Took my class @ Ammo Depot this Saturday....

[cyphur]

and I actually enjoyed it, until after lunch. At that point, he had to go through some rather monotonous mundane stuff. He warned us it would be boring, and he tried his best to avoid it, but some things you can't change.

We shot first thing, and frankly some of the folks at the range worried me. Its like they never touched the gun before in their life. One guy shot a 250(I shot a 246) but for the life of him could not remedy a FTF. The guy directly next to me couldn't reload in time between rounds, and he too could not remedy a mis-feed. Made me solidify the opinion you should present a proof of firearms proficiency(not the ability to hit the target, but how to handle them properly and such).



The instructer was an ex-Federal agent, been shot a few times from what he said, and had lots of real life advice. He stressed at every chance that even pulling your weapon was an absolute last resort unless you are in your home(free and clear there). I thought it was a well presented class. He had a good sense of humor to keep the class a bit interesting and lighthearted to keep folks attentive. He was also VERY helpful with the paperwork and he sat everyone down individually and checked their prints(which we did ourselves actually?), wrote out the paperwork, made sure we had signed everything, and even paperclipped everything that had to go back to Austin, and seperated it. Very professional.

The range was well run, and professional as well. Sufficient breaks, and it was a comfortable setting. Can't expect chairs that you will be comfortable in for 10 hours straight, but at least these were padded and we had A/C.


All in all, I enjoyed the class. Its up in Caddo Mills, off I30, exit 85. Started @ 8am, no reservations required. I look forward to joining the Waiting Room tomorrow if I can get my packet out!

[KBCraig]

We shot first thing, and frankly some of the folks at the range worried me. Its like they never touched the gun before in their life. One guy shot a 250(I shot a 246) but for the life of him could not remedy a FTF. The guy directly next to me couldn't reload in time between rounds, and he too could not remedy a mis-feed. Made me solidify the opinion you should present a proof of firearms proficiency(not the ability to hit the target, but how to handle them properly and such).

If you want to go that route, then true proficiency would include field stripping, cleaning, and maintenance. True proficiency would be held on shoot/no-shoot ranges with varied lighting, would require drawing from the concealed position, and require tactical and emergency reloads.

But that's not the point. The point of testing is to be reasonably sure that that the shooter will hit the intended target and common self defense distances. Failure to perform speedy reloads, and failure to clear malfunctions, will harm no one except the shooter.

It's in every CHL's best interest to reach true proficiency under combat conditions, including shoot/no-shoot decision making. Every CHL should be able to clear stoppages, and perform tactical and emergency reloads. But those things are for the CHL's benefit; inability to train to those standards doesn't endanger innocent bystanders.

I believe that 10 shots at 7 yards is sufficient to determine proficiency for the purposes of the CHL, so long as the student is also graded on safe gun handling.

Kevin

[spud]

+1 to proof of firearms proficiency cert.

I was scared to be anywhere near 2 of the people in my class. One lady didnt know how to load her revolver that hadent ben shot or cleaned in 20 years!

[cyphur]

KB, I'm not talking about being trained to a tactical level, but if you're going to allow someone to carry a gun, at least they need to be proficient in handling it. If one of the individuals ever had to pull his gun, and it had a stoppage, the individual who was shot would be able to get up, find an object, and beat him half to death before this guy would have figured out what happened. I'm not perfect, by any means, but wow....



I just think that you should provide proof of basic handgun operation(of the type you're certified on) as well as safe handling, on top of just firing into a paper target. But thats just me....

[Commander]

Congradulations on completing your class, Cyphur. Now the waiting room!