How to attend Front Sight

There are three ways that students can attend courses at Front Sight.

1. Full Price

Students can pay the per-course fees associated with each class, which is the least cost-effective way of attending courses at Front Sight. For example, the 4-Day Defensive Handgun course is $2,000, just for the course tuition. Paying for courses at the time of signup is certainly the simplest method of attending Front Sight, but it is also the most expensive.

2. Certificates

Over the last 15 years, Front Sight has issued Certificates to cover course tuition. Certificates have been issued at various times and were used as promotional items or ways of generating investment moneys in the early days of Front Sight. The certificates universally have no expiration date and can be given to anyone for use. There are two kinds of certificates: digital and paper. Most people who attend Front Sight regularly are familiar with the paper certificates. They are a single 8.5 by 11 colored piece of paper. The colors verify what type of certificate it is and what courses it covers. The most common certificate is the gray, first-time student certificate. There were many gray certificates issued in the early years for first-time students to take the entry-level 2 or 4-Day Shotgun, Rifle, or Pistol courses. You may know someone who has a certificate that you could purchase. The going price for a certificate is $100-$400.

The digital Certificates are purchased only through the MyFrontSight.com web site, during periodic promotions. Digital Certificates have a unique ID number that allows them to be tracked. The MyFrontSight.com system keeps track of the digital Certificates you have purchased, and you are allowed to give your Certificate ID number to other people to use. Once a Digital Certificate ID number is used for a course, it considered spent, and cannot be used again.

Paper Certificates must be physically mailed to Front Sight in order to be cashed in and used. Paper certificates have a blue signature and are typically embossed by Front Sight. NOTE: The ORIGINAL Certificate must by physically sent. Faxes and/or copies are not accepted.

Some Certificates, of both Digital and Paper, cover the Background Check fee as well. Others do not. The details of each Paper Certificate are printed on the Certificate itself. For the Digital ones, you'll need to log in to your MyFrontSight.com account to see.

3. First Family Memberships

The First Family Membership program is a Life-Time Membership that is assigned to a single individual, not a group of people or a family. The term "First Family" is largely a marketing term…and is a generic term applied to all memberships sold at Front Sight.

There are a number of different First Family Memberships, but all of them have the same characteristics. The membership allows the owner to take some or all classes at Front Sight for free. The memberships vary from the entry-level "Communicator", which covers the 2 Day Defensive Handgun Course, to the "Diamond," which covers all courses. Each of the life-time memberships is paid for once, without any recurring fees (in other words, there are no ongoing membership fees, such as renewals, etc.).

Front Sight memberships sometimes will cover training at different Front Sight locations. Officially, as of Fall 2012, there is only two Front Sight Training Facilities: Nevada and Alaska. There has been numerous rumors, confirmed by various media sources the Front Sight is investigating the possibility of opening a Texas facility. We will keep everyone updated as this information on this develops. Front Sight has made NO official announcement regarding a Texas facility. Given that Front Sight would have to acquire the land, and then actually build some sort of facility, the time frame would be at least 12 months before classes could be held.

A common membership that allows you to take classes in Alaska and Nevada is the Diamond membership…with an "Alaska Add-on". There is also the recently released "Ambassador" level membership which covers all classes at all Front Sight Facilities…anywhere.

Regardless of the membership you have, you will still have to pay the $50 annual background check fee for each calendar year you attend a course. For the most part… memberships are not allowed to be included in your will or estate, but rather will be terminated. The exception to this is the "Gold" level membership…that actually can be passed on to one's heirs. This is a membership that FS has not sold for a long while. For more information about background checks, see our Travel Guide.