Thread: Mountain Safety Council Firearms Course

Its a bit disappointing to hear that the MSC isnt delivering the goods. I was an instructor for nearly 30 years from the early 1970's to 2003 instructing at Porirua, Wellington and lower Hutt old and new Police stations and found generally most instructors were very good. The majority of instructors were NZDA members and had a keen knowledge and passion for hunting and firearms. We had an approved course we taught with practical details provided by our own experience .We were updated regularly with the new relevant legislation and firearm accident statistics which detailed the cause and effect of the accident which in turn was woven into the course. Our emphasis was always safety,safety and safety. In the few hours we had to run the course each night its not possible to cover everything in depth but all the basics were explained. We had a good variety of different firearms as teaching aids including damaged firearms ,blocked barrels etc that explained more than words. It was important to ensure that the safety laws were understood and the results of abusing the rules was injury or death. The main man in those days was Bob Badland whoes passion in driving MSC was infectious . Although we were all unpaid volunteers we did maintain close contact and would all meet at least once a year for a general get together and update.
When I did my original training as an instructor it was pretty basic involving a two day course held at the Wellington branch NZDA range . We were expected to be very familiar with the various firearms and hunting methods and the emphasis was on teaching methods. This is of course a very short time to teach a teacher . We always understood that our input as volunteers was by necessity limited and limited funding was available from The Internal Affairs dept ,then subsequently the Police . The firearms/ arms officer at most Police Stations then was also the lost property officer ,most of whom had limited hunting and firearm experience and were hugely overworked but who were proactive in supporting us few volunteers. It was not our job to vet anyone as our warrant was for instructing although we would on occasion communicate our concerns of anyone to the relevant people. This was a very rare occurrence. I think that all in all we did a good job instructing people with similar interests who took a great deal from the course and who subsequently became avid hunters and shooters and whose commitment to their sport and safety is shown by the literacy and concern expressed on this forum and who can in turn if they wish give something back.
I ceased to be an instructor due to work commitments in 2003 and have had little to do with MSC since that time but feel the MSC course is only as good as the volunteers who run it and that could be you.