"I have been training at the shooting range, but should I be starting to take on a contract & spawn an IA in order to practice my wack skills? Any help would be appreciated. "

The shooting range is 100% safe, but a very slow way to train up your gun. Since you can only get in 2-3 a day, it may take a while to get your gun built up.

Shooting RIA's, IA's trains a gun a little faster, however, there comes a slight risk. What many people do is wake up in the morning, do a shooting range, go to work, come home, check the IA/RIA schedule to see when they turn, if there is a good window, try for them, if you miss the window, do an MIA. Keep doing this, when you hit a patch with no targets, see if you can do another shooting range (this keeps the shooting range timer ticking while you sleep)

Theres a billion ways to go about training, but the best bet is to talk to your Hit Squad Leader (or RHM, LHM if there is no established HSL) about the best way to train up to help defend the family.