Regular firearms training helps you make better decisions and use your right to bear arms more effectively. Whether you make frequent range visits for solo pistol practice or enroll in a structured training program by a shooting expert, you have to put in the work if you want to shoot better. Training, however, should go beyond marksmanship. Comprehensive firearms training helps you build and enhance the skills you need for better gun handling. Pennsylvania’s Largest Gun Show is the perfect place to find the supplies, trainers, and organizations you need to make it happen.
Many Types of Training
Firearms training comes in many forms. Before we start looking at the benefits of regular training, it’s important to understand what we’re talking about. While every training program may be different, some types include:
Theoretical – Theoretical training involves learning but not necessarily doing. This can include reading informative gun resources for tips and tricks, looking up your local gun laws, and other firearms education activities. This kind of training is meant to provide a solid foundation of information that future training builds on, so many practical firearms training programs have a degree of theoretical training attached.
Structured – Structured programs guide you through your firearms training step-by-step, guiding you toward improving your skills with your weapon. These are often administered formally by experts, but you can find plenty of at-home (or range) training programs that set the groundwork for you to follow along at your own pace.
Informal – Informal sessions are less rigid, whether it’s a pistol practice where you try something new, or you talk to a buddy about showing you how he keeps outscoring you at competitions. There’s no class structure or guidelines—just a shooter working on improving his firearms skills by focusing on what’s needed at the moment.
Required – Training is mandatory for some licenses, tags, certifications, or permits. This training is almost always structured to comply with set standards and taught or monitored by a professional certified to train gun owners and verify their proficiency with the new skills.
Popular Firearms Training Programs
There are many firearms training programs out there, teaching everything from general information to specialized niche skills most shooters will never need to consider. When choosing a training program, ask yourself what kind of instruction, demonstration, or drilling you need to get the desired results in your Second Amendment activities. Being selective helps you ensure you’re choosing training that meets your needs and doesn’t just waste your time and money.
Some of the most common firearms training classes include:
Safety – Safety training is frequently a required class based on your state’s gun laws. Passing your safety course may be necessary to buy a gun in some states, and it is also frequently incorporated into other gun training programs.
Hunting – To get your license, most states require you to pass a class that teaches basic hunter safety and etiquette as well as the rules and laws your state has for harvesting game for food or trophy.
Shooting Basics – Sometimes offered in conjunction with required safety training, this class gives students a broad overview of firearms before they hit the range for some pistol practice to put the theoretical knowledge into practice.
Concealed Carry – Required to obtain a concealed carry license (or pistol permit under some states’ nomenclature), this class is often held on two consecutive days. The first day is classroom instruction on gun safety, tactical considerations when carrying a weapon, and self-defense law, while the second focuses on range time to ensure the student has at least a minimum proficiency with their gun.
The Core Benefits of Regular Firearms Training
Skills get better with practice, and that’s just what training is all about. Programs start building these skills from the initial stages, where you learn a new skill, to the practice and repetition that ingrains it, builds muscle memory, and challenges you to make the best decisions based on the information available.
Safety – Improved gun safety is one of the most important benefits of regular firearms training. Guns are dangerous tools, and your rights come with certain common-sense responsibilities. Practicing gun safety in how you train and use your gun is key to fulfilling that solemn duty.
Accuracy – If you want to shoot better, you need to shoot more. Regular firearms training means more range time for you and your gun. Be sure to focus on your fundamentals during rifle or pistol practice, lining up your shots with care and keeping your mechanics sound. This will lead to tighter groups closer to your aiming point.
Efficiency – At its core, using a gun requires accomplishing multiple mechanical tasks: properly loading the gun, chambering a round, aiming down range, firing your weapon, and beginning the process again. As you put in the time, you’ll develop muscle memory that makes these processes smoother and more instinctive.
Self-Confidence – Practice and training help you better understand your weapon and skills so you can act decisively and confidently when needed. Effective firearms training builds the well-grounded self-confidence that only comes with experience.
Mindset – Training helps you develop a tactical mindset with your firearm. This can include carrying for better retention, identifying threats, and factors to consider when making a split-second shoot/don’t shoot decision.
Moderates Legal Liability – Regular training helps show law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, and juries that you’ve put in the time to learn to use your weapon safely and responsibly. A good lawyer can use well-documented training (especially formal classes by certified experts) to help justify the use of force and your decision-making process.
Gun Shows and Firearms Training
Gun shows help support regular firearms training by bringing together the top gun and accessory vendors, local firearms trainers, and community Second Amendment organizations under one roof. At your local gun show, you can pick up the supplies you need, find a certified trainer, make contact with local ranges, or talk to your community neighbors about a gun club. It’s not uncommon for attendees to leave with a new gun for their next pistol practice trip, as well as a scheduled class to get their carry permit.
Order Your Gun Show Tickets Online
There’s a local gun show coming to a PA community near you soon. Visit our gun show calendar, circle the date, and start planning your firearms training wish list. Order your tickets online to your next Eagle Shows Gun Show today.
