# Concealed Carry Carry Handgun class **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 1, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484 "2012-04-01T15:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/21 "2012-04-02T15:39:34Z")
Things are a bit more relaxed here in Georgia. Not a good thing IMHO. Got money? Walk in and buy a gun. No permit, no registration, no training, no experience necessary. We have a great organization called [Georgiacarry.org](http://Georgiacarry.org) that works tirelessly to expand and defend 2A rights for Georgians, but I can’t get behind everything they want, nor the NRA for that matter. Now anyone can hide gun under their seat, between the seats, anywhere in a vehicle, and it’s no longer a “concealed weapon”. We don’t require proof of training or experience in any way. Many states mandate a safety/use course. We don’t require registration of any kind. I’m on the fence typically, but If you have an extra charge on some clown who has an illegal/stolen/found gun, I’m all for it. We have a bill in the legislature currently to allow 18-21 yo to obtain a CCW permit with current or prior military experience. Before it changed, it would allow all 18-21yo to be eligible if they take a class. Training and knowledge are never a bad thing when it comes to guns… ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/22 "2012-04-02T21:50:40Z")
I’m planning on getting a permit. Good thread. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/23 "2012-04-03T00:36:04Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York City, Illinois, and Washington DC all require a license before any gun purchase. That’s about 12% of the US population. That’s true, but those jurisdictions are all ones where normal people can’t get a concealed carry permit. I don’t know of any place where there’s seperate, but easily acquirable permits to own and permits to carry. I plan to get a carry permit sometime. I don’t even own a handgun but it seems to be something cool to have. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/24 "2012-04-03T00:44:13Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Very cool thread. I have shot a gun twice in my life, both times at shooting ranges. I was the top markswoman in my dorm, booyah! But I don’t think I have it in me to get a gun, much less a concealed carry license. I’m sure it makes more sense to victims of stalking, but I just couldn’t bring myself to shoot somebody so it’d be pointless to carry a gun. So, your point was what? You’re a wicked shot, but don’t carry because it would sully your moral superiority? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/25 "2012-04-03T01:11:39Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > So, your point was what? You’re a wicked shot, but don’t carry because it would sully your moral superiority? Her point was rather plainly stated in clear, simple English, and it wasn’t what you’re claiming it is. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/26 "2012-04-03T01:30:00Z")
Forgive me. Perhaps I’ve been in one too many gun threads and simply misinterpreted a “I shoot real good but can’t bring myself to carry” post to a thread that was specifically about completing a class required in order o have a carry permit. My fault entirely. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/27 "2012-04-03T01:54:40Z")
I’m surprised a person would be advised to carry a gun in a purse. If someone snatches it when you’re not expecting or you let it out of your sight for just a second and it gets stolen, that’s one more gun in the hands of a criminal. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/28 "2012-04-03T12:28:12Z")
> [@Mdcastleman](#): > > That’s true, but those jurisdictions are all ones where normal people can’t get a concealed carry permit. I don’t know of any place where there’s seperate, but easily acquirable permits to own and permits to carry. The original statement was “very few places require a permit simply to own a gun”. That’s all I was refuting. And normal people absolutely can get a concealed carry permit in Massachusetts. It all depends on what town you live in. Some chiefs will give one to anyone who applies (and meets all the other legal requirements). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/29 "2012-04-03T12:45:01Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Another thing I took away from that class is practice practice practice. If you’re going to keep a gun by your bed, practice grabbing it. Keeping it in your car? Practice grabbing it. Keeping it in your purse? Practice grabbing it etc. > To demonstrate this he put three guns in three different kinds of locks and gave the keys to three people. At a certain point he signaled the three people to run to the front of the room and unlock the guns. It was at least 30 seconds before the first gun was unlocked and about a 90 seconds before the last one was. Now imagine doing it in the dark with someone heading towards your bedroom. > Even if you don’t keep it locked. His point was that if you keep it in your nightstand, under your bed, under your pillow, loaded (safety on/off) magazine in/out, bullets in or out, bullet chambered or not etc practice reaching over, grabbing it, getting it ready to fire and pointing it. Over and over and over\*. If you change anything or swap out the gun, practice again. Make sure it’s always in the same spot. Did you accidentally toss a book under it or did the vacuum push it farther under your bed? > His fear is that people will get a gun, they might even take it shooting a few times and think they’re comfortable with it. Then they’ll take the magazine out, lock it all up in a case like a good parent, put it in the nightstand and not even think about it again until they need it three years later when it’s buried under everything and they don’t even remember where the key is anymore. If keeping the gun away from kids, visitors, etc. is necessary you should get a gun vault with quick-open combination buttons. I have one and I’ve made sure I can find the buttons and push the combination by feel in the dark. Cable locks and keeping the gun unloaded should be only for firearms you don’t intend to have available in an emergency. Modern firearms are safe to keep a round chambered; if you need a gun you may need it fast. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/30 "2012-04-03T12:45:24Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > … > > And normal people absolutely can get a concealed carry permit in Massachusetts. It all depends on what town you live in. Some chiefs will give one to anyone who applies (and meets all the other legal requirements). Sam in Ohio I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/31 "2012-04-03T14:27:53Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > If keeping the gun away from kids, visitors, etc. is necessary you should get a gun vault with quick-open combination buttons. I have one and I’ve made sure I can find the buttons and push the combination by feel in the dark. Cable locks and keeping the gun unloaded should be only for firearms you don’t intend to have available in an emergency. Modern firearms are safe to keep a round chambered; if you need a gun you may need it fast. The one with the [buttons](http://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/68B885EB-538D-4C9A-B2C4-947130B6A277/26394/pushsafe.jpg) took the longest to open. She fumbled around with the buttons so many times (and he programmed in “1,2,3,4” and showed us several times throughout the class how easy it was to open) that it locked her out\*. But again, this wasn’t to say that you shouldn’t keep your gun locked, but rather that you should keep it locked and then lay in your bed and practice unlocking it in the dark. \*To make the exercise more difficult, they dimmed the lights in the room and banged on the tables and yelled to make it more stressful. But during a home invasion, stress would certainly be part of it. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/32 "2012-04-05T02:30:38Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > The one with the [buttons](http://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/68B885EB-538D-4C9A-B2C4-947130B6A277/26394/pushsafe.jpg) took the longest to open. That’s why you get the [Biometric](http://www.gunvault.com/minivault-biometric-gvb1000.html)version! Swipe a finger, get yer gun! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/33 "2012-04-05T03:09:53Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > That’s why you get the [Biometric](http://www.gunvault.com/minivault-biometric-gvb1000.html)version! > > Swipe a finger, get yer gun! Just the Wife and I in the house. Left hand touches the Wife to be sure she hasn’t taken the dogs out and forgoten her keys and had to break the door down to get back in, right hand gets the pistol out of the nightstand. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/34 "2012-04-05T03:13:40Z")
aceplace, here in Arkansas can you take the course with a .22 that you can actually hit something with, and then carry a .45 that will stop a bad guy? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/35 "2012-04-05T03:15:43Z")
Went by the State Police Hq and got my fingerprints done. Then turned in my application with payment. Our class instructor did a few students fingerprints at the class. But, he recommended letting the State Police do it. He mentioned they sometimes reject fingerprints if they are smudged on the card. If the State Police do it themselves, then they aren’t likely to make that excuse. We even used class time so the instructor could guide us through filling out all the paperwork. Any mistake means a reject. The cops have no incentive to make this easy. I was talking with an old timer and he mentioned the old law was you could carry a gun within your area of personal business. Often 25 miles from your home was the benchmark. But it had to be in an area of town that you normally did business (shopping, banking, etc.). Conceal Carry takes a lot of the guess work out of it. All the rules are clearly spelled out. ---
**Author:** ![akrako1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@akrako1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akrako1)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/36 "2012-04-05T22:43:59Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York City, Illinois, and Washington DC all require a license before any gun purchase. That’s about 12% of the US population. Also note that in Illinois there IS NO CCH. Nowhere in the state. Being that I’m in the lovely city of Chicago, it gets even more ridiculous! To OWN a handgun in the city of Chicago (thanks Supreme Court!), you need to have the following: a Illinois State FOID (Firearm Ownership ID card), a general Chicago firearms permit (5 hour class - 4hrs classroom/1hr range - also $100 every 3 years to renew), and another hand-gun permit. You also must register all of your weapons for another fee. Oh, and the statute is so limited, you can’t even carry your handgun from your house to your detached garage! Which is typically only about 10 feet in the city. How one is supposed to get comfortable with firing their own gun in such a situation, I don’t know. Hopefully you can rent the same model you own… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/37 "2012-04-06T00:44:40Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > aceplace, here in Arkansas can you take the course with a .22 that you can actually hit something with, and then carry a .45 that will stop a bad guy? Be careful with that. You can’t stop a bad guy with a .45 if you can’t hit the bad guy with the .45. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/38 "2012-04-06T01:02:34Z")
Our instructor let everyone qualify with whatever handgun they brought from home. Or rented from the range. He did recommend a semi-auto so that a full unrestricted permit gets issued. People using revolvers get a restricted permit and have to requalify to carry semi-auto. (That’s a rule in AR) > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > aceplace, here in Arkansas can you take the course with a .22 that you can actually hit something with, and then carry a .45 that will stop a bad guy? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/39 "2012-04-06T01:34:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Be careful with that. You can’t stop a bad guy with a .45 if you can’t hit the bad guy with the .45. I can hit things with the .45, but it is very expensive. 🙂 There is also some room for error. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484/40 "2012-04-06T12:29:16Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Be careful with that. You can’t stop a bad guy with a .45 if you can’t hit the bad guy with the .45. This is why I don’t carry a .45. If I’m going to carry a handgun for self defense, I need to become proficient with it, obviously. I can’t afford to become proficient with a .45. (Well, I suppose I \*can \*afford it, but I really don’t want to shell out those kind of bucks.) Which means I shouldn’t carry a .45. By contrast, I \*can \*afford to become proficient with a 9 mm, hence the reason I carry a 9 mm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concealed-carry-carry-handgun-class/617484.md?page=3)