Feedback from NRA Concealed Carry Class

[vashooter]

Tonight I attended my requisite concealed carry class. This was held at the national headquarters of the NRA in Fairfax, VA.
Overall, for a 4 hour class I was very disappointed.

Anyway, the instructors just breezed through the bare bones of each topic - gun safety, shooting principles, holsters, concealment clothing, etc. They seemed annoyed at points when people were asking about different "what if" situations during the segment on deadly force legalities. They did take a few minutes repeatedly though to pitch membership in the NRA and all its benefits. I'm an NRA member and am appreciative of the organization's efforts, but this class ($100 for it) was just kind of lame.
The one good piece of info that I'd forgotten about came from a former Federal agent who went over how they encourage everyone to use the "slide pull" technique when reloading a semi instead of using the slide lock levers. They make a good point that when the body is in a stressful situation, adrenaline pumps, blood is withdrawn from the extremities, and you lose fine muscle control -which manipulating a tiny slide lock lever with a finger is a fine motor skill. Much better to use "major motor skills"; using your whole weak side hand to rack that slide back and release.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[rabywk]

Well I am ashamed of who ran the class. I know I am a NRA instructor and I hope the worst that my students can say about me is my classes run long.

There are a lot of sections I will just breeze right through, but answer any questions that come up. If it is an NRA course I have to teach a lot of stuff that I do not think may be pertinent to my class. Each class is different. If it is a more advanced or exp. group I will spend less time on going over all the basics and more time on the range. After I meet all the "NRA requirements," I will spend time with whatever subject my students want (more shooting time, more tactic advice, more advanced senarios).

NRA classes really are pretty basic when it all boils down. They should be used at the beginner level or a stepping stone to get a CCW. If you want more training you need to find an instructor that will go above and beyond or attend a good school.

[Rob99VMI04]

The NRA has never, and will never have a course that is 4 hours long that teaches gun safety, shooting principles, holsters, concealment clothing, situations during the segment on dealy force legalities.

What you took was not an "NRA Course".
NRA Courses that are offered when it relates to pistol, handgun training.

Pistol=10 hours (covers Revolvers, and Pistols all differnt action types)
First steps pistol ( 3.5-4 hours) this covers never covers any areas of concealed carry, or law, or covergarments for concealed carry. It is strictly designed to teach "You" the student 1 action type ie you only learn semi autos, or d/a revolvers, or s/a revolvers.

Personal Protection in the home. (8 hours) covers defensive situations in the home (includes a 1 hour section of law done by somebody certified to teach law in that state)

Personal Protection Outside the the home (9 hours for the basic( additional 5-6 hours of advanced movements drills)

[vashooter]

Well I am ashamed of who ran the class. I know I am a NRA instructor and I hope the worst that my students can say about me is my classes run long.
.

Ha! This class was suppossed to end at 10:30pm. They managed to wrap it up by 10:15 so that "people could get home".
I have the second part of the class tonight - the practical part on the range itself. They had us sign up for one hour long slots of range time tonight between 3pm and 7pm- even that is kind of skimpy in my opinion. By the time you get into the lane, set up, and get shooting, you're down to 45 minutes of shooting time. There are only 24 people in the class, and the NRA range has at least 14 lanes. Even if they did 2 groups of 12 shooters, they could have given everybody 2 hours of range/instruction time and not been open later than 8:00 or so.
I don't mean to sound like a whiner, and I really don't need any "basic" tips on my pistol shooting, but if I'm going to pay for a class (at $20/hour) then I wouldn't mind having a decent chunk of time on the firing line with one of the range instructors giving me any suggestions to tune up my shooting.

[vashooter]

The NRA has never, and will never have a course that is 4 hours long that teaches gun safety, shooting principles, holsters, concealment clothing, situations during the segment on dealy force legalities.

What you took was not an "NRA Course".
NRA Courses that are offered when it relates to pistol, handgun training.

Pistol=10 hours (covers Revolvers, and Pistols all differnt action types)
First steps pistol ( 3.5-4 hours) this covers never covers any areas of concealed carry, or law, or covergarments for concealed carry. It is strictly designed to teach "You" the student 1 action type ie you only learn semi autos, or d/a revolvers, or s/a revolvers.

Personal Protection in the home. (8 hours) covers defensive situations in the home (includes a 1 hour section of law done by somebody certified to teach law in that state)

Peronal Protection Outside the the home (9 hours for the basic( additional 5-6 hours of advanced movements drills)

The title of this class is "Basic Practical Pistol/Concealed Carry". It is run technically by a group called "SFI" (Senior Firearms Instructors), but is taught 100% by NRA HQ staff - one NRA executive "suit", and 3 or 4 range officers. It is held at the NRA HQ range. It IS a NRA course - they specifically mention that much of the wording on the powerpoint slides had to be approved by the NRA's HQ corporate lawers. You even get an NRA rocker patch with it -"Basic Practical"

[clemmac]

This must be a home made, Virginia specific concealed carry course. "Rob99VMI04" is correct in his descriptions of the NRA Basic Firearm Training Program courses. Maybe your instructors decided to "borrow" some written material from an NRA course ? Who knows how to spell plagiarize ?

Hey, forgot. What does your certificate look like ? NRA course certificates are very clearly identified "NRA" and VERY specific to the course being taught.

[basicpistol]

This must be a home made, Virginia specific concealed carry course. "Rob99VMI04" is correct in his descriptions of the NRA Basic Firearm Training Program courses. Maybe your instructors decided to "borrow" some written material from an NRA course ? Who knows how to spell plagiarize ?

Hey, forgot. What does your certificate look like ? NRA course certificates are very clearly identified "NRA" and VERY specific to the course being taught.

I agree with Rob99VMI04 as well. Clemmac, you also make a very good point as well. I would ask the instructors if this is an NRA class. Just because it is taught at the NRA range and has range employees teaching it doesn't necessarily make it an NRA class.

[vashooter]

OK- got this whole thing figured out: I finished the second half of the class tonight and got my certificate. It is a "NRA First Steps Pistol Orientation" certificate with the NRA logo, title, NRA secretary signature, etc. on it. This "First Steps" class did in fact cover about a half hour on each of the following topics: types of pistols, gun safety, loading/unloading, sighting basics, holster/concealment types, Virginia concealed carry law/use of deadly force situations plus an hour of range time with an instructor.
Now, on to the redeeming part of this post: while the classroom part of the course was in my opinion too general, the hour that I spent on the range tonight with an instructor (everyone got an hour of 1 on 1 time) was great. My instructor started out with doing basics - dry firing with proper grip, shooting slow-fire singles seated with a rest, etc., but when he quickly saw that I had at least a moderate amount of experience shooting, he moved quickly into some more advanced stuff - controlled pairs on dual targets, timed singles and doubles on front/edge flipping targets, etc.. He gave me a lot of good pointers and I shot better tonight than I have in a year - with a brand new M&P compact 9mm that I was shooting for the first time to boot!
I did make the suggestion that the course include 2 nights of range time to reinforce quickly the good shooting habbits you pick up the first night.

[DCJS Instructor]

vashooter,

Please contact me! I am sorry you were not happy with the NRA Course you attended. However you may take my CHP Course at
NO Charge!


Tom Perroni
tom@perronitactical.com
(540) 786-3627
www.perronitactical.com
www.blackwaterusa.com
www.goldensealenterprises.com

[basicpistol]

OK- got this whole thing figured out: I finished the second half of the class tonight and got my certificate. It is a "NRA First Steps Pistol Orientation" certificate with the NRA logo, title, NRA secretary signature, etc. on it. This "First Steps" class did in fact cover about a half hour on each of the following topics: types of pistols, gun safety, loading/unloading, sighting basics, holster/concealment types, Virginia concealed carry law/use of deadly force situations plus an hour of range time with an instructor.
Now, on to the redeeming part of this post: while the classroom part of the course was in my opinion too general, the hour that I spent on the range tonight with an instructor (everyone got an hour of 1 on 1 time) was great. My instructor started out with doing basics - dry firing with proper grip, shooting slow-fire singles seated with a rest, etc., but when he quickly saw that I had at least a moderate amount of experience shooting, he moved quickly into some more advanced stuff - controlled pairs on dual targets, timed singles and doubles on front/edge flipping targets, etc.. He gave me a lot of good pointers and I shot better tonight than I have in a year - with a brand new M&P compact 9mm that I was shooting for the first time to boot!
I did make the suggestion that the course include 2 nights of range time to reinforce quickly the good shooting habbits you pick up the first night.

I have one other question for you vashooter. Since this is an NRA First Steps Certificate that you received for this class. Were there any hands on practical exercises in regards to cleaning a handgun and what types of actions were cleaned?

[vashooter]

I have one other question for you vashooter. Since this is an NRA First Steps Certificate that you received for this class. Were there any hands on practical exercises in regards to cleaning a handgun and what types of actions were cleaned?

Yes - they did go over cleaning, etc.

[vashooter]

vashooter,

Please contact me! I am sorry you were not happy with the NRA Course you attended. However you may take my CHP Course at
NO Charge!


Tom Perroni
tom@perronitactical.com
(540) 786-3627
www.perronitactical.com
www.blackwaterusa.com
www.goldensealenterprises.com

I may just take you up on that. I'll check out your site. Thanks!

[rabywk]

vashooter,

Please contact me! I am sorry you were not happy with the NRA Course you attended. However you may take my CHP Course at
NO Charge!


Tom Perroni
tom@perronitactical.com
(540) 786-3627
www.perronitactical.com
www.blackwaterusa.com
www.goldensealenterprises.com

Tom,

Now that's an instructor for you, someone that will step up and help out with another instructor's short comings.

Bill

[basicpistol]

Yes - they did go over cleaning, etc.

But my question is did they have you do it or did they just talk about it? Did you actually clean a gun?

[clemmac]

But my question is did they have you do it or did they just talk about it? Did you actually clean a gun?

I'm curious about that too, please comment