It’s June, and that means Father’s Day gift time. Typically you might whip out the new ties, socks, and handprint wall hangings…right? Well, if you want to give dad the kind of father day gift that keeps on giving, I’d actually suggest some solid firearms training. If you’re not sure where to start, no worries, I’m here to help. These are courses and academies I personally recommend as stellar ideas of where to send dad to fine-tune his skills whether he’s a hunter or defender. These are my favorite and highly recommended gun safety course locations. In fact, a gun safety course is a great gift for all times of the year, and a gift that your dad will appreciate forever as he sharpens his skills for either on the range or in the woods.
Gunsite Academy: 250 Defensive Pistol Class
Not only is the 250 Defensive Pistol Class a requirement to take anything else at Gunsite Academy, it’s a great gun safety course, especially if you desire to have a concealed carry permit in your state. Gunsite Academy was founded as the American Pistol Institute by the late Col. Jeff Cooper and is now known as just Gunsite Academy. It’s located in Paulden, Arizona, and it can only be described as a mecca for serious shooters. The 250 class is the perfect way to square away your defensive skills with a handgun. The 250 is a heavyweight gun safety course that lasts for five days and covers everything from basic square range shooting to low-light/no-light drills and time spent in the shooting houses. There’s nothing quite like a simulated scenario at Gunsite—every time I’ve done it, I learn something new—and all of the academy’s instructors are talented in their own right. This is the ideal gun safety course for a dad who’s focused on self-defense, concealed carry, and once 250 is out of the way, the proverbial sky is the limit for other advanced Gunsite classes. After spending nearly a decade of time visiting Gunsite, I would 10 out of 10 times recommend it as the top spot to go for handgun, long gun, firearms training, and hunting-related training.
Firearms Academy of Seattle – Handgun Retention
The good news is that Firearms Academy of Seattle (FAS) is not only not in Seattle, it isn’t even that close. FAS is located in Onalaska, Washington which is a small, rural community more than 100 miles from Seattle. The Handgun Retention class—which is followed by an Advanced Handgun Retention class if you’re interested after passing the initial course—is an excellent option for dads who carry for self-defense. The fact that you need to have some skills to hang onto your handgun and that grappling and up-close fighting are things is often overlooked, but not at FAS. Now, I have some bias here because odds are good my own dad—Tom Walls—will be around to teach this class. But I’ve also been training at FAS for nearly two decades, and it’s a great spot for it. Handgun Retention is an eight-hour gun safety course and requires an invitation, so you have to contact FAS to get in. It’s a great class, but fair warning—I broke a holster during Handgun Retention once, and it does require some level of physical awareness and acuity. FAS is a great shooting academy and it’s important to remember there’s more to life than live fire—and Handgun Retention is a good place to broaden your dad’s training horizons and get him started in a totally worthwhile gun safety course.
Massad Ayoob: Group MAG-40
Now, this one’s not a location, it’s a gun safety course you can find all over the country. It’s taught by Massad Ayoob—Uncle Mas—and it is “The Class Dad Needs” (and so do you). MAG-40 involves forty hours of training in an even split between live fire and lectures. If you want the best possible experience from a man who is nothing short of a legend, you want to find MAG-40 taught in its entirety by Massad Ayoob himself. There are some great MAG instructors across the country, many of whom I’d highly recommend, but there’s simply no one like Mas. This gun safety course is fantastic for teaching dad about the legalities and realities of self-defense while also getting range time to fine-tune handgun skills and learn a few things about shooting stance and grip along the way. I wouldn’t call it a beginner-level class, but after having taken it repeatedly myself—because it’s awesome enough for endless repetition—I will say I’ve seen newbies take it. You have to adhere to the gun safety rules and be a safe, responsible shooter, among other things. If you can only ever send dad to one class his entire life, make it MAG-40, and make it a class Massad Ayoob himself runs from beginning to end.
Gunsite Academy: Sight In Hunter Prep
Yes, it’s Gunsite Academy again, and for good reason—not many academies do solid hunting-related courses. I’m not talking about hunter’s ed that’s required to get your license or some sort of “this is a deer, that’s an elk” course. Gunsite Academy’s Sight In Hunter Prep is a two-day hunters safety course designed to take hunters from zeroing their rifle to honing their skills with proper sling use, ideal shooting positions in the field, and far more. Gunsite also has safari and dangerous predator courses, so there are plenty of options for the dad who hunts. (And don’t knock the dangerous game course, because there are going to be photo-realistic dangerous game animals coming at you, not just hanging on a target frame.)
You can never have enough gun safety course work, partly because shooting is a perishable skill but also because there are endless skills to learn and hone for live fire. It doesn’t matter if it’s a self-defense or hunting focus, there’s a class out there for it, and it’s a great idea to attend. Make sure you’re sending dad to a reputable location for a class taught by a qualified instructor. Gun safety training is a must, and a Father’s Day gift is a great time to make it happen.
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