COEUR d'ALENE - Say you're a housewife who wants to shoot some would-be crook creeping across your kitchen.

It's your legal right to, but how do you practice that?

Sure, there are shooting ranges, but how do you simulate putting down the pots and pans and picking up a piece while taking aim across low-hanging cupboards?

People might be able to practice just that - not to mention across bedrooms and living rooms - if the city of Coeur d'Alene approves a permit for a National Rifle Association instructor's bid to open a non-lethal shooting gallery downtown.

"It's a really valuable learning tool," said Eric Johnson, NRA instructor and owner of Defense Solutions. "Under stress you lose about 50 percent of your skill, so you have to train where if you lose half your skills, you're still good."

The business would go up at 403 N. Second St., and use a smokeless, non-toxic marking cartridge from a converted firearm. The cartridges, made by Simunition, don't penetrate and are often used to train in cars, planes, buses and homes. They leave a detergent-based, water soluble, color-marking compound, but discharges are quiet, so the shooter doesn't have to wear ear protection.

If approved, the facility would be open to law enforcement personnel as well as the general public and incorporate home base scenarios for shooters looking to improve their aim.

The scenes would incorporate lighting and noise stresses, too.

Patrons wouldn't be allowed to bring in their own guns, only the converted ones for the special cartridges that the business would provide. Basic target shooting would also be offered, but as shooters' skills advance, more life-like situational blasting can be incorporated.

"It sounds like something we could very well want to take advantage of," said Lt. Bill McLeod, of the Coeur d'Alene Police Department, on the potential training ground.

The city's General Services Committee recommended the City Council approve the permit on Monday. It attached conditions that the building keep safety guards in place on the windows to prevent accidental breakage; only marking cartridges with a marking agent and blanks shall be used; safety rules shall be prominently displayed; conversion kits shall be used in weapons to ensure live rounds cannot be fired; and sounds of the rounds shall not be heard outside the building.

Johnson moved to the area last year from California. He has been a certified instructor for 10 years, and has operated similar training facilities with live rounds. He said his goal is to teach firearms safety, provide experience building in the use of firearms and teach life-saving exercises.

If the permit is granted at the 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19 meeting in the Community Room of the public library, Johnson hopes to have the building opened by the end of November.