Concealed Carry Classes Aren’t Training, and that’s Okay

There was a recent discussion online where someone mentioned that after completing their state mandated concealed carry class, they still felt undertrained to carry.

The fact is that concealed carry classes are meant to ensure that applicants leave the class with a minimum amount of gun safety, use of force law, and gun handling skills. That’s it, and that’s okay.

Let’s face it, here in NC you can be a downright awful shooter and still pass the shooting portion of the class. All you have to do is hit the torso sized target, it’s not hard, and that’s okay.

I’m of the opinion that if someone can be trusted to own a pistol, they can be trusted to carry it. In a perfect world, every state would have constitutional carry, but in the states that don’t, I’m perfectly okay with the minimum requirements for obtaining a permit.

Getting training above and beyond what is required in the concealed carry class is the responsibility of the permit holder. Some people seek additional training with an instructor, others seek a community of like minded folks, and yet others practice and train through competition. If you don’t have any formal training beyond your concealed carry class, you should seek more training, but that training shouldn’t be government mandated.

Sidenote: I am somewhat surprised that there aren’t many trainers offering a fairly basic “Advanced Concealed Carry” class or something like it that covers the basics of concealment, holsters, retention, shooting under stress, etc.