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“Put that down, stupid! Don’t EVER touch this again!”

I was in shock and started crying. I wasn’t sure what I did wrong. Then again, I was only 7 years old.

That is a true story of my introduction to real firearms.

As a kid growing up in Israel, my dream was to become an elite soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces. I loved guns. My father served in the IDF and was my hero. I felt so proud and inspired every time I saw him in uniform with his rifle on his shoulder. He looked invincible. I wanted to be just like him.

I wanted to be a hero, too.

When he came home from duty, he would bring his rifle with him like all soldiers in Israel do. I would stare at that rifle and imagine how cool it would be to play with it.

You know how it is… at 7 years old, everything looks like a toy.

One day, I saw the rifle leaning on the closet. It looked so awesome. My mom was in the room playing with my baby sister, and my dad was in the bathroom. So, I decided to check the rifle out and see how it felt to hold it.

I walked over to it and tried picking it up. It was so freakin’ heavy that I almost dropped it. Somehow, I managed to lift it up to my shoulder. I pretended to look for the enemy and ended up aiming at my mom…

That’s when my father appeared out of nowhere, snatched the rifle out of my hands, and yelled,

“Put that down, Stupid! Don’t EVER touch this again!”

Back then I didn’t get the gravity of what I did, or why it was a stupid thing to do. All I felt at that moment was my father’s rage and the weight of his disappointment in me. He was my hero and I let him down.

I still loved guns after that and still wanted to be an elite soldier, but I stuck to toy guns for a long time. And when the time came and I decided to buy my first real gun, and get my Florida Concealed Carry Permit, that experience came back. I was quite nervous. I remember the first time I picked up a loaded firearm at the range expecting my father to appear again, snatch it out of my hand and call me stupid.

But once I started shooting, I was hooked. This time however, I was not going to do something stupid. I was going to become a safe and responsible gun owner.

I also quickly realized that shooting guns is not a plug and play type of thing. Things can go wrong very quickly and shooting, well, isn’t as easy as it looks on TV and the big screen.

That’s when I finally understood why my father was so mad, and how close I came to making a huge mistake I could never correct.

So, to do it right, I knew I had to get professional instruction, get educated in the lawful use of a firearm, and train consistently over time and become as good as I can be.

Fortunately, shortly after I started my firearm journey, I met my mentor Ryan G Thomas. With his help, I was able to improve fast and the right way. I also took classes regularly with Instructor Rose Doyle at the Florida Firearms Academy. I became versed in Florida Gun Law and the law of self-defense and continue to make it an integral part of my training. And the best part is… I absolutely love it. All of it.

That’s why, when Ryan Suggested I become a certified instructor I became one so that I can help as many people as possible become safe and responsible gun owners, protect their families and their communities, do it the right way, and have fun doing it too.

Train Hard, Often, and SAFELY!