Concealed Carry Permit Holders Getting Training Even When It Isn’t Required

Dec 19, 2016 | Featured

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While adopting Constitutional Carry in Idaho means that training is no longer mandated by state law, the Idaho Statesman has some interviews that show that even people who are carrying without a permit still feel the need to get training.  However, the benefit of not having the formal regulations on training means that the cost of training has probably gone down, and it can be done when it is most convenient.  From the Idaho Statesman:

Private firearms instructor Joe Torok owns Boise-based Idaho Firearms Classes.com.

“People are still coming in great numbers,” he said. “The net effect is that a lot of people like the idea that they can carry a concealed weapon without a license, but they’re also looking for the training that it involves.”

At the beginning of December, 131,665 Idaho adults possessed a concealed weapons permit, 8 percent of the state’s population, according to the Idaho State Police. Of those, 27,243, or 21 percent, were enhanced permits.

The total figure is up 54 percent from the beginning of 2013, when 85,535 adults had such a permit, according to statistics from the ISP and the Pennsylvania-based Crime Prevention Research Center. . . .

A new report from Kansas provides another example of even as the number of concealed handgun permits in a state has fallen after a Constitutional Carry law is passed, the number of people getting training to carry has risen.  From the McPherson Sentinel (McPherson, Kansas):

The number of concealed carry applications made in Kansas has dropped again this year state-wide.

This decline comes on the heels of a legislative change in 2015 allowing eligible Kansans to carry concealed without a license. Between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016, the Kansas Attorney General office’s Concealed Carry Licensing Unit received 5,874 applications. Compared with recent years, this marked a steep decline in new applications — there were 9,800 applications received in the prior year.

For Steve Sechler, owner of Treasure Chest Gun Shop, McPherson isn’t matching these declines. The store offers concealed carry licensing classes and other gun ownership education classes, and enrollment rates are rising.

“. . . Now, people are starting to realize they need the education with it, so they’re taking the class now and it’s picked back up,” Sechler said. . . . .

For discussions of the relationship between training requirements and violent crime rates see these discussions in More Guns, Less Crime (pages 177-181, 226-227, 244-248).  There is no relationship between revocation rates and training requirements.

johnrlott

4 Comments

  1. Derek Mcdoogle

    In your article, you stated that however, the benefit of not having the formal regulations on training means that the cost of training has probably gone down, and it can be done when it is most convenient. My wife has been talking about how she would like to have a gun in our home for her to use. I wonder if the state that we live in has different regulations for concealed carry training.

    • johnrlott

      We noted that the cost of training is lower. The reason is simple: there are a lot of informal ways that people can get training. Instead of the arbitrary one size fits all in the permitting system, the type of training people get is more likely conform to what those carrying feel that they are weakest at.

  2. Ridley Fitzgerald

    I think it’s good that those who carry a gun without a permit still feel the need for training. I agree, since training is vital to gun safety. My wife is hoping to get her concealed carry permit to feel safer, and I want her to go through some safety courses too.

  3. Dave Anderson

    I agree that even if it is not required, it would be important for people that carry a concealed gun to make sure that they know how to properly use it. Because guns are weapons that can easily take someone’s life, carriers should know how to use it properly. I also think that it would be a good idea to practice gun safety rules regularly.

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