I love bringing new people into the sport of shooting firearms. As much as I love the idea of teaching people the joys of shooting and doing so safely, I am extremely skeptical if you can make a decent living doing it.
I'm not entirely sure where to even start in terms of education and such when it comes to this kind of thing. Which brings me to my questions for those who are in the field of firearms safety and training.
First, what do I need to do to become a certified instructor. This will likely vary from state to state, but I'm mainly looking to do this somewhere in AZ.
I have some military experience, but I'm not infantry nor am I security, which makes my time in the service pretty much moot (Any trigger time I get is done by my own volition and with my own arms/ammo. Such is the life of a pencil pusher sadly).
Second, for those who are in this line of work, how do you keep bread on the table? I imagine most trainers work at a local range and supplement the time in between classes by working as a clerk selling firearms or operating as a range officer (if not both).
There are very few things in life that I genuinely feel joy doing as a job. Educating and helping others with firearms is one of them, but seeing as I'd like to have a family eventually, I don't know if pursuing something like this is a wise career choice.
Any input would be appreciated.
I'm not entirely sure where to even start in terms of education and such when it comes to this kind of thing. Which brings me to my questions for those who are in the field of firearms safety and training.
First, what do I need to do to become a certified instructor. This will likely vary from state to state, but I'm mainly looking to do this somewhere in AZ.
I have some military experience, but I'm not infantry nor am I security, which makes my time in the service pretty much moot (Any trigger time I get is done by my own volition and with my own arms/ammo. Such is the life of a pencil pusher sadly).
Second, for those who are in this line of work, how do you keep bread on the table? I imagine most trainers work at a local range and supplement the time in between classes by working as a clerk selling firearms or operating as a range officer (if not both).
There are very few things in life that I genuinely feel joy doing as a job. Educating and helping others with firearms is one of them, but seeing as I'd like to have a family eventually, I don't know if pursuing something like this is a wise career choice.
Any input would be appreciated.