Owner and Lead Instructor

Alvin Thompson was interested in firearms for as long as he can remember. As a child, most of his playtime involved action and adventure. Little green army men, cap guns, BB guns, etc. He started his career in Law Enforcement, through which his knowledge and understanding of weapons and tactics truly began, in 1989 when he joined the U.S. Air Force as a Security Police/Law Enforcement Specialist. In the military, Alvin became an expert marksmen with the handgun and rifle. He also received training with other weapon systems, to include the M-60 machine gun and the M203 grenade launcher. Of course, self defense and tactics training was part of his military time as well. Alvin had the privilege of serving with the 3415 SPS at the old Lowery Air Force base in Denver, Colorado and in Saudi Arabia during Dessert Shield and Dessert Storm. In 1995, Alvin then joined the Denver Police Department in Colorado. Most of his time Alvin worked in patrol, responding to calls for service, making traffic stops, and making contact with people that did not always have the best intentions. He learned the importance of observing your environment and putting yourself in the best tactical position so that you can react to a violent attack quicker or even avoid it in the first place. Alvin then worked as a D.A.R.E. Officer and realized that he was good at teaching and enjoyed it. In 2007, Alvin began working on getting his state POST certification to train police and police trainees with handguns. In 2012, Alvin started working with Red Rocks Community College/POST Academy training men and women attempting to get jobs with Colorado Law Enforcement agencies.

Alvin is a family man who has been married to his stunning and supportive wife, Melissa, for over 20 years. He also has two beautiful daughters, Ruby and Lily, who are his inspiration and joy.

Alvin is passionate about sharing his knowledge with people, especially with those who might want to learn more but are intimidated by the “Macho” appearance that much of the gun world has. He believes that everyone should understand their rights and responsibilities about protecting themselves even if they choose not to carry a firearm.

The Importance of Dry-Fire Training

You would not expect to pick up a guitar and after only a few hours of instruction and be able to play like Jimmy Hendrix, or go to one cooking class and expect to run a kitchen like Gordon Ransmey, yet millions of Americans are doing something like this right now. In 2018 there were 17.25 million people issued a Concealed Carry permit in the United States.  There are also 15 unrestricted states that allow residents to carry concealed without a permit. In those states it is estimated that 24 million people carry a concealed weapon for protection regularly. That means that over 41 million Americans lawfully carry a firearm for self protection daily. Yet, less than half fire the gun more than once a year and even less than that get further training after their first Concealed Carry Class.  Yes, you can cook something after your first class but could you cook to save your life?  Then why do so many people think that it only takes one class to save your life or the lives of family and friends.  Yes, I’m sure they can use the gun but would they be mentally and physically ready for the most traumatic moment of their life?  These people give lots of reasons for not putting in the practice.  It cost too much… I don’t have time… I can’t practice the way I want at private ranges… What if I told you that I have answers to all those excuses and more?  I am going to talk about a training method that every serious instructor and firearms expert swears by and should fill 80-90% of your training and practice time.  Let’s talk about Dry Fire Training.

What is Dry Fire Training?

Dry Fire Training uses an empty firearm or other training aid like a SIRT laser training gun.  By using this training method you are able to learn and hone many skills like trigger control, sight alignment, grip and muzzle control from virtually anywhere, even from your very own home, safely and for little to no cost.

Before we go any further, let’s talk about safety.  Anytime you are handling a firearm, real or otherwise, there are four universal safety rules you must follow.  

#1 - Treat all guns as if they are loaded.

#2 - Never let the muzzle of the gun cover anything you are not willing to destroy.

#3 - Keep your finger off the trigger and out of the trigger guard until your sights are on the target and you are ready to shoot.

#4 - Identify your target and what is beyond.

If you follow these rules and insist that others around you also follow the rules, the likelihood of an accident is greatly reduced.

Perishable Skills.

Shooting is a perishable skill...Kinda.  Like a bike, you don’t really forget how to shoot, but it only takes a couple of weeks before your muscle memory starts to regress.  This regression, unlike being rusty at your rad bike skills, could be a detriment at the moment of truth. What exactly is muscle memory? “The ability to reproduce a particular movement without conscious thought, acquired as a result of frequent repetition of that movement. This process decreases the need for attention and creates maximum efficiency.” Shooting is all about muscle memory.  Pulling the trigger, Gripping the gun, lining up the sights… Once you can do these things without thinking about it, using muscle memory, then your shots will come faster and more accurately.  With dry fire training, you can get thousands of repetitions for much less time and money than you can get at a private range.  

Time and Money

Speaking of time and money, the average cost for an hour of shooting at a private range is about $50 per person.  That one hour of shooting will take about 3 hours out of your day and you will get about 50-100 reps/round shots.  If you want to practice once a week, you will easily spend well over 150 hours a year, spending more than $2500 and get 2000-3000 reps at the range.  But if you use dry fire training with your own firearm for that same once a week, you can get tens of thousands of reps in the same amount of time you would spend at work for one week for next to nothing in cost.  Wow! In one fatal swoop the first two excuses have been eliminated.  

Practice your own way

What about the other excuse of not being able to practice the way you want at private ranges? It is true that most ranges will not allow quick strings of multiple shots, drawing from a holster, shooting while you are moving.  Without going to a professional class, most shooters will never do more than bullseye shooting.  In the average self defense incident, the shooter will fire multiple rounds in only a few seconds while moving.  And the target will not be standing motionless waiting for you to line up your sights for that perfect shot either.  These are dynamic adrenaline filled moments that will require decisive actions.  With Dry Fire training you can practice tactics in a safe and calm environment as often as it takes to make these skills effortless without braking range rules or spending hundreds of dollars on a professional multi-day class.

Condition Orange

With Condition Orange training, you will get an experienced instructor coming to you, helping you identify gaps in your firearms skills. They will then help you fix these gaps as well as provide you with more skills to fill out that firearms self defense tool belt, and leave you with ways to keep your new skills honed with drills you can practice at home, all at a much better price!

Conclusion 

Am I telling law abiding gun owners that they never need to go to the range?  That they never need to learn how to manage recoil or condition themselves to the loud explosion happening just a few inches from their hand every time they pull the trigger? Of course not. Putting rounds through your gun is the only way to truly learn and understand shooting.  But with Dry Fire training, you can put in more practice time perfecting the fundamentals and tactics of shooting so that you can maximize your marksmanship practice with your limited time at the range.  So, the next time you are at the range and your friends are asking how you have gotten so much better, you can tell them dry fire and Condition Orange.