wabbit's response is highlighted above
never understand anybody's failure to avail oneself to FREE advertising on a national level marketing internet site??
For any number of reasons. A lot of it depends on the instructor/organization conducting the training. For example, we sometimes have classes filled before we schedule them. It wouldn't make much sense to list them on the NRA site just to have to turn people away. As another example, we will nearly always schedule a special private class for a student on almost any open day, if at all possible. The NRA website doesn't have a feature that allows an instructor to advertise classes in that manner. Lastly, some instructors just don't want to deal with the "Instructor Portal" application on the NRA website, therefore, they don't advertise their classes on it.
but potential clients not informed to who or where the instructor(s) are might find it tough to find instructors in their area to ask them to set up unscheduled courses
Yep. There is always the potential for that, which is why the site you provided the link to is a good resource. That is also why I advised,
"It never hurts to call/send email to any instructors in your area to see if they can help you out.". If you see an instructor in your area through your use of that website, go ahead and give the person a call or send the person an email and let him/her know what you are interested in. Many instructors will try to accommodate you even if they don't have a particular class specifically listed on that site.
so once again, how is john q public suppose to find instructors in 'their area'...oh wait ping the open carry forum for help...ya thats it
Sure. This site and many others. Most any state-focused gun website/forum will have an area set aside for training information, or will have members who will happily direct you to trainers in your area.
ps: why am i so confused on this masterful way to conduct business with customers...(sidebar: tough to know where you are physically located unless you search your website)
I'm not sure what you are confused about. I wasn't trying to "conduct business" with the OP, rather, I was simply offering some advice. That advice being that while the NRA website is a good resource, it does not necessarily represent 100% of the possibilities that are available out there. As to finding information regarding where my business if physically located, where would you prefer I display that information? I believe having that information on my website, in addition to information regarding the courses and training programs we offer, in addition to our complete course schedule through the end of this year, as well as information about the organization itself, is as good a place as any to display our location.
pps: interesting to note this gentleman did not see the courses i mentioned listed on your website chris?
We don't offer the Home Firearms Safety course. We've just never had any interest in the class - at least not enough to justify placing it on our class schedule when we could be offering a class that is more, "in demand". As far as FIRST Steps Pistol is concerned, it is simply a shortened and abridged version of NRA Basic Pistol that focuses on one specific pistol action type. Any Certified NRA Pistol Instructor can also teach the NRA FIRST Steps Pistol course. Again, that is another class has very low demand, so unless someone asks specifically about it, we generally don't publicly offer it. Since the NRA shortened the NRA Basic Pistol Class to 8 hours in 2009, most people see the value in taking that class over NRA FIRST Steps being how it is much more comprehensive and has more live-fire involved, especially since most instructors charge nearly the same amount for either class.
