Non-Shooting Classes
At Citizens Safety Academy, we feel the best way to combat crime is through prevention and avoidance. We offer several courses designed to teach you the best ways to keep yourself and your family safe, without resorting to firearms. Please browse the options below and click the courses that interest you for more information.
That’s right! This informal Q&A session is totally free!
Deciding to bring a gun into your life is a big decision. And let’s face it: if you’re new to the idea it can be a little scary. Are you thinking about buying a gun but still a little nervous, unsure, or scared? Do you have lingering questions or concerns? Do you own a gun but feel less than confident in operating or carrying it? Are you curious about the Tennessee handgun carry permit class but hoping to get more information first? If so, this seminar is for you. It’s a free educational Q&A session where anyone can ask any question about firearms and the armed lifestyle.
We conduct this two-hour seminar online, or locally in a pleasant classroom setting with no live ammunition or gunfire of any kind. The sole purpose is to provide a non-intimidating environment where people can feel comfortable asking about any firearms-related topic. No question is too simple. Please bring the family, bring your friends, and bring all the questions you’ve ever had about going armed. We’ll be happy to give you as much information as we can so you can make more informed decisions about the next step in your personal security plans.
Don’t Be Shy!
Come on over and join us so we can help dispel myths and strengthen our communities. To learn more or to sign up for Guns 101, please see our calendar listings or visit our Eventbrite page. We hope to see you there!
Safety experts agree the single most important step toward ensuring your personal safety is making the conscious decision to Refuse To Be A Victim®. You stand a much better chance of preventing criminal attack if you develop a safety plan before you need it. This seminar is packed full of quick, easy, inexpensive personal safety tips that average citizens can use to avoid dangerous situations altogether.
Seminars can vary in length (usually three to four hours), and they may be modified to suit the needs of a particular audience. This is not a firearms instruction course, and it does not include any physical exercises or hand-to-hand defensive drills. Instead, this seminar exposes common perceived weaknesses that criminals may seize upon, so people can take proactive steps to avoid being victimized. Topics include:
- What makes an “easy target” and how to avoid being one
- Psychology of the criminal mind
- Creating a safe room and home protection plan
- Cyber safety & technological security
- Home and phone security
- Carjacking avoidance techniques
- Automobile and travel security
- Using various personal safety devices
- Home invasion and burglary prevention
- Self-defense tools & resources
The Refuse to Be a Victim® seminar is designed by the National Rifle Association to help people make themselves more difficult to prey upon. This course includes topics relevant to men, women, young adults, the disabled, parents, senior citizens, and even teenagers preparing new environments away from home. It can also be tailored for closed enrollment or private offerings to women’s groups, families, churches, businesses, and others. For more information about the RTBAV core curriculum, visit the NRA RTBAV website. If you’re interested in bringing this seminar to your business, school, church, or private group, please feel free to contact us.
CSA is proud to offer the official Civilian Safety Awareness Pepper Spray Class designed and sanctioned by Sabre Red. This three-hour class helps people identify threatening behaviors, avoid or escape dangerous situations safely, and use Sabre Red’s pepper spray products effectively. Covered topics include:
- Personal safety skills for smart living
- Ways to identify and avoid potentially dangerous situations
- How to discourage dangerous threats
- Protection at a safe distance
- How to use our pepper spray effectively and responsibly
- Importance of having less-lethal defensive alternatives to the firearm
Anyone can benefit from taking a pepper spray class. Whether you’re a runner, a commuter, student, someone who travels for work, a retiree, a homemaker, or a concealed carrier, this class is for you! The Civilian Safety Awareness Program is designed to help students take precautions and build habits that could enhance their safety. It also provides an introduction to the fundamentals of using pepper spray as a defensive tool, which is an excellent intermediate option to have available for situations that don’t call for deadly force. Our pepper spray class sizes are small, allowing for individualized instruction and feedback in a fun, low-stress atmosphere. In addition to excellent personal security tips and tools, each student will receive:
- SABRE Civilian Safety Awareness Manual
- SABRE Inert Practice Canisters (filled with water instead of pepper spray)
- SABRE Defense Spray with quick-release key ring
- Certificate of Completion
CSA offers two options to help you secure and defend your home or business: either you can come to us, or we can come to you! The CSA Home Defense Seminar is part of our regular curriculum, and the CSA Home Security Audit is an individual consulting service available to our students. Each is described in more detail below.
CSA Home Defense Seminar
This three-hour classroom session exposes students to the basics of home defense. It offers lots of quick, easy, and relatively inexpensive ways to make a private residence or small business less vulnerable to breach. Defending one’s “castle” is very different from personal defense out in public, and this class teaches students the tools, tactics, and procedures that are unique to a private place of residence or business.
CSA Home Security Audits
Do you check your smoke detector once a year? It’s a great precaution to take. But how often do you test your home for security weaknesses? Did you know that you are much more likely to be hurt by someone breaking into your house than by a residential fire? Based on recent numbers from the U.S. Fire Administration and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, burglaries that escalate to violence are more than 22 times more common that residential fire injuries. With that in mind, wouldn’t it be a good idea to periodically double check your home security, just like you check your smoke alarms?
A Home Security Audit is great way to decrease the likelihood of your home being targeted for criminal activity. Minimizing the chances of burglary or home invasion (and being prepared in case one does occur) could save your life. As a service to our students, we can provide an on-site home security audit of your residence or private business. The audit involves a full inspection of your home, including windows, doors, and other possible points of entry. We will cover lots of topics during the audit, identify strengths and possible vulnerabilities, and answer any questions you may have. We can also help you design a safe room, draft emergency plans, configure an alarm system, secure phone lines, and much more.
The audit usually takes about two hours (depending on the size and condition of the home), at the end of which you are provided with a detailed report and a checklist of suggestions to improve security. The audit also comes with an NRA Refuse to be a Victim Student Packet, which is a great resource for increasing safety at home, at work, in your car, while you travel, and more.
CCP Express is a three-hour non-shooting course that satisfies the requirements for Tennessee’s new Concealed Handgun Carry Permit. At CSA, you can take this course either in-person at our classroom facility or online from the comfort of your home.
If you’re interested in the Enhanced Carry Permit, we offer that class too. Not sure what the difference is? Check out our info page comparing the two.
