Illinois Concealed Carry Classes

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jawman

jawman

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Hi all.

Has anyone registered or taken the Illinois concealed carry class yet? I'm trying to register for classes and I've noticed a huge gap in what instructors are charging, from $100 to over $250 to teach the same class. I already qualify for 8 of the 16 required hours, and some instructors are charging less for those that already satisfy part of the requirements. But other instructors are charging, for example, $200 for the full 16 hour course, and if you only need to take the second half 8 hour course because you prequalify, they still charge the same $200. Others charge less if you don't need to take the full class.

The cheapest I've seen is $100 for either the 16 hour or 8 hour, but that place is about an hour drive from where I live.


Questions for fellow THR'ers:

Have you registered for an IL CC class?
Have you already taken the class?
How much were you charged?
Recommendation?

edit: thread title should read 'Pricing for Illinois Concealed Carry Classes' but I am unable to change. Can a mod/admin please change this? Thank you.
 
I took the 8 hour class at The Bullet Trap in Macon. $150. 16 hours is $300.

Qualification was first thing with a 10 round warmup. Lunch was provided.

Content was fine. They are refining like everyone else. It did the trick, was mostly PowerPoint with a little dry fire thrown in.
 
The wife and I have both agreed to wait a bit and not jump into the first available classes; mostly to let the "I can't wait to carry a gun" people get out of the way, and partly to let the system iron out the kinks.
 
I am registered for a full 16 hour class for next weekend taking place in cook county, total cost of $180
 
I've got my certificate already just waiting till Jan 5 for fingerprints and send the application. If your coming out of Chicago look into RSM guns in belvidere. I rso there price for ccw 8 hr is under $150 depending on the deal of the day with shooting qqualification on private range
 
I took a class with Ethos Tactical http://www.ethostactical.com/ilccrefguide.html in El Paso, IL last month. We paid a reduced rate for the 16 hour course because the course was brand new and the instructors felt they would be learning along with us, as some of the information for IL CCW was still coming out that same weekend. The standard rate is $250. I already have a Utah CCW and could have waived 4 hours but chose not to.

My initial concerns with being an early adopter of IL CCW were similar. I thought I should let the real gung ho guys get it out of the way first, but my worries were unfounded. The demographics were interesting for such an early ccw course. There were a surprising number of younger people in the class, who admittedly I do not know personally, but they did not strike me as "gun guys" and certainly not "tacticool". Some needed assistance with their own firearms and were not comfortable (or at least did not appear natural) while operating their own firearms. There was a senior couple, a couple middle aged women, some older men with establish firearm interests, and the younger goofballs like me with more reading than experience. I truly expected a lot of know it alls or internet operators, but that was my fault for spending too much time on the internet.

Someone in class admitted that hey were hesitant about the class because it was being taught by current/former law enforcement and military. There is a strong association among non-gunnies to associate firearm enthusiasts with wannabe law enforcement or military, and that just isn't so. Once again there was nothing to worry about. The class repoire was excellent. The professional experience from the instructors gave weight to the common wisdom for carrying a firearm, there was much advice on law enforcement interaction, and we also had time to discuss many common examples and anecdotal evidence we see online. Pleasantly, there were both good and bad examples of law enforcement handling citizens who exercise CCW, with lots of good cover-your-butt advice. This is a new law for the police as well as us law abiding citizens so know your rights and don't give anyone a hard time.

The message, simply put, is that in the Great State of Illinois you will be made an example of. So be careful. Follow the law. Don't be a bad example and ruin it for everyone.

The firing qualification is done off site at a private outdoor range. There are no extra fees but it is a short drive away. Bring your own gun and at least 50 rounds of ammo. You get 20 warm up shots and 30 for qualification. I know that one woman failed qualification in our class. She just wasn't ready yet.

It is not a shooting class. It is a CCW rules and regulations class in which you must demonstrate some proficiency with a firearm. Some people may not have expected this. It is up to the individual to learn how to shoot well enough to pass before taking the course. It is not a difficult qualification but be prepared. If you have a an auto-loader bring 3 mags that hold at least 10 rounds each, and if you use a revolver bring lots of speed loaders or be handy with the loose ammo. You are given plenty of time to shoot and reload but you are qualifying with 10 people at once and you will be tempted to shoot more quickly than necessary, and reloading with a revolver will break the rhythm of the firing line. Nothing wrong with that... just be aware.

I was pleased with the course even as a guinea pig and I plan to attend the other courses available from Ethos Tactical. It was a drive for many of the people in our class but it was worth it for me. Hopefully our input streamlines the course for others so you can get your $250 worth.
 
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-Yes
-Yes
~125 for 8 hours
-Did it with Illinois Gun Pros in Lombard, IL. Teacher Mike Bius. Overall I would rate the class 4/5. It was good but obviously improvements could have been made. We covered the law pretty well but I think more time should have gone into practical things also.
 
Tagging for updates.

I'm an instructor - but haven't scheduled any classes yet, or set any pricing.
 
No, just doing it on the side. I'm a certified NRA pistol, rifle, shotgun instructor, and RSO (range safety officer). I've been running NRA Basic Pistol for people who need the first 8 hours of credits. I have my course approved for the 8/16/3 hour courses by the IL state police, but I'm still waiting on my instructor # from them so I can teach the course they approved for the second 8 hours.

I'm located in Delavan, IL; teach my classes in Tremont, IL.
 
I registered for the 8 hour class with Illinois Gun Pros. From what I have found, it is the cheapest so far at $110 + $12 range fee. When I say cheapest, I mean the cheapest in my area. There are others that are even cheaper but I'm not going to drive to a place that's an hour or more away in order to save $20.

Others in my area are charging $150+$25 range fee. Some even higher than that!!
 
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I'll be taking it this up coming summer with a personal friend of mine who's doing then instructing. Should be interesting, has anyone actually received a permit yet?
 
They aren't accepting applications for at least another month. Jan 5th was the date per legislature. IL state Police said they are probably going to be a week or more overdue though, last I heard.
 
Any out of state residents taking part in the process? Wondering when classes in Wisconsin will spring up for those like me who live north but travel south.


Willie

.
 
So $250 (ish) for the training, and $150 for the application, to exercise a constitutional right. We have more lawsuits to win, I think....



Larry
 
If it's anything like what happened here, initially you'll have a wide range of fees, then the market will adjust. Typically, around here, ten bucks an hour is the norm. So an 8 hour class is about 80 bucks.
 
Willie Sutton said:
Any out of state residents taking part in the process? Wondering when classes in Wisconsin will spring up for those like me who live north but travel south.


Willie

.
Click to expand...

Haven't looked up any info on out of state training; other than if non-residents have a CCW permit in their home state, they can carry through IL in their vehicle (and only in the vehicle).

I'll need to re-read the 300+ pages of laws soon, and 100+ pages of Frequently Asked Questions... so I can get my class outline ready. Teaching this is going to suck. I have to fill 4 hours of "you can't carry here, you can't carry here...."
 
Thanks Trent.

Post the out of state info when you can, and I'll plan on coming as a guinea pig when you've got it sorted out.

Like to come down and socialize anyhow.


Willie

.
 
The only thing I'm not well versed on is the finger printing. Does it have to be digital? I heard there was something with there being a current law that a third party company cannot digitally possess/keep your fingerprints for more than 30 days and it's illegal if they do. So if you took your CC class early and got your fingerprints done by X company, and you are waiting until Jan 5 for the ISP to start accepting applications, you may have to redo your fingerprints if it has been 30 days. Because company X cannot legally hold them for any longer than that and they will either purge them from their database, or the ISP won't accept them if they were taken beyond 30 days of your application date. Apparently this is causing a lot of confusion for all involved, including instructors. But don't quote me on this, this was a conversation I had on the phone with a lady who was simply taking phone calls and doing the registration for the course. Some places that do the course also do the fingerprinting (or have a third party come in and do it same day as your course) for an extra fee. She said it was something they used to do but stopped doing it because of this, and she said those that already did get the fingerprinting done may have to redo them. Again, this was heard over the phone and I have no idea how much truth there is to this or if I am even explaining it correctly. Just simply a possible 'heads up'. Has anyone heard of this??
 
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