on video.

Yeah.

Um, it's, it's more, I feel like you weren't as involved with, with firearms as since before you met me. Um, and I just kept, you know, chipping away at you. Like, hey, look at this one, look at this one came out, look at this firearm.

Look at this. That's what happens when you have a family. I was just like, so I like firearms, but it, it wasn't like I was as into it like I am now, or in the last 8 years. It's like, right, like I could tell you right now if you show me the new M&P that came out, I could tell you which one that is. I couldn't tell you that 5 years ago.

And you know that I still can't, right? So that's not part of being an instructor. Just anyone who's watching understands.

That's like, that's like people that like cars, they know they could hear an engine, oh my God, this is a this and that, this and that. Yeah, I could see a frame from like a distance and be like, oh, this is, this is this, you know. It's awesome, it's fun, it's—

I get nerdy with it.

So yeah, well, when I have people who want to get nerdy, I will send them to you. Uh, I have— yeah, I've got zero use for nerdiness. It's like I read what the gun says to be able to tell you what the gun is. Yep, yep. Um, so if anyone's worried about needing to be a gearhead and understanding everything about guns to be instructor, that is actually not part of this.

Um, safety, safety.

Yeah. So, but all right, so let me just recap here. George, you are here because you were inspired by Sal, correct? Because you enjoyed learning from someone and getting information you didn't already know, correct? Sal is here because he wants to share his passion with somebody else and more people and have that on a regular basis. I'm guessing you guys are gonna be a dynamic duo when you become instructors. And so sign up for the Sal and George class. And where are you guys— have you thought about this yet? Where do you guys Where are you guys going to shoot at? Do you— I know that's jumping, putting cart behind the horse or whatever, but, um, you guys have a home range currently?

Uh, we— I do not, not at this time.

Where do you guys go shooting then?

We go to Delta Arsenal, sometimes Hoffman's.

Gotcha. But the reason we go to Delta is because they're— Sal has been one of their customers, I guess, before he met me, and the owner have seen Sal. Yeah, he— for the longest, even when they were in their old shop. Yeah. And when we go there, I see how they converse and how they treat Sal, that I'm like, that's how it should be no matter who is walking in, right?

They will— they welcomed me with open arms. They were— they treated me with respect and didn't treat me any different because of my disability or anything at all. They shook— they gave me a firm handshake like, hey, you need any help with, with this or that, we're here. And, and they did the same thing with me. And believe me, with other, with other firearm stores, I've had bad experiences. I've had like, what's this guy doing here? Like, oh no, how long have you had your permit? Or this or that, right?

And it—

and as new gun owner at the time, it was really like discouraging. So I'm like, damn, man, this is my passion, but I'm keeping— I feel like they're gatekeeping. Like, what's going on here, right?

And well, I mean, the human condition is generally if I don't understand something, it's going to make me afraid. Yeah, I mean, this is the other part of, to me, where understanding how to touch a firearm without it going off was my first level of, oh, it's not as bad as I thought. Um, so yeah, we're always afraid of what we don't understand.

And it's like little— like, for me, little things was— and I'm not going to call out no company, but I've been to the gun range with him at a certain gun range, and that's before I had my permit. I went to go give him money so he could pay for the range. Oh, you can't do that. Yeah, but when we went to Delta, it's a whole different story. The guy was like, who's gonna pay? I'm like, can I pay? He was like, you're not buying a gun, so yeah, you could pay for the range time. You're not buying ammo.

Yeah, and that's the other thing, everybody in the gun world has a different level. Like, my uncle was a computer programmer. So I thought he knew everything about computers. And then I became a desktop support person. And I found out that, oh, my uncle doesn't know garbage about the desktop support stuff that I do. And I think that people tend to think that just because someone is a gun owner, that they know everything. And back to my little poster over there that says, you don't know what you don't know. It is just like, yeah, you don't need to know everything. You need to know there's always more to learn.

Um, and I don't know, I'll add something else too. It goes with what you say, you don't know what you don't know. And you may be doing certain things a certain way, but if someone else comes along, I'm not the one to have an attitude where like, oh, I know what I'm doing. Like, if someone else has a better way of doing it and it works for me, bring it on.

Yes.

You know, so it's, it's like Like, I'm a sponge for information, like, bring it on, you know, just, if there's something that I don't know, I'm gonna learn from someone that does know.

Alright, so what's something that you learned today that you didn't know before you got here? Speaking of that, Mr.

Sponge, how to better self-diagnose certain issues that or certain things that I was maybe doing incorrectly. So as far as like, where's the dot going? As, um, as I shoot with a red dot, for people that don't know, um, actually with the red dot. So I was like tracking that red dot. I started to like see that like, oh, okay, this is what, this is what the dot does when I, when I dry fire. It moves a little bit. I gotta, you know, hold it a little firmer or, you know, more rigid behind the gun and concentrate on the trigger squeeze. So that's what I. That's what I learned today. And I'm like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna take that with me.

So very cool, George. Was something you learned today you didn't know before you got here?

Everything. No, no, no, no. I learned to take my time. Okay? Take my time. It's okay. That if I feel I'm not ready to take the shot. It's okay.

Bring.

Bring it down to a low. Ready? reset myself, reset my stance, breathe, shoulders down, relax, come back up and pull. Just slowly pull, pull, pull, pull.

Don't—

that was my problem today, guys.

Yeah, yanking the trigger a little. Um, all right, so, and I did tell you at that very beginning, right, was the whole thing, one of the hardest things to do when we have a full magazine of ammo ready to go is not to just want to squeeze, squeeze, squeeze the trigger. Um, back to why we do low round count stuff usually. All right, what did you have fun doing today?

Steel targets.

Oh yeah, that was—

that was what— oh my God, that's a dream! Check off the bucket list!

Just to hear that ding, it was just beautiful sound.

People gotta understand, we're in Connecticut. Yeah, you can't just go somewhere and shoot steel. Yeah, that's not really common over here.

Well, so here's the other thing about the Colt gun world, right, is you guys are not competitive shooters. Competitive shooting is very much like Fight Club, okay, in that until you get in, you can't find it. Once you get in, you'll find out that there's still shoots everywhere. Oh man. So, uh, I will hook you up.

That would be so cool.

Um, so yeah, but I hope you guys have fun today. Um, even so, all right, let— now let's go to the other part. Is— did you guys qualify today?

No, I did not.

Absolutely not.

Okay.

Are you still going to come back and try anyway?

Yeah, absolutely.

Okay. Are you confident with the skills that we have worked on today that there's a good chance when you come back you're going to qualify?

Yes. With all the practice that I'm going to do.

Yeah. With more dry fire and not playing peekaboo with my— yeah, with the red dot.

Okay.

So here we go. All right. So everybody here, wait, look up here for me. Um, go ahead, pick your head up. So every time— no, yeah, so you can keep the thing down. But it was every time he would squeeze the trigger, his whole head would come up and he'd look over his red dot. And that's what we're talking about, peekaboo. Um, so you guys are gonna go home, you're gonna earn your, uh, live fire, correct? For every 5 or 10 reps, you guys can set the numbers, do, uh, 5 or 10 reps, give yourself a bullet. Another 5 or 10 reps, give yourself a bullet, regardless of which one of the things we're going to work on, whether it's watching the sight, whether it's closing your eyes, pushing the sight out to you, leaning into it, whatever it is, and earn your— as Lena Michalik says, earn your live fire. All right, gentlemen, do you have any additional words of wisdom to anyone who's considering becoming an instructor?

Yes, take our pre-qualification, uh, class, course, however you want to call it. It shows you if you feel like, oh yeah, I could do this, you'd be surprised. I'm not saying you can't. I'm not saying I can't. I feel like I'll be able to do it. But she's getting you ready to take that extra step because I came with a mentality like, oh, I know I'm going to be able to do that. Like, but when you actually get into the nitty-gritty, you're like, wait, hold up. This is not what I thought it was. But that's the good thing. You don't discourage.

Oh, God, no.

You don't discourage. And I'm going to say it like this. You're not here stealing people's money.

Oh, thank you.

No, seriously. Seriously. Because for me that live paycheck to paycheck, got 3 kids, wife at home, what people don't understand is $350 is hard to come by.

Oh, God.

Yeah. 'But I'm only paying $65 up front.' And it's not like you— it's not like you were like, 'Okay, you paid $65, you didn't make it, goodbye.' No, at no time was that ever said, anything like that. Or— and that's why I was like, 'Oh man.' Actually, she was like, 'Hey, come back around this time, I'm gonna send you something, go to the link,' and whatever, whatever. And see, that's what people don't—

that's one thing. That's how I, I felt it was more—

more—

it was more than just a pre-qualify. It was more Training. Yes, training. It was more training and, you know, narrowing down the things you can work on to better yourself in order to qualify in the future. And, um, another thing I'll say is it's, uh, safety is paramount, fun is after.

There you go. Yes, it's always safety first, without a doubt.

Correct.

Um, and so, yes, and the other part of this is, like you said, is even though you didn't qualify, and yes, you did get training because just like each one of you guys want to see the other person succeed, my heart is to watch you succeed. And that's what you need to be an instructor. The skill set of being able to do the target is something you can get over time if you're going to learn. Uh, the NRA actually really, really stresses the reason you become an instructor is to help take care of people. So what your purpose was already is you want to share your passion with people. You know how much you felt empowered by how he got you more into the gun world. Um, so your heart is there. All I need to do is, you know, dust off a little rough edges here and there. And then if I teach you, which, you know, people like Kate Mikulik, Max Michel, people that I've trained with have taught me, then we can have better, more educated people. Correct. And so yeah, that's worth $65 right there.

Yeah, it definitely is.

It really is. Because what we just did today, I've seen in other people, it was— it's nowhere near— they charge a crazy amount for what I learned today. Yeah, I'm surprised. I learned a lot today.

Yeah. All right, gentlemen. Well, I'm gonna turn off the video camera. All right. As soon as I can find the mouse. All right. So goodbye, everybody.