This is a discussion I'd like to see over on the NRA Instructors' Forum, but I am sure it would not be allowed there as too political.
My core concern: Is anyone developing contingency plans for the survival of NRA training programs and instructor certifications if the New York case threatens the very survival of the NRA?
Existing problems, apparently related to the NRA financial mess:
1. The NRA Training office has a staff of only 4 people.
2. That office has no direct responsibility for managing the publication of training materials, or ths supply stock of training items (e.g. instructor shirts & caps, posters, cards, dummy guns and dummy rounds, etc.) and award certificates and pins.
3. The staff does not have the staff and push needed to update training materials and get them published on a timely basis. Approval of new versions has to go through the NRA General Counsel office and them managed by a totally separate publications office. The GC office is obviously swamped with the lawsuit(s).
Most firearms instructors maintain NRA certification, even if they rarely teach an NRA class, because of the way NRA training is recognized in many state laws or regulations. However, that institutional recognition is already under fire in New York and Virginia, and possibly other states.
On a personal level, I am willing to train using NRA curriculum, USCCA curriculum, or my own content. I prefer USCCA content over NRA's, but I prefer the nature of NRA slide decks over USCCA's too-wordy slides. As a relatively novice instructor, I lean toward the two nationally recognized curricula over my own, simply because of experience and reputation.
Thoughts? Opinions?
Thakns for listening.
My core concern: Is anyone developing contingency plans for the survival of NRA training programs and instructor certifications if the New York case threatens the very survival of the NRA?
Existing problems, apparently related to the NRA financial mess:
1. The NRA Training office has a staff of only 4 people.
2. That office has no direct responsibility for managing the publication of training materials, or ths supply stock of training items (e.g. instructor shirts & caps, posters, cards, dummy guns and dummy rounds, etc.) and award certificates and pins.
3. The staff does not have the staff and push needed to update training materials and get them published on a timely basis. Approval of new versions has to go through the NRA General Counsel office and them managed by a totally separate publications office. The GC office is obviously swamped with the lawsuit(s).
Most firearms instructors maintain NRA certification, even if they rarely teach an NRA class, because of the way NRA training is recognized in many state laws or regulations. However, that institutional recognition is already under fire in New York and Virginia, and possibly other states.
On a personal level, I am willing to train using NRA curriculum, USCCA curriculum, or my own content. I prefer USCCA content over NRA's, but I prefer the nature of NRA slide decks over USCCA's too-wordy slides. As a relatively novice instructor, I lean toward the two nationally recognized curricula over my own, simply because of experience and reputation.
Thoughts? Opinions?
Thakns for listening.