A Weekend of Unlikely Training

When I was in my teens, I presumed life would end with nuclear war (because: Cold War). In my twenties, when it became clear that was less of a threat, it also became clear to me that governments were not necessarily prepared for widespread emergencies so I sort of adopted an apocalypse-preparation mindset. Not quite what current day preppers do, more, “if civilization crumbles or I need to GTFO for whatever reason, or there is an earthquake that screws over the whole region, these are the skills I need” and I started pursuing them.

On my first personal website in the mid-90s I even had a page dedicated to my “apocalypse skill set” where I listed things I had learned or was in the process of learning that were useful DIY skills such as knitting, food preservation, gardening, pruning, plumbing, orienteering, or fire-starting. I eventually got sidetracked but from time to time I do add new skills. I no longer catalog them all, however. 

Anyway. 

Flash forward to a few months ago when my friend Teale randomly asked if I’d be interested in joining him to take the Canadian Firearms Safety Course both of us were more or less of the same opinion, “Well, you know, if end times come and only the right-wing survivors have knowledge, experience, and access to guns, that’s not good for the rest of us.” — I know it sounds a lot like the NRA mantra “the only way to kill a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” but that’s not quite it. Understanding firearms and how they work isn’t always about firing them. Also, this course isn’t at all concerned with firing them — it is about public safety, just like the Food Safe course in which food is neither prepared nor served.

So we picked a date and signed up for the course offered by Canadian Firearms Training for the first week in January. I honestly didn’t think seriously about it until the eve before the first class when I started down a YouTube rabbit hole, found myself taking notes and, before I knew it, slightly panicked myself into thinking I couldn’t possibly pass these tests. After reading an older copy of the handbook for the course (thank you Little Free Libraries!) plus watching a few more videos I was much less panicked and I had about 7 pages of notes scribbled down including cutaway diagrams of ammunition. 

Still, in my fifty years I had only handled one air rifle and one (vintage) handgun. I couldn’t even tell you what kind of handgun it was — it was at an auction house about 25 years ago. Further, I’ve been so bothered by the hyperbolic gun culture and gun lobby to the south of us that I’ve pretty much ignored everything about firearms for most of my life. 

Saturday morning, I picked up Teale and we made our way to the training venue. I expected to be the only woman but there was one more in a class of 24 students (20 for the Restricted Firearms course on Sunday). The class makeup was otherwise pretty much what I anticipated. It was led by two men with a lot of law enforcement experience and who are active hunters and sport shooters. 

Before I go any further, I want to just say that I have taken a lot of courses over the years in different disciplines and these instructors delivered top tier education. They covered what we needed to know to pass the courses (a LOT by the way), kept the class moving, supplemented the lectures with images, short videos, and demonstrations, and interjected their own experiences. I came away with a greater respect and understanding of firearms as well as the knowledge needed to safely handle, store, and transport them. 

So what exactly was covered? 

On the first day, they bombarded the class with the basic safety info: ACTS and PROVE — the two acronyms used throughout the training to remind users how to safely interact with any firearm then they run through some demos with non-restricted firearms (shotguns and rifles). Just before breaking for lunch, we got some hands-on time. Bear in mind that all of the firearms have been modified to be inoperable. 

I was at first perplexed by the mechanism of the bolt-action but a few moments of one-on-one explanation cleared up my confusion. Of all the non-restricted firearms we handled, I loved the simple yet graceful design in both form and function of break action double barrelled shotguns the most. Perhaps my most surprising takeaway? All of these firearms felt natural on my left side. Turns out my left eye is dominant so that made sense in the end.

[Sidebar: did a search for an image of how I was holding the shotgun and the first photo that showed up was President Obama skeet shooting — complete with a controversy over the photo]

After lunch, we continued through the remaining course material including the sections on storage, transportation, and the related responsibility — both legal minimums and the preferred best practices. Some of this gets heavy handed but it pretty much has to. As Murray repeatedly said through class, “there’s no room for dicking around!” Those who were not doing the restricted course were tested; the rest of us cleared out for the night. 

Teale and I traded excited chatter all the way back into town and my excitement also spilled over to a few conversations in the evening. This morning we reconvened — an hour earlier — to complete the restricted firearms course. Restricted firearms are generally pistols — shorter barrel with either manual or semi-automatic actions. In Canada automatic firearms are prohibited under current legislation. 

The instructors followed the same format as with the non-restricted, though the history section was skimmed over as it was repetitive. When it came time to handle the revolvers and the more modern pistols, I was immediately drawn to the revolvers. There was a lovely Ruger .44 Magnum (maybe a Super Blackhawk? If you came here for specifics, I’m sorry but I’m not there yet and may never be) that felt very comfortable for me to hold and it was pretty (It had beautiful scrollwork!). On the flip side of that, the least favourite item I picked up was a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol. I will forever side-eye every actor in every action scene using such a firearm from here on out. The slide lock on that beast (it was stainless steel and heavy! Possibly a Model 5906) took ALL of my strength to pull back just to check the chamber was clear. Absolute brute; I would never ever want to use that firearm.

I instantly understood the reason gun shows exist.

A bit more instruction followed then just like that it was time to take the written tests. Once those were done, we were each called in to do the practical exams. So four tests in all and I am happy to say I passed all with a very comfortable margin. The rush of adrenaline from completing the course was evident.

Last thoughts? I’d recommend this class to a lot of different people. I went in with virtually zero knowledge — even after 1000s of hours of media and news exposure talking about various firearms, I had absorbed nothing and believed I had no interest. Now? While I don’t particularly have a reason to own a firearm, I feel more confident in being able to deal with one and I am curious enough that once I get my license (that’s the next hurdle — it’s a fairly involved application process and a minimum 28 day wait once it’s been submitted) I do plan to go to a range to at least observe. 

There’s something remarkable about taking education that unexpectedly opens new neural paths. I’m thankful that I took this opportunity; it’s a great way to start my year.