"We will have trained approximately 1,900 public and private law enforcement and military instructors by the end of 2003. There is a growing demand for training from the NRA's Law Enforcement Division by the United States military as well," said Ron Kirkland, Director of the Law Enforcement Activities Division.

NRA Law Enforcement Firearm Instructor Development Schools are held throughout the United States and are designed to help instructors conduct safe, effective and realistic police firearm training for their agencies or departments. To be certified by NRA, instructors must complete a minimum of 44 hours of instruction over a five-day period. NRA Certified Instructors have the training necessary to teach their students to win potentially lethal encounters, save lives and prevent injuries.

NRA's various Instructor Development Schools prepare Law Enforcement Firearm Instructors to teach handgun, handgun/shotgun, tactical shotgun, tactical handgun, patrol rifle, precision rifle, and select-fire courses. LEAD also offers tuition-free armorer schools, which teach repair, diagnostics and maintenance, and are provided in conjunction with major firearm manufacturers.

NRA's Law Enforcement Firearm Instructor Development Schools are recognized by the American Society for Law Enforcement Training and the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors. According to Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement magazine NRA offers "the most cost-effective, best-rounded instructor development."

The Law Enforcement Activities Division of the NRA has trained over 50,000 Law Enforcement Firearm Instructors in police departments and the military since 1960 and over 11,000 NRA Certified Instructors are currently training police officers nationwide. LEAD also offers many benefits to police including: discounted Firearm Instructor liability insurance, the Jeannie E. Bray memorial college scholarship fund, and a life insurance benefit program in case of felonious death in the line of duty.

"Our goal is to establish and enhance the NRA's leadership role in support of law enforcement officers' training through schools, competition, services, and programs," said Kirkland. Helping to make law enforcement training effective are a number of NRA officers with police backgrounds, including: President Kayne B. Robinson, former Assistant Chief of Police for the Des Moines Police Department in Des Moines, Iowa; Second Vice-President John C. Sigler, a retired Police Captain from the Dover City Police Department, in Dover, Delaware; and NRA Executive Director of General Operations Craig D. Sandler, a retired police chief from Nashua County, NH.

More than 180 law enforcement groups and manufacturers of law enforcement equipment support LEAD, including Davidson's Incorporated of Prescott, Arizona, which established The Davidson's Law Enforcement Endowment. Davidson's $100,000 commitment will help permanently endow NRA's law enforcement training efforts and the National Police Shooting Championships.

For more information, go to www.nrahq.org/law, or call (703) 267-1640.

Photo by Joe Kerper.