Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled Your First Concealed Carry Class and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/your-first-concealed-carry-class/.
Your First Concealed Carry Class
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
My first concealed carry class was cancelled due to COVID-19. I hope to get back on the calendar once the classes open back up. Question, is my EDC [XD-S Mod.2] sufficient for my first class or should I look at purchasing a full-size handgun (e.g., XD Mod.2 Service Model)?
Rupert1911
Elite
I chose a concealed carry class from my local sheriffs office, I wanted to learn what to expect from law enforcement.
Interesting, I never would have thought of that
Peglegjoe
Professional
Use your own gun. You want to be familiar with the weapon going in, and the course will help you build on that familiarity - all of which gives you a better end result.
Don't be afraid to ask questions in the class, either. In my experience, instructors are ALWAYS gracious and happy to provide answers, no matter how "dumb" the pupil thinks the question might be.
Here in Maryland, you have to take a PAIR of classes. One, you have to take in order to even BUY a handgun - that's the HQL class, or Handgun Qualification License. Then, there's the wear-and-carry class (Maryland does not distinguish between concealed and open carry, so it is not a CCW class but a wear-and-carry class). HQL is a pre-requisite for w&c.
I took both classes together, so I'm not 100% sure on which class required the live-fire work...but I know that in order to do the whole process, I was required to shoot a live fire target consisting of 50 rounds at varying distances. The state requires one target; the range where I took the courses required four. Repetitive, but...not exactly a nuisance to "have" to shoot 200 rounds at the range! Scoring - and my understanding is, this is a "standard" target setup - is anything in the 8-ring or better is 5 points. 7-ring is 4 points. 6-ring is 3. Outside that, 1 point. Perfect score is 250 - 50 rounds, inside the 8 ring, 5 points each.
I had put five rounds through my XDs - total - before lining up for my live fire qualifications. I shot a 250, a 248, a 248, and a 250.
But, the live fire is only PART of the equation. The classroom side is HUGE - legal ramifications, definitions of "castle doctrine", "stand your ground", and other pertinent phrases. State law regarding use of force. State law regarding transport, carry, display/concealment. State law regarding establishments that serve liquor. State law regarding "no firearms" signs on businesses - do they have force of law and you can get arrested? Or are they business preferences and all they can do is ask you to leave the premises? What do you do when you are in a traffic stop, and carrying your weapon? It is ALL covered in the class...and you DEFINITELY want to be alert for all of it. The classroom is likely more important than the live-fire portion, when it comes down to YOUR life after an incident.
Don't be afraid to ask questions in the class, either. In my experience, instructors are ALWAYS gracious and happy to provide answers, no matter how "dumb" the pupil thinks the question might be.
Here in Maryland, you have to take a PAIR of classes. One, you have to take in order to even BUY a handgun - that's the HQL class, or Handgun Qualification License. Then, there's the wear-and-carry class (Maryland does not distinguish between concealed and open carry, so it is not a CCW class but a wear-and-carry class). HQL is a pre-requisite for w&c.
I took both classes together, so I'm not 100% sure on which class required the live-fire work...but I know that in order to do the whole process, I was required to shoot a live fire target consisting of 50 rounds at varying distances. The state requires one target; the range where I took the courses required four. Repetitive, but...not exactly a nuisance to "have" to shoot 200 rounds at the range! Scoring - and my understanding is, this is a "standard" target setup - is anything in the 8-ring or better is 5 points. 7-ring is 4 points. 6-ring is 3. Outside that, 1 point. Perfect score is 250 - 50 rounds, inside the 8 ring, 5 points each.
I had put five rounds through my XDs - total - before lining up for my live fire qualifications. I shot a 250, a 248, a 248, and a 250.
But, the live fire is only PART of the equation. The classroom side is HUGE - legal ramifications, definitions of "castle doctrine", "stand your ground", and other pertinent phrases. State law regarding use of force. State law regarding transport, carry, display/concealment. State law regarding establishments that serve liquor. State law regarding "no firearms" signs on businesses - do they have force of law and you can get arrested? Or are they business preferences and all they can do is ask you to leave the premises? What do you do when you are in a traffic stop, and carrying your weapon? It is ALL covered in the class...and you DEFINITELY want to be alert for all of it. The classroom is likely more important than the live-fire portion, when it comes down to YOUR life after an incident.
lmgunner13
Elite
My first class was in Arizona 20 years ago. It was taught by a former FBI handgun Instructor. He really put us through the works. Had to shoot under stress. It was a great class.
ghosttwofive
Custom
I originally took the Arkansas CCL class back in 1999. The class itself was interesting, but the shooting part was a joke. 5 yards out was the max distance. I'm getting ready to take our enhanced CCL class in a couple of weeks, It's something like 6 hours of classroom instruction, then 50 rounds into a standard B-27 target. Anything that touches the 7-ring or inside it is a hit. You have to hit 35 shots out of 50, but 20 of the shots are from.....3 yards......then 20 rounds from 7 yards, then 10 rounds from 15 yarda, all timed. Looking forward to taking the class.
Thanks
Wirenut
Hellcat
I'm in the same boat most classes here have been cancelled.
I bought a MOD-2 Tactical with a 5 in. barrel.
It was easy to learn with the longer sight picture.
I liked it and I bought the exact same in a compact, what I learned on the 5 in. can transfer to the compact since all the controls are the same.
HansGruber
Ronin
My first carry class, I had my choice of two handguns, both full size. I qualified with a USP45, and only a few points down.
It was taught by a police instructor, and while the shooting portion was excellent, the legal portion I found was severely lacking. When I took another class with a friend who wanted company to take his first class, I was astounded by what I didn’t know, and what hadn’t been taught...I was glad I had only been carrying for a couple months.
So my advice is—take another class from a different instructor as soon as you can, in case something wasn’t covered by the first.
It was taught by a police instructor, and while the shooting portion was excellent, the legal portion I found was severely lacking. When I took another class with a friend who wanted company to take his first class, I was astounded by what I didn’t know, and what hadn’t been taught...I was glad I had only been carrying for a couple months.
So my advice is—take another class from a different instructor as soon as you can, in case something wasn’t covered by the first.
EL LOBO
Custom
No matter how much training you have It will not prepare you for that day. But one thing is sure you will react the way you were trained if you were trained poorly your reaction will be poor, Training is a must to your survival so you should practice as often as you can until your action & reaction is natural so you don't have to think about it. But nothing will prepare you for the after it's all over and your attacker is dead you are alive and others around you are dead unless you are a psychopath, that Day will never end for you ever and the memories of it that will flood your mind years after will be with you until the day you die.
You better hope and pray you never will have to use Deadly force because you will never be prepared for the After! You will carry that unseen wound for the rest of your life! But good training and a good grounding in faith will make you a survivor!
You better hope and pray you never will have to use Deadly force because you will never be prepared for the After! You will carry that unseen wound for the rest of your life! But good training and a good grounding in faith will make you a survivor!
DaveHissem
Operator
My last CCW class was different than expected. It was held in an office building that was vacant except for the CCW Instructor's section of the end of the building. We went through all the basic stuff about laws and reactions and aftermath of a shooting. Pretty basic stuff. The part that caught me off-guard was the instructor never once discussed gun handling procedures. Several of my classmates were women and young men new to firearms altogether. Out of the 15 people in the class only 4 of us had previous experience firing a gun. The shooting part of our CCW class was firing a .22lr revolver and a .22 semi-auto pistol at a paper target 15 feet away taped to a piece of wood that stood against the door. I shot first because I wanted out of there ASAP. The 11 people that never handled firearms scared the hell out of me just looking at the guns we were to fire for the test. Fingers on the triggers, covering each other with muzzles, etc...I fired My 2 rounds, went to the outer office got my CCW paperwork and RAN to the nearest exit. Is it scary to anyone else that some CCW classes don't actually teach people to use a firearm? This man has a full class 3 times a month and is sending lots of untrained people out with the ability to carry with little or no training. It scares me every time I think about it.
Sounds like the guy is just in it for the paycheck. No one (state agency, etc) to report him to?
EL LOBO
Custom
THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP & BEAR ARMS SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED ON IS A RIGHT! TRAINING TO BE PROFICIENT WITH ARMS IS NOT REQUIRED! If it was scary for you maybe you should not be allowed to have a firearm or a right to carry one either! In many States no proficiency test is required for a Concealed carry permit. What should be scary to you is that Criminal Thug who has a stolen Firearm and he has it concealed and if he doesn't like the way you looked at him he will murder you without a thought!
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I think (imo) he was expressing his concern on how unsafe the class was, with the instructor apparently not having any control over his students in practicing safe firearm handling. I think I would have been concerned about the [safety] environment in that class also.
EL LOBO
Custom
Then that's when you EXPRESS firearms safety out loud so everyone hears it Like " HEY PEOPLE! PLEASE KEEP THOSE MUZZLES OF YOUR FIREARM POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION! " I do that often at the public ranges and say we don't have to have a preventable accident Here Do we! Sure some might call you an asshole under their breath but they remember Saftey.
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ABSOLUTELY! I probably would have expressed my concerns to the "instructor" also.