Becoming a CCW Instructor

[encorehunter]

I am going to be sending my father the the NRA Basic Pistol instructor course at the Whittington Center next month. He has been a firearms instructor for the 4H program for over 15 years now. He is certified in rifle, shotgun and muzzleloading. He does all of the trainings for free for the 4H. I am now wanting him to be able to do the CCW courses so he can make an extra few bucks now that he is retired. I have found two instructors down here in the southern part of Colorado, so I hope there will be room for one more. If not, he will just have an extra certification. I have access to a classroom and a couple places to teach the shooting portions.

What are the requirements to be an instructor?

Will he need liability insurance to teach the classes?

Any other things I should be aware of?

I may try to take the class with him so we can be co-instructors. I am certified in rifle, shotgun and muzzleloading as well.

[Ronin13]

Good on him! I got mine a few months ago and the class was actually pretty fun.
To answer your questions:
1. Go through the class, pass the test and wait for the credentials to get mailed from the NRA (mine took about 35-40 days).
2. One doesn't need liability insurance, but it's a VERY good idea to have it... I would say get it! There are lots of resources, I don't have the info with me right now, but I can get it tonight and send you some info on it.
3. It's not easy to get started- since you have access to teaching locations you have a leg up, but getting customers isn't exactly the easiest thing to do... Advertising costs money and getting the word out varies.
Good luck, hope your dad likes it! Oh and the class itself is pretty long, so he'll be giving up a whole day (or two).

[TheBelly]

easiest advertising is having a business card... costs $20 for about a bajillion (technical term) of them.

[Wildboarem]

What Ronin said. I found that the liability insurance the NRA is by far the most reasonable. Our providers for our other businesses wouldn't touch anything having to do with firearms liability.
Our class (my wife and I) was 16 hrs ( 2 days).

If you've never had a business before marketing will probably be a hurdle. It's really easy to waste time and money in all the wrong places, but as your Dad already teaches I would pursue ALL of those leads. Kids have parents right?

Our biggest hurdle was finding a place/facility that we could do both, the classroom and range on the same property. Hmmm, that only took 3 yrs. We could have leased a property for a lot of money and no students. We finally came across a property that mostly fits are needs andhave been pretty busy.
Before that it was a lot of one on one instruction at our membership range. Not so much CCW but first time/green firearm afety, shooting instruction fundamentals and such. Never really charged for that as it is a passion of mine to teach an introduce people to shooting.

Good luck and God Bless,

[encorehunter]

I have access to advertising through the local gunshop with flyers and business cards. I all ready have access to land for the shooting, and I am looking into what the local range would charge if need be. I am friends with the range officer that lives there.
My father rarely teached the kids in 4H, mostly he teaches the people teaching the kids. He informed me that he has been an instructor for the 4H for 23 years now. He was a hunter safety insctructor back in the 60s and 70s. After all this time, I don't understand why he doesn't have the pistol education yet.

Thanks for the replies and info.

[StagLefty]

I have access to advertising through the local gunshop with flyers and business cards. I all ready have access to land for the shooting, and I am looking into what the local range would charge if need be. I am friends with the range officer that lives there.
My father rarely teached the kids in 4H, mostly he teaches the people teaching the kids. He informed me that he has been an instructor for the 4H for 23 years now. He was a hunter safety insctructor back in the 60s and 70s. After all this time, I don't understand why he doesn't have the pistol education yet.

Thanks for the replies and info.
I don't know about your Dad and the 4H program but I was involved in the BSA shooting sports for 18 years and it wasn't until about 10 years ago that the they allowed pistol programs. Until then I didn't feel the need for the Pistol Instructor training. After I got the pistol training it opened a few other doors also.

[losttrail]

I've been wanting to become an instructor for years, but with the demands of kids it just was not a priority. Not that the girls are heading off to college, I'm going for it.

What is the approximate cost to become an NRA instructor?

Would you recommend creating an LLC and doing business as an LLC instead of as a private individual?

Would being an LLC create issues with liability insurance?

[O2HeN2]

I've been wanting to become an instructor for years...

From Monument?

Contact Paradise Sales (http://paradisefirearms.com/paradise/training/training.html) or Davis Training (http://davistraining.biz/). Both offer instructor training.

O2