I finally got to take my CCW course a few weekends ago (my wife finally gave in, for those who have read my previous posts), an I have to say – I was disappointed in the quality/content of the course. I had envisioned this CCW expert (LEO or other) discussing situations and laws that CCW permit holders needed to know about. I was looking forward to asking questions and really getting some good answers.
I paid $120 for four hours of the following:
1. “This is a gun. Here’s the hammer. Here’s the trigger.”
2. “This is another gun. Here’s the hammer. Here’s the trigger.”
3. “This is yet another gun. This one doesn’t have a hammer. Here’s the trigger.”
4. “I don’t recommend carrying anything smaller than a 9mm.”
5. “Let’s fill out the paperwork.”
The instructor was apparently a nationally recognized competition shooter. The instructor gave a five minute Q&A period; one question I unfortunately committed to memory:
(Old man and instructor)
Q: “Can we legally show anyone our weapon while we’re carrying?”
A: *scoffing* “Well, when you show someone your gun, it's called ‘banishing’ or something like that, and you’re not supposed to do it.”
I can only assume the instuctor meant “Brandishing” which is a legal term, and something that, as a certified CCW instructor, this person would know about. After this, I really felt like I wasn’t getting my money’s worth.
When we left the gun store where the classroom portion was held, we drove down the road a few miles to a range owned by the same people. I’m not picky of ranges, but for you to imagine the scene: It was a field with hay bails at the end, with some 2x4’s constructed to hold the targets. There were no partitions between shooters. They went over some range rules, like “Don’t point your gun at your neighbor.”, etc. Then we went down to demonstrate our competency at shooting a target from point blank, three feet, and six feet. The exercise was to shoot six rounds, reload and shot six rounds again, no matter the gun. The idea was to test your reload ability in a hurry, not just your shooting ability. There were about twenty of us down by the targets at a time, standing literally shoulder to shoulder. When told to commence firing, the guy on my right shoulder (he told me he was first year military) whipped his XD40 out from the small of his back, CLOSED HIS EYES, and unloaded the full magazine (15+). He then smiled, nodded, and walked away. The man on my right was borrowing a 38spl from the range, and he was having difficulty working the trigger, and at several points pointed it directly at me. I felt very unsafe and I freaked. I fired my rounds and I walked back up the range, asked for my certificate of completion, and left.
The only reason I waited a few weeks to share my tale is that I was so emotionally charged when I got home, that I wanted some time to process the experience. As a whole, I just wasn’t impressed with the course: the instructor, the content, everything. There was hardly any mention of concealed carry policy. Most (I mean 98%) of the content was functions of a handgun, and general gun safety. I don’t know if I had false hopes about what the course would entail. However, I do know that the brochure advertising the class (which made me choose that particular location) noted specific CCW topics, such as safe concelament, guns and child safety (which wasn’t even mentioned), CCW clothing, etc.
Should I have expected more?
I paid $120 for four hours of the following:
1. “This is a gun. Here’s the hammer. Here’s the trigger.”
2. “This is another gun. Here’s the hammer. Here’s the trigger.”
3. “This is yet another gun. This one doesn’t have a hammer. Here’s the trigger.”
4. “I don’t recommend carrying anything smaller than a 9mm.”
5. “Let’s fill out the paperwork.”
The instructor was apparently a nationally recognized competition shooter. The instructor gave a five minute Q&A period; one question I unfortunately committed to memory:
(Old man and instructor)
Q: “Can we legally show anyone our weapon while we’re carrying?”
A: *scoffing* “Well, when you show someone your gun, it's called ‘banishing’ or something like that, and you’re not supposed to do it.”
I can only assume the instuctor meant “Brandishing” which is a legal term, and something that, as a certified CCW instructor, this person would know about. After this, I really felt like I wasn’t getting my money’s worth.
When we left the gun store where the classroom portion was held, we drove down the road a few miles to a range owned by the same people. I’m not picky of ranges, but for you to imagine the scene: It was a field with hay bails at the end, with some 2x4’s constructed to hold the targets. There were no partitions between shooters. They went over some range rules, like “Don’t point your gun at your neighbor.”, etc. Then we went down to demonstrate our competency at shooting a target from point blank, three feet, and six feet. The exercise was to shoot six rounds, reload and shot six rounds again, no matter the gun. The idea was to test your reload ability in a hurry, not just your shooting ability. There were about twenty of us down by the targets at a time, standing literally shoulder to shoulder. When told to commence firing, the guy on my right shoulder (he told me he was first year military) whipped his XD40 out from the small of his back, CLOSED HIS EYES, and unloaded the full magazine (15+). He then smiled, nodded, and walked away. The man on my right was borrowing a 38spl from the range, and he was having difficulty working the trigger, and at several points pointed it directly at me. I felt very unsafe and I freaked. I fired my rounds and I walked back up the range, asked for my certificate of completion, and left.
The only reason I waited a few weeks to share my tale is that I was so emotionally charged when I got home, that I wanted some time to process the experience. As a whole, I just wasn’t impressed with the course: the instructor, the content, everything. There was hardly any mention of concealed carry policy. Most (I mean 98%) of the content was functions of a handgun, and general gun safety. I don’t know if I had false hopes about what the course would entail. However, I do know that the brochure advertising the class (which made me choose that particular location) noted specific CCW topics, such as safe concelament, guns and child safety (which wasn’t even mentioned), CCW clothing, etc.
Should I have expected more?