Firearms

What To Expect in a Gun Safety Class

Whether you are at a firearm range or in the comfort of your own home, firearm safety is a MUST. If you are a novice, a firearm safety class is essential before you even pick up a gun. For seasoned professionals, continued firearm safety education is beneficial.

Gun Safety Classes

Fear of the unknown is an easy excuse for delaying participation in a gun safety class. However, if you plan to own or use a firearm a gun safety class is crucial. As with any other type of training, there are ways to make your experience more comfortable. For example, you can bring a friend. Find someone who is concerned about firearm safety, as well, and invite them to go with you. You can also speak to someone who has taken a gun safety class. They can let you know about their experience and put your mind at ease. Lastly, do your research. Online articles, reviews, and customer experiences can help prepare you for your own firearm safety course.

An Educational Foundation

Most gun safety classes will create a foundation for learning with training via a handbook, presentations, and an instructor. Even if you know nothing about firearms, you will by the time you finish a firearm safety course. You will learn everything from the parts of a gun to gun safety to state laws in your area. For example, if you participate in a training courses at MN Firearms, chances are your instructor will inform you of Minnesota gun laws and regulations. Of course, it is your duty as a gun-wielding citizen to stay up-to-date on changing firearm regulation but this will provide a sturdy foundation for you.

Hands-On Training

An essential part of a gun safety class is the opportunity to actually handle a firearm in a safe, regulated environment. Most courses begin by identifying the parts of a firearm and move on to disassembling and re-assembling a weapon. This allows course-takers to see the inner-workings of a firearm and understand how to put one back together after cleaning and maintenance.

Instructors will then move on to proper form while holding a weapon. Difference stances for various situations will be discussed. Proper form will be practiced in both a group and individual setting, which will allow for practice and corrections.

Oftentimes, instructors will also discuss various types of holsters. Each kind offers unique advantages for various body types, carrying situations, and firearm structure. Basic knowledge about selecting a holster for your specific weapon will be covered in order to provide class-takers with the knowledge they need to purchase an adequate holster.

Firearm Discharge Test

This is perhaps the most daunting concept of a gun safety course: the shooting exam. In order to display your knowledge of course details, each participant is required to perform a test by shooting targets from certain distances with a particular type of weapon. The requirements for testing may vary by state, but the concept is the same–to prove that you can safely arm yourself and discharge a weapon accurately when faced with a target.

Online Gun Safety Classes

Despite the requirements of a gun safety course, online options are also available. Although they allow individuals to study and educate themselves at home, a live fire test is still required. An Online Minnesota Multi-State Permit to Carry Class is offered for a fee, and the live range test fee can be paid in the class fee or at the chosen range. Online courses offer the same knowledge of an in-person exam while being private and self-paced.

DNR Hunter Safety Course

For individuals and youth who are interested in hunting game, a DNR Hunter Safety Course is a great option for firearm education and is required for the purchase of a hunting license. This course is comprised of 12 hours of classroom training and a field experience with seven different scenario training opportunities. Individuals aged 11 or older can take this course, with the license becoming valid at age 12.

Instructor Training

If you are an individual who is experienced and comfortable with firearms, instructor training is also an option. Featuring a 6-hour class with topics on home defense, legal firearm requirements, shooting fundamentals and firearm safety, and a live fire test, the instructor training course results in a firearms instructor certification. This certification allows you to teach firearm courses in the state of Minnesota. Obtaining a firearm instructor certificate is a great tool to make money and teach others about gun safety, as well.

History of the 2nd Amendment

With all the controversy surrounding gun control and the right to bear arms, understanding the history of the 2nd Amendment is extremely important. The language used in the Second Amendment is hotly debated and discussed. Does a person have a right to own a gun? What about the connection to a Well Regulated Militia? Interpretations of the amendment are vast, and its place within the context of today’s societys add to the complexity of the 27 words that make it up.

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

What does it mean? The U.S. Constitution is the world’s longest surviving written charter of government. Due to the age of the Constitution, it seems reasonable to test it from time to time. In fact, the earliest Supreme Court decisions were anti-gun. United States v. Cruikshank, Presser v. Illinois, Miller v. Texas, United States v. Miller, and Lewis v. United States all ended in rulings that helped narrow definitions and tightened rules surrounding the Second Amendment. In Lewis v. United States (1980), the court ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees no right to keep and bear a firearm that does not have some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated Militia.

It wasn’t until 2008 that the Supreme Court dismantled previous court case’s claims as a result of Dictrict of Columbia v. Heller.

The complaint began after Dick Heller, a District of Columbia special police officer authorized to carry a handgun while performing his duties at the Federal Judicial Center, attempted to register a handgun that he intended to keep at his D.C. home. The District of Columbia denied his request under a provision found in D.C.’s Firearms Control Act of 1975. Heller took the case to court, claiming that two provisions in the Firearms Control Act violated his Constitutional rights under the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court justices voted 5-4 in favor of Heller. While the majority of the Court ruled that the “The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in the militia,” and that individuals had the right to use that firearm “for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense with the home,” four of the nine Justices disagreed.

The most recent Second Amendment case to see the Supreme Court was McDonald v. City of Chicago in 2010. The same Supreme Court justices from District of Columbia v. Heller presided over the case, with the exception of newly appointed justice Sonia Sotomayor. In the case, a Chicago municipality denied the registration of a handgun to Mr. Otis McDonald, a law-abiding citizen, veteran, and Second Amendment advocate. The Supreme Court found the local gun restriction law to be in violation of the Constitution by a 5-4 vote. This case resulted in a landmark decision which guarantees that the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments as well as to the federal government.

As political activists and politicians scramble to use mass shooting events as a reason to restrict civilian gun ownership, it’s important to remember the history of the Second Amendment and acknowledge that regardless of what happens, we have a Constitutional right to bear arms that cannot be infringed.