Tiffany Johnson has been a firearms instructor since 2002 and she’s a practicing attorney. She grew up subscribing to common fears and misconceptions about guns and gun owners. After college, though, she reluctantly enrolled in a Rangemaster handgun safety course, and she was hooked. Her interests and training have since expanded from handguns to shotguns and carbines.
1. We want to know more about you. Please give us a glimpse into your journey with firearms.
I’m a lawyer, an educator, and a marketing professional who spent the first half of my life terrified of guns. I finally got annoyed with that fear and decided to take a gun class while I was in law school. That entry-level class happened to be taught by Rangemaster instructors under the tutelage of the legendary Tom Givens. I made a 180-degree turn and eventually became a firearms trainer, with Tom guiding me as a trusted mentor. Through the Rangemaster family, I met Aqil Qadir of the Citizens Safety Academy (CSA). I’ve been working as a member of the CSA training cadre ever since, specializing in what CSA calls “Gateway Instruction” (the art of teaching beginners).
2. What two pieces of advice would you give someone interested in learning how to shoot or purchase their first firearm?
First tip: take a class before you buy a gun, not afterward, and test out as many different guns as you can before making your first purchase.
Second tip: spend time researching and learning about the class and the instructor before signing up. The first class you take is crucial and can be extremely formative. Look for online videos, social media posts and student reviews; read the instructor’s resumes; and don’t just pick the soonest, closest or cheapest class you find. Look for an instructor whose personality and background resonate with you, even if you can’t quite articulate why.
3. What is your favorite piece of firearm-related equipment that you own? Why do you like it?
Blue guns and other inert gun facsimiles are my favorite pieces of equipment. I actually don’t like the dark navy version of blue guns (depending on the lighting, they can look almost real). I prefer bright colors, such as yellow, orange, and green, as they are the most conspicuously inert. Using inoperable gun-shaped hunks of plastic allows me to teach and demonstrate concepts to beginner students without introducing the anxiety or intimidation that often accompanies the presence of real guns (especially with fearful, hesitant or traumatized students). I even have an assortment of bright-colored, cheap toy guns that I sometimes use, because they operate basically the same as a real gun (for purposes of learning basic manipulations) and they allow the same demonstrations to beginner students without any of the distracting hazards, worries, or emotional baggage.
4. What was something someone told you (or that you read) that significantly influenced your life?
Ignorance and fear are codependent life partners. It’s hard for one to exist without the other. Many people have taught me similar notions over the years, but my mother originally planted this seed, the Incomparable “Cookie” Johnson.
5. What do you wish you knew about getting involved with firearms right from the beginning of your journey?
Just like snakes or spiders or cars or chainsaws, guns are pretty normal, unless you’re culturally conditioned to believe they aren’t.