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Standing Up for the Second
Recently I discovered that the development I live in has its very own gun club! The founder of the club, Janet Warnsdorfer, moved to Florida from Pennsylvania, where gun clubs abounded (in spite of being a blue state). She was surprised that there were no gun clubs right in our area here in Florida, and decided to remedy that situation.
Part of her motivation to form a gun club was in response to a group that had formed that purported to support gun safety, but she was concerned that their goal went beyond safety. (That group had formed following the shootings at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.) So Janet decided we needed a group that supported gun owners and gun rights. We have a monthly magazine in our development which is distributed to all residents where she can promote activities.
The group, just under one year old, already has 150 members. Although we have no gun range, the group occasionally visits local ranges. They are primarily a social group for now, meeting once per month, and have had various speakers visit, offering programs such as training women on gun use. Another speaker, an NRA Certified Instructor, spoke about personal safety and security practices for seniors. They hope to have a deputy sheriff from the Polk County Sheriff’s Department speak on being involved with an active shooter situation. The club has no board or dues.
I’m excited about the formation of this club for a number of reasons, especially since the community now knows that there is a group that supports gun ownership and the second amendment.
In these times, that’s a highly significant message.
Published in Guns
That’s fantastic! I wish I was closer to you, I would love to come and talk to the club.
I’ve been an NRA Instructor for almost a decade now. Last year I started teaching their “Refuse to be a Victim” courses, and I have one coming up November 17 at the local Methodist Church. I’m also in the process of adding a cert to teach Gun Safety in the Home to my Basic Pistol and Metallic Reloading certs.
Whatever you think of the NRA’s political activism (and I have some opinions about it), the NRA Certified Instructor program is a wonderful thing. There are nearly 130,000 instructors who train over a million people every year. Getting certified is not trivial; it requires substantial training in how to teach as well as the details of the individual subject, and a two-day refresher every two years. I can’t think of a more proactive way of dealing with what the media likes to call “gun violence.”
“Refuse to be a Victim” is interesting. It’s a 3-4 hour seminar about self defense that is not weapons-oriented. We teach that the single most important factor in making it through a crime or attack is that you have a plan, that you have thought through what you would do and considered your options. We talk about those options, about how criminals think, about situational awareness and how you can defuse a situation before it starts turning bad. We cover home security, online security, identity theft, and what to do if you don’t like the looks of your Uber driver.
Law enforcement agencies all have excellent programs to train communities in ways of reducing crime. I always recommend them, especially when I have taken the courses and know the LEOs involved. I have never met a LEO who was unfamiliar with NRA Instructors, or wasn’t glad to have my cooperation. Based on some of the course feedback, there is something to be said for a class that is conducted by an ordinary old fat guy, not a former Marine in the best of shape. It brings home the point that information is the most effective defense, and your brain is your most powerful weapon.
@douglaspratt, I’m sure you’d do an excellent presentation! If you ever have plans to be in our neck of the woods, let me know. The seminar you describe sounds great. Keep us in mind if you’re in FL!
Thank you. It could happen, although I tend to avoid Florida except for launches. I got to watch Apollo 14, Viking 2, STS-1 and five other Shuttles, and a Delta or two take off. The rest of the time I stay up in the frozen North. I would rather deal with polar bears than fire ants…I can see them coming.
If you ever happen to be in the Niagara Falls area, let me know. The local wineries and cideries are worth a visit; we even have a mead shop. And if you come up in the fall, I can show you an orchard with 350 varieties of apples.
I have had NRA instructors. They are a far better face for the NRA than the few elites at the top. We are the NRA and the instructors are the NRA.