Photo by Erin Nelson.
Mountain Brook Police Sgt. Chris Thompson works with Caroline Daniel on her technique to hold a handgun during a recent Citizens Basic Firearms Safety Course.
The Mountain Brook Police Department wants to help citizens who have firearms to use them more safely.
The department has typically hosted its Citizens Basic Firearms Safety Course every month.
The course offers citizens the chance to learn the bare basics of operating a handgun from trained firearms instructors.
However, the department was unable to host the classes for over a year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in March 2020.
But on May 22, the MBPD was able to host its first firearms safety class since the pandemic started.
“The class is intended and designed for someone who has never picked up a handgun before,” said police Sgt. Drew Evans, rangemaster for the MBPD. “We take them through the very basics.”
“It was an amazing course,” said Robert Daniel, who attended the session in May with his wife Caroline. “We can not say enough about their kindness and their interest in helping us feel comfortable with our guns.”
Caroline and Robert have had handguns in their house for years but didn’t know how to use them. Taking the course was a chance for them to be more knowledgeable and comfortable with their weapons.
“When we knew that the Mountain Brook Police Department was going to be kind enough to tell us about handguns and their safety and how to shoot them, it was too good to pass up,” Robert said.
Police officers — both active and retired — helped teach the course and spent one-on-one time with participants which is an important part of the class.
“We try to keep our classes smaller so we can have a lot of that one-on-one instruction,” Evans said. “It also helps safety-wise because you don’t have one person trying to watch several different people that may have never picked up a gun before so you can help them improve on their handgun abilities.”
Some people came alone and others with their spouses, but there was one officer with each person to make sure they completely understood instructions, and Chief of Police Ted Cook made an appearance as well.
A normal course begins in a classroom setting with snacks, reading materials and Powerpoint presentations to introduce participants to the course. One of the very first things that attendees were taught are the different parts of a handgun and what those parts do.
“We learned the difference between a revolver and a pistol and the parts of each,” said Emily Coe, a participant that attended the class with her husband, Matt. Emily didn’t grew up around handguns but didn’t want to be afraid of them anymore.
“As a person going into it with zero knowledge, I thought it was very informative,” she said. “I know how to shoot my gun now and I’m able to unload and load it myself now which I couldn’t tell you how to do before.”
Participants bring their own handguns and ammunition — 100-200 rounds — and spend a lot of one-on-one time with firearms instructors going over their weapon.
“We go over nomenclature so that people know what we’re talking about so that if someone has a question, everybody is on the same page when it comes to what part of the gun we are talking about,” said Evans.
Instructors then go over several aspects of using a handgun including general safety rules when operating a firearm, what to wear and what are referred to as the 7 Basic Fundamentals of Marksmanship. These include how to pull the trigger while on target, how to line up the sights and how to stand when firing a weapon.
“After we go over that information and we feel like everybody’s ready to go and all of their questions are answered, we’ll load up and go right down the hill to the firing range,” Evans said.
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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Above: Caroline Daniel fires a shot at a target as the bullet casing leaves the chamber during the Citizens Firearms Safety class held by the Mountain Brook Police Department.
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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Ret. Sgt. Al Eason works with Tim Parsons on his form.
Participants start at the range with dryfire —- shooting a handgun without ammunition — to practice the seven fundamentals and then start shooting live rounds.
“What I liked about the course is that you do get to go out to the range and get to shoot and practice what you’ve just been taught,” said Jeanne Dunham, a retired chief’s assistant for the MBPD.
The class starts shooting one bullet at a time, loading one bullet and shooting it to help get people comfortable unloading and loading
their weapon.
Emily Coe and other participants now feel better about handling their weapon after being uncomfortable and afraid of it.
“I’m scared of guns,” Dunham said. “Yes, I did work for the police department, but I’m an office person. I wasn’t out there.”
Dunham feels safer after taking the class because she knows how to handle and shoot her gun and feels confident that she could use it in a life-threatening situation.
“They went over everything from how the pistol or revolver is loaded, the dos and don’ts, safety measures when holding the gun like always keeping the gun pointed down until you’re ready to fire,” said Tim Parsons, another participant in the class.
Parsons — like many of the other participants — hadn’t gotten his gun out of his case in years.
“I first inquired about the course when we were having Black Lives Matter rallies around us and after having heard about some things that had taken place in other areas,” Parsons said.
The MBPD told Parsons that classes were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic but they kept his contact information and would let him know as soon as classes were being held again.
“Lo and behold, several weeks before the class started, I got a call back and said that I was one of the first people that he called which I really appreciated,” he said.
Evans recalls a class of six to eight widows who all had the same story. They were all in their 70s and their late husbands had left behind revolvers that they were afraid of because they didn’t know how to use them. By the end of that class, all of that changed.
“By the time we were done, we had some pistol-packing mee-maws,” said Evans. “They loved it. The only reason we stopped shooting is because their hands got tired, and that’s what we’re looking for. People that have never picked up a gun before and they’re afraid of it. By the time we’re done — hopefully — they should not be afraid of it. They should be able to handle it safely and effectively and that’s the whole goal.”
