New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Barely a day passes without guns or gun control being mentioned in the news. These past few years the topic has frequently cropped up in radio, TV and of course, the internet. Since the nation’s battle for independence, there hasn’t been a time when guns and/or gun control has been a hotter topic.
Some Americans are even considering taking another look at the 2nd Amendment and ratifying it – creating quite the bit of discussion, often heated. One aspect of the entire discussion that virtually everyone can agree on, is firearms training. While the mention of firearms often generates a discussion of criminal activity, the vast majority of firearm enthusiasts are law-abiding citizens.
The reasons for owning a gun will, of course, vary from owner to owner. Some use them for hunting, some for a coming Zombie-apocalypse, others for the self-defense. What makes America one of the greatest nations on earth, is our freedoms – freedom to choose why we own a firearm is just one of the many ways to exercise this freedom.
The chance that most of us will encounter a situation where we would have to use a firearm to defend our person, family or home, is quite slim. A more genuine “threat” is the use, misuse of such firearms or lack of training. In addition, the effectiveness of a firearm is either lessened or improved based on the frequency and amount of training.
Lastly, since the amount of time in one’s life spent defending himself/herself with a firearm could be counted in seconds, if at all, the vast majority of enthusiasts become hobbyists – spending time in the field, at the range or in training courses.
One of New England’s premier firearms facilities is Commonwealth Firearms and Training Center, Ltd. located in Somerset. Commonwealth Firearms and Training Center, Ltd. not only sells high-quality firearms, accessories, as well as tackle, but they offer firearms training through a dozen courses. “The courses offered at Commonwealth Firearms & Training Center are designed to build a solid foundation around the safe operation of a pistol, to ensure proper shooting techniques and to meet your specific goals.”
The family owned business is comprised of some of the most experienced staff in the nation. Everyone there has real-world experience with their firearms, either from hunting or police work. All have spent countless hours using their firearms and decades instructing their safe use.
Husband and wife, Edwin and Kate Scallon founded the business in with their own money, namely their retirement pensions. Their intention from the get-go was to eventually pass it on to their sons – Korey and Kenneth Freeborn, president and vice-president respectively. A genuine family-owned and operated business.
In 2012 they incorporated and started out by renting hospitality suites at the local hotels and teaching classes. In 2014 they moved to their current location, applied for a Federal Firearms License and state licenses. They held classes at the new location until they received their Federal and State licenses. They finally opened the retail Firearms and Training Center in December of 2015.
Ed is a retired Providence Police Detective and retired, but practicing Trial Attorney. These days he writes and teaches law and is the company’s acting Chair and Corp Secretary. Kate, a retired Letter Carrier for the United States Postal Service, is a full-time travel agent, whose business is literally right next door. She runs the firearm safety courses and acts as treasurer.
Both Kate and Ed learned about firearms licensing from Korey and Ken when they attended their Basic Firearms Class. They also received their Licence To Carry for the state of Massachusetts by attending the Basic Firearm’s Safety class offered at Commonwealth Firearms & Training. In addition, they possess a gunsmith license from the state of Massachusetts – with Ken being the resident gunsmith.
Ed is a Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act instructor and received his license to instruct based on his years of detective work, while Kate followed based on her previous training. Kate also holds an NRA ‘Refuse to be a Victim’ License to instruct, which is one of many courses that she offers. This particular course teaches the personal safety tips and techniques you need to avoid dangerous situations and avoid becoming a victim in a 4-hour seminar.
Korey and Ken are both avid hunters and have a genuine passion for firearms, which they’ve been around most of their lives. While all four are National Rifle Association instructors. Ed, Kate and Korey are NRA certified Range Safety Officers.
Combined they offer decades of knowledge and experience in one place through world-class instruction. So, you can not only purchase a firearm, but follow up and learn to properly us it, as well as hone a number of other related skills.
They literally wrote the book on firearms safety including the national history and Massachusetts firearms history. In addition, they integrated a laser portion of classroom instruction. What are some of the courses you can take?
- Co-Ed LTC/FID Firearm’s Safety: for people that are interested in obtaining their firearms license, either Firearms IDentification Card or License To Carry.
- Non-Resident Concealed Carry Course: 4 hour training course for Utah (good in 39 states) and Florida.
- New or Yearly Pistol Certification: obtain your yearly qualification or your Rhode Island Pistol Certification.
- NRA Basic Firearms Safety Course (Co-Ed): NRA course designed to improve skills with handguns. Obtain Cetificate for NRA and MA LTC. Meets the Requirements for a Massachusetts License to Carry or for a Massachusetts Firearms Identification Card.
- LEOSA Course: Title 18 U.S.C. § 926C Permits retired law enforcement offices to carry concealed within all 50 states. Ed Scallon is a Massachusetts State Police certified LEOSA instructor. This course is designed to comply with the requirement 515 CMR 6.00 Retired Officers must attend classroom instructon and then qualify at the range.
- Refuse To Be A Victim Course: 4 hour NRA Certified security course. These classes do NOT include the use of a firearm, but does include instruction in the use of mace/pepper spray. Students are provided NRA materials and a certificate upon successful completion.
- ‘Learn to Shoot or Sharpen your Skills’ Course: Retired Providence Police pistol expert and Certified Range Safety Officer will instruct individual students in the proper methods of obtaining the highest scores. LIVE range fire time. Individualized student instruction. Become competent and capture the 6 fundamentals of shooting.
- Massachusetts LTC/FID Home Firearm Safety Course: Required Course of a Massachusetts License to Carry or for a Massachusetts Firearms Identification Card. Required course for all Massachusetts Residents and Non-Residents.
Soon Commonwealth Firearms & Training will offer an NRA Pistol Instructor Course which is required to teach others to become instructors. This Course is designed to present the Pistol Instructor with the essential tools to successfully teach a class of future instructors, including ethics, teaching plans, NRA Policies and procedures, responsibilities of the instructor, organizing a course, training athletes with physical disabilities, course outlines and lesson plans.
Of course, if you are already licensed and own a firearm, you can purchase some range time on Sundays. One of the really interesting services they offer is the ‘On Campus Laser Range’ where you use your actual firearm, carry gun, duty gun, or rent one of ours. Fire at AMY-L targets as if you were qualifying on a police range. Shoot at your own leisure or receive firearms training from one of the instructors. Also, you can rent one of their Air Soft simulator recoil “GLOCK Mark-up” handguns.
The retail side houses every type of firearm available in Massachusetts and sports a $4.7 Million dollar co-oped warehouse available on-line on their website. Starting out with just firearms, they recently expanded and in addition to selling firearms, ammunition and accessories they now have all divisions of sporting goods including fishing tackle, fresh and salt water bait, clothing and hunting accessories.
The family’s sole mission is to train and meet the goals and objectives for ALL levels of shooting enthusiasts – from the new student with no experience handling firearms to the seasoned shooter. When you arrive at Commonwealth Firearms and Training, the staff will bring all their experience and knowledge to bear in assisting you with selecting and even customizing course to meet your specific instructional needs.
Deciding on purchasing a firearm is a pretty serious responsibility – one that should be accompanied with training and regular practice. There are a fair number of gun ranges in the area to choose from. However, there are few place to receive the quality of instruction that you’ll find at Commonwealth Firearms & Training.
Outside of hunting or using firearms as a hobby, owning a firearm is chosen because it may increase your chances of you or your loved ones surviving a violent encounter. With that being said, firearm instruction is an extension of that original purpose.
1016 County Street
Somerset, Massachusetts
Phone: (774) 294-5445
Email: info@commonwealthfirearms.com
Hours of Operation:
Mon-Fri: 8:00am-7:00pm
Sat: 8:00am-6:00pm
Sun: 12:00pm-4:00pm
Facebook: facebook.com/commonwealthfirearms
Website: commonwealthfirearms.com/
