With ears still mildly ringing, I'm back in the day job office, reflecting that for some people, handling firearms is not a by product of their careers such as MILLE type folks, but indeed their entire job. At the risk of sounding like a 12 year old, that's pretty sweet.
Enter Lateif Dickerson, Director and Chief Instructor of the NJ Firearms Academy, who's list of accomplishments and titles is longer than I care to cut and paste. Hence the link. A surprisingly relaxing and informative day out in Jersey City under his tutelage was a really really fun day as well.
The course in NRA Basic Pistol 1, which I have now passed (with only one error on the written exam - pesky wording mistake involving elimination of wavering sight picture as opposed to reduction) has shown me a number of things I long suspected but have now confirmed. Here are some of the highlights:
1. The Glock 17 is an excellent firearm and has a well deserved reputation. I prefer the Beretta.
2. I really really do like revolvers. Specifically, in the .38 flavor. I'm just old school that way it turns out.
3. .40 Caliber pistols are the upper limit of my current ability to control. .45s are just simply so big that I currently need an act of God, and a semi-magical solid steel frame to consistently hit a target at 20 feet.
4. Cleaning pistols is exactly the calming and relaxing process I suspected it was.
5. A novice firing a pistol with one hand is probably going to result in a missed shot. The reason there is a proper stance for beginners to fire a pistol is because it's the proper way to do it.
6. I have new appreciation for the phrase "Suddenly, his hands were full of thunder."
7. My long standing personal outlook on purchasing a firearm may be changing. Someday in the right environment, I just might become a gun owner, since the M1911 is available in 9mm. Sorry Mom.
8. I want to get much better than I am at this, and I'm actually not too bad at it to begin with.
9. Gunshots I've staged in theater in the past haven't actually been too silly. Now they'll be much better.
10. Handling a firearm is a delicate process, but need not be a frightening one.
Most important, I paid a lot of attention to the lessons "between the lessons." Watching Lateif and his son Trevor (the assistant on the range during the day) handle the weapons taught me a lot about how professionals operate and behave with these tools. Beyond no lapse safety basics and must have knowledge regarding grip placement and sight picture, being able to seamlessly duplicate the actions of someone familiar with the parts and operations of modern firearms can say a lot about a character.
It was the little things about body positioning, how comfortable and sure of the weapons they were when racking, assembling, and loading the pistols and how they became a legitimate extension of themselves that helped me understand. Best of all, these "little things" aren't impossible to learn, or duplicate. They are simply things that need to be practiced to sit in an actors mind and hands. These behaviors will translate on stage to the overall impression that the character has a level of expertise in accordance with who this character is.
Even if a shot is never fired onstage, and the "stage gun" is a solid piece of rubber or plastic, there are still ways to handle, move and use that prop so that the audience is under the impression that this is the real thing.
The way I see it, if you're striving for realism, there is no better way to go than to learn the real thing and adapt it into your work. No kidding, Lateif Dickerson's schooling is about is real as it gets, without staring down the barrel from the wrong side. I would recommend this class for anyone and everyone who's ever thought about a gun in any way.
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