Tactical Advantage LLC taught its Arizona CCW permit class on the third Sunday of each month at the Southeast Regional Park shooting range in Tucson. After Action.net sat in on the August 2007 class.
Course overview
- School: Tactical Advantage LLC, which taught handgun, rifle and shotgun courses to law enforcement and private citizens
- Instructors: Gordon Winkelman and James Coniglio
- Location: Southeast Regional Park Shooting Range, run by Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation, with a small but comfortable, well-lit classroom
- Schedule: 8 a.m. to about 4:30 p.m., range time around 9 a.m. and a 30-minute lunch
- Students: 15, from housewives and teachers to programmers, lawyers and mechanics
How the day ran
- Name tags: students made simple name tags from wide masking tape. By the second break everyone knew each other and the instructors by name, which made for a friendly class.
- Handout: a shooting-correction target, safety rules, the color codes of mental awareness, rules for carrying, and a parental consent form for bringing children to shoot.
- First hour: safety, basic marksmanship, sight picture and range procedures.
- Range early: the shooting test came first thing, in the shade and ahead of the heat. All 15 students shot in one 15-minute session and passed, and the instructors noted an unusually skilled class.
- Lecture: an overhead projector, a laser pointer and a whiteboard kept the material on law, responsibilities and equipment moving. Real unloaded guns demonstrated operation, maintenance and safety.
- Real examples: the instructors used real situations to explain the sometimes complicated rules for permit holders, and took time to answer every question.
Observations
- Shooting the test early in the day beats the Arizona heat and lets students relax for the lecture.
- Only water was available at the range, so bring your own snacks and drinks.
Takeaways
- A class that learns names early is a class that asks questions.
- Check current law: Arizona’s carry laws have changed significantly since 2007.
Originally published on After Action.net on August 21, 2007. Rebuilt from the archived report; the original photos were not preserved. See every class in the Training Log, or share your own training experience.
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