uenoparker

This weekend I took the new NRA class, "Personal Protection Outside the Home" (PPOTH) taught by Profire in Colorado. This is a 2-day class that builds on / follows on the NRA Basic Pistol and NRA Personal Protection in the Home (PPITH) classes. This class is all about concealed carry of a handgun, covering safety, mindset, legalities, modes of concealed carry, shooting positions, draw from concealment, use of cover... Lots of very pertinent topics.

We started with 7 participants and 4 instructors for the classroom day, and wound up with 6 participants and 5 instructors on the range day. The pace of the course was pretty intense -- short breaks, short lunch -- but the instructors always took time to seriously discuss and respond to all questions, and to share their experiences with students. Of the 7/6 students in the class, all but 2 were going on for their instructor certifications for the class, which required that they first take the course as students, and then spend another 2 days training in how to teach the course. We were told that ours was the first public offering of the class in Colorado.

As an aside, I have my CO CCW, and have shot for quite a few years -- casually, mind you -- but aside from the aforementioned NRA training had no formal firearms instruction. This course stretched me, and showed me just how much I need to practice and train -- A LOT!

The class session was quite valuable and informative, and I wouldn't miss it -- I'm actually thinking of taking the whole course over again. Lots of good discussion between all participants. Like the PPITH class, an attorney (one of the instructor-to-be co-students, in our case) reviews statute and law, and shares some informative and entertaining stories about cases he's seen. We also spent some time doing dry-fire run-throughs of some of the present-from-concealment drills that we'd do at the range.

The range session was fantastic, and I recommend this class to everyone who's even *thought* about carrying a handgun, concealed or open-carry. I did just about everything wrong that someone could do wrong and not get kicked out, which is to say I didn't violate any cardinal safety rules, but I did a miserable job keeping my weak-hand on my chest until it was time to join with my strong hand, and couldn't manage to keep my firearm pointed at the target upon rotating it after pulling it from its holster, and had a hard time breaking tunnel vision and scanning my environment after firing, and had a hard time getting used to reholstering while keeping my eye on the target, etc. I had two of the four instructors camped out with me virtually the whole range session, and I think they were hoarse from correcting me by the time we were done. What a wonderful experience. There're few experiences so humbling or so potentially enlightening as that of screwing up repeatedly when accompanied by a patient, persistent instructor who consistently offers correction and encouragement.

I and seemingly all participants had a great time throughout the entire class. The class room (Gander Mountain in Thornton) and the range (Rocky Mountain Shooting Sports in Fort Collins) were top notch, the instructors knowledgeable, experienced, helpful, persistent, patient almost to a fault... And the PPOTH course content was so incredibly relevant and meaningful to me as a CCW-holder who wants to be safe and effective. I think I'd be helped by taking the course again. Of course I'd also be helped by a lot of time safely practicing what I learned at home, and at a range (if I could find one that would let me present from concealment when I wasn't participating in a class).

I recommend that you seek out an opportunity to participate in this course in your home state.

rocky

Very nice write up. will try to catch a course if available in my area. thanks for the in depth look.

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retsupt99

I may also look into this class for some needed refresher material...can't hurt!

ret

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paramedic70002

So how does the class compare to other gun schools around?
Is it real world or a regurgitation of old stuff?
Anything new or earthshattering?
Does it subscribe to certain stances or tactics?
Is it cutting edge?
Is it a "franchise" of schools that only exist in a few set locations?

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uenoparker

I've not attended classes at any of the 'name' schools, so I cannot really compare. I'll note that most of the instructors in my class have attended at least one handgun course at Front Site, Gunsite, or other name school, and they described the NRA PPOTH course as very basic relative to the training they'd received.

The classroom session was a mix of book learning (reference the publication, "NRA Guide to the Basics of Personal Protection Outside the Home") and real world. The legal section of the course was taught by an attorney, and he recounted a number of Colorado cases and rulings. The discussion of stances, holster choices, etc. was colored with the instructors' personal and professional preferences (at least 2 of the instructors were ex-military).

For safety purposes, the range instruction required use of a strong side waist holster under an unzippered jacket or coat. As this class built on a couple other (prerequisite) NRA courses, no time was spent teaching stances -- students had been through that bit already. I doubt that I can accurately recall all of the drills we went through, but I'll offer the following as a partial list:
1. draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats (ie. don't look at your holster)
2. draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire two shots to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
3. draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on two targets at 15 and 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching targets and for other threats
4. draw from concealment, use one-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
5. draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire using point-shooting a single shot to center of mass on target at 6 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
6. draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire from hip a single shot to center of mass on target at 3 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
7. advance to low cover, draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
8. advance to high cover, draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
9. advance to low cover, kneel, draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
10. advance to low cover, squat, draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
11. stand from seated position, draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
12. draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, retreat, reholster while watching target and for other threats
13. in low light, draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 15 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
14. identify threat, turn right 90 degrees, draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
15. identify threat, turn left 90 degrees, draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
16. identify threat, turn 180 degrees, draw from concealment, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
17. clear type one malfunction, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats
18. clear type two malfunction, use two-handed grip, fire a single shot to center of mass on target at 21 feet, tactical reload as needed, reholster while watching target and for other threats

I know that there were more drills, but the above list are the ones that I recall at the moment. Each was repeated multiple times. We were necessarily limited by being on an indoor range, so movement-oriented and multi-target drills were constrained. While the instructors provided a cadence of commands, the exercises were not timed, and emphasis was placed on proper technique over speed or accuracy.

This is a new NRA course, so you should be able to find it in your area from a variety of providers once they ramp up.

TonyB

I recently took the NRA "home version" of this class and found it very informative.I liked the shooting part too.I may take the "out side the Home" version when it comes to my area.Although this instructor did cover some carry stuff in the class I took.If you can't make it,or afford one of the LFI sype schools,these classes are great.

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Flippinstk

WOW... I cant wait until I can find a local place to get certified in this!

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Alex G.
S/A Micro-Compact .45
Virginia Beach, Va.
Senior Chief Petty Officer, RETIRED, USN
Certified NRA Pistol Instructor
NRA Range Officer

Rob99VMI04

http://www.nrahq.org/education/ppoth-inst.asp


http://www.nrahq.org/education/training/find.asp

Were probably going to to try and do one up here in summer in Fairfax.

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