Why I Became A Firearms Instructor Through The USCCA

Hi!

My name is Kyle.

I grew up in New Jersey and did not have a lot of experience with firearms.  In fact, I had never shot anything other than a BB gun until I was in college.  Shortly after moving to Maryland in 2005, I became a gun owner.

During the financial crisis of 2008-2009 I learned more about home security and after moving to a new home in 2010, I taught myself how to program and install a Visonic alarm system throughout the home.  This was before the days of easy DIY alarm systems.

  
By 2015, I was spending a considerable amount of time at the gun range practicing and I decided that I wanted to obtain more training in the safe handling of firearms and became an NRA Range Safety Officer.  Through books, articles and YouTube videos I continued to add to my knowledge base in the areas of firearms, situational awareness, defensive tactics and home security.  

As more acts of violence continued to happen at schools, churches and throughout our communities, I became troubled by a chorus of calls for more gun control as the solution to reducing the senseless murders occurring in our country by evil individuals.  Whenever a mass shooter event occurs, it is human nature to want to just do something...anything in response to the incident.  However, it is important that the response be legal, logical and be able to have a measurable impact by actually reducing mass shooter/active shooter incident events without taking away the rights of law abiding Americans. 

In the fall of 2019, I read a book called "Countering the Mass Shooter Threat" by USCCA Chief Instructor, Michael Martin.  The information I was presented in this book about the journey Michael went on to ultimately conclude that gun control does not work and is more of a just do something approach illustrated a couple of problems to me.  First, gun control creates a false sense of security (gun free zones) as criminals by definition do not obey laws.  Second, it restricts, disarms some and potentially criminalizes otherwise law abiding citizens through new and sometimes retroactive laws.  Also, by adding additional taxes and fees to legal firearms purchases, it makes it difficult for poorer Americans to afford to exercise their Second Amendment right.  

Whether you agree with the Second Amendment or not, all Americans are interested in reducing crime/acts of violence.  I decided to be part of the solution by teaching and instructing in the areas of safety, security and the legal and defensive use of firearms.  I chose the USCCA (United States Concealed Carry Association) as the organization to get my handgun firearms instructor's credentials through and officially became an instructor with the USCCA in early March of 2020.

My vision is to make a positive impact on communities and individuals by providing knowledge and training that will help you to anticipate, reduce and properly react to crime and acts of violence whether you are out in public, in your house of worship, school, small business or home.