Gun safety instructor sees increase in seniors getting CPLs

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    SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, Michigan (WNEM) — Granny’s got a gun… and she isn’t the only one.

More senior citizens are packing heat. Over the past few years, there’s been an increase in gun sales for an older age group.

“Let’s face it, this is not the same world we grew up in,” said Mary Anne Judson.

In Shiawassee County more seniors seem to be packing heat.

“Part of it I don’t want anybody telling me I have a right to bear arms if I wish to, it’s our constitutional right,” Judson said.

Mary Anne and Larry Judson are from Gaines. They are just a couple of the seniors who recently took up gun safety classes at Brothers Protection and Defense in Owosso.

Mary Anne even got her concealed pistol license and her husband just learned a little more about the rules of gun ownership.

“We all need to know how to be around and use guns safely,” Larry said.

Mark Drayton was the lead instructor for the class. He says he has seen a dramatic increase in the past year in the number of seniors obtaining their CPL.

“The last class that I taught was probably about 70percent age range 55 or older,” Drayton said.

A few years back Drayton said that only about 20 percent of his students were seniors. So why does he think there has been such an uptick?

“They cite a lot of instances where elderly of people are attacked and they feel unsafe or they don’t know how society is going to change, so they want to be able to protect themselves,” Drayton said.

To get a CPL Drayton said you have to attend an 8-hour class that consists of five hours in the classroom work and three hours on the gun range.

Drayton and the Judson’s believe that all adults should be properly educated about guns, especially seniors.

“I like to be able to see people to defend themselves, no matter what their age is,” Drayton said. “We should have guns and we should know how to use them.”

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