Free firearms training for Mat-Su residents reopens for registration

What you need to know:

• The Matanuska-Susitna Borough is again offering a free, taxpayer-funded firearm and self-defense course for residents, with 300 slots available on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration opened this week.
• Classes are operated by Point Blank Firearms and Self Defense in Palmer, with additional dates planned in Talkeetna. About half of the available class slots are already filled.
• The program is funded through a $75,000 borough grant and is intended to help residents protect themselves, borough officials said.

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PALMER – Registration is once again open for a free firearm and live-fire training course for Matanuska-Susitna Borough residents, with about half of the available slots already filled, officials said.

The eight-hour, taxpayer-funded self-defense course includes instruction on personal safety, handgun fundamentals, de-escalation tactics, and live-fire range time with 50 rounds provided, officials said.

The program is open to 300 Mat-Su residents age 16 and older on a first-come, first-served basis, and is run by Palmer-based Point Blank Firearms and Self Defense under a Mat-Su borough contract.

Residents can sign up online for one of the classes scheduled between now and late June at Point Blank’s Palmer location. Several classes will also be scheduled in Talkeetna, with registration opening soon, said Donna Anthony, who owns Point Blank.

Anthony said that classes are capped at 12 people so attendees aren’t overwhelmed and can receive focused assistance from instructors.

“We want people to be comfortable,” she said.

Registration opened early this week, and Anthony, who has owned Point Blank since 2014, said she was surprised to see how quickly slots filled.

“I teach this all the time, but to see how many people just signed up was shocking,” she said. “It just seems like it’s a financial issue. People really want to learn, but financially people are struggling.”

The classes, valued at about $250 per person, are funded through a $75,000 Mat-Su Borough grant first approved in 2024 and renewed this year. The program was initially proposed by Assembly member Ron Bernier as a way to help residents protect themselves and their communities.

Anthony, who has worked in law enforcement for more than two decades and currently serves as chief of police for the Chickaloon Tribal Police Department, said she believes instruction like this is critical.

“The last thing you want to do is ever have to use it, but you should at least have the opportunity to protect yourself and your family,” she said.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsussentinel.com