Courtesy of National Train A Teacher Day

The owners of a local firearms shop is offering free emergency first aid and basic handgun training to those who work with youth for free as part of National Train A Teacher Day next month.

Leslee Miller, who owns Pro2Arms with her husband Bill, said there’s space in both training sessions, which will be held June 17, and people have until Friday to sign up. The National Train A Teacher Day sessions will be offered to those who work in Del Norte schools as well as athletic coaches, Sunday school, clergy and other religious youth leaders.

“We’re simply offering our time,” Miller told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Wednesday. “When it comes to our classes, the emergency first aid (class) is for traumatic injuries that would cover a sucking chest wound or a flailed chest. These are things you could come across in a car accident and this is an accident that could happen with a child in school — how do you stabilize them until EMS can arrive?”

Miller said the handgun class is for anyone who wants to know how they work.

“It’s about the different names, the nomenclature associated with all of the parts,” she said, “and if we did have some type of school shooting scenario, would you be able to pick up someone’s firearm and use it to save the rest of the people?”

There are spaces available in both classes, Miller said.

In California, it is illegal to bring a firearm into a school zone, which is defined in the state's Penal Code as within 1,000 feet of a public or private school.

According to Del Norte Unified School District representative Michael Hawkins, only law enforcement is allowed to bring a firearm onto a school campus.

Sponsored by the United States Concealed Carry Association, the inaugural National Train A Teacher Day was held in 2018 following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

According to the National Train A Teacher Day website, in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting, co-founder Grant Gallagher called on the firearms training community to do something “that educate and endorses exercising our rights instead of restricting them.”

In addition to owning Pro2Arms, the Millers are certified instructors. Leslee Miller urged people to register soon since the class space is limited.

The emergency first aid course will be held from 9 a.m.-noon with the basic handgun course to be held from 12:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. both on June 17 at 161 Cates Way in Crescent City. For more information, email leslee@pro2arms.com or bill@pro2arms.com.

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