back in the 1980-2000 or so I worked part time at a local indoor range teaching classes of about 6-8 people a week,
in the art & skill of shooting a handgun.
I enjoyed teaching, but I was always amazed at the lack of familiarity, and lack of basic handgun skill any of the trainees had!
this was a required skill to get a security guard license,
in FLA. at the time and may still be.
it took about 30 hours of training, and yeah, much of it was class room, not actual on the range time!
now keep in mind security guard jobs are not that well paid,
and they are frequently held by either younger guys with near zero other marketable skills (frequently minorities) (frequently not that educated , many could not read/write and pass written exams easily)
or older guys who want a secondary income in retirement.
class (D) is unarmed security and it pays considerably less per hour, class (G) paid more per hour so that was a coveted license.
the vast majority of the new trainees could not hit a full body silhouette target at 7 yards on the first day.
I remember well on one occasion, a student stated the revolvers and ammo we used were low quality trash, and he could not consistently hit a full body target at 7 yards, I took his assigned pistol A S&W 4" mod 10 heavy barrel, and put 6 shots in a 3" orange dot on the target at 7 yards as fast as I could line the sights and fire, certainly under 10 seconds, that seemed to solve the question of equipment not being adequate
by the end of the class most of the more skilled people could hit a 8" x 11" sheet of typing paper at 25 yards which at the time was considered good enough, but obviously the more skilled people were preferred, It was surprising , at least to me how many people could not achieve that level of competency, slow firing a 38spc 4" revolver, we were trying to get them to consistently hit a 6" diameter target at 25 yards with 6 shots in 60 seconds.
how many of you think you can do better?
I had lots of cops watch this process and laugh, but when tested some cops did just as badly.... whats your thoughts?
BTW the range made side money, from the classes selling these, or similar revolvers to the class members on many occasions
glock 20/10mm with aftermarket barrel for more effective cast bullet use/accuracy
in the art & skill of shooting a handgun.
I enjoyed teaching, but I was always amazed at the lack of familiarity, and lack of basic handgun skill any of the trainees had!
this was a required skill to get a security guard license,
in FLA. at the time and may still be.
it took about 30 hours of training, and yeah, much of it was class room, not actual on the range time!
now keep in mind security guard jobs are not that well paid,
and they are frequently held by either younger guys with near zero other marketable skills (frequently minorities) (frequently not that educated , many could not read/write and pass written exams easily)
or older guys who want a secondary income in retirement.
class (D) is unarmed security and it pays considerably less per hour, class (G) paid more per hour so that was a coveted license.
the vast majority of the new trainees could not hit a full body silhouette target at 7 yards on the first day.
I remember well on one occasion, a student stated the revolvers and ammo we used were low quality trash, and he could not consistently hit a full body target at 7 yards, I took his assigned pistol A S&W 4" mod 10 heavy barrel, and put 6 shots in a 3" orange dot on the target at 7 yards as fast as I could line the sights and fire, certainly under 10 seconds, that seemed to solve the question of equipment not being adequate
by the end of the class most of the more skilled people could hit a 8" x 11" sheet of typing paper at 25 yards which at the time was considered good enough, but obviously the more skilled people were preferred, It was surprising , at least to me how many people could not achieve that level of competency, slow firing a 38spc 4" revolver, we were trying to get them to consistently hit a 6" diameter target at 25 yards with 6 shots in 60 seconds.
how many of you think you can do better?
I had lots of cops watch this process and laugh, but when tested some cops did just as badly.... whats your thoughts?
BTW the range made side money, from the classes selling these, or similar revolvers to the class members on many occasions
Last edited: