Handgun University: Dry Fire, Meeting You Where You Are, & Skill Building Thru Serious Drills – Zion, IL. – Nov. 6-8th, 2026
Defenders USA’s Defenders Series: Handgun Proficiency Into Speed & Accuracy is a 2.5-day defensive handgun training course is hosted by AG&AG Facilitator Ann Marie Suter, of the Lake County Chapter, the Chicago North Shore Chapter, and the West Suburban Chapter of A Girl & A Gun Woman’s Shooting League.
All training will be held at the 5 Star Firearms training facility and indoor range:
5 Star Firearms
41666 Sheridan Rd.
Zion, IL 60099
This training is perfect for the brand new or novice handgun user who wants to grow ability, confidence, and skill in their handling, use, and shooting a handgun safely and accurately, building into becoming a fast and accurate shooter and a smart Defender.
This training course is open to the public and will have a lot of the incredible ladies of AG&AG chapters there as students.
This course is ALSO excellent for the veteran handgun user who wants to revisit the fundamental to increase or fine-tune their skills, as the fundamentals are foundational to all good shooting, Even if you see yourself as a good shooter, you will absolutely will learn in this class and it will change some or much of how you handle and shoot, causing guaranteed improvements that will surprise you.
Friday Evening Dry Fire Clinic Location, 6 pm to 9 pm’ish at:
This is a 3-hour dry fire clinic to prepare for the training of the rest of the weekend and to teach how to train, maintain, and grow skills long after this weekend training event is over.
This dry fire clinic IS open to those who can’t attend the full weekend of training.
On Saturday & Sunday, we’ll start at 8:30 am and end around 5 to 5:30 pm both days at:
Range Fee:
There is a $50 Range Fee per day for each shooter for both Saturday and Sunday (Total: $100) will need to be collected in cash, debit or credit (for a small fee) at the beginning of the training course. It will be given over to the range facility for the use of the range.
On Friday, we will be holding a Dry Fire Clinic the entire weekend of training will build upon. It is open to the public for a small fee but is also included in the cost of the entire weekend for those who register for both Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, we will focus on safe, efficient handling and accuracy with a handgun, building your confidence in the use of and shooting a handgun.
On Sunday, we’ll add speed and dial in the accuracy as the courses of fire become more challenging and as skills continue to grow.
If you want to get a quality holster for before this class, feel free to contact us or Brent Hickmon of Haven Defense Co. (970-987-3471) for an excellent, custom-made holster.
Brent is local to the Western Slope of Colorado near Grand Junction; he and his lovely wife make holsters on a full-time basis for incredible shooters all over America, is an accomplished shooter in his own right, and is a certified Master Handgun Instructor with Defenders USA.
Brent has assisted teaching with me at the AG&AG National Conference for four years in a row and his wife, Marissa, is also an AG&AG member in Colorado. Brent was also a solo instructor at the 2026 AG&AG National Conference. They also host a vendor booth at the AG&AG National Conferences, where holsters can be bought, ordered, or picked up.
Friday is the popular Dry Fire Clinic, teaching excellent fundamentals of grip, stance, platform, trigger use, aiming, gear issues, and far more. We’ll spend a good amount of time perfecting your skills and you will learn how to train long after this training weekend is over in order to maintain and grow your own skills.
This evening is foundational to the entire weekend of training – and will be of great long-term benefit to those who chose to only attend Friday evening.
It is a stand alone event for those who cannot attend the full weekend, so there is room for a small fee for those who only want to attend Friday evening’s Dry Fire Clinic.
Saturday is the handgun skill builder of “Meeting You Where You Are” and is intended for those wanting to solidify shooting and handling skills through expert coaching and personal experimenting, and then to ultimately grow the abilities do so at speed.
We will start with refining handling and accuracy to find the skill level of each individual and the group as a whole before moving to extreme precision, then into building or refining an efficient draw stroke with accuracy and recoil management, finding and stretching each attendees’ personal limits based on abilities.
This will be a thoughtful approach in training, allowing everyone attending to experiment and work through many technical and mental aspects in order to you grow as a shooter.
Sunday will be “Skill Building Thru Serious Drills”, growing handgun skills through challenging drills that grow in complexity throughout the day. We will use these drills to find each person’s areas where improvements are needed and to refine in those areas.
You will also have an opportunity to earn the Defenders USA Ace Card and the Defenders USA Patches – seriously hard accomplishments requiring real skill that can’t be faked.
You will also run through other nationally know drills (D-USA, MSP, CC.com, MOD, TCC, P1T, a SWAT Handgun Assessment, Tactical Advantage, Baer Solutions, competition classifiers, TrAs, RangerMaster, and more).
You will be challenged, get humbled, will get expert coaching, and will grow as a shooter. You will walk away knowing exactly your realistic skill levels after fun but serious skills growth over the weekend of training.
Many of these drills can be found on our YouTube Channel – subscribe at Defenders USA YouTube Channel
***Note**** The Sunday portion of this weekend builds upon the skills from Friday & Saturday.
Items needed for Friday evening ONLY:
NO live ammo!!
Handgun, holster, and any other items normally used in dry fire practice, such as a Mantis or other such similar systems.
Please do not remove handguns from any holsters or bags until directed to by Defenders USA personnel or safety staff!
Everything will be checked multiple times over prior to starting the training in order to verify that NO live ammo could possibly be introduced into our dry fire training environment.
Items & information needed for Saturday & Sunday’s range time:
Handgun (loaner handguns and associated gear are available upon request)
3 or more magazines
350 to 500 rounds of ammunition per day – ammo can also be reserved at and purchased from 5 Star Firearms
Holster & sturdy belt (preferably a quality holster – feel free to call with any holster questions). Attendees can open carry or carry AIWB.
NOTE: ***NO SERPA holsters or of similar design, NO collapsible holsters, NO sticky or pocket holsters, NO bra holsters, NO shoulder holsters, and NO fanny pack or purse holsters!!
Closed-toes shoes.
No shirts with plunging neck lines and a hat with a brim to the front is highly recommended.
Eye & ear protection
A lunch or there is some food available nearby but will not have time for you to go to a “sit down” restaurant to eat.
Optional items & information:
Magazine holders
A camping chair.
Anything wanted to snack on or drink.
This course will be taught by Adam Winch, Defenders USA’s founder and Lead Instructor. Adam is a certified Master Instructor, with over a decade as a law enforcement officer, on a SWAT team, eight years as an MP and soldier, and has trained over 20k people teaching across the American West. His bio can be found under the About tab on the Defenders USA website.
Feel free to contact me with any questions and I truly look forward to meeting you and helping you learn a ton, grow in skill and confidence, all while having a blast!
Adam – 970-986-0774
OR
Adam@Defenders-USA.com