[Mike5150]

As a first time gun buyer, I plan on taking a gun safety class from the store which I plan on buying my gun. I'm kind of expecting the class to be a very basic "don't point it at people, always assume it's loaded, it's not a toy" type of speech. If it's more then that I will be very happy. With that in mind, I am not only buying this gun for myself, but for my wife and 8 year old son. I would like as thorough of an instruction as possible, and I was wondering what some of your thoughts were on online classes or videos that could be better then in-person training. I'm not really looking for a hunter education course yet because my wife will not be hunting and I probably will not take my son hunting until I have gone at least once or twice. Right now I am just looking for safe practices, proper shooting techniques, and especially anything geared towards young children. I may be completely wrong, but I tend to think that this type of information could easily be covered in an online video somewhere as easily as it could by someone working at a gun shop. I still plan on taking the course through the gun shop, but I was thinking that something like this could help jog my mind and shake loose a few questions ahead of time.

Thanks!

[mpd8488]

Any chance you're in Virginia?

Anyways I see no problem with online courses for learning the basics of gun safety, relevant laws, how a firearm works, etc. You may even get a good rundown of the fundamentals and mechanics of shooting, but that will never replace learning with an expert by your side. They will be able to diagnose what you are doing wrong and instill good habits right from the get-go.

Look at it this way. Do you remember taking drivers' ed in high school? Did any of those videos actually prepare you for being behind the wheel of a car? You may have understood the laws and the principles of driving, but it wasn't until you got behind the wheel that you actually understood how to drive.