New gun owner RFI

[NWshooter]

A buddy of mine and his wife are coming down this weekend as they have decided to enter into the world of gun ownership. Home defense and he owns a business and has some of the typical Seattle-area folks that frequent the area near his business.

They want to go to the range with me and see what they like, etc.

Told them before we even sniff the range they need to come to the house, go over some safety topics (muzzle awareness, how to behave at a range (do’s and dont’s) and the responsibility that goes with even picking up a gun.

Sent them a couple of videos on new ownership and safety and this will be the first of many conversations.

Gave them a couple place near where they live to enter into a gun safety class and that is about all I have planned for this first salvo.


Many of you have gone through this exercise with friends and family.

What am I missing, what have you done, and most importantly how do I maximize this for them?

Thanks for any responses and information.

[fixer]

Take extreme measures to ensure your safety: if someone is not taking the big 4 rule’s seriously then end the training immediately. Anticipate the worst and have a plan for it.

I stopped training totally new people. As in people who have never held a gun. This was due to a bad experience that by the slimmest of margins I avoided being a tragic headline.

I would attempt to stand in a way that makes it difficult for you to get muzzled by a totally new shooter.

I would also explain to them how the gun operates; and what to do if there is a jam or a click-no-bang.

Remind them that a mistake can lead to someone being shot and that will make their life change in ways they did not plan for and not for the better.

Be encouraging but don’t oversell firearms ownership. It is loud, smelly, expensive AF, requires effort to be good, and dangerous and brutally unforgiving if you are clumsy or clueless.

[MickAK]

They want to go to the range with me and see what they like, etc.
.

Use the car analogy. Explain that they don't even know how to drive yet, so they don't have any idea what kind of car they are going to like. Suggest a Toyota and tell them not to put any more thought into it than that. Most new gun owners spend far too much mental effort on gear.

Use the dog analogy. Tell them to think of it as getting a dog and not a piece of furniture. It has to be trained, walked, and fed if it's going to be any use and not just crap everywhere and chew stuff up.

[theJanitor]

If I have someone totally new, I regulate ALL live ammo on site, and only issue one round at a time until they prove they can follow safety instructions.

[SCCY Marshal]

Do you have access to a BT-5 target like the L.A.P.D. boys have been using for years?

I like targets like them because they have scalable standards at respectable sizes. The scoring rings start as generous but still reasonable on down to a nice Bolke/Dobbs approved 10-ring. Also come pre-sold with a highlighted 10-ring to work on spot shooting. They mesh nicely with the L.A.P.D. retired officer qualification. You can run that as a four-string comparative course of fire: single shot, pair, three, four. This starts simple, moves gradually up to a test of recoil control and sight tracking, and only eats ten shots. This allows a multi gun comparison of five pistols per box of ammunition while minimizing fatigue. It is fired on a generous target to avoid intimidating newbies but is scorable to put a number on things. I'm not usually big on suggesting specific targets but I have found the BT-5 to intuitively get in people's heads what their scaling goals should be in a way a B-8 stapled to things doesn't. If people want to keep shooting one up, a paper plate of 8.9" or 6" diameter goes up quick over the blown-out chest rings and gets marked in their heads as an easy standard to pick up by the 100 count at the grocery store with no special trips. The plates also com in handy if you show any shotguns as the center of the target will not be long for this world.

I like to do a four yard introduction on paper plates - with a center aiming spot markered or stickered on - stapled to a larger miss-catching backer for a few rounds to get a greenhorn on paper and working the gun and move on from there. Typically to what I described above. If they are hitting very well, the BT-5 has room to doodle/paste/staple other targets in the head and around the edges with minimal fuss in swapping stuff out.

If you have access to an outdoor shootin' pit, some plinking helps keep interest while still being instructive. A gallon jug of water is about the size of an A-zone while blowing up for fun. Likewise, a soda can is the roughly the size of a B-27 or BT-5 10-ring. Two-liter bottles of cheap soda are always a crowd pleaser while still being a reasonably sized exercise in hit/miss shot accountability. The water or soda jugs are also an immediately effective demonstration of hollow points versus ball. A cheap, underpenetrating 115 grain 9mm JHP will stop in just three stacked up to have an expanded bullet caught compared to a FMJ through all with minimal splash and lost to God knows where.

Mixing in some reactive fun while selecting target s that are pretty self-explanatory helps streamline things and keep it moving with less getting lost in the weeds.

[mmc45414]

Sent them a couple of videos on new ownership and safety and this will be the first of many conversations.

I like the Lucky Gunner stuff on YT.

Here is a playlist he calls Shooting 101. There used to be a few basics videos I liked but cannot find, maybe they are renamed in the 101 stuff?

[HCM]

If I have someone totally new, I regulate ALL live ammo on site, and only issue one round at a time until they prove they can follow safety instructions.

This ^^^.

[Totem Polar]

Lucky gunner stuff is good, for supplementary if they ask. What I have done, with plenty of success, is a very condensed catch-all lecture that includes safety and the 4 rules, different action types and manipulation, and the most bare-bones cursory LFI-type discussion of AOJ and immediate and otherwise unavoidable, along with samples of what constitutes grave injury. Takes about 2 hours. Then I discuss grip/sight/trigger fundamentals, and let folks try a select sample from the Totem safe shelf of evil, including service size Glock, compact/G42 Glock, and medium frame .38.

At that point, folks have *all* been ready to go shopping. Also, they end up with G42s by better than a 2:1 ratio. Interesting, but true.

So far, all my mentees are still gun owners, and a couple of them are still range members who do thurs night fun shoots on occasion, so it must be working.

JMO.

Also, I only load 1 round into each gun for the first shot, then a full mag if all goes well. A nice safety cheat.

[Tensaw]

If it hasn't already been suggested, plenty of dry work (not on a range, as a stand-alone block, or three) before there is any live fire at all. Use that to start engraining good weapon-handling. Bonus if you use dummy rounds to learn reloading.

[BillSWPA]

I have never had a problem with a totally new shooter All of my problems have come from shooters who were “experienced” but complacent with the safety and/or range rules.

My approach is safety and gun functioning before going to the range and before they see any ammo. Use snap caps or dummy cartridges to demonstrate why, unloading a semi automatic firearm needs to occur in a specific sequence. Make sure they understand manipulation of the gun, loading and unloading, sight alignment, trigger squeeze, etc. before visiting the range.

Follow up the range trip with a discussion of the laws of self-defense. Also follow up with a discussion of how the media presents many very unrealistic impressions of guns, and the need to get involved in preserving gun rights.

If they are interested in continuing learning, holster selection and proper drawing and reholstering could also be covered, but not until they are thoroughly familiar with the basic skills.

Make sure they understand that guns are not the only tools they need. Include some discussion of unarmed, defensive skills, pepper spray, improvised, and expedient, weapons, etc. Make sure they realize that their only tool cannot be a hammer, and every problem cannot look like a nail.