The tactical side of the 2A world is full of inexperienced experts.
So true. Sadly, many now are even getting paid to instruct other inexperienced people. And there are a couple of gun shops up here I can't even go into anymore because of that particular vibe, all the "experts" so willing to impart their learned wisdom (oft unsolicited) on all of us non-experts.
we always strongly encouraged students not to go out and buy a gun before the class,
Another great point. I mentioned in another thread that I (thinking I knew best) equipped my spouse with a S&W M&P-9C before her first ever course at Firearms Academy of Seattle. She had continued difficulty racking the slide under pressure as it was a stiff little beast, even though she'd demonstrated she could do it once to load the pistol, but not repetitively, was an issue I had not identified. She came home, told me she didn't like the pistol and appropriated my favorite SIG P-228 which she operated like a champ.
The article is great, but I would add saying somehing like "forget everything you think you know from screen fiction".
That's a key point!
Actually, this is why in many ways it was easier for me to teach some females with zero firearms experience - they had no preconceived notions while not possessing the ego of the typical young male (even those with little or no gun experience) and therefore listened much more closely, were more observant, and practiced the skills the way they were instructed.
A lot of the young males, particularly the gamers or the avid action movie fans, were the worst students in the academy.
We also had issues at times with some of the young guys just out of the military. While most were safe practitioners, they often thought they knew
everything there was to know about weapons and tactics (I admit, I was that guy in my final academy). Responding to an alarm from a closed business in the middle of the night, doing a felony hot stop, or going out on a DV call, is not even close to clearing a block in Mosul or Ramadi. Folks who already have training that they've had experience using can be resistant to learning another way or different methods.