Where do they come up with these instructors??? Dont they have to at least know which end of the barrel the bullet comes out of before they can get a license to teach these classes??
Wrong/Stupid/Bad Things CCW Instructors Have Told You
After debriefing at length my girlfriend on her CHL class she took yesterday and hearing all the nonsense she was told and also from my own experiences I decided we need a thread here to vent. I'll start off, the items below are things that she and I were told that I know for a fact to be wrong or are generally just not good things to say as a licensed instructor. Note I say licensed and not credible, the DPS licenses me to drive but doesn't say I'm good at it, same applies to CCW instructors.
My list (in no particular order):
-If you shoot someone you will be arrested and charged with murder no matter what, even in your own home.
-After you are arrested, you will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers and will lose everything, unless you have prepaid legal like Texas Law Shield, in which case you won't pay a cent... sign up for Texas Law Shield here right now at a special "one day only discount". (roughly 85% of the class did so right away, I passed)
-Women under 30 and over 55 are 5x more likely to shoot someone. (I hope this isn't true, never heard it before)
-Carrying a gun in a purse is a great idea to always remember you take it with you. (Yea and have it as easy to find as the 95 other pieces of random crap she carries in there)
-The 2A is an absolute right in many states and you don't have to have a permit to carry a gun at all in most of the like OK and NM (wrong). The TX constitution would never stand up to a challenge in the 5th Circuit for giving the Legislature the power to regulate the wearing of pistols. (Hmm, suing to challenge a state constitution's right that is an expanded version of the 2A, interesting...)
My list (in no particular order):
-If you shoot someone you will be arrested and charged with murder no matter what, even in your own home.
-After you are arrested, you will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers and will lose everything, unless you have prepaid legal like Texas Law Shield, in which case you won't pay a cent... sign up for Texas Law Shield here right now at a special "one day only discount". (roughly 85% of the class did so right away, I passed)
-Women under 30 and over 55 are 5x more likely to shoot someone. (I hope this isn't true, never heard it before)
-Carrying a gun in a purse is a great idea to always remember you take it with you. (Yea and have it as easy to find as the 95 other pieces of random crap she carries in there)
-The 2A is an absolute right in many states and you don't have to have a permit to carry a gun at all in most of the like OK and NM (wrong). The TX constitution would never stand up to a challenge in the 5th Circuit for giving the Legislature the power to regulate the wearing of pistols. (Hmm, suing to challenge a state constitution's right that is an expanded version of the 2A, interesting...)
1 - 20 of 132 Posts
wow i wonder what else this guys been telling people
wow i wonder what else this guys been telling people
There was other stuff with mine too, more than once he said things that alluded to being involved with militia and sovereign citizen type stuff and used the term "fiat money" (which virtually no one outside that movement uses). I didn't ask, mainly because I didn't want to know, just give me my forms and I'll go on my way. He was a bit of a mall ninja type too, carried a G22 with a normal mag OWB, two 28rd mags in his pants, two extra 15rd in a carrier, knife, flashlight, and who knows what else in his 5.11s.
I forgot one from yesterday, evidently someone asked about a holster and was told something like "just any cheap holster will do, you don't need to spend much it's a waste."
(I learned the reality of that topic the time about 9 months ago when I was crawling under my desk at home and my M&P fell out of my cheapo IWB nylon holster, the next day I bought a model specific kydex. I bought the lady friend a Remora for her 9c the other day for starters, we'll go from there, she has time until her CHL comes so).
...I took my class AFTER studying the CHL handbook...same with the renewal classes...it's MY responsibility to know the laws inside and out...the only reason I took the class is to get someone to sign off so that I could get the license...
...our instructors were good, but they made mistakes and said things that were Chicken Little-ish like your GF's did...at least mine weren't peddling insurance...
...the best thing I got from our classes was a list of questions to research...and a look into the mindset of the average CHL person...and the below average one...there were idiots in my class that I wouldn't arm with a garden rake...but we're a "shall issue" state...
...glad she got the class done and will CC with us all...how'd she like the range part and how'd she shoot? what did she qual with???
...our instructors were good, but they made mistakes and said things that were Chicken Little-ish like your GF's did...at least mine weren't peddling insurance...
...the best thing I got from our classes was a list of questions to research...and a look into the mindset of the average CHL person...and the below average one...there were idiots in my class that I wouldn't arm with a garden rake...but we're a "shall issue" state...
...glad she got the class done and will CC with us all...how'd she like the range part and how'd she shoot? what did she qual with???
I got a good chuckle from the 95 pieces of random cow chips...:blink:
Ya know these days just about every trade or skill set is available on the Net in a virtual academic setting. I look at most of these 'schools' as nothing more than the toy surprise one might find in a box of Cracker Jacks.
If you say something often enough...
I've had leather, canvas and nylon holsters for my guns the last 35 years. If I felt 125% confident I could get the right Kydex holster the 1st time for my 380 I would look into it. From what I've read about holsters just since I've been at DC I would not even contemplate it. Between Murphy's Law and Karma there just ain't no gaurantees for holsters OR Life so.....
Very good post OP.
Ya know these days just about every trade or skill set is available on the Net in a virtual academic setting. I look at most of these 'schools' as nothing more than the toy surprise one might find in a box of Cracker Jacks.
If you say something often enough...
I've had leather, canvas and nylon holsters for my guns the last 35 years. If I felt 125% confident I could get the right Kydex holster the 1st time for my 380 I would look into it. From what I've read about holsters just since I've been at DC I would not even contemplate it. Between Murphy's Law and Karma there just ain't no gaurantees for holsters OR Life so.....
Very good post OP.
I have a PDF of the CHL-16 on my computer (the reference of all relevant statutes) for reference, it's free from the DPS website and I strongly recommend it since it's straight from them....I took my class AFTER studying the CHL handbook...same with the renewal classes...it's MY responsibility to know the laws inside and out...the only reason I took the class is to get someone to sign off so that I could get the license...
...our instructors were good, but they made mistakes and said things that were Chicken Little-ish like your GF's did...at least mine weren't peddling insurance...
...the best thing I got from our classes was a list of questions to research...and a look into the mindset of the average CHL person...and the below average one...there were idiots in my class that I wouldn't arm with a garden rake...but we're a "shall issue" state...
...glad she got the class done and will CC with us all...how'd she like the range part and how'd she shoot? what did she qual with???
She did fine on the range qual, she's had her own M&P9c for about a month and has shot mine before several times, this was her 3rd session shooting her own gun, it's a basic stock model from Academy and she keeps a TLR-3 on it at home (we don't live together), she scored a 221 (by comparison, I scored a 238, which included taking 2 casings to the face and another that managed to bounce off the partition and land on the back of my neck and stay there...ow).
To add to the frightening CHLers you mentioned, she had an older (not elderly, just older) woman in her class who had a Glock and couldn't even figure out how to load it, she failed the qual, they were going to let her try again, I don't know the final disposition. Honestly, while I respect the right to protect oneself, people like that can be more dangerous than the bad guys, not to mention dangerous to themselves without knowing it.
...yup: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/internetforms/forms/chl-16.pdf
...I'd bought 20 copies of the Sep 2011 and then the latest came out...not many changes so I thumb my paper one...double-check on the linked copy to see if any changes...
...my wife, who'd never fired a handgun, fired 242 with the range gun, a Glock 19...I been more 'spectful since that day...
...I'd bought 20 copies of the Sep 2011 and then the latest came out...not many changes so I thumb my paper one...double-check on the linked copy to see if any changes...
...my wife, who'd never fired a handgun, fired 242 with the range gun, a Glock 19...I been more 'spectful since that day...
My gun jammed during the shooting portion of the class. I immediately cleared it, but he also immediately came over. He dropped the mag and tried to fire it. I said "it won't fire without the magazine" his response was "of course it will" -he tried to fire it, it wouldn't fire. He said "make sure you get this to a gunsmith right away" he walked away, I put the mag back in and "bang"
I REALLY liked him up until then, but I hate people who act like they know everything...
I REALLY liked him up until then, but I hate people who act like they know everything...
My instructors were 20 year vets of the Sheriff's Office, they spent a good 5 hours of an 8 hour class teaching Kansas Concealed Carry Law. The rest teaching gun safety. I thought it was a pretty good class over all.
CCW classes? Fortunately my DD-214 served as my CCW class. As for the legalities, I've always found being self-educated as better. One thing I've found is the many questions on this forum have me digging into the FL statutes so often it keeps most of them current in my mind.
wow, if i went to the class and they started peddling prepaid legal i would have let them have a piece of my mind and then report them. if you're paying money for a state mandated class they better not be trying to sell you some stuff like that. im glad PA didnt require a class like this.
After debriefing at length my girlfriend on her CHL class she took yesterday and hearing all the nonsense she was told and also from my own experiences I decided we need a thread here to vent. I'll start off, the items below are things that she and I were told that I know for a fact to be wrong or are generally just not good things to say as a licensed instructor. Note I say licensed and not credible, the DPS licenses me to drive but doesn't say I'm good at it, same applies to CCW instructors.
My list (in not particular order):
-If you shoot someone you will be arrested and charged with murder no matter what, even in your own home.
-After you are arrested, you will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers and will lose everything, unless you have prepaid legal like Texas Law Shield, in which case you won't pay a cent... sign up for Texas Law Shield here right now at a special "one day only discount". (roughly 85% of the class did so right away, I passed)
-Women under 30 and over 55 are 5x more likely to shoot someone. (I hope this isn't true, never heard it before)
-Carrying a gun in a purse is a great idea to always remember you take it with you. (Yea and have it as easy to find as the 95 other pieces of random crap she carries in there)
-The 2A is an absolute right in many states and you don't have to have a permit to carry a gun at all in most of the like OK and NM (wrong). The TX constitution would never stand up to a challenge in the 5th Circuit for giving the Legislature the power to regulate the wearing of pistols. (Hmm, suing to challenge a state constitution's right that is an expanded version of the 2A, interesting...)
Unfortunately there is a lot of crap information floating around out there that the instructors all use to fill time in the TX class. There are countless forums that have poor information, one of the worst offenders is the Texas CHL Forum. Instructors end up taking the conjecture and BS from that forum and turning it into class materials.
BTW did they send out the former waitresses from Hooters to sell the TX Law Shield?
That's kind of funny in a way. My Ruger 22/45 has a lot of 'lawyer safety' kind of features, including a mag safety as you described. Not sure about your gun, but the mag safety on the 22/45 also makes the mag just ajar instead of properly ejecting (very annoying). Not to mention it adds two extra parts which are extremely annoying to reassemble (not part of field strip but still). Needless to say I replaced the hammer bushing and no more mag safety!My gun jammed during the shooting portion of the class. I immediately cleared it, but he also immediately came over. He dropped the mag and tried to fire it. I said "it won't fire without the magazine" his response was "of course it will" -he tried to fire it, it wouldn't fire. He said "make sure you get this to a gunsmith right away" he walked away, I put the mag back in and "bang"
I REALLY liked him up until then, but I hate people who act like they know everything...
My thoughts exactly. Due diligence and "you get what you pay for" go part and parcel with almost anything and anyone you have to deal with or purchase. My instructor is a deputy sheriff who takes no prisoners, knows more than I will ever forget and teahes the class with intelligence and knowhow, strength of character and no BS from smart alecs. In addition, his wife is part of his team, she is well-qualified and also is a good cook for the lunch she prepares for us (nothing like southern fried chicken in the south). They bring in a technician for finger printing and it is one stop shopping for my CCWP. Range time/qualifying is no nonsense and he will and has told people to go home for absurd behavior bordering on danger AFTER explaining what they have done. If you have a list, you have picked wrong.Where do they come up with these instructors??? Dont they have to at least know which end of the barrel the bullet comes out of before they can get a license to teach these classes??
Mine was quite a character. He was a former police chief for a hospital in our area.
He told us he doesn't recommend anyone use 9mm because if just bounces off automotive windshields every time.
He recommended a method for locking back the slide of semi-autos (for women) that involved basically pointing the muzzle right at yourself or those behind you while trying to rack the slide. Insane.
He then proceeded to tell us which pistols in the group were no good because they would jam if pressed into a perp's chest during a struggle. Bad pistols included Glocks and a few others.
He told us he doesn't recommend anyone use 9mm because if just bounces off automotive windshields every time.
He recommended a method for locking back the slide of semi-autos (for women) that involved basically pointing the muzzle right at yourself or those behind you while trying to rack the slide. Insane.
He then proceeded to tell us which pistols in the group were no good because they would jam if pressed into a perp's chest during a struggle. Bad pistols included Glocks and a few others.
No complaints about my CCW instructor. He was very straightfoward, no-nonsense kind of guy who knew what he was talking about. Went through a LOT of different scenarios with the class. I was 57 yo when I took the class and it was obvious that some of the students were VERY new to handguns. I thought the guy sitting next to me was one of them. He was probably 23 yo, black, heavily tattooed, wearing his cap sideways and his undies were showing a bit when he stood up. I "misunderestimated" him. His shooting skills were exemplary and he was willing to help the noobs on the range.
I asked him afterward where he learned to handle weapons and he indicated that he had just finished a 3 year hitch in the Army. That should teach me not to jump to conclusions, but it probably won't.
I asked him afterward where he learned to handle weapons and he indicated that he had just finished a 3 year hitch in the Army. That should teach me not to jump to conclusions, but it probably won't.
How timely for this thread. Just saw a teaser for tonight's local news that will expose the "business" of instructors selling their classes and not really teaching the requirements. Will try to link tomorrow after the broadcast.
FYI: it will be broadcast from WOIO Cleveland affiliate of Fox
FYI: it will be broadcast from WOIO Cleveland affiliate of Fox
I swear on all things that are holy-
Instructor compared the "Weaver Stance" to him holding a Rifle aiming a bobcat as it was in a tree, as the bobcat weaved back into ihs crosshairs he shot it!"
Instructor compared the "Weaver Stance" to him holding a Rifle aiming a bobcat as it was in a tree, as the bobcat weaved back into ihs crosshairs he shot it!"
My instructor actually told our class how after having his car stolen for the 3rd time, (he lived in a not so nice neighborhood), he got so pissed he took his most unwanted and unidentifiable handgun and went looking for the guy he knew had taken it. he intended to kill him and toss the gun. Lucky for him and the BG that he couldn't find him that night. turns out he had been arrested on a different charge the previous day. Not the sort of common sense leadership I would have expected from a CCW instructor. I can understand the rage but not the poor choice of actions.
1 - 20 of 132 Posts
- This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Defensive Carry
A forum community dedicated to defensive firearm owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about everyday carry, optics, holsters, gunsmithing, styles, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Top Contributors this Month
View All
SatCong
1069 Replies
OldVet
465 Replies
LimaCharlie
268 Replies
