[Stratford Holdings]

Looking for an NRA Instructor or someone that can provide the CCW class that will meet FL CCW requirements. I live in Lake Charles Louisiana and can't justify spendig $90 on the local guy.

[Preacherman]

Pop Hyams at the Natchitoches Shooting Range is an NRA instructor, and does the Handgun courses for the LA CHP. Try giving him a call: the range should be in the phone book, but I don't have mine handy right now.

Also, the LA State Police maintain a list of qualified instructors (I think it's on their Web site). You could check there, or ask their local office.

[Matthew Courtney]

Lake Charles Area

LSP# Instructor Phone E-mail
10 David Armstrong 337-478-5384 darm441@prodigy.net
56 Jeff Daley 337-474-8008
93 Earl Gothreaux 337-562-0820 hunters70607@msn.com
95 Jack Ewing 337-463-8564
101 Chuck Potts 337-462-6555 LPFI40@peoplepc.com
147 Gary Donahoo 337-855-6116
167 Frank Adams 337-491-1298

Lafayette Area

LSP# Instructor Phone E-mail
08 Michael Salvador 337-845-4286
23 Barry Dufour 337-922-3766
63 Gerald Hollier 337-406-2066
64 Barry Carrier 337-585-6109
65 Marc LeBlanc 337-942-7459
68 Walter Miller 337-457-6585
125 Lloyd Rue 337-236-3958
126 Angie Cart 337-457-8540 acart@bellsouth.net
138 George Fournet 337-364-5688 mxracer319@juneau.com
143 Philip R. Rankin 337-482-0452
175 Warren Gary 337-821-2106
191 Anthony Fontenot 337-280-0275 identify@bellsouth.net
210 Joe Weiss 337-781-3165
211 Pratt Hayes 337-989-8495 phayes@cudd.com
212 Merrion Taylor 337-821-5513
213 Ricky Benoit 337-821-5513
216 Vernon Melancon 337-365-6448
217 Michael Moore 337-291-5605
239 Ron Thibodeaux 337-789-8656 normstan@bellsouth.net
240 Norm Stansbury 337-789-8656 normstan@bellsouth.net
245 Jeff Lavergne 337-873-7077

I live in Lake Charles. Feel free to PM me anytime.

Matthew

[Stratford Holdings]

Sweet. This will help a lot. Now can you recommend a decent gun range?

[Greybeard]

Double check me here, but I think FL even accepts a hunter ed. certificate.

In TX anyway, hunter ed. classes can be found for as little as $10 (but often require a minimum of 10 hours over a minimum 2 day period). I supect your Parks and Wildlife dept. will have a listing of instructors/classes listed on web site.

Coincidently, I had a very experienced TX CHL guy ask for a quick and private NRA "First Steps" pistol class (3 hour minimum) last year in order to also get the FL license. That NRA class evidentl "fit in their box" - although the course certificate he had on minimum 10-hour TX CHL did not. :rolleyes:

[Stratford Holdings]

Correct, Hunters ED is accepted but I haven't taken that course. When I was last in Utah, I think their hunter ed was like 40 hours of instruction. I don't know if I could sit through that much.

[Matthew Courtney]

There is only one range that I Know of in town. It is Hunter's Supply and Range, owned by Earl Gothreaux. Earl is also an NRA and LSP instructor. He charges $90 for the NRA basic pistol course. Regular range visits are $7.

Earl is a great guy and his wife is a fabulous lady. If you plan to be in Lake Charles for any length of time, I highly reccommend taking his course and getting to know him. He is also one of the few good gunsmiths in this area.

If you are a regular at his range and have a gun issue arise, in my experience, he will come assist you right away at no additional charge. If the gun needs major work, expect to pay. But, he has come out and helped me several times and also given me expert advice on how best to get what I need, even when it meant sending the work to someboby else.

Earl is a hardworking, honest, knowledgeable man. Given the general shortage of those, his $90 NRA basic pistol course cost could likely be the best $90 that you will ever spend.

[Stratford Holdings]

I visted that place and I spoke to Earl. His $90 feel scares my pocketbook. I looked at the range and was a little disappointed. Mainly because I've been shooting at RangeMasters of Utah. I tend to shoot a lot of ammo so the idea of hand cranking my target is not too appealing.

If he was like $40 or so, I might consider him but $90 just seems way too high. That's about a 500 rounds of new 45acp for me. Once again, it's all because of Utah. Great prices and all have spoiled me. :D

[Matthew Courtney]

Yeah, it's not the best range in the world. It's just the best range around here.

If the location is convienient for you , ask him if he'll toss in a few range sessions to sweeten the deal.

Remember, he is doing 10 people classes for 8 hours, and throwing in range time. Maintaining a range in a small town is not very profitable. The LA certification requires a 36 round live fire qualification. He does the classes after hours in order to give folks his full attention.

Bail for a illegal carrying of weapons charge runs $500. The fine will normally run $50-100 here. Not having to worry about that crap is priceless.

You will not find an unsubsidized class for 40 bucks. Call me and we'll go shooting. I'll PM my phone #.

[Stratford Holdings]

One thing though is I had to clarify the reciprocity rules for him when I first spoke to him. He was telling me that since Utah recognized LA CCW, that I could carry here in LA. I had the UT CCW and I don't know if he was just confused or really didn't understand the reciprocity law.

It meant that if I had a LA CCW, I could legally carry in UT. Not the other way around, which he was thinking.

This was another reason I really didn't want to go with him because I expect most instructors to be able to comprehend the reciprocity law. He even had it posted on his wall but maybe he just had a brain fart.

[Matthew Courtney]

Earl is not going to be our next legal scholar. This is a quality, not a defect. His area of knowledge and ability is shooting and firearms and he is an extraordinary teacher in these areas.

That said, there has never been a case in Louisiana where a holder of a valid out of state CCW has been convicted of illegal carying of weapons. I cannot even find a case where someone with an out of state CCW was even charged.

I carried on an Alabama permit for almost 10 years. Your mileage may vary.