Concealed Weapons Training Class

Well, I finished up my Concealed Weapons training class on Saturday. I’m glad it’s over but I’m really glad I did it. You learn so much in this class, I recommend everyone to take it!

I’m not 100% sure I’ll carry concealed. I think I’d like to be more comfortable with carrying, cleaning, shooting, etc, before I did that. However, I think the knowledge of the law, how to shoot, etc. is very empowering. The class is split into 3 classes, 2 nights of 5 hour classes, which are more of an “in class” type setting and then 2 hours at the range, learning to load and unload the gun, proper handling, proper stance and the proper way to shoot.

I learned a lot of things in the Tuesday & Thursday class. Did you know, there are over 60,000 people in Hamilton and only 12-14 police officers on duty at any given time? So, if 1,000 people took the straights, rioting, right now, there is little the police (on duty) could do about it until other reinforcements came in. And one of the biggest things that I remember being said (and I will remember this for the rest of my life) is: “When seconds count, the police are minutes away.” The average home invasion can occur and be over in less than 10 minutes, the average response time to a 911 call is 3-5 minutes. Do you know what can happen in 3-5 minutes? I’m afraid to think about it.

The purpose of this class is NOT to scare you or make you paranoid. It’s there to give you knowledge and training of ways to protect yourself, your loved ones, etc. Believe it or not, a lot of it is common sense. They taught us things like always being aware of what is threatening you, if you are in a situation where you can leave or get away: do so, be aware of your surroundings, drive with your windows up (when possible) and your doors locked. Only use deadly force if you feel the person is threatening you with serious bodily harm or death.

At the range on Saturday, you take the written test (which they go over with you before you take it so if you fail, you are deaf, blind and dumb) then you take a shooting test. The purpose of the shooting test if to prove that you are capable of loading and unloading the gun safely and shooting a target from 10 feet and 20 feet. You have to hit the center mass (basically anything from the neck down, mostly the torso area) and get 14 out of 24 rounds to pass. I got 100% on the written part and 19/24 shoots on the shoot part. I was REALLY proud of myself. My mom also got 100% on the written test and 17/24 on the shooting test. Not bad for someone who has never shot a gun before, huh?

So now all that is left is to send in my application with a copy of my certificate of training and wait for the sheriff’s office to call me. Once they do, I can go in to get my CCW permit. It’s exciting! Well, at least it is for me.

I think I’m going to take a self defense class in September as well. It’s taught by the same officers who teach the CCW class and is only 1 night instead of 2.