What would you pay for an intro to pistol shooting class?

[Duces Tecum]

Legally Required: Is a class required for a CCW? If so, are there already classes available? What are your competitors charging? If CCW class is not required for licensing, how likely is it that poor folks will somehow find the money and decide that decide to spend it on a class?

Not Legally Required: It's difficult to provide the service you are thinking about if the class is not legally necessary and the people are poor. But it's not impossible. The man who raised me in San Soo retired and moved to a mountain community where there were already a couple of struggling martial art studios scattered about. After settling in he resumed teaching and soon had more students than he could accommodate. But he had no overhead, enjoyed the work, and taught for free. It might be that your class would be viable as a charity but not a business. Sometimes that's acceptable, depending.

In any event, Sean, I wish you good luck in this.

[Odin Bravo One]

For those who don’t know, or don’t remember what my particulars for intermediate/advanced pistol or carbine course, I had a max student limit of 16 per class with a 1:4 instructor/student ratio for 16 hours of instruction, and the cost was set by the host (locations varied in additional fees), but my rate was $2500 per day, which usually worked out to $350-400 per student for a two day course, which was generally along the lines of what Jack and I did for the members of PF.com in PA a couple of years ago.

Again, I’m not doing it for a business. We have a business (LLC) for the advantages such a piece of paper provides, but I wouldn’t teach this class for the money. Or rather, I won’t teach any firearms related class for money. I mean, I collect a whopping $24k a year pension/disability......... obviously we don’t need the money.......The reason this is being considered and I’m crunching the numbers is because I truly believe that poor people shouldn’t be excluded from having access to quality training, and as many of already mentioned, this type of class for the target demographic generally suck. There are no shortages of classes being offered within a 25 mile radius, but none that are sponsored as a community service provided for residents by their local LE community. While it meets the requirements for a CHL, it’s designed for a new shooter, or one without any previous formal instruction.

So I’ve come up with the following general guidelines:

-8 students max
-16 hours total, spread out over several days, with the classroom instruction over two days during the week (Tu/Thurs) and range skills building Saturday, with refresher and testing the following week. Homework will also be assigned on T1 and will be due on Test day.
-150 rounds of 9mm will be provided in the course fee of $60. If a student chooses not to shoot 9mm, or wants to bring their own factory ammunition, the cost will be $40.
-The classroom will cover general safety and handling, and work into dry drills covering fundamentals of marksmanship. Classroom session 2 will be the legal aspect of carrying concealed, and use of force taught by the Commonwealth Attorney. Range day 1 will consist of dry fire drills, and live fire intro into safe handling/marksmanship drills. Range day 2 will consist of additional dry fire, some refresher, and two opportunities to pass the final exam.
-There will be two certificates awarded upon completion; version one is certificate of attendance for someone who completed the entire course and didn’t get booted over a safety violation but failed to pass the practical exam. Version 2 is for those who attended the entire course, didn’t get booted for safety, and successfully passed the skills test. They will get a certificate of successful completion. The first will meet the minimum requirement for a CHL, and the second can be used as verification of skills, much like LE uses with their COF to demonstrate competency. The semantics and language of the two different certs came from the Commonwealth Attorney, so I’m going to assume he knows what he is talking about since he charges people for unlawful use of firearms and related criminal indictments on a fairly regular basis. Each cert will also contain an explanation of the language used.
- Once the exam is complete, we will provide a handful of popular carry guns (G19, G42, G43, M&P 9mm, M&P Shield, etc) some with accessories such as lasers, MRDS, WML, holsters, etc. for familiarization fire so those who are curious about a particular firearm has the opportunity to put a magazine through one, and have had at least basic training to be able to note the various difference, advantages, and disadvantages each piece carries with it. Ammunition for this event will be provided at no cost to the student.
- Students who complete the course will also be offered private or small group instruction at a reduced rate if they should choose to elevate their skill level.
- We will offer a Women’s only version of the course every few months, with a handful of woman Adjunct Instructors/RSOs.

Thanks for everyone taking the time to provide input. I appreciate and consider all of your points.

For those who have offered assistance, also much appreciated. I will certainly not hesitate to take you up on your offers when we get to the stage of this endeavor. We’re just not quite there yet. We still have numerous closed door sessions with the City Council, County Board of Supervisors, all three LE agencies (and working to get the Staties on board), and the Commonwealth Attorney. Once that is all hashed out, it has to go public, and survive the local governmental processes before we can commence.

The three department heads of the local LE believe an optimistic start date would be after October 1.

Anyway, thanks again for your input.

[jc000]

This is an amazing service you are offering and I would love to support it anyway I can. Really inspiring!

[Guerrero]

Can P-F members take this class for double the cost? 'Cause I would totally pay that.

[scw2]

Can P-F members take this class for double the cost? 'Cause I would totally pay that.

Same. Plus, I have at least a few friends/family that would also be a perfect demographic for an introductory class, and they would be able to afford a higher price. Assuming this wouldn't steal seats from local students, I'm wondering if the higher rate might allow you to offer scholarships to local students, invest in the staff or materials and equipment for future classes, etc.

[Odin Bravo One]

We have to get it off the ground first. We still have some sizeable obstacles to overcome, most notably city Council types who take their positions entirely too seriously.........

[Robinson]

You're a good dude for doing this.

[JM Campbell]

We have to get it off the ground first. We still have some sizeable obstacles to overcome, most notably city Council types who take their positions entirely too seriously.........

I’m capable of sponsoring at least 1-2 spots a month, say when and where/how you’d like the funds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[David S.]

Under the circumstances, I wonder if it’s worth running it as a non-profit....

[Hambo]

Sean, that's fucking awesome.