Gulfport PD holds gun safety class

From experienced to inexperienced owners of firearms, the Gulfport Police Department plans to educate the Coast with their civilian gun safety class.

For about 20 years, the Gulfport Police Department holds a $25 introductory course on basic firearm safety, covering a variety of topics like safely securing firearms and the fundamentals of shooting. Lt. Paul Podlin said, “We want them to feel safe being able to handle the weapons if they need to, either at the target range or for self-defense.”

The two day course allows locals to ask common questions about gun safety and gun laws. On the first day, it’s all about taking notes, but on the second day, they will actually hit the gun range. “A lot of people will buy a firearm and they don’t have the knowledge on how to operate it safely or store it or the laws.”

Each class lasts about three hours. Ontario, Canada native Jodie Wyrick took the course for a second time to become relaxed around guns. “Being from Canada, there’s this stigma towards firearms. With firearms being in the house, I wanted to take this to become a little more familiar and comfortable with having them in the home.”

Regardless of age or gender, the class is something everyone can benefit from, even police officers.

Lt. Podlin said, “The biggest compliment I get from this class is everything they’ve learned. We don’t want to arrest people who just make mistakes not knowing what the law was. That’s not what we are here for. We are here to educate them so they don’t make those mistakes.”

The next gun safety class will take place sometime in March.