Originally Posted By: haertig
Official instructors are nice, but they don't have any super secret knowledge that nobody else has.


Absolutely correct. There are plenty of firearms owners out there without formal training qualifications that can and do provide good training.

I've seen some awful instruction from both non-qualified firearms owners and from qualified instructors. I know of one certified instructor who ended up getting two of his students shot from unsafe practices, and ended up getting kicked out of the instructor program he was a part of.

Quote:
Pretty much, they are just experienced and conscientious firearms owners that filled in some paperwork and paid a fee to get a certificate.


Here I respectfully disagree. I'm not aware of any paperwork+fee programs to become certified instructors, generally there are some classes involved as well.

It seems to me like the best way to find out who is good and who isn't is to educate yourself the best you can on your own, find good (safe!) instructors, and see who they recommend.

I've been privileged to train with many well-respected and some famous instructors, and whenever I get the chance I ask them who else I should train with. Good instructors will recommend other good instructors, rather than tell you that you have to train with them exclusively.