In 2012, Coy testified in a suit filed against the National Rifle Association, NRA-certified firearms instructor Thomas Simpson, and others by Terry Gonser, a resident of Oakland Township, Michigan. Simpson shot Gonser in the face during a May 5, 2023 handgun training class. The suit alleges that Simpson, then 75 years old, was shaking so badly that he required an assistant to carry his materials to the class. Simpson and his assistant both failed to check a holstered .38 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun owned by Simpson to see if it was loaded. The weapon fired, sending a bullet ricocheting off a table and into the left side of Gonser's face. Nonetheless, the NRA renewed Simpson’s certification in January 2012. Coy testified under oath that the NRA does not certify instructors to teach the Michigan Concealed Pistol License course specifically. He added in a deposition that he did not know what the NRA does to monitor its instructors or if it requires any annual training of them. According to court documents, the NRA does not require testing of instructors for physical/mental soundness or firearms knowledge and safety. The NRA also neglects to run background checks on instructors to determine if they've been convicted of violent crimes or placed in a psychiatric institution.