About:

Who am I and why do I teach?

My father always had guns around, but I never really knew anything about them. My dad would take me to the range, hand me a loaded gun, I would shoot some targets, then hand it back to him. This only happened  a handful of times. I never knew how to load or unload a gun. 

When I met my husband in college, he had a pistol permit so I decided to get one too. Funny thing was we rarely went shooting and when we did, it was pretty much the same thing. He would hand me a gun, I would shoot, and then I would hand it back to him. 

In 2007 we moved and my pistol permit expired to the point that I needed to take the class over again. I was all excited because this was going to be my first real class and I couldn’t wait! When I got there I had such high hopes that now I was really going to learn all about guns and everything I needed to know. Eight hours later, I left with the feeling of, “That’s it?” I passed the class, I shot my targets, but I didn’t really feel any more confident than before. 

In 2010, my husband started traveling for work and I found myself home alone with two small children. I knew I didn’t want to become the statistic of people who harm themselves with their own firearms. I knew I wanted more training. I started searching for some kind of basic pistol courses in the area. All I could find were full weekend or full week classes that I would need to travel too, that were hundreds of dollars. I also wasn’t sure if I even met the basic skills needed to attend one of these courses. At A Great Start Shooting School I look to give you a place to start to build your confidence and open the possibilities to you.

I still remember that first time of being able to pack my own bag and head to the range. I was so excited and confident! I want to share that feeling with everyone that wants to learn. I want to let other people learn that confidence that comes with mastering another skill. I have been learning and training ever since!  One of the best things about training is that if I don’t know the answer you are looking for, I probably know someone who does.

My name is Brooke Cheney and I am a NRA Instructor, a competitive shooter, safety officer, and a perpetual student.