Completed 14 classes at Gunsite — and they’ve been the best!

Since completing the superlative three-day Tactical Medicine class earlier this year (2023), I have attended 2 range days— where I saw vast improvements in my marksmanship — and the bar kept being raised in the Seasoned Citizen Close Quarters Pistol, and the Active Shooter classes. The instruction is the finest available, the best I’ve had since military service. Perhaps the finest compliment I can pay Steve Tarani, instructor for the Seasoned Citizen CQP course, and Col. Randy Watt, instructor for our Active Shooter course, was that the mental aspects of these intense, challenging classes were repeatedly emphasized…. Think… think… think… Both instructors provided us with a wealth of books and references to read, not satisfied just to help us hone our weapon skills alone, but to teach us situational awareness, sound tactics, weapon deployment, marksmanship, accuracy… and to keep thinking. A college professor once told me that education does not become wisdom until it effects a behavioral change… and thanks to these two instructors, my partner and I (who also attended these classes) have been making A LOT of changes. Do you have to be an outstanding marksman to do well in these classes? No. Steve Tarani and Randy Webb lit fires within each one of us, and I, for one, feel that I am a better marksman, tactician, and person as a result of taking these classes. There’s nothing easy about the training: you have to sincerely and deeply desire to make the most of every minute at Gunsite, in the classroom and on the range: I hit a number of plateaus during these classes (resorting to old, dysfunctional habits) and both instructors helped me through them… but, ultimately, I have to make the decision to take advantage of every minute spent — and it proved to be well and richly worth it… the best days I’ve ever spent on a gun range in my life. Should you take any of these classes? Regardless of how you view American society today, we no longer live in a world where we can depend upon help, where your assumptions about being safe prove inaccurate — and we need to respond appropriately to these emergencies. The training is done to build upon the foundation of 250 Pistol, a building-block approach to bring out the best in every student. Don’t worry: Gunsite instructors don’t miss anything, and they’ve accurately helped me to cure my deficiencies. Male or female, everyone should take these classes.

Thomas Young, Direct Response To Active Shooter, June of 2023, Gunsite, Paulden, AZ

Take Me Back Where I Was