Meet Your Instructor Mike Kneuer
Some firearm instructors teach because they passed a certification course. Mike teaches because he has spent over a decade in environments where the difference between prepared and unprepared was not theoretical.
Before stepping into the role of full-time firearm instructor, Mike spent six years in the security industry — working real-world environments where situational awareness, decisive action, and the responsible use of force were not classroom concepts but daily professional realities. That background shapes every private shooting lesson he delivers. When Mike teaches you to scan for threats, read an environment, or make a split-second decision under stress, he is drawing from experience that most instructors simply do not have.
Over the past six years as a certified firearm instructor, Mike has trained hundreds of students across South Florida in private one-on-one shooting lessons — from complete beginners who had never touched a firearm to experienced gun owners who had been shooting for years with habits nobody had ever corrected. Every one of those students left with something they did not have when they arrived: a sharper skill, a corrected fundamental, and a level of genuine confidence that only comes from personalized instruction.
Mike holds NRA Pistol Instructor certification, Tactical Hyve Level 1 certification, and is a certified Stop the Bleed instructor — one of the few firearm educators in South Florida who trains students to respond not just during a threat but in the critical minutes after one. His credentials reflect a commitment to being a complete defensive educator, not just a shooting coach.
What separates Mike’s private lessons from every group class and crowded range session in Palm Beach County and Broward County comes down to a single philosophy: master the basics. Not the flashy stuff. Not advanced drills built on a foundation that was never properly laid. The grip. The stance. The trigger press. The sight picture. The decision-making process under stress. Mike believes — and six years of one-on-one instruction have proven — that a shooter who has truly mastered the fundamentals is more capable, more confident, and more dangerous to a real threat than any shooter who skipped ahead. Every private lesson is built around finding exactly where your foundation has gaps and closing them, rep by rep, until the right response is no longer something you think about but something your body simply does.
Private shooting lessons with Mike are available at range locations across Palm Beach County and Broward County, and at the private outdoor tactical facility in Okeechobee, Florida. If you are searching for the best private firearm instructor in South Florida, you have found him.
