Just wanted to share, I took a CCW class recently (Arizona) and it was quite an experience. I was raised around guns and have owned guns and shot occasionally for over 10 years, but never got around to taking the CCW class.
I have to credit my nephew for finally urging me to do it. He had a couple scary life-threatening encounters and decided to take the class, and asked me to take it with him for moral support or something. This was the kick in the rear I needed to finally do it!
I pretty much knew the basics already like the 5 rules, maintenance, not to conceal my weapon, where you can't carry, etc. but there were a lot of specifics about the law that we learned in the class, as well as some really good safety training. Also a lot of good advice about how to think and act when armed and how to be mentally prepared for a life or death situation.
There was a range qualification test where we had to hit at least 7 out of 10 inside the larger box of a TQ15 silhouette target from 30 feet. This wasn't hard for me or my nephew because we had practiced at the range, but some people needed 2 or 3 retries before they could pass. They also let the people who were having trouble do 5 rounds from 15 feet and 5 from 30 feet, which is the minimum for Arizona to qualify. Most of us did all 10 from 30 feet though without issues.
The thing that was really scary though was that a lot of people in the class did not get 100% on the written test, even after 8 hours of being taught what the laws are. I don't know if they didn't listen or what. The test was VERY easy. In fact, I am pretty sure I could have scored 100% on the test without even taking the class, because most of the questions were common sense.
A couple examples I remember that people got wrong (all were multiple choice):
"Can you pick a fight with someone and then if they start getting the upper hand on you, shoot them?" A few people answered Yes!
"Now that you have a CCW permit, you have..." A few people (including the guy next to me) picked "The same authority and responsibility as a police officer!" Whoah...
Our class had about 50 people in it, and this particular organization routinely fills up their classes. It surprised me a little how many people are carrying now days, people from all walks of life. About 10% of the class was female, by the way. Another funny thing was that a LOT of people who took the class had never shot a gun before. We know people are buying guns and ammo like crazy these days. It was cool to see people getting educated and arming themselves but at the same time, it makes me worry about the people who are just buying guns and not taking the extra step of educating themselves.
Anyway, it was a great experience, and I wish everyone would do it even if they don't want to carry concealed!
A couple other fun things from the class:
Out of the 50 or so in the class, a bunch of them had never shot a gun before, and had bought their first gun just for this class. Several had purchased guns by Bryco, Jennings, Raven, etc. The instructor called out these brands and asked who had one of them, and then scolded the people who raised their hands, and basically told them to buy a better gun and not to trust their lives to those brands! He also said he hoped the bad guys were using those brands because it would put them at a disadvantage...
Another fun thing was how many revolver shooters we had in this class. I would say, from what I remember, around 1/4 of the class was shooting revolvers. The instructor commented that this was more than he usually saw, especially single-action revolvers, we had a handful of those in the class.
Overall, a fun experience
I have to credit my nephew for finally urging me to do it. He had a couple scary life-threatening encounters and decided to take the class, and asked me to take it with him for moral support or something. This was the kick in the rear I needed to finally do it!
I pretty much knew the basics already like the 5 rules, maintenance, not to conceal my weapon, where you can't carry, etc. but there were a lot of specifics about the law that we learned in the class, as well as some really good safety training. Also a lot of good advice about how to think and act when armed and how to be mentally prepared for a life or death situation.
There was a range qualification test where we had to hit at least 7 out of 10 inside the larger box of a TQ15 silhouette target from 30 feet. This wasn't hard for me or my nephew because we had practiced at the range, but some people needed 2 or 3 retries before they could pass. They also let the people who were having trouble do 5 rounds from 15 feet and 5 from 30 feet, which is the minimum for Arizona to qualify. Most of us did all 10 from 30 feet though without issues.
The thing that was really scary though was that a lot of people in the class did not get 100% on the written test, even after 8 hours of being taught what the laws are. I don't know if they didn't listen or what. The test was VERY easy. In fact, I am pretty sure I could have scored 100% on the test without even taking the class, because most of the questions were common sense.
A couple examples I remember that people got wrong (all were multiple choice):
"Can you pick a fight with someone and then if they start getting the upper hand on you, shoot them?" A few people answered Yes!
"Now that you have a CCW permit, you have..." A few people (including the guy next to me) picked "The same authority and responsibility as a police officer!" Whoah...
Our class had about 50 people in it, and this particular organization routinely fills up their classes. It surprised me a little how many people are carrying now days, people from all walks of life. About 10% of the class was female, by the way. Another funny thing was that a LOT of people who took the class had never shot a gun before. We know people are buying guns and ammo like crazy these days. It was cool to see people getting educated and arming themselves but at the same time, it makes me worry about the people who are just buying guns and not taking the extra step of educating themselves.
Anyway, it was a great experience, and I wish everyone would do it even if they don't want to carry concealed!
A couple other fun things from the class:
Out of the 50 or so in the class, a bunch of them had never shot a gun before, and had bought their first gun just for this class. Several had purchased guns by Bryco, Jennings, Raven, etc. The instructor called out these brands and asked who had one of them, and then scolded the people who raised their hands, and basically told them to buy a better gun and not to trust their lives to those brands! He also said he hoped the bad guys were using those brands because it would put them at a disadvantage...
Another fun thing was how many revolver shooters we had in this class. I would say, from what I remember, around 1/4 of the class was shooting revolvers. The instructor commented that this was more than he usually saw, especially single-action revolvers, we had a handful of those in the class.
Overall, a fun experience
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