CCW Qualification Class
Class Overview
Carrying a firearm is a serious responsibility! This class will prepare you to do so in the safest and most effective manner and within the confines of the law.
This is an intermediate level pistol class. While the State of California does not require applicants to have received any prior training before attending a CCW Qualification class, it’s important to note that it is the expectation of our school that students attending this class come in with a formal level of proficiency with handguns – simply being comfortable with firearms and going to a public range shooting a few of times is not enough. You should have some prior experience with a qualified school or instructor where you’ve been formally introduced to safety, marksmanship fundamentals and handgun manipulations (including drawing from a holster).
Here are some of the basic tenets of shooting and manipulations that we want to make sure you feel comfortable with before attending this class:
- An extremely high standard of safety
- Understanding the functionality of all of the handguns you are including on your CCW (E.g. if your handgun is single or double action you know how and when to manipulate the safety or decking lever, etc.)
- Proper disassembly and reassembly of all the handguns you are including on your CCW
- Proper loading and unloading of a firearm
- Speed reloading
- Chamber checks
- The “5-Count Draw” (drawing from a holster)
- Balancing speed and accuracy
While our CCW Qualification class will certainly include a review on all of these things, we don’t want it to be your first time learning them – that will hold up the class and be unfair to the other students who did the proper prep prior to attending. Based on all of this, if you think you might need some basic training before attending our CCW Qualification class, we urge you to either attend our Defensive Handgun 1 class or set up a private lesson with us.
PLEASE NOTE: You must apply for your CCW with the appropriate local law enforcement agency, specific to the area in which you live and determined by the zip code of your place of residence. Please make sure to check with your local agency to verify that a certificate of completion from our school will be accepted – this is your responsibility!
We suggest that you wait to take this class until you have been instructed to do so from your CCW issuing agency… meaning you have already applied for your CCW and your local agency has told you it’s time for your training. Most agencies don’t want you to take the formal CCW Qual class before they instruct you to do so.
If you have any questions regarding this class please feel free to contact us.
Subjects
Our CCW Qualification class is made up of three portions:
- ONLINE VIDEO PREP: A 1 hour video created by our company to help give you a brief introduction to the fundamentals of shooting that you will be learning and practicing during the live-fire shooting day of class. This is mandatory to watch in preparation for the rest of class. You will receive an email with a link to watch the video online a week prior to class. There will be a written test on Day 2 of class and you will be responsible for the information in this video.
- SHOOTING DAY (Saturday): An in-person live-fire training day held at our private outdoor range. This is the “hands on” portion of class and will hone your skills with firearms safety and proficiency with a handgun. There will be a state required shooting proficiency test (qualification) at the end of the day that students must pass in order to qualify for their CCW.
- CLASSROOM LECTURE & SIMULATOR TRAINING (Sunday): A combination of classroom lecture and simulator training at our private indoor facility. There is a written test conducted in the classroom on day 2 that students must pass in order to compete the course.
Specific topics to include:
- Firearms Safety
- Extensive discussion on the Use of Deadly Force
- The laws governing concealed carry
- Safe storage and transporting of firearms
- Simulator training – understanding, applying and articulating Use of Force
- Situational Awareness and what to avoid
- Combat Mindset
- Handgun Selection and set up
- Handgun disassembly/reassembly, cleaning and maintenance
- Basic tenets of shooting
- Presenting the pistol from the holster
- Proper loading and unloading
- Singles and pairs, balancing speed and accuracy
- Failure drills
- Shooting out to 50 yards on steel
- Reactive steel target engagement
- Man on man drills
Equipment
- Cleaned and oiled handgun at least 9mm in caliber – plan on bringing all the handguns (up to 3) that you listed on your CCW.
- Three or more magazines for each handgun (If you have handguns with smaller than 10 rounds we suggest bringing 4 or more magazines)
- Sturdy nylon or leather belt that fits through your pant’s belt loop
- Holster – for at least one of your handguns bring both an IWB (Inside the waistband) and OWB (outside the waistband holster) – you MUST HAVE at least one OWB holster at a minimum
- Eye and ear protection
- 200 rounds of factory ammunition for your primary handgun, 50 for each additional
(those with prior shooting experience may go through more rounds)
Class Details
Class Tuition:
From: $600.00
Prerequisites:
Technically, you do not need any prior experience to attend this class. However, we STRONGLY recommend that you at least attend our Handgun 1 class first if you have not had any formal handgun training. You will perform much better and get much more from this class if you come in knowing the fundamentals of marksmanship and basic manipulations.
Day & Times:
This is a 2-day class:
Sat 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Sun 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Location:
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes you can. However, most agencies now want you to wait to do your official CCW training until they have told you to do so following your interview. Some agencies are more lenient on it, but you will want to check with yours to make sure. We are not respsonsible if you take the class too early and it is no longer valid by the time you do your interview.
With that said, we have had students attend the class just for the experience and training even though they hadn’t yet applied for their CCW.
Bring any of the handguns that you included on your CCW application (up to 3 are allowed). It’s not mandatory to have 3 on your application, but you do need a minimum of 1 handgun registered in your name. In our class on Saturday (the shooting day of class) you will choose 1 of your handguns to train with for the day. Then during the qualification you will need to qualify with all of them that are on your application.
Most agencies will allow you to change the handguns on your CCW application until they issue you your CCW permit, but make sure to contact yours to verify. However, it is worth noting that if you add or change even just one of the handguns on your CCW then you must re-qualify with all of the handguns on your application, even if the others haven’t changed. Additionally, you will have to wait until the next instance of our CCW Qualification class to add or change a handgun – we will not be able to do it before then under any circumstances.
The takeaway is, get the handguns you want on your CCW application before attending this class, it’s going to make your life much easier!
We don’t sell ammunition to those who are bringing their own firearm to class, they will need to supply their own. If you need help figuring out where to purchase ammunition, check out our Industry Partners!
We only provide ammunition to students who are renting firearms from us for the sole purpose of training.
