Distance Education Through Our Expanded PDN Academy!

You might have noticed that we’ve expanded PDN Academy recently by adding a few classes to the offerings at the PDN Academy Distance Education Page. These three new courses are just the beginning of the dramatically expanded catalogue we have planned for 2017.

PDN Academy is the distance education arm of the Personal Defense Network. PDNA is producing complete online courses with a variety of expert instructors in many areas related to personal defense and security.

PDN Academy is the distance education arm of the Personal Defense Network. PDNA is producing complete online courses with a variety of expert instructors in many areas related to personal defense and security.



I’ve long been a believer in the concept of distance education, especially when it comes to concepts and principles like those that underly solid approaches to personal defense tactics, training methods and even gear selection. My first complete distance education course was released in 2012 and thousands of people have completed it. These three new classes speak directly to one or more of those areas:


The importance of selecting an appropriate defensive handgun cannot be understated. The old mantra “any handgun will do, if you can do” is little more than bravado in today’s world. At not time in history has there been a wider variety of quality choices available. Of course, the market is also flooded with poor choices for personal defense. Guns that might be perfectly suited to competition, hunting or other recreational activities or that might be perfect for the Armed Professional in Uniform, but would be less than optimal choices for your needs.
All of the PDN Academy Classes are reasonably priced and offer free preview videos before you enroll!

All of the PDN Academy Classes are reasonably priced and offer free preview videos before you enroll!



This course explains all of the underlying concepts that you should base your decision on, without subjective interference from anecdote, emotional preferences, brand image or marketing hype. This course doesn’t tell you which gun to pick, it educates you in how to pick the best gun for you.
As a reader of the PDN Blog, you may already have made your own decision in regard to a defensive handgun, but this course would make a great gift or recommendation to everyone you know who has yet to make that choice. As gun owners, we are often approached by people for advice about what type of gun they should buy… don’t take that on responsibility on all by yourself or simply assume that your decisions were the best for your family and friends: Send them a link to this class! I’m confident that they thank you for it.


This course alone won’t make you a competent defensive shooter, you have to do the work on the range for that to happen, but without this course you waste a lot of time, effort and ammunition trying to develop your skills. When you head to the range to spend your limited time practicing, you want to be sure that you’re doing things that matter. You want to make sure that your limited ammunition budget is being used as efficiently as possible when you are on the range. Learning, understanding and applying the concepts taught in this course will prepare you to get the most out of your practice sessions.
I realize that most people have a very hard time getting to classes, both in terms of time and budget. While this course is not in any way a replacement for in person training with a qualified instructor, but it might just be the next best thing for those who are sincere about developing their defensive shooting skills on their own or as a refresher for those who haven’t taken a live fire class in awhile.


iwlewaI announced this course a couple of weeks ago and it has been incredibly well received. This topic has gotten a lot of attention over the past year in the concealed carry community. A combination of high profile tragedies and people who thought they were acting reasonably with firearms being arrested for (and convicted of) crimes has made people who intend to be responsibly armed realize that they may not know everything they need to.
I’ve been carrying guns in public for personal defense for over 20 years and I’ve been an active or reserve police officer for most of that time as well. I’ve been on both sides of this topic, literally and figuratively. I’ve taught police officers how to deal with legally armed citizens and answered countless questions about the “best practices” for the everyday CCWer coming into contact with the police during traffic stops, the reporting of a crime or countless types of encounters that didn’t involved Defensive Gun Use. Of course, this class also addresses the area of what to do after a defensive gun use to make sure that you remain safe when the police arrive and do everything you can to avoid an inappropriate arrest for exercising your right to defense.
If I had to pick on distance education class that everyone with a defensive firearm should take, Interactions with Law Enforcement While Armed would be it!

PDN Academy online courses all feature both video and downloadable content. Most involve worksheets that you complete on your own to reinforce or personalize the lessons being taught. Some of our courses even offer online tests through which you can earn Certificates of Successful Completion that can be added to your training records or proudly displayed. Check out these courses, all of which are being offered at very reasonable prices, today. There is no reason to delay your Armed Personal Defense Education.

Look for more additions to our online curriculum soon.

-RJP PS- If you’ve taken any of our online course, please post your thoughts in the comment section below or at our Facebook Page… and feel free to post your distance education course requests as well.

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One Response to “Distance Education Through Our Expanded PDN Academy!”

  1. Dennis

    I have over twenty DVDs from PDN all have been informative and useful,also attended CFS class,Counter Ambush(completed) Looking forward for more.