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Wednesday, June 24, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Firearms instructor
focuses on law, safety
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
Americans are buying
guns at a record pace, in the
face of insecurities wrought
by pandemic and social
unrest. More than two mil-
lion Americans have become
first-time gun owners so far
in 2020.
Many of those new gun
owners 4 and people who
are already well-versed in
firearms 4 are seeking a
concealed carry permit.
That9s no surprise to fire-
arms trainer Shaun Curtain.
<We are constantly seeing
new shooters who just want
to be responsible with fire-
arms,= he told The Nugget.
Curtain, who operates
Firearm Training NW, has
been traveling the Pacific
Northwest for many years,
conducting the required class
that allows firearms own-
ers to apply for their con-
cealed carry permit, which is
granted through county sher-
iff9s offices.
<It9s my full-time job, and
I do it all across Oregon and
Washington,= he said.
He will conduct a class on
Thursday July 9, starting at 6
p.m. at the Ponderosa Lodge
Best Western in Sisters.
Curtain said his classes
are about evenly divided
between men and women,
and all age groups are
represented.
The required class is not
live firearms training.
<My class is the required
class and I really focus on the
law,= he said. <The class is
really not about guns 4 it9s
about the law.=
The content of the class
includes deadly force law;
interaction with law enforce-
ment; and holster and weapon
selection. Firearm Training
NW offers both an Oregon-
only permit and a multi-state
permit. Oregon does not
honor any other state9s per-
mit, so if you want to carry
concealed in the maximum
geographical range, you must
get a multi-state permit and
the Utah multi-state permit.
Why do people choose to
get a concealed carry permit?
Some people feel the
need to carry on a regular or
everyday basis; others simply
want the legal ability to do so
in certain circumstances or
to be legally secure in trans-
porting their firearms.
<It takes out a whole gray
area,= Curtain said. <I would
say more often than not, they
just want the option.=
While live-fire training
is not part of the concealed
carry class, Curtain strongly
encourages clients to seek
out qualified instruction.
<Shooting has to be part
of it,= he said. <We still
want hands-on training. You
have to be competent& I
definitely try to steer people
toward what the next class
is.=
Curtain is an NRA-
certified instructor in rifle,
pistol, shotgun, home fire-
arm safety, and personal
protection inside and outside
the home. He9s an NRA law
enforcement firearm instruc-
tor for rifle and shotgun
and he <trains the trainers=
by conducting certification
courses.
<I9ve certified lots of
instructors in the Bend/
Redmond area,= he said.
Curtain believes the ideal
instruction environment is
neither one-on-one nor a
large class 4 to him, small
classes are ideal because they
allow for a good instructor-
to-student ratio while provid-
ing a range of feedback and
the opportunity to observe
others in action.
Those interested in obtain-
ing a concealed carry permit
may find more information
at www.FirearmTrainingNW.
com. Contact Curtain at
FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.
com or 360-921-2071.
Paw
Prints
Jodi Schneider
Columnist
Summer heat can be
deadly for your pet
Summer is here, and
when the mercury rises furry
friends are at risk for heat-
stroke or death if their pet
parents make the mistake of
leaving them in a parked car.
Unfortunately, every year
across the nation, thousands
of pets fall victim to or die
from hot-weather-related
conditions due to the igno-
rance or poor judgment by a
pet parent.
Leaving your pet in a
parked car can be a deadly
mistake. The temperature
inside a car can reach 120º
Fahrenheit in a few minutes.
Even partially open win-
dows won9t protect your
furry friend from heatstroke!
Parked cars are death-
traps for dogs.
While people can identify
signs of exhaustion or stress,
it can be harder to determine
when pets are distressed.
According to the Oregon
Humane Society, excessive
thirst, heavy panting, leth-
argy, drooling, vomiting and
an internal temperature of
104º are signs of heat stress.
How can you prevent
your dog from suffering in a
hot car?
Don9t take your pets with
you to run errands. Your
pooch may enjoy a car ride,
but leaving him in the car
while you go into the store
for even 10 minutes on a
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and aren9t equipped to pre-
cisely measure surface heat
before a friendly walk. So,
a quick rule-of-thumb test is
to put your hand down on the
surface and hold it there for
seven to 10 seconds. If you
are unable to keep your hand
on the surface that long with-
out discomfort, then it is too
hot for your dog9s paws.
Stay on grassy surfaces
and avoid bare ground when
outside in the summer heat.
Avoid the hottest parts
of the day. Walk early in the
morning or late in the eve-
ning after the pavement has
cooled down.
You could also invest in
a set of booties to help keep
the heat from burning your
dog9s paws.
Different dogs have dif-
ferent needs when battling
the heat. Keep in mind
that dogs with darker coats
absorb more heat than lighter
coats. Also, overweight dogs,
very young or older dogs are
at a higher risk for dehydra-
tion. Carry a bottle of water
when going on a walk with
your furry friend.
Your furry friend doesn9t
realize that he will overheat
while playing fetch in the
park on a hot day, he won9t
know when he is overheated
until it is too late.
It9s up to you as a respon-
sible pet parent to watch for
heat stress and dehydration
in your dog, know when it9s
time to take a break, to give
him a drink, and to rest in the
shade for a while.
Dogs cool from the bot-
tom up. So, make sure to
spray the paws and stomach,
not just the top of Rover.
That9s why a wet towel
does better on the bottom
of your dog than when laid
on top of him. Get creative
and find innovative ways to
cool Rover. Find a spot in the
shade or set up a kiddie pool.
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warm day could turn deadly!
No animal deserves to suffer
trapped in the sweltering heat
of a metal oven on wheels
with no way to save himself.
Cool outside doesn9t
mean cool in the car. It
doesn9t have to be that warm
outside for a car to become
dangerously hot inside.
When it9s 72º outside, the
temperature inside a car can
heat up to 116º within an
hour; at 80º outside, the tem-
perature inside a car can heat
up to 99º in 10 minutes.
The best hope for elimi-
nating this tragic occurrence
is to educate friends, family
and anyone you come in con-
tact with about leaving dogs
in hot cars.
Staying cool is extra
tough for dogs because they
can only reduce their internal
temperature by panting and
sweating through their paw
pads.
Walking your dog is ideal
exercise, it reinforces train-
ing, and helps you bond with
your pet, and summer is a
great time for walks. But,
if you are walking on hot
asphalt and pavement, your
dog may be getting some-
thing you didn9t bargain for
3 painful burns and blisters.
Fortunately, it is easy to pro-
tect your dog9s paws from
hot pavement without giving
up summer walks.
Because surfaces, partic-
ularly asphalt and concrete,
will absorb heat, they can
actually be much hotter than
the surrounding air tempera-
ture, so even if a summer day
isn9t outrageously hot, your
pet9s paws can still be at risk.
For example, when the out-
door temperature is a sunny
80º, an asphalt surface can be
as hot as 125º and can cause
painful and dangerous burns
in as little as 60 seconds.
Not many pet parents
carry surface thermometers
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