First Steps as a Defensive Shooting Instructor

If you’re wondering how to become a shooting instructor, this video offers guidance. First you have to understand all the core components, all the attributes you need to develop, all the responsibilities you’re going to have. Then what?

Being a Student

The best way to start out is as a student, taking all the classes you possibly can. Going through the process of being an enthusiastic student and experiencing so many different aspects of firearms training give you the opportunity to evaluate a lot of different instructors, shoot at a lot of different ranges, and understand a lot of different approaches to defensive firearms instruction. You can form opinions about what you think works and doesn’t work.

Being a Student Who Wants to Be an Instructor

If you become interested in how to become a shooting instructor, your experience as a student will become even more valuable. Ask questions and listen to what questions other students ask. This will help you prepare for being a teacher and presenting self-defense concepts to students.

You don’t have to travel all over the country and spend thousands of dollars a year to learn. You can also watch DVDs and videos on the internet and read articles here on PDN and in print magazines. Focus on what firearms instructors are doing, saying, what they value, and how they communicate their information.

Apprentice Instructor

Over the past few decades, the most traditional path that someone who wants to become a firearms instructor has taken is to become an apprentice to an established instructor or school. As an apprentice, you are no longer a student. You are an assistant and are there to be mentored. Just observing classes will show you a lot about the instructor and school.

This extended video covers much more about how to become a shooting instructor.