Texas Firearm Instructor Conference.

[MoJo]

I just got home from the conference. It was a typical Charles Cotton production excellent in all respects. I learned a lot and enjoyed the day.

Thanks Charles for all you do.

[twomillenium]

I echo your statements. I learned a lot and am glad I went.

[kg5ie]

I enjoyed the conference too. Very good material content and It was good to put some faces with the names here on the forum. I guess to be quite honest, I was a little disappointed in what we were told by DPS on when the new material will be out, but I also have to say it is exactly what I expected. I really do understand that their hands have been tied waiting on multiple special sessions of the legislature to be over.

Now that I feel reasonably confident we have the latest "poop", I'll start the redesign of my class material tomorrow. Hopefully they will push the test out first but I am not holding my breath.

Good to meet everyone....

[switch]

I realize they cannot post some stuff until 9/1 because some instructors might get confused and start using it. :)

A lot of the new stuff is ready. Just waiting on legal to review.

I did not realize that their staff/budget is basically the same BUT their workload has increased from 3,000/mo to 15,000-18000/mo. As Charles pointed out, they have improved from taking 6 mo to a year to issue to less than 60 days. :)

They are planning to improve communication but many instructors do not have valid email addresses.

[kjolly]

I had to miss the conference, as much as I wanted to attend, however started a new job in June and do not have any time off yet.
Could someone that attended please fill in some details?
It sounds like you didn't get much and from the above posts they are waiting until Sept 1st to post anything. Is there going to be a new test?
Thanks

[Crossfire]

I had to miss the conference, as much as I wanted to attend, however started a new job in June and do not have any time off yet.
Could someone that attended please fill in some details?
It sounds like you didn't get much and from the above posts they are waiting until Sept 1st to post anything. Is there going to be a new test?
Thanks

Yes, there will be a new test, and it should be posted very soon. I SPECIFICALLY said that I have a class on Sept 1, and was told that we would have the new test by then. How much before then is anybody's guess.

[n5wd]

was there any information on instructor renewals?

Yes, some mechanism will be ready to renew you by the end of the year. Wait: that sounds like they're going to wait until the last moment, which is not right. They're in the planning stage to have traveling workshops in several cities (not listed, yet) where you can go to the closest one, or you can travel to Austin if that's what you prefer. That may be getting off the ground as early as late September or early October according to the lady from DPS.

And for those of us waiting for another instructor class.... apparently going to happen in the first couple of weeks of September (according to the current plan) and right now, there'll probably be space for everyone that right now has their applications and CHL-90's with the proper instructor certification attached in to DPS, and have paid the fee, to attend. No word when that cut-off might be for folks submitting later than this weekend, and to be honest, she wasn't promising that everyone with paperwork would get in, but saying that she thought they would.

[n5wd]

I had to miss the conference, as much as I wanted to attend, however started a new job in June and do not have any time off yet.
Could someone that attended please fill in some details?

If you're interested in the presentations, you might ask Charles for a copy of the .pdf files.

I certainly wouldn't say that we didn't get much (this was my first year to attend) - "repeat offenders" might not have gotten as much as I did, and if you were expecting too much from DPS on "I want it right now kinda things" you might have been disappointed, but since no news is not good news, at least everyone now knows thing's will be in place for the new test, new course syllabus, and that there'll be a grace period of a couple to a few months to phase new forms in. That's certainly more than anyone knew before the conference.

BTW - Charles, let me chime in and say "thank you, as well" for putting this together. Had a good time, met some nice folks (though never heard and didn't meet any other hams than Charles at the conference), but had a good drive down from Fort Worth, a restful night after the conference, and a damp, soggy drive through Houston headed northbound this morning. But hey, after I got out of Houston, it was sunny and bright! And a visit to Carter's Country turned up a Rock River LRA-15 that my son has been drooling at, so he's happy I went, as well.

[Sangiovese]

And for those of us waiting for another instructor class.... apparently going to happen in the first couple of weeks of September (according to the current plan) and right now, there'll probably be space for everyone that right now has their applications and CHL-90's with the proper instructor certification attached in to DPS, and have paid the fee, to attend. No word when that cut-off might be for folks submitting later than this weekend, and to be honest, she wasn't promising that everyone with paperwork would get in, but saying that she thought they would.

That's good news. I was hoping that the changes wouldn't delay new instructor classes too much. First week in September will be 6 months from turning everything in after the updated CHL90 became available, so that seems to fit in with the timeframes that previous instructor applicants have seen.

Now I just have to fight the paranoid worry that I will miss the email offering a spot in the class :) I'm guessing that if the next class is going to be in a month, the invitations will start going out soon.

Thanks for sharing the news!

[jmain]

This is indeed good news...

Come on email...

[switch]

I'm sure we will be talking about renewing here when the emails go out. :) Coordinating who's going to which class so we can meet up.

[jmain]

I figured they would have sent out invites for new instructors this week if they are planning on first or second week in Sept - Not giving us much time to plan, request off etc...

I did finally get a reply via email that I sent a week ago asking about the class, but it was the don't call us we will call you email.
At least they verified they have all of my required info...