SAFETY FIRST!

Firearm Mentor is a concealed to carry and safety training company, servicing Lincolnshire, Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights, Schaumburg, and throughout Chicagoland. We began learning about firearms in 1980 and Marcus Melnick, owner, began working in public safety (police, fire, private security).  As a professional adult educator, people just like you are taught how to use a firearm. We also teach “Legal Self Defense” ^©, which is what to say when the police arrive.

Firearm Mentor is not a one or two trick pony.  We deliver presentations to law enforcement agencies, organizations, schools, companies, community groups, and houses of worship.  Some of these topics are firearms related, like Surviving an Active Shooter and Responding to Active Shooters.

Building upon the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s “Run, Hide, Fight” curriculum, Stress 2 Logic brings to life stress inoculation with toy nerf guns and associated protective gear to prevent injury.

“Run, Hide, Fight” is a great moniker, but where do you hide?  What is the difference between cover and concealment?  What objects will stop bullets?  How does one fight?  Where do you go when running?  Do I help others?  What if I am injured?

Marcus Melnick was in a thwarted mass shooting in the mid-1990s in Wisconsin.  During his career, he worked in a multiple needs special education classroom with violent junior high students and became the Director of Security for a large high school suburban school district.  He later went on to work with the public safety personnel who responded to the Laurie Dann Shooting in Winnetka, Illinois.

Because of a related training program, one of Marcus’s students stopped a school shooting in Palatine, Illinois in 2017.  Another stopped a criminal sexual assault (rape) in progress in early 2025.  This training works.

This type of training is foreign to many.  It is foreign because participants have not done this before.  Similar to driving, a teen getting behind the wheel for the first time may have experienced a video game, but without the actual life experience, knowledge can be limited.

Managing Agitated People

We also offer presentations in Managing Agitated People/De-Escalation techniques.  When delivered as “Managing Agitated Patients,” in healthcare environments, CE credit is available.

Another topic is Street Smarts/Scam Avoidance to varying populations.  We have developed programs for real estate agents, Older Americans/Seniors, Adults with Special Needs, and for Small Business Owners.

TED Talk

Marcus Melnick is also a TEDx speaker on the topic of Bypassing the Human Stress Response.  This course and accompanying book are entitled, “Overcoming the Hot Stress Mess.”  This topic has been adapted to navigating college life and responding to Anti-Semitism and Racism.

Weight Loss

Finally, we have a presentation on weight loss.  While it sounds like a one off, there are five responses to high stress:  Fight, Flee, Freeze, Submit, or Eat.  Follow Marcus Melnick’s journey of weight loss, diabetes reversal, hypertension reversal, reduction in sleep apnea severity.  After facing tremendous stressors as a teen, Marcus continued to gain weight.  Being heavy his entire life, he figured out his own personal psychology and relationship with food and shares tips and tricks to lose weight with little effort.  Starting in 2019, Marcus lost 120 pounds and kept it off.