Hi, I'm Melissa, the owner and founder of Modern Defense, LLC. I launched this business specializing in firearm safety courses and have been instructing since 2015.

I was born and raised in Eastern Colorado Springs by parents who own and operate Dragonman's, a multi-recreational facility including a gun store and six shooting ranges. You could say firearm knowledge, safety awareness and shooting precision was inevitably a natural byproduct of environmental upbringing.

 

In the Summer of 2012, my mother was tragically taken from me while my parents were filming for a reality television show meant to air on The Discovery Channel. I helped my dad hire new managers to sustain their business while I finished college.

I graduated from CU-Boulder with a degree in Evolutionary Biology and moved to The East Coast after landing a job in Boston, Massachusetts. After a year away from home, I ultimately decided to move back to Colorado to help my dad maintain the establishment my parents started 33 years earlier. I obtained my NRA certification September of 2015.

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My passion for firearms and more importantly, firearm education, came from, well, my mama..

Inspiration​: My mom was my personal link to the industry. She was an NRA instructor as well and her passion for building an individual's confidence to shoot by instilling firearm safety awareness and a solid foundation of shooting technique was admirable. After her passing, I felt compelled to continue her legacy. Her presence as a female in a male-dominated industry was an inspiration as well. I want to continue her legacy and bring that presence to say you can be feminine and still have an interest in firearms.

Values: I want to challenge the negative stigma our media consistently places on firearms. By combining education and exposure to a firearm, the goal is to destigmatize the firearm as a "weapon" and remind individuals the many uses of a firearm. My personal goal is to break walls of ignorance and allow individuals to defend and protect themselves and their family safety.
 
 
Realistic Goals: The world we live in now is filled with threats we never faced in decades prior. My ultimate goal is to transform novice gun owners into knowledgeable individuals to protect themselves confidently from any immediate threat. By instilling the proper attitude, intention, and awareness, I believe with instruction and shooting practice, everyone has the capability to own and operate a firearm with confidence.
 

 

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