If you are interested in becoming a certified volunteer DNR Firearm Safety instructor, a class will be held September 12 at 5 p.m. at the Silver Bay Community Center, 129 Outer Drive, in Silver Bay.
In order to take the course you must be 18 or older, have passed a background check, completed the application/background check form and volunteer agreement and have your current Firearm Safety certification. You must also complete the HEFAS (Minnesota Firearms Safety Hunter Education) Field Day Instructor certification manual, which is used in conjunction with the Volunteer Instructor Procedures Manual.
“We used to have more local instructors for the many years that we conducted the Youth Firearm Safety training at the Community Center and the field day that followed that classroom course,” said Paul Eiler. “The state requires a young person to pass the course in order to buy a hunting license. ISD 166 began offering the youth classroom course in late 2017 or 2018, and partly for that reason I have ceased to organize and offer an after-school classroom course.
“Since then we traditional instructors (all volunteers) only run the field day, but we are down to just three of us. We need a couple more instructors for the field day, so I encourage anyone interested to become certified to be an instructor by going to the training offered at Silver Bay.”
For more information, or to save your seat at the training session, contact Regional Training Officer Mike Lee at mike.lee@state.mn.us.
Paul said it is unusual to have this instructor certification training so close to Grand Marais. “The Silver Bay training will last a few hours. It is likely to be weeks after that before those attending will receive their instructor certification. The next planned firearm safety field day in Grand Marais, for which we will need two or three more instructors, is late May 2020,” he said.
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