The Krav Maga school I attend has asked me to help come up with a Handgun 101 seminar. It's going to be half classroom/ half range. No certifications given but we're finding out that a lot of the students have no idea on how weapons work. The instructors want the students to have a basic knowledge of how firearms work so they'll better understand why the defenses work.
I've been going through all my NRA Basic Pistol/PPITH/PPOTH course books, but the NRA stuff is...well..B O R I N G.
I'm covering the basic operation of revolvers and semi autos. Sight picture, grip, etc. What else can you think of that would be beneficial to a non gun person to know

How to properly clear a firearm

What I like doing with me and my buds is putting some snap caps with the live rounds. While a dud is unlikely to happen a FTF/FTE is likely to happen and the same process to clear it is all the same. I believe it the "tap and rack" is what its called but heck ive been wrong.

But above all safety. Ive seen a lot of idiots selling buying (although there is a lot of idiots selling them) firearms and many of those idiots treat any firearm like it was a toy. I have had to personally take firearms away because they were pointed it at other people. Muzzle control, an easy concept that many newbs don't understand

If you also want them to have the defense work at the range have everyone run for a bit and then shoot when their heart rate is up once again to simulate a possible confrontation that way its not all stand in a row and fire like its Revolutionary war.

I try to cover as many aspects of what they might encounter as possible - single and double-action revolvers, various types of semi-autos with different magazine releases, etc...  With dummy rounds so everyone can handle each type.  Then how to properly grip a semi-auto vs. a revolver, sight alignment, trigger control, etc... A laser trainer can be useful for this.  Once everybody has been through some dryfire drills, then cover some basic malfunction drills (stovepipe, double-feed, etc), before heading to the range, where everybody starts with a .22 pistol.  Once they are comfortable with the .22, if they want to step up to 9mm or .45, they can (or .38 in a revolver).

Where is your KM school?

I'm in Franklin just outside of Nashville.

Yo. are you even gonna respond?

If taught by the book the NRA Basic Pistol course covers most of what your talking about. Then after the course is over talk a little about defensive work. I'd cover all the basic info before mmoving to anything defensive. Thats my 2 cents anyhow.

Sorry...had a "week"
The KM school is next door to the Nashville Armory off of I65 and Harding.

I'm trying to get some addl info from the owner as to what he wants to carry. So far I'm coming up with the basics from the NRA basic pistol book. Going to start with that, then transition into clearing a pistol, grip, stance, etc. I don't want to go strightly by the NRA book because...it's rather dry and boring, at least to me. It could be the fact that I've gone over it so many times.

Check your inbox and give me a shout.

Steal heavily from the NRA basic pistol and PPOTH.  Yeah there is a lot of class room stuff but its all relevant.

The NRA program is garbage. Sorry, but it really is.

I've been teaching for nearly six years and I frequently run into NRA instructors.

They suck.