Four rules, in order, every time.
Cold Range Training · Boise · classroom in Garden City, range in Kuna
Most people who book here have never handled a firearm and are nervous about it. That is who these courses are written for. You can stop at any point, nobody is waiting behind you, and the first hour has nothing in your hands.
Free, always
Unloading and making safe
If you have inherited one, or found one, and do not want to touch it — you do not have to at any point. There is no charge and no course is sold to you afterwards.
The four rules
Learned in this order because rule one is what makes the other three matter.
Rule 1. Treat every firearm as if it is loaded.
Not “check whether it is”. Behave as though it is, every time, including the time you just checked it yourself thirty seconds ago. This is the rule that makes the other three matter.
Rule 2. Never point it at anything you are not willing to destroy.
Where the muzzle is pointing is the only question that has ever mattered. In this classroom that means the floor or a designated wall, and we will tell you which before anything is in your hands.
Rule 3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
Along the frame, not inside the guard. Almost everybody does this wrong at first because of how firearms are held in films, and unlearning it is most of the first hour.
Rule 4. Know your target, and what is beyond it.
A bullet does not stop at what you aimed at. On a range this means knowing where the backstop is. At home it means knowing what is on the other side of every wall.
Six courses, and one of them is free.
Classroom
Introduction to safe handling
$120
Three hours, one evening · Eight people
Somebody who has never touched a firearm, or who has one in the house and is uneasy about it.
Range
First range day
$240
Four hours, a Saturday morning · Three people to one instructor
Anyone who has done the classroom session, or has handled a firearm before and wants to start again properly.
By appointment
Home storage consultation
$90
About an hour, at your house · One household
Households with children, with a teenager, or with somebody going through a hard time.
By appointment
Unloading and making safe
Free
As long as it takes · One person
Somebody who has inherited a firearm, or found one, and does not want to handle it.
Range
Fundamentals of pistol marksmanship
$280
Two sessions of three hours · Four people
People who can already handle a firearm safely and want to shoot better.
Range
Private lesson
$150 an hour
One or two hours · One person, or a couple
Anyone who would rather not do this in front of other people. That is a common and completely reasonable request.
Anybody can say stop, and everything stops.
That is a real rule on the range and not a reassurance written for a website. Students say it, instructors say it, and it means the same thing either way. Nobody has ever been made to feel awkward for using it.
Ask about a course