The police today are most effective when listening and communicating with the communities we serve. In order to create an atmosphere where citizens could meet with police officers to discuss law enforcement and public safety issues, the staff of the MPD discussed various public safety topics around which to present free public training sessions or seminars. Knowing that MPD officers receive numerous inquiries from citizens concerning guns, gun safety, gun laws, etc; it was clear to the staff that there is a great local interest in gun ownership. Thus, gun safety became the natural choice and the department’s training staff and public information officer designed the Firearms Safety Seminar Program. The Program, which was launched in 2010, was designed to provide a series of seminars free to the public and instructed by MPD certified firearms instructors.