Concealed class

A lot of it is elaboration on the major concepts. In essence, a CC Permit is not authorization to be a policeman, only use force to defend your life, use Situational Awareness to stay out of bad situations, your goal is to get home safe. Then some target practice, to be sure you know which part of the gun the boolitz come out of.

I am a Utah instructor, our class is also four hours per state law. What I tell people is; "I could spend the whole four hours on the range just teaching shooting, and it would BARELY be a start. You need to commit to getting ongoing training for the rest of the time you plan to use a gun defensively."

7 yards is just a approximation. It's a little longer than a full-size sedan or pickup truck.

The drill I tell people to practice, if they have no experience at all, is to learn 3-3-3. Three shots, three seconds, three yards.(That includes safely drawing from concealed.) Everyone should be better than this. But a lot of my students are housewives who are never going to get any more formal training. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Of course it's good to know how to shoot many ways at many ranges, but virtually all of the defensive situations you can feasibly find yourself in are going to be at less than ten meters. It's going to be close, fast, and dirty.

If you want to learn to be truly proficient, something you can look up and train all on your own, is the Hackathorn Drills.

If I remember correctly, the "7 yard rule" traces back to Virginia case law, which says that an attacker closer than 7 yards is presumed to be dangerous to you because they can quickly reach your position (so it doesn't matter if they have a gun or not). In other words, if they are that close, you don't need to worry about proving that they were armed; they're dangerous anyway.

I'm not a lawyer. Some resident legal expert will probably chime in and prove me wrong. Oh well, I tried...

Dibbs said:

Then some target practice, to be sure you know which part of the gun the boolitz come out of.

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In the classes I've been to most brought guns they'd never shot and knew next to nothing about shooting at all.

Good luck Gary!

My class dealt (mostly) with the liability of using a firearm - in the legal process, even if you are right, you are wrong but you (theoretically) get to stay alive - that concept wakes you up for sure.
The other thing I noted were the shoot-em-up cowboys and cowgirls in the class - very enthusiastic about hitting the streets with firepower daring somebody to look at them wrong - surely makes one think about CCW and knuckleheads.
Our range time (as stated before) was to help everyone understand which end of the gun the bullets exit - especially the cow pokes.
The class is not near enough training/ awareness but that is how it stands. So go forth into society with your “smoke wagon” and hopefully nothing will ever happen. In North Sf. Louis, people carry and get shot up everyday but I doubt if they ever took a CCW class - at least you have that bit of awareness - enjoy your class.

If you're in Virginia it almost seems like there is no point.
Seems like the state has gone full retard and will ban everything they can in short order.

748 said:

If you're in Virginia it almost seems like there is no point.
Seems like the state has gone full retard and will ban everything they can in short order.

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Amen Brother!

To the OP, the indoor ranges have a 7 yd rule. It is a safety rule. There well be a red tape across the lanes showing 7 yds. Do not bring your target closer than this red line. Know your rules and laws.Personally I would spend a few hours reading the Virginia laws before I even took the class. Get a copy of the range rules and read them before going to the range or class so you can have a basic understanding and be able to ask questions to the instructor that are ambiguous and confusing.
After the Concealed Carry class, I would recommend you continue to take more classes for training.
Before deciding to carry a firearm, understand that you will be making a long time commitment both in time and money. Good luck, have fun with it along the way.

PS Once you have read Virginia Laws, and think you understand them, read them again. No one understands them. And remember if you are involved in a shooting, (May God Forbid), you are GUILTY until proven innocent.

You should join the Virginia Civilian Defense League: https://www.vcdl.org/

Darkhorse said:

If I remember correctly, the "7 yard rule" traces back to Virginia case law, which says that an attacker closer than 7 yards is presumed to be dangerous to you because they can quickly reach your position (so it doesn't matter if they have a gun or not). In other words, if they are that close, you don't need to worry about proving that they were armed; they're dangerous anyway.

I'm not a lawyer. Some resident legal expert will probably chime in and prove me wrong. Oh well, I tried...

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No, you're thinking of the 21-Foot Rule which says that an attacker armed with a knife or blunt object is a threat if he's within 21 feet of someone with a holstered firearm. That's just a principle of self defense, not a law.

Also, there's the FBI's assertion that the mean average distance for self defense shootings is 7 yards.

In Texas, it was a 10 hour class (since reduced to 4 I think). Included a shooting test - 5 shots at 3 yards, 7 yards and 15 yards each. The closest I've ever come to being shot was during the shooting portion of the training with at least 10 people waving around pistols they had never so much as taken out of the box before that day.

GaryinVirginia said:

Unfortunately I am in Virginia. I've been getting news that several counties have gone 2A sanctuary. I don't fully understand other than it's a good thing. Does anyone have more info.

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Since the “sanctuary “ thread was closed, I just found out that there are plans for a mass presence at our next County government meeting to ask for sanctuary status.

An assailant at seven yards, twenty-one feet, can rush the average concealed weapon's carrier and put his hands on him, or his knife in him, faster than the defender can draw and fire. An attempt to do the same against a trained shooter would be suicide. There is no legal magic inside the twenty-one foot distance. Unless the court agrees a reasonable man would be in fear of his life, you can't shoot. Exactly what constitutes legal self-defense is more complicated than the answer most people who've never thought about it or have been trained in its concepts are likely to come up with off the top of their heads or in sudden need. If you're going to carry a gun, you need to know.

These short courses are a huge bonus. Taking a course from anyone reputable puts you far ahead of the person who merely buys a gun, a box of cartridges, and considers himself good. The only downside to a course might be for the person who after a few hours of instruction takes it upon himself to decide that he's now a trained professional.

Our NRA Basic Pistol Class is 15 hours and 200 rounds of live fire.

Any training is better than none. I question the short courses with no trigger time.

It’s a good idea to be quiet and absorb as much info as you can. But don’t be afraid to ask a silly question. Chances are someone else has the same question.

Approach class as if you know nothing and you will increase your absorption.

''I'm excited to learn more about the subject. I bet I'll learn a lot. I think we get to use the simulator also. Nervous about that.
It's a 4 hour class. I expect it to be very thorough.''

You will quickly find, of your own accord and not forced i.e. some law, 4 hours is more of a primer for...more training.Your Attorney General most likely has a brief read pamphlet available on their website, would suggest you download & read, re-read.

I echo what others have stated that Virginia Pro-2A group, WOW, one SUPER group

Remember, you will still have the greatest chance of a firearm going ''bang'' while you are handling it, or around friends & family, more then in any other scenario i.e. bad guy saying 'give me up from your wallet' LoL...

Train the BASIC RULES OF FIREARM SAFETY a.k.a. NRA Safety Rules.

IF you choose to NOT go with any extra training either due to $$$ or time, do your own DRY FIRE No-AMMO drills, at home.

Enjoy!

GaryinVirginia said:

Thanks for replying. I understand that I need much more training and I plan to continue on with training. I want to learn as much as I can.

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That's an excellent attitude going into it. Far too many people walking around carrying guns who just went to a basic concealed carry class and think that's sufficient. A 4 hour class is just beginning to scratch the surface, it's not going to be thorough. If you can possibly afford it, you should plan on spending at least $500 per year on training.