Welcome back,
This week will be a busy one. I am in between classes, but decided to keep busy by taking some training courses that interested me before Summer Courses begin. That training I speak of is the
NRA Certified Firearms Instructor Academy.
As many of you know I grew up in rural Missouri, and I am a Former Marine. Guns have always been a part of my life, and I admit to being an NRA member. I would never push guns onto people because I realize a small segment of society are uncomfortable with them, due to liberal policies and agendas trying to demonize guns and breed a society that is ignorant of gun safety, and void of gun ownership, which is unfortunate in my opinion.
Overall, I encourage gun ownership and I have seen a dramatic increase in the need for firearms assistance in the fields of Usage, Cleaning and Safe Storage due to first time gun buyers in my area due to this administrations Anti-Gun Agenda and the fear it has instilled in the general populace.
Firearms are a touchy subject for some people. What I thought was normal firearms experience growing up was quite the opposite. I owned my first .22 Rifle when I was 12, my first .410 shotgun at 13, Shot my first handgun (My dads Revolver), and his 30-06 Rifle by 14. I hunted Deer in Missouri when he felt I was able to handle the Large Caliber Rifles better from that point. He did a good job teaching me safety when it came to firearms, may he Rest in Peace.
When I got older I joined the Marines, and in there I learned about military weaponry like the M-16/AR-15 Platform, the M-249 Saw, multiple Semi Auto pistols & even some sniper platform rifles on the weekend from marines that made a lateral move to the Air Wing side. By the time I got out, I was adept at several pieces of equipment that I saw as "Normal" but in the last few years I realize that most people have not only never used these types of firearms, but they don't even know how to clean the firearms they do own. And even worse,some people have never owned a firearm period. It sent me into shock. It just never clicked with me that people didn't know about this stuff.
I tend to be a resource for many people when it comes to guns in my life, and if I can help to provide safety training and keep people from hurting themselves or others I feel it is the right thing to do. I don't hunt anymore, I shoot as a hobby mostly, and work on basic marksmanship. I hope to get some hunting in in the next few years as my kids get older. But if I can help teach new shooters basic firearms safety and possibly prevent people from negligently shooting themselves or their loved ones, then I feel obligated to do so. This course will allow me to do that by helping to teach CCW, Armed Guards, 4-H Activities and more, helping to spread firearms safety in my personal community.
With all that said, it was the basis for my Adobe Illustrator Course Project, and knowing that you can understand why I made it now. It was designed as a generic template for Certified Firearms Training for future website development. I learned how to do many things in Illustrator during this seasons course. Below is the result, all using Illustrator.
CFT Shield
The above images were the basis of a "Button" or "Icon" design I was going to use as the platform for my project. Called it the "CFT Shield"
CFT Flier
The Image above is the 8.5 x 11 "Flier" that I created for part of my project. The goal was to create a flier type image that helps display and advertise your focused material. I think I did OK and it seemed to resonate with everyone else. "Clean" is the normal response I get, and that is high praise, because all too often I see ads that don't really grab you or even portray what they are advertising very well.
CFT Poster
Above is the 11 x 17 Image I did for the other half of my project. It was developed as a "Poster" for the material we were coming up with. I used brushed metal, and other stippling in both pieces, I made it much more pronounced in this piece, but still kept it subtle. Again, this was a generic "Template" for future firearms training if I choose to go into business.
I will more than likely start up by assisting with other instructors classes to make sure to view how they interact and train their classes, and then when I feel comfortable, I will begin teaching classes myself. In the meantime, I will be taking some web design classes this summer, and hopefully be able to assist the other firearms instructors in designing clean and helpful websites to reach a larger customer base so they can help spread firearms safety to as many people as possible.
Thanks for dropping in, and I will have more to show you soon. Wish me luck on my course. I'll try to post some pics from the range next week!
P.S. - I love my XD
