Arizona CCW Class Review (Aug 2007)

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After Action.net sat in on a Saturday Arizona CCW class on Tucson’s east side in August 2007, taught by Phil Wong, who had been teaching the course since Arizona’s permit program began in 1994.

Course overview

  • Instructor: Phil Wong
  • Students: 15
  • Length: Just over eight hours of instruction and range time, with a lunch break
  • Included: an application packet, fingerprint cards completed during the day, and handouts to keep
  • Range: the shooting test was held at the indoor Marksman Pistol Institute, a few miles from the classroom

How the day ran

  • Morning: handgun basics. Wong’s experience showed in demonstrations that made concepts clear in minutes that can take years of trial and error to learn.
  • Trigger control: a laser grip on a training revolver, aimed at the far wall where the whole class could see, showed exactly what bad trigger technique does to the shot.
  • Marksmanship basics: grip, stance (isosceles, modified and Weaver), breathing, sight picture, trigger control and follow-through, with a reminder that there is much more to learn and that carrying calls for real practice.
  • Split for efficiency: half the class did fingerprints while the other half shot, so nobody waited long, and students grabbed lunch on the way back.
  • Afternoon: care and maintenance, gear selection and the importance of practice, then from how to shoot to when to shoot. Each Arizona law on carrying and weapons was reviewed using the Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide.
  • Close: the written test and course certificates.

Observations

  • Afternoon sessions in all-day classes often drag; this one did not.
  • Plan for the class to run a little long if there are plenty of questions.

Takeaways

  • An instructor who has taught the course since its first year knows every common question and mistake.
  • A laser on a training gun is one of the best ways to see your own trigger problems. Try it in dry fire at home.
  • Check current law; Arizona carry laws have changed significantly since 2007.

Originally published on After Action.net on August 19, 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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