What you need to know:

• A Mat-Su Borough program will provide free weapons safety and live-fire training to about 300 residents over the next year. Registration and classes could start as early as late August, officials said.
• Borough officials are looking for a contractor to run the program, which is funded by a $75,000 grant approved as part of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough’s 2025 budget. Contract bidding ends late this month.
• The program is designed to boost public safety by teaching residents to defend themselves, said Assembly member Ron Bernier, who sponsored the legislation.

PALMER – A Matanuska-Susitna Borough program that will provide free firearms training to some area residents is open for bids as officials search for a contractor to run it.

The program will fund free gun safety and live-fire training for about 300 residents, borough purchasing manager Russ Krafft said during a borough Assembly meeting last month.

Classes will likely begin in late August, Krafft said. Registration will be managed by the contractor, he said.

The training will be paid for by a $75,000 grant approved in May as part of the borough’s 2025 budget. Assembly member Ron Bernier, whose district includes Talkeetna, sponsored the measure.

The program is designed to increase safety in Mat-Su by training residents to protect themselves, Bernier said earlier this year. It was inspired by the deaths of two women near Trapper Creek in 2023, coupled with an ongoing lack of police presence in that area, he said. Those deaths were linked to a drug trafficking ring, according to federal prosecutors.

The Alaska State Troopers provide law enforcement in most of Mat-Su, with five to six troopers patrolling the entire region at any given time, according to data provided by the Department of Public Safety to the Anchorage Daily News earlier this year. Current trooper staffing data for the Mat-Su region was not immediately available Monday.

The free firearms training will be held at three locations in Mat-Su, including the Talkeetna area, near Meadow Lakes or Big Lake, and in Palmer, according to contract documents. Classes will be available to borough residents 16 and older, with final age requirements dependent on contractor rules, the documents state.

The classes must include basic firearms safety training; legal information on the use of deadly force; "stand your ground," "castle doctrine," and defense of life and property training; information on alternatives to deadly force; training on de-escalation options; and live-fire training, the documents state.

The live-fire training can be held indoors or outdoors, weather permitting, the documents state, and preference will be given to contractors who allow participants to bring and use their own firearms rather than those provided by the contractor.

All classes will be held by next July, the documents state. The class schedule will be proposed by the contractor and approved by the borough after the contract is awarded.

The contractor will be responsible for any firearms liability or legal issues during the training, borough officials said. They will be required to carry at least $1 million in general liability coverage, contract documents state.

Bidding for the contract opened July 2 and will close July 31, according to the bourgh's bid management system.

-- Amy Bushatz can be contacted at abushatz@matsusentinel.com.