by Chris Cerino
Chris Cerino, left, is a nationally known firearms instructor and competitor who’s
been training law enforcement officers and military for more than 12 years, and
has worked in peace keeping positions for municipal, county, state and federal
agencies spanning more than 20 years. He is the director of training for Chris
Cerino Training Group LLC. Contact him by phone: 330-608-6415, or email:
chris@cerinotraininggroup.com.
Much of what I write about comes from experience, both good and bad. What my students learn from me, among other things, is that I yell because I care and that I have walked miles in the shoes they are in so I am trying to save them the blisters.
You may be a shooter, or just a gun owner. No matter which, your friends and family probably think of you as an authority or expert on the subject of guns and shooting. How you proceed can make or break them as future gun enthusiasts and shooters. When you take a newbie to the range for the first time, you need to show them a variety of guns and attempt to teach them some necessary aspects. There are two reasons people try to get their friends or family to shoot overpowered, unreasonable guns. First, they are fond of the specific gun and caliber and feel that everyone should feel the same. The second is because they want to see the reaction on the novice’s face when they feel the power and recoil. Neither is a good reason and may deter a loved one from pursuing the shooting sports and gun ownership. When training, we run into a variety of problems that are caused by well- intentioned friends or family members that have failed to focus on what is important. Make a positive first impression.
When you take a newbie to the range, bring a variety of guns. Not just your favorites or ones you think will evoke a, “Wow that’s cool/scary!” response. Show them a revolver and a semi-automatic. Explain to them how each works. Show them the function, trigger operation and what it takes to keep the firearm loaded and running. You can go as far as to have them manipulate the slide, open the cylinder and dry fire, both double- action and single-action if applicable. It’s important to know if they have the hand size and finger strength to operate the gun safely. More than shoot the gun each time. If she can’t pull the trigger in double-action without disturbing the sights and without using her whole hand to squeeze the trigger, get another gun. You can’t send her to training with it and expect success.
It’s not helpful to put a cocked, loaded gun in someone’s hand and have them fire it. You need to teach them, and most adults learn best by doing. Let them fire the gun from a loaded condition, but make them work the trigger in both single- and double-action. If there is a safety, let them work it before firing so they learn to manipulate the gun as it designed.
Once they have felt the gun and fired it, you can begin to teach them about making it functional and ready. Teach your newbie how to load or prepare the gun for firing. Preparing magazines and cylinders can be intimidating for new learners. At every class we ask people why they picked the gun they brought and how familiar they are with it. Rarely is it because they shot it, liked it and chose it. Those people often struggle with putting rounds into the magazines, working the slides and even dumping empty cases from a revolver cylinder.
Don’t be an enabler! I ask folks how often they have been out to shoot and what type of shooting. “Oh we shoot in the backyard all the time.” This is how I find it most often goes. The “gun guy” prepares the magazines, loads the gun, and hands it to the wife or daughter. They shoot it until it’s empty and hand it back for the “gun guy” to empty, reload, place into battery and hand it back for another go at it. This leads to remarks such as, “I had no idea how hard it was to get those casings out of the cylinder. My husband always knocks them out. It looked so easy.” Yes, you shoot guns, but you have no experience with guns and shooting. Now you are spending should explain sight alignment, sight picture and trigger management. Newbies need to understand how to align the sights, and place them on a target. Knowing that they should press the trigger until the gun goes off—without disturbing sight alignment and sight picture—is key. The very best thing you could do is to give them an easy to fire and manipulate 22 caliber to demonstrate that it does not hurt to shoot and does not kick and fly from their hands. Shooting is an unnatural experience. It is scary to most to have a controlled explosion in their hands in front of their face. Acknowledge it, and let them know that you feel the same way. It’s all still very safe and can be fun once they become accustomed. Be a go o d f r i e n d, f ath e r an d husband. Make shooting an enjoyable experience for everyone. Don’t do what I did by giving my wife a .45 ACP the first time out together. Trust me! It’s taken the better part of twenty- two years to live that one down.
Remember: it’s all about the fundamentals!
Chris Cerino is a nationally known firearms instructor, competitor and TV personality who’s been training law enforcement officers and military for more than 18 years. Chris has worked in peace keeping positions for municipal, county, state and federal agencies spanning more than 22 years. A majority of those years have been spent in tactical and firearms related fields. Literally immersed in pistol training for years, his skills are founded in life experience. Chris is the director of training for Chris Cerino Training Group LLC, teaching in a “do as I do” fashion. Chris is a current peace officer and remains immersed in the firearms industry by teaching, competing and working across the nation. To contact him by email: chris@cerinotraininggroup.com, or phone: 330-608-6415.
