Creating NRA certified Instructors for the National African American Gun Association

Something the NRA should be leading.....

A fellow NRA Training Counselor and I have been working on developing “Credible Messenger” NRA Certified Instructors for several years to help provide the instruction and training for all of the new gun owners, particularly for women and people of color.

We attempted to get something going in the Philadelphia PA area but were blocked by the Anti-firearm politicians, so we shifted our sights elsewhere. Through a mutual friend, we met Darius “Street Preacher” Foster in the Baltimore/DC area. In December 2019, Darius brought together a group of firearm instructors and worked in conjunction with the Rockland Foundation to provide FREE NRA Home Firearm Safety classes to 1,496 people before COVID lockdowns ended the program.

We met some members of the National African American Gun Association at a local gun store and talked about getting a similar program for the Philadelphia area. NAAGA had a booth at the SHOT Show this year and I met Karise Allen-Crew, the founder of the Philadelphia chapter of NAAGA. Karise and her husband Jerel were recently featured in Main Line Today for their work bringing Firearm safety to the community. The article is well worth a read. Karise agreed to arrange a pilot to see how it would go.

This past week, we completed the NRA BIT and NRA Home Firearm Safety Student and Instructor courses for Karise and 3 of her fellow NAAGA members from PA and DE. The Rockland Foundation covers the cost of the training and provides a grant of $10,000 to offer FREE NRA Home Firearm Safety classes to the community.

The newly certified NRA Instructors’ presentation skills and passion to help the community were impressive. Karise and the NAAGA team are fired up. They valued and appreciated the NRA instructor development program. The first 100 student books are ordered and on the way. We look forward to their success! Updates will be posted on the LPRGC Youth page.

If there are any other communities that would be interested in a similar program, please let me know.

We’re getting to the end of the election season for the NRA Board of Directors. If you are an NRA voting member, Please vote. I ask that you vote ONLY for me.

Only 100,000 of the over 2 million eligible voters voted in the 2021 election. We need your vote to effect change in the NRA. As an example of that change, The NRA needs to go on Offense and reach out to all of the new gun owners, and stop waiting for the new gun owners to come to the NRA.