Alice's Handgun Training

Alice's Handgun Training is a specialty focus of Alice's Awesome Adventures. Master Maine Guide Alice as an USCCA Instructor and a NRA Instructor trains future handgun owners, new handgun owners or those that have never fired a handgun before the basics of pistol shooting.

Using the USCCA and NRA Basic Pistol Training programs, Alice will teach you all about SAFETY with handguns first. Throughout the interative course you will learn about the different types of handguns, how to load and unload a handgun, how to hold a handgun and different stances, practice aiming a handgun, safe storage of a handgun, how to choose a handgun, how to clean a handgun, dealing with malfunctions and more. There will be mock drills in the classroom to help each student become more comfortable with their favorite handgun.  SIRT Pistols (laser shooting pistols) will be used in the classroom to teach stance and aiming. During classroom sessions all ammunition will remain outside in your car! No live ammunition will be allowed in the classroom. Safety First !

After the conclusion of the classroom training, each student will take a fifty question written exam. It will be an open book examination.  For certification, you must pass the written examination. 

Range instruction time is at an outdoor local range, so dress accordingly.  Be sure to wear closed toed shoes, have a brimmed hat, wear eye and ear protection. (If you don't have any, Alice will provide them). When we go to fire at the range, you will first fire at 10'.  After firing your first three rounds of ammunition, you will be challenged to fire 5 rounds in each of 4 circles at 10' (ten feet). There is no time limit on this certification challenge. Be sure to bring 50 rounds of ammunition with your favorite handgun to do this. After you qualify at 10', you may choose to qualify at 15' or 20' using your remaining ammunition. If you do not own a handgun, one may be provided by the instructor for an additional ammunition fee.

If you actively participate in class, pass the written examination, and pass the ten foot shooting qualification you will pass the course. Course certification can be used to apply for a Maine Concealed Carry Permit.

There are Women's Only group classes as well as co-ed group classes. Group classes have a maximum of 10 students in classroom sessions and 2 for range sessions for more personalized training.  Classes are currently sponsored by Merrymeeting Adult Education (www.merrymeeting.org), Five Town CSD Adult & Community Education (www.fivetowns.coursestorm.com), and Buck's Guns in Lisbon. If you would prefer private training in a 1:1 or 1:2 group, contact Master Maine Guide, USCCA and NRA Instructor Alice by email.

Alice's Handgun Training offers many two to six hour workshops. These are just a few: After The Bell Rings - situational and social awareness safety training for children and their families; When Someone's Home Is Your Office - situational awareness and safety training for contractors and those that go to other's homes for work; Developing a Personal and Home Awareness Plan - evaluating how you move through your community and how to make your home safer; Defensive Pistol Fundamentals - learning how to use your pistol as the last resort to keep yourself safe; Concealed Carry and Shooting Fundamentals - understanding the Use of Force continuum and shooting skills for quick response; Women's Defensive Pistol - learning how to conceal carry and defensive shooting; Legal Use of Force and Making Sense of Concealed Carry - implications of being armed in public and defense of self and home.

Comments given by the  USCCA and NRA course students:

"I had a fun class with a fun teacher. Thank you!!"   The part of the course that was most beneficial? "All of it!  Alice's Humor :)  and Knowledge. Range time!"  "Awesome class!  I thought that it would drag but the day flew by!  Thank you!!!"  "It was very good! Enjoyed it even though I need lots more practice."   

"I'm not sure if I replied previously, but, just in case not, I wanted to thank you very much for the EXCELLENT pistol training and just darn good time!  I learned a lot that I hadn't known and it greatly increased my understanding of the operation and handling of pistols (and firearms in general).   I'm looking forward to additional firearms training in the future!"  

"Our first class was this past Wednesday evening, and it was absolutely fantastic. Having taken another gun course five years ago at the behest of my late husband, I can attest that Alice Bean Andrenyak is a remarkable, enthusiastic, professional teacher. In the three hours of our class, I felt more confident, secure, and interested in using my posthumously gifted Walther 380 than I ever imagined.

My goal to take this course was because I am not comfortable  - in fact more than a bit fearful - of firearms and their use. I am not a gun enthusiast, nor am I necessarily a supporter of the NRA - a point she made very clear at the first sentence of her class: this is about learning about your pistol, and knowing the correct safety, mechanisms, and procedures of how to to use it. The course was designed by the NRA -  very well done - but Alice’s personal method of supporting her students and keeping a remarkably safe yet ‘open’ venue made it absolutely the example of how ‘education' should be manifested. Her clear, very specific, organized and closely monitored class was transformational. Hands on, multiple ways of presenting the material, practicing and implementing safe procedures, and working as a team in class was a wonderful and reassuring experience (and such a difference from my police-taught NRA class in an unheated building in February 2016, with no hands on, no interaction,  just book work; I think I am still recovering from the frostbite…).  This is one course where hands-on is essential to success.

I hope that despite the legal et. al. challenges, the importance of this class and the incredible vigilance and talent of the instructor will encourage others who may have the need or desire to know about firearms to take this course.

*My quiet, professor husband was so impressed with the provided materials and my report at home that he hopes an additional course with men included is in the future."  

About the frameable certificates - "Thank you for sending this, and for teaching this class--I learned a lot and had a great time." "Thanks for the basic pistol cert and bonus pics.  Especially:  Thanks for coaching me closer to be a safe and effective shooter.  Your expertise is just what I needed  --  since the Quantico range master taped my left lens ~ 45 years ago."