The Range Master Who Retired
Sergeant Angela Morse has 14 years of service and holds Georgia POST's Advanced career-development certificate. Since 2019 she has been an NRA-certified Law Enforcement Handgun Instructor and has run her agency's monthly practice sessions. The agency's POST-certified range master retired in December, and the chief wants Morse to conduct the mandatory annual qualification for 60 sworn officers in March. Morse has never attended a Georgia POST instructor course, though she has taught firearms at the agency for five years. The chief says, 'NRA certification is nationally recognized; that is enough, and the officers need to qualify.' The agency's liability insurer has asked, in writing, whether the March qualifications will be run by a POST-certified instructor.
1. Can Morse conduct the agency's annual firearms qualification under Georgia POST rules as she is currently credentialed?
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Not as things stand. NRA certification is not the credential Georgia POST recognizes for this purpose.
- Annual firearms qualification is a POST requirement, and POST-approved training and qualification are expected to be delivered by POST-certified instructors-general instructors and, for firearms, POST-certified firearms instructors. An agency that runs its mandated qualification under an instructor who lacks that credential creates a documentation problem for all 60 officers, not just Morse.
- NRA Law Enforcement Handgun Instructor certification is evidence of subject-matter competence; it is not a substitute for the state instructor certification. The same logic applies to defensive tactics and other specialty areas.
- Morse's 14 years and Advanced certificate do not waive the instructor requirement.
- The insurer's written question is a signal: if the agency answers 'yes' when the answer is 'no,' it risks a coverage dispute after an incident.
She should not sign qualification records until she holds the POST firearms instructor credential or is working under a certified instructor's direct supervision as POST permits.
2. What should the chief do to cover the March qualification and to fix the credential gap?
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Solve March first, then fix the credential gap.
- March: arrange for a POST-certified firearms instructor-from a neighboring agency, the regional academy, or GPSTC-to conduct or directly supervise the qualification. Morse can run the line, coach, and handle logistics; she just cannot be the instructor of record if she lacks the credential.
- Now: enroll Morse in the next POST firearms instructor course and confirm the prerequisites (general instructor certification, years of service, agency nomination) so she is not rejected at the last minute.
- Document: keep the March qualification records under the certified instructor's name, with Morse listed as assistant.
- Answer the insurer accurately and in writing: identify the certified instructor who will run the March event and state Morse's enrollment date.
- Do not backdate or list Morse as instructor of record for sessions she ran without the credential.
The chief's staffing problem is real, but the fix is a borrowed instructor for one cycle and a seat in the next instructor course-not a workaround that puts 60 officers' qualifications at risk.
3. Morse argues that she has taught firearms for five years without a problem and that the POST course is just paperwork. How should the chief respond?
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The chief should separate her competence from the agency's authority to certify.
Her five years of range work is relevant to whether she will pass the instructor course and whether the chief should sponsor her. It is not relevant to whether the agency's qualification records are valid. The distinction matters because the risk is institutional:
- If an officer is involved in a shooting after a qualification signed by an uncertified instructor, the plaintiff will ask who certified the training and under what authority.
- The agency's insurer has already asked the question in writing, which means the answer will be part of the file.
- POST can require remediation of the qualification records for all 60 officers, meaning the March event could have to be repeated.
The chief's response should be: your experience is why I am sending you to the course, not why I am skipping it. In the meantime, a certified instructor signs the records. That protects Morse, the officers, and the agency.