Not sure if this is the correct sub-form, please move if not.
Like most of us, I've known way too many "NRA Certified" old fudd idiots propagating bad info from hardware to techniques to bad legal advice. I have several people in my family and friend groups who have asked me over the years if I could teach them to shoot. Usually, it's not that they want to become a competitive shooter or even an "active self-defense practitioner." They're not looking for a new hobby, but they realize that either no gun, or a gun they've had in a sock drawer for the last 10 years might not be the best thing and that maybe it would be best to get some basic instruction.
I am happy to help provide said instruction. I enjoy helping people and enjoy teaching. I do not have a military or law enforcement background. I do have fairly significant experience with firearms from working at one of the largest and busiest Metro Atlanta area gun shops + indoor ranges for 15 years, coupled with several armorer certifications, in addition to professional training I've attended, and finally being close friends and regularly shooting with some pretty legit dudes in the industry who either are or were Mil and/or LEO instructors, SF, AMU, and other high-level shooters.
Feedback from the informal "hey, come to the range with me and I'll show you a few things" has been great. To date, I have been paid for 1 formal class where a close friend's uncles and cousins wanted me to come to their family farm where they recreationally shoot and put on a formal class. It was pretty much a basic safe handling and marksmanship class, but again, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
I'm sure some of you here do similar things, maybe not to the level of someone like @Mr_White, but what steps might I take to make this more of a "thing?"
On another, more logistical note, I've got a hardware question. Lot's of my current pool of interested parties are folks who don't currently have guns that are looking to get one. I don't want to recommend that they buy something to bring to class that they might hate. For instance, my mother and sister both loved Airweight J-Frame .38's, so that's what they got. My wife hated it and ended up with a Sig 239DAO. Currently, my pistol collection is fairly paired down to what I actively use and consists of a G19.5 MOS w/RMR, G45 MOS w/RMR, and Ruger 22/45 Pac-Lite w/RMR. My concern is that trying to get a new gun owner/shooter into a quality dot setup is pretty dang expensive and includes what I might consider "enthusiast level" attention (battery changes, brightness adjustments, etc). Is it worth me picking up an iron-sighted G19 or G43/48 as a teaching gun to give new students a starting point? Many of these prospective students are women, my wife's friends, or my friend's wives; hence the slim Glock consideration.
Honestly, my head is spinning with some of the logistical details around this, but I keep getting asked and I genuinely want to help and (perhaps arrogantly) feel I can offer these folks a much more solid foundation than what is generally marketed at such folks. Because I'm not looking at it as a money-making gig, what I charge would be relatively low, really little more than targets and something to make the time worthwhile.
Ok enough rambling. Thoughts?
