By Tamela Staples

The Troy Police Department will be hosting a two-day Firearm Safety and Familiarization Course for the public on June 21 and June 23.

Lt. Bryan Weed of Troy Police department said this has always been a course the department has provided for women, but they have decided in recent years to open it up to everyone in the public.

“We want to educate and make people aware of gun safety, and also give everyone a chance to learn about firearms, as well as an opportunity to learn how to properly shoot them,” Weed said.

This course will give the public a chance to become familiar with firearms, Weed said. It will go into detail about the importance of firearm safety, maintenance and how to properly use a gun.

“It is a basic familiarization and safety class, Weed said. “They will talk about different things such as if you have a firearm in your home, different types of firearms and things that people may want to look into while trying to purchase a firearm. They will also talk about the different types of ammunition, the use of force and the gun laws they have changed over the years.”

The Firearm Safety and Familiarization course will be broken into a two-day event; one day will be in a classroom setting and the second day will consist of one-on-one hands-on training.

“Outside of general safety rules and control, we also teach basic fundamental of marksmanship such as how to load the gun and side alignment … in case they are practicing alone or if a situation came up and they have to use it,” Weed said.

“When we have them down at the range its a one on one class, with safety being the number one priority, we will be looking at the things we have taught them such as holding the gun, their body position, side alignment … just letting them get comfortable with it,” Weed said.

Weed assured that anyone was welcome to come to the class whether they have knowledge of how to use a firearm or not. They also will provide people with firearms if they do not own one.

“We have a wide variety of shooters who come – we have some people who have never shot a gun and some who are very proficient with shooting, but take the class because sometimes it is required in order to obtain a pistol permit,” Weed said.

Weed was unsure if they had spots still available, but he is hoping that there will be another event hosted in the fall.

Weed expressed his appreciation for the public’s support during these events.

“We appreciate the public’s support with this program,” Weed said. “We have had good turnouts for the other classes we have hosted and a lot of interest being shown by the public… we’ve had a lot of success.”

For more information or to register for the Firearm Safety and Familiarization Course, contact Sgt. Ryan Nelson at ryan.nelson@pd.troyal.gov, call 334-566-0500, or submit a registration form on www.troyal.gov/police.