BigPoppa

It's supposed to be....but then again, so is total training time of 8 hours.

A few months later than planned, BUT I DID send this out today: Dear (Official), I am a Department of Safety Certified Instructor for the Handgun Safety (Carry Permit) program. I am writing you regarding the current video that is issued by the Department of Safety and is required to be shown to all Handgun Carry Permit students. You may or may not be aware, but this video is now going on ten (10) years old. Much of the critical information in the video is now outdated and void, due to changes in the law since the video’s production in 2000. As an example, I will point to four (4) major revisions to the Tennessee Code Annotated that directly affect Handgun Carry Permit Instructors, students, and holders: 39-17-1305 Possession of firearms where alcoholic beverages are served 39-17-1311 Municipal parks carry 39-17-1359 Prohibition at certain meetings – posting notice 39-11-622 Justifications for use of force – immunity from civil liability Handgun Safety Instructors such as myself, when correctly performing their duties, must spend a significant amount of classroom instruction time going back through the video advising students to disregard certain portions of the material, and updating them on the various changes to the laws. I believe this situation does a disservice to both Instructors, and students…all of whom pay significant fees to the state for their participation in the Handgun Carry Permit program. I am writing you now to ask, in advance, for your help in directing or encouraging the Department of Safety to produce a new video for use in the Handgun Carry Permit program. I appreciate your time in this matter, your service to the people of this state, and your continued support of allowing law abiding citizens the opportunity to defend themselves. Sincerely, Bo Alexander SafetySouth Training Systems, LLC PO Box 2496 Murfreesboro, TN 37133 Had to make a few changes from the original letter, but its basically the same content. I sent a copy to: Dave Mitchell - Safety Commissioner Joe Carr ; Ben West, Jr ; Donna Rowland - State Representatives Doug Jackson ; Bill Ketron - State Senators Okay......you guys got my back ? Let's let them get a few similar letters in a short time span and see if it works !!!

We'll run another one in the Spring (March or April) unless we have sufficient interest before then.

Thanks for the kind words, Steve & Mark ! I'll post a few snapshots tonight if *%#@!$%((* Verizon gets my internet working again !!!!!

That's not a bad idea there, Gun Geek.

.......

Pie-splattered comedian Soupy Sales dies at 83 - News - Yahoo! TV

I'm thinking this has "BAD IDEA" written all over it.

He helps those that help themselves. His rod and staff protect and comfort me. And he has given me a 9mm rod and a .38 caliber staff along with the skills, resources, and will to use them in the event of an emergency. I think it applies in Church, too. Maybe more then than any other time. I'll have enough explaining to do, so if I'm in Church and an active shooter situation develops, I plan to respond. I don't intend on explaining why I allowed someone to disrespect his House and slay his people unchallenged when I could have slowed it down or ended it.

Did some merging of partial boxes of ammunition tonight, and this left me with some extra ammuntion trays. 2 styrofoam 50 round trays for .40 caliber 2 plastic 50 round trays for .40 caliber 2 styrofoam 50 round trays for .38 Spl. 1 plastic 25 round tray for .38 Spl. I'll give 'em to anybody who can use them. Pick up in Murfreesboro at mutual convenience. PM me if interested. Mods - move this if you need to....I just figured it might be of interest to the reloaders.

You're not going ? You're skipping the whiskey ? Seriously, kudos for supporting a great cause. Dogs are great. I love dogs. I love people who love dogs.

Get your HCP, head to Wal Mart armed, feel very self conscious...think everybody is staring at you because they "know"...worry sick that you're printing...put your hand on your gun every 40 seconds to make sure it's still there.....go home with a satisfied feeling that the first HCP venture away from home has been completed. Carry every day, every time (it's legal) for a couple weeks and it becomes second nature. That's generally how it works. Congratulations

Excellent presentation...very well written

A guy is driving around the back woods of Montana and he sees a sign in front of a broken down shanty-style house: 'Talking Dog For Sale ' He rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the backyard. The guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador retriever sitting there. 'You talk?' he asks. 'Yep,' the Lab replies. After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says 'So, what's your story?' The Lab looks up and says, 'Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA. In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping.' 'I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running. But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals.' 'I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired.' The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog. 'Ten dollars,' the guy says. 'Ten dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?' 'Because he's a liar. He never did any of that stuff.

:lol:

Well, clearly I would be a little biased, but I think we put on a pretty darn good HCP course. We have a number of favorable reviews on this forum from folks who have completed our program. Our HCP course includes a healthy dose of safety rules and safe gun handling doctrine, basic handgun function and nomenclature, the principles of marksmanship and some discussion of carry method pros and cons. We watch The Video, and then discuss what parts of it are inaccurate or out of date (and that takes a few minutes) and we review what is necessary to deploy deadly force. We discuss where you can and can't go even with a HCP and reciprocity issues, and spend a few minutes on how to properly respond when you are stopped by the police and are armed at the time. We spend a few minutes on being aware of your surroundings and how the best gunfight is the one you don't get in in the first place. The written test is reviewed and administered and we discuss the actual HCP application process. On the range, we go over safety....again....range commands, and manual of arms and then we shoot a few practice rounds to check everybody's marksmanship and get the new shooters a chance to get a little less nervous. We shoot either a 48 or 50 round qualifier and that's that. That's how we roll.I suspect most HCP courses you find will be more or less similar to this. Some better, some worse, some longer, some shorter, some thorough and accurate, some....well, less so.

Again drawing on my experience from teaching the HCP course, I have determined that anything that begins along the lines of: "Well, my former next door neighbor's best friend had a sister-in-law whose nephew went through the first 3 weeks of the Game Warden academy in South Dakota before he blew his knee out, and he told her that.............." will almost certainly be a large quantity of equine excrement .

You got it, Ace. We go over that little nugget in every class.

You're exactly right. The HCP instructors should be handling the boots on the ground safe gun handling and shoot the qualifier stuff while The Video ought to take care of legal issues and liability. However, we all know that the almost 10 year old video is so outdated and disjointed and often leaves students with more questions than answers that (conscientious) HCP instructors are having to step up to the plate and fill in those gaps as best they can. In my experience, many HCP trainers make a concerted effort to stay on top of changes in state laws, federal laws, reciprocity, etc..........other HCP trainers ? meh.

Thanks, Jason. Pilot, I commend you for knowing what you don't know and being a "5 percenter" (only about 5% of civilian firearms owners seek intermediate-advanced defensive training). We have a number of course reviews on here from past students that you could check out. We'd love to have you in a future course, but even if you train elsewhere.....train, and make sure you spend your time and money wisely and choose a quality instructor.

Here's what a couple of TGO members and General Defensive Carbine alumni had to say about the last course: http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/tactics-training/22356-safety-south-defensive-carbine.html

GENERAL DEFENSIVE CARBINE Saturday, January 23, 2010 (Smyrna) 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. A one day, entry level study of the magazine fed semi-automatic rifle or carbine in its close range defensive role. Rifles and carbines suitable for this course are typically chambered in 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm. Pistol caliber carbines are also suitable and welcome. This course will cover: firearms safety, carbine/rifle function and nomenclature, ammunition and accessory selection, administrative and tactical gun handling, battle sight zero and marksmanship drills, malfunction clearance, and a qualification course. A Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit is recommended as a prerequisite. About your instructor: Chuck Barnes is a 16 year law enforcement veteran, and former Tactical Team member. He is a graduate of the FBI Firearms Instructor Course, and is an NRA Certified Law Enforcement Instructor for Patrol Rifle and Tactical Shooting. He is also a Colt Defense factory certified armorer for the M-16/AR-15 rifle. Your TGO discount makes this course just $ 94.50. Visit www.SafetySouth.net to register.

Revolvers and pistols are both handguns. But most current nomenclature refers to revolvers as revolvers and semi-automatics as pistols.