Anyone used Great Plains Firearms Training before?

[Tacticoolio]

I was looking around for instructors in Omaha, and Great Plains Firearms Training came up.  Their location is more convenient to me than many others, and their listed course offering seems excellent.  I'm interested in both dynamic critical incident training AND competition games training for handguns; I haven't found many other places that do both.

There are no AARs or other postings about them on the forum when I did a search.  Has anyone ever trained with them?  What was your experience like?  Which class(es) would you recommend?

Thanks in advance, and be safe!

[bkoenig]

After seeing the pictures they had posted on Facebook (since removed) of them having students pointing guns at the back of other students' heads I most definitely would not go anywhere near them. Not just for training, I don't want to be around them when they handle guns, period.

[bullit]

In the Omaha area:

1) For tactical training, advanced, etc.....   88 Tactical.  I might also Precision Response Training down the road from you in Plattsmouth for lack of a better description "advanced concealed carry" (my bastardized description
2) For competition.....HANDS DOWN Precision Response Training   

[JTH]

In the Omaha area:

1) For tactical training, advanced, etc.....   88 Tactical.  I might also Precision Response Training down the road from you in Plattsmouth for lack of a better description "advanced concealed carry" (my bastardized description
2) For competition.....HANDS DOWN Precision Response Training   

We do "tactical" classes too---though it is true, our priorities aren't chosen for LEO or military use.  Ours are instead citizen self-defense tactics classes.

CCW (concealed carry), CQT (close quarters tactics, and no I don't mean military CQB), and DT (defensive tactics---generalized) classes---all of which cover different areas and aspects of citizen self-defense.

We also teach shooting skills classes, for those who think being able to shoot faster and more accurately is a good thing.




End advertisement.   

[Tacticoolio]

I've taken classes from both 88 Tactical and Precision Response Tactical-- and I had great experiences with both training groups!

In the interest of expanding my training exposure, I'm hoping to find out if the Great Plains Firearms Training group is worth the cost of their classes.  Aside from some mythical photos showing cavalier classroom safety that BKoenig mentioned, has anyone had any experience with their training?

They advertise that they train a LOT of people in the Omaha area and actively participate in the shooting games, so there's gotta be a few people on this forum who have trained with them.

[SemperFiGuy]

so there's gotta be a few people on this forum who have trained with them.

And just maybe there are GPFT Instructors who are also Forum members, as well.

Perhaps they would wish to (a) explain or even (b) defend what's going on at GPFT.

Maybe the Real Situation isn't actually as serious as it appears from the website pictures posted on this Forum.

Maybe what we saw posted on this Forum was some kind of Brannew Special Defensive Drill that none of us has ever seen before.
 
Because if What We Saw is actually what it appears to be, then it's @#%$^&**% AWFUL!!

sfg

[abbafandr]

If memory serves me correct, a gentleman wearing one of their jackets showed to try shoot in the IDPA match in March at ENGC.  Aldo was running a stage and jthapkido explained what was going.  He also asked the gent why he wasn't wearing eye protection on a live shooting.  I don't he answered, but went to an open bay to shoot with somebody else.  Don't know if he ever put eyes on.

[Dan W]

After seeing the pictures they had posted on Facebook (since removed) of them having students pointing guns at the back of other students' heads I most definitely would not go anywhere near them. Not just for training, I don't want to be around them when they handle guns, period.

I know a guy who has copies of the posted pictures and I agree with bkoenig

[JTH]

If memory serves me correct, a gentleman wearing one of their jackets showed to try shoot in the IDPA match in March at ENGC.  Aldo was running a stage and jthapkido explained what was going.  He also asked the gent why he wasn't wearing eye protection on a live shooting.  I don't he answered, but went to an open bay to shoot with somebody else.  Don't know if he ever put eyes on.

That's their head instructor.

And no, he didn't ever put on eye pro even when shooting with someone in bay 2.

I asked them on their Facebook page what types of competitions they shot, and they never replied.  Their page currently doesn't accept comments from anyone anymore.  So I'm not sure what shooting sports they engage in, though their head instructor lists "27 years of firearms training and competition" and one of their other instructors lists "a long-time NRA competitor!" in their bios.

http://gpftomaha.com/meet-our-instructors/

Their old website says:  "Every Instructor/Trainer/Coach is an avid shooting sports enthusiast and all stand ready to help you reach your goals!  Whether you are shooting for the first time or you want to prepare for a national tournament - let Great Plains Firearms Training be a partner in your success!"    ...though the picture they use is actually from Claude Werner's blog about competition shooting.

http://www.greatplainsfirearmstraining.com/

If anyone has shot a competition with them, I'd be curious to hear about it.

The pictures mentioned in other posts are still part of their website gallery at:
http://gpftomaha.com/gallery/

I need to start charging the amounts they do for a four-hour basic pistol course.   Well, apparently it is really good training, because they do say (or did, when their head instructor addressed the Board at ENGC) that they have taught many, many people. 

[SemperFiGuy]

they have taught many, many people. 

It's possible that their assertion is actually true.

And we certainly do have visual proof as to how they teach them.

sfg

[Gary]

One of the instructors is an attorney, and we all know how dicey that can get, once mud is airborne.   A prudent person might want to walk away from this. 

I have not attended their classes, but I have attended classes, at three NSP CHP &  NRA classrooms, that had safety issues.  Major ones. 

Open liquor on shelves, and people were drinking it in the classroom.  Live ammo, in guns, in the classroom, used in training.    One NSP CHP Instructor ND'd one in a wall not long ago.    My wife and I took one of his CHP classes.   I hope the NSP has tightened up his procedures.

If we look at other programs, to find fault, we will find it. 

My classroom?   No drinking alcohol in class.  Before class.  After class.  zero tolerance.

No live ammo in class.  zero tolerance.

Instructor never turns attention away from any student, doing any gun drill, on the range, or in the classroom.  Classroom guns, on tables, near students, are all 100% safety guns, incapable of firing live rounds.

No finger on any trigger, until ready to shoot.  zero tolerance.

No muzzle sweeping, no muzzle pointing in the general direction of anyone.  zero tolerance. 

We should all look at our own programs, to see what needs tightening up.

[landon410]

the female instructor listed, I used to work with her husband (an ER Dr) in an emergency room in Omaha for 3 years. they don't live here (Nebraska) anymore, they moved to just east of KC MO.
I guess she drives back up to do some classes

I've shot with her husband, he is a good shot! I know he is super safety cautious based on my experience with him. He scolded me one time when I was showing him something with a handgun. no mag, slide locked back, and hand no where near the trigger, but I did take it out of our shooting area and didn't have it pointed down range.

and while at first i thought "why is he over reacting" ok, so while what I was doing wasn't going to shoot someone, but the next guy who sees me with a gun behind our shooting area decides he can do it too, now we have a problem.

I don't know anything else about any of the other instructors

[Tacticoolio]

Wow, there are certainly a lot of strong opinions about Great Plains Firearms Training-- as well as some strong opinions about tangential topics, too.

Gary, I appreciate your vigilant recitation of the rules of gun safety, as well as your eagerness to share disturbing instances of gun safety violations at all times, regardless of the topic at hand.  Rest assured, my friend, that I don't have a handgun any where near me at the moment!  (but if I did, I would Internet safely near it)  I'm not sure, however, what you meant by pointing out that their lead instructor is an attorney-- does that add or detract to the quality of their training?

It sounds like most experiences with GPFT have been either circumstantial or second-hand.  Does anyone actually have any first hand experience with their training classes?  Has anyone interacted with them during some of the many shooting competitions they attend?

Thanks, and hopefully we can get some more input from people!

[OnTheFly]

while at first i thought "why is he over reacting" ok, so while what I was doing wasn't going to shoot someone, but the next guy who sees me with a gun behind our shooting area decides he can do it too, now we have a problem.

1) Treat EVERY gun as if it is loaded. 

Finger off the trigger, no mag, slide back...DOESN'T matter.  He was right to correct you.  No offense, but the issue was not that other people might see you and do the same, rather the problem was that you treated a functioning gun as if it was "unloaded". 

Fly

[bullit]

I know Liz. I invited her to a class I held with Mas Ayoob. She has also trained with L. Vickers.  She is a very safe shooter and good shooter.  That being said I am 1) surprised at the photos I have seen with her in the classroom and 2) "unsure" of her 2A legal expertise.  My two cents...take one of their classes and report back (.....if you survive.... que errie music.....)

[Tacticoolio]

My two cents...take one of their classes and report back

But their classes are so expensive, I was hoping to get some feedback about past experiences or AARs before spending all that money.  If it's worth it, great, but spending a few hundred dollars without any positive recommendations is a little beyond the financial prudence I should observe.

[Gary]

Wow, there are certainly a lot of strong opinions about Great Plains Firearms Training-- as well as some strong opinions about tangential topics, too.

Gary, I appreciate your vigilant recitation of the rules of gun safety, as well as your eagerness to share disturbing instances of gun safety violations at all times, regardless of the topic at hand.  Rest assured, my friend, that I don't have a handgun any where near me at the moment!  (but if I did, I would Internet safely near it)  I'm not sure, however, what you meant by pointing out that their lead instructor is an attorney-- does that add or detract to the quality of their training?

It sounds like most experiences with GPFT have been either circumstantial or second-hand.  Does anyone actually have any first hand experience with their training classes?  Has anyone interacted with them during some of the many shooting competitions they attend?

Thanks, and hopefully we can get some more input from people!

In our forum, we preach to the choir, and to the new guy sitting in the back row, half asleep. 

Preaching to the choir, never bothers me, as they are often times the ones that really need it most.

National story.  Police chief, recently ND's one into himself, at a local gun shop.  This is the second time, this LEO has shot himself, over the years.    Locally, Former LEO discharges his gun, on school property, picking up his child after school. 

When these stories stop, I will quit preaching.  I preach to myself also. 

[Tacticoolio]

National story.  Police chief, recently ND's one into himself, at a local gun shop.  This is the second time, this LEO has shot himself, over the years.    Locally, Former LEO discharges his gun, on school property, picking up his child after school. 

When these stories stop, I will quit preaching.  I preach to myself also.

Wow, and you're saying this guy attended a GPFT course?

[Chris Z]

My advice is you should ask around to people you know who have taken a concealed carry class, and ask them if it was a good class. It does not appear that anyone here on this forum has taken a class with them yet.

You are paying good money for training.....Seek out quality training. When trying to find a training class for myself, I am more concerned about whether or not I'm going to get QUALITY training, rather than where the class is located or how much it costs. (Of course location and cost can factor some in to your decision). I teach classes in Lincoln, and a large percentage of my students come down from the Omaha area. Sure it sucks for them to drive, but they are also happy when they leave at the end of the day with the instruction they received.

There are good Instructors all over, and unfortunately there are some very poor ones.....

If you can't find anyone who has been through a particular instructors class, then keep looking. If you find someone who says, "yes I took a class from ****** instructor and I learned a lot, it was a great class", then you have something to go on there. If they tell you, "what a joke, I was bored out of my mind at *******'s class, and it couldn't get over soon enough", well then you know to keep looking.

[RN4Guns]

Thank you Tacticollio for bringing this up. I have attended training out of state and have very high expectations. After taking a local class, and being muzzled TWICE in the same class by 2 different students, I will never take another class from someone who does not have some testimonial from someone I know. What is really scary is that the instructor was the one to point out that the student behind me was muzzling me while the second time the instructor was not even in the room and the student sitting beside me was messing with her gun. I had to take it upon myself to tell her to sit it down and stop muzzling me.

The instructor made several crucial mistakes that day. First, he did not lay out the rules. There was no rule of no ammo or no firearms within reach. The instructor actually asked the student to get his gun out as it was unique and he wanted to show us something. After the show and tell, the instructor gave the gun back to the student and then told the student to put it away as he was muzzling me.

Second mistake: The instructor was taking the students one by one to do shot/don't shoot drills in the range room. He never told the students to unload before going back into the classroom. So in effect, the students were coming back into the classroom with a loaded firearm if they did not take the precaution to unload it before coming back into the classroom. Now that brings me back to the other student sitting to my right who decided to take her gun out of the holster and clear it while it was muzzling me. I am sure the look on my face was priceless as I told her to stop muzzling me and put the gun down, she then said sorry and then muzzled herself. I told her to stop muzzling herself. This was a 101 class. What scares me the most is that this guy trains law enforcement. Now I know why some LEOs are shooting themselves:)  He had even made a comment about LEOs 'accidently' shooting another during training. If they had been observing the 4 safety rules, no one would have been hit.

While I am fairy new to the shooting world, especially instructor world, I am finding it is a small world, but in a good way