We started offering Dry-Fire training classes out of necessity.  The shooting ranges considered us competition, and wouldn't let us teach there.

The New Shooter 101 training project got its start as a result of necessity.  Our gun club, Armed Defense Training Association, was founded in 2011 by a group of experienced shooters who got together to rent open bays at local indoor ranges.  It soon become apparent that with increasing gun sales there was a growing demand for training beginners.  We listened to what people were asking for and decided to start providing defensive handgun training for new shooters. 

Right away we ran into a snag.  The shooting ranges would not let us rent their classrooms because they considered us as competition for their own classes.  A typical gun range beginners class consists of a couple of hours in a classroom, then another couple of hours shooting.  Our solution was to divide these sessions into two training classes—the first as a dry-fire event, followed later by a second session at a range.  We started experimenting with this format in 2013.  The video below is from one of our Dry-Fire classes at Brooklake Church in Federal Way WA.

We got large turnouts for our Dry-Fire classes.  This affirmed there was a demand for this type of training.  One thing that helped is that a couple of our board members were friends with the local community newspaper editor, who ran articles on us and listed our classes in the print edition calendar.  Another is that our community is a high-crime area and there is local sympathy for the defensive use of guns.

It soon became apparent that Dry-Fire was the way to go

• Dry-fire classes can be taught anywhere – At your church social hall, your favorite organization's clubhouse, even your own garage or barn.  In the early days of developing this curriculum, this writer conducted test classes at his kitchen table!
• Then go shooting later – In the woods, gravel pit, farm or ranch, or friendly shooting range. 
  
• We used this formula to avoid conflicts with local shooting ranges.  However in the long term it proved beneficial because we could offer classes practically anywhere – without the need for approval from a shooting range that considered us to be competition.