Defensive Handgun Courses with Donald Lazzarini
Once you have successfully completed Stage-1 & Stage-2 Handgun, you will be allowed to practice holster drawing and rapid fire defensive drills when you come in to shoot at the range.
Stage-1 Handgun Course
This course is geared towards those with little to no defensive shooting experience.
Topics to be covered include: Handgun Safety; defensive Handgun Manipulation; Loading/
Unloading; Drawstroke; Basics of Marksmanship; A Review of Basic California
Handgun, and Use of Force Laws.
Students will be asked to sign a Hold-Harmless Waiver with a Statement of Criminal History.
Requirements: A Pistol or revolver in good working order, sturdy gun belt, holster,
and at least 2 spare magazines/speed loaders/speed strips with carriers. For effective
defensive use, pistol calibers should be no smaller than 9mm. or 38 special. Eye and
ear protection are MANDATORY on this range.
Fee: $300.00 Non-refundable.
Carbine Course
Topics to be covered will include Proper fundamentals, “3-legged table”, nomenclature, rifle breakdown, cleaning/maintenance, functioning of the weapon, accessories, loading, unloading, zeroing, speed and tactical loads, malfunction clearances, proper trigger manipulation, transitioning from rifle to pistol, human incapacitation, target problems as it relates to height over bore, optics, shoot/don’t shoot, low light/no light, 8-step cycle of operation, and movement (why it doesn’t work).
Student requirements:
Mandatory eye and hearing protection. If you use electronic hearing protection, you might also want to consider using soft hearing protection under the electronic as it tends to be loud on the indoor range.
500 rounds of ammunition compatible with the rifle/carbine used for the course. (brass cased ammunition only, no steel). Minimum 3 rifle/carbine magazines. The rifle/carbine must have a sling or carry strap.
Weapon-mounted light securely attached to the front of the weapon. You may bring a handheld flashlight so you can practice using it should your primary weapon-mounted light fail. A hat with a brim is recommended to help deflect hot brass flying around the firing line. Pistol and holster with at least one pistol magazine for transition drills. The holster must be attached to a pair of pants with belt loops to secure the holster to the pants to prevent the pistol/holster from moving around the person. At least 50 rounds of pistol ammunition. (brass cased ammunition only, no steel). Any tools needed to adjust chosen sighting systems, including extra batteries.
Stage-2 Handgun Course
Topics to be covered in Stage-2 Handgun will include: A Review of fundamental skills from the 1-Day course;
Clearing Malfunctions; Foot Movement; Introduction to 3-Dimensional Targets;
Tactical Loads, Speed Loads, and their applications; Shooting at Moving Targets; and
shooting from the Kneeling Position.
Students will be required to sign a Hold-Harmless Waiver with a Statement of Criminal History.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of the 1-Day Defensive Handgun Safety and Manipulation course.
Equipment Requirements: A Pistol or Revolver in good working order, sturdy gun belt, holster, knee pads (if desired), and a minimum of 4 spare magazines/speed loaders/speed strips with carriers.
For effective defensive use, pistol calibers should be a minimum of a 9mm or 38 special.
Fee: $500.00 Non-refundable.
Don at the workbench ‘smithing
About Donald Lazzarini:
I was a law enforcement officer for 30 years. I retired in 2004. During my law enforcement career I was on our special response team for 18 years and 16 of those years as the Point Man on Entry Element.
I was the department armorer, firearms instructor, range master, and tactics instructor full time for the last 7 years of my law enforcement career.
During my law enforcement years I was fortunate to take firearms classes from Louis Awerbuck, Clint Smith, Gunsite, Scott Reitz, and others.
I have held instructor certs from the NRA, FBI, Gunsite, Simunitions, Scott Reitz and Protech Ballistic Shield. I am a California P.O.S.T. law enforcement Instructor for handgun, shotgun, precision rifle, and carbine. I am a California P.O.S.T. law enforcement firearms Instructors, Instructor. I have been mentioned in Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's book “On Combat” Pg 34.
My goal as a firearms instructor is to teach fundamentals. It seems to be lost in most classes where round count and speed are more important. I want the student to leave my class with the knowledge to fix any shooting problem when they go to the range. More importantly to be confident enough to fix the problem.
Significant Milestones:
30 years Law Enforcement
18 years member Special Response Team
16 years Point man on Entry Element
Employment
1971 - 1976 Atherton Police Department 1978 - 2004 Santa Clara Police Department
22 years Patrol Officer
18 years Special Response
2 years Sniper Response Team
17 years Special Response Team Tactics Instructor
16 years Point Man Entry Team
7 years Department Firearms Instructor,
Tactical Instructor, Armorer (full time)
2001 - Present BAHR Head Instructor / Tactics, Simunitions
Law Enforcement / Military
Summary of Qualifications
1980 Smith & Wesson Armorer Academy 1983 Advanced Officer Safety and field Tactics 1983, 1997, 2005 Remington Armorer Academy 1983 NRA Police Firearms Instructor 1987 FBI Swat Academy 1987 FBI Swat Sniper School 1987, 1992, 1994,
1999, 2002 Sig Sauer Armorer 1988 NRA Rifle Instructor School 1989 State Department Protection of Public Officials 1990 Clint Smith Counter Sniper School 1990 Clint Smith Advanced Tactical Pistol School 1991 Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department SWAT 1991 Clint Smith COP MP5 School 1992 Clint Smith Tactical MP5 School 1992 International Law Enforcement Tactical Planning 1993 Louis Awerbuck Advanced Handgun 1994 Phil Singleton Live Fire Drug Raid School 1994 Louis Awerbuck MP5, Glock 21 SWAT HITT School 1994 FBI Advanced Sniper School 1995 Glock Armorer School 1995 Post Trauma Stress for Law Enforcement 1996 Gunsite Tactical Carbine Instructor Course 1996 Clint Smith Urban Rifle Class 1996 FBI Hostage Rescue School 1996, 2006 Colt AR 15 / M-16 / “O” frame pistol Armorer School 1997 LAPD Tactical Incident / Civil Liability Class 1998 San Diego SWAT Hostage Rescue School 1998 Beretta Armorer School 1998 Protech Ballistic Shield Instructor School 2000 Fresno SWAT AR 15 Academy 2000 Simunition Supervisor Training & Safety Course 2001 Scott Reitz AR 15 Instructor School 2002 Colt Armorers School M-16 / “O” Frame 2002 Sig Sauer Armorers School 2005 Remington Armorers School