But that’s not the purpose of a basic introduction to firearms, self defense certainly but most of the real novices I’ve dealt with don’t even have a functional understanding of firearms and how they work and certainly aren’t ready to leap into self defense.
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I agree that they are not ready to jump into a dynamic critical incident, even after a basic pistol class they are not ready. Thats why the class should not focus on one item. Teach them what situational awareness is and how to avoid the potential confrontations. Then you can teach the basics of firearms. Conflict avoidance and situational awareness is something they can use immediately to keep them out of harms way.
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And again, if their goal is self defense that’s a good place to start. Those aren’t the complete novice students I’m discussing.
If you scroll back through the thread this conversation started with someone who’s wife is scared of guns completely and he was looking for a good way to introduce her to them through a good course.
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I’am just throwing some other thoughts out there. Giving people other ideas on how to move forward with their training.
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Jeffrey’s question was more about getting some additional training as he already carries.
I think Jeffrey is beyond the basic pistol course and has already done the concealed carry class so the USCCA Defensive shooting would be a great place for him to get some additional hands-on defensive shooting training.
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Probably so although it’s still a good refresher for someone with little or no formal training.
I found it boring as hell myself but had to take it for the instructor certification and found that it was still worthwhile just due to the interactions with the rest of the class.
I ended up teaching the next several BP courses for my own training counselor immediately after getting certified.
I’ve taught and gone through several states CCW programs and to tell you the truth none of them lays even a decent foundation for the basics. I wish everyone would at least take a basic pistol class first.
One of the things that attracted me to the USCCA was that we combine the basics of home defense and CCW with the state certification courses.
I’m still looking hard at trying to go to the DSF2 course this fall, October I think.
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@Jeffrey @WildRose - I’m looking at the Sept 13-15 in Cascade WI.
If you’re going, maybe I’ll see you there!
If you come to Wisconsin you better let me know so we can meet!
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I’ll have to call and find out for sure which class they said I should aim for. I was thinking it was maybe in Ohio or VA but I could be wrong. I’m already certified for the DSF1 class and just need to do the DSF2 instructor class.
If/when we get it nailed down maybe I’ll start a thread and see how many others we can get to come.
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Mark you wrote: The USCCA Concealed Carry and Home Defense Fundamentals class also breaks down the basics and also give the students more info on situational awareness and conflict avoidance.
That’s the kind of classes I’d be interested in. I’m hoping to get some training in later this year or next spring depending on schedule and funds.
I used to take in a course or two a year but I am way behind at this point do feel like I’ll be basically beginning again.
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Zee…where is a list of these classes if I may ask?
You can find them here @FlashBack351:
https://training.usconcealedcarry.com/
Just drop in your zip code. 
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Bookmarked!!
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@FlashBack351 When you go to that link you can filter what classes you want to take. If you are looking for a more in depth look at situational awareness and legal aftermath I would suggest you take a Concealed Carry and Home Defense Fundamentals class. If you are looking for an outstanding live fire course then I would look into the Defensive Shooting Fundamentals. Then what is all that training worth if you can’t patch people up so I would then suggest the Emergency First Aid Fundamentals.
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Excellent points MarkC!
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Check the website, you’ll find that the courses are not particularly expensive and you’ll get far more out of them than you know.
I highly suggest students seek out a new course every six months to a year and build in between the skills they’ve learned along the way.
You will never truly master any of them and honestly you wouldn’t be foolish to take the same classes over and over every few years. I promise you that as an instructor every time I take or teach a given class I get more out of them.
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