*Shots fired*
This week for Adventure Arkansas we went guns blazin’ to a gun range in Van Buren for a lesson on concealed carry. Kevin Dougan, a police officer and licensed firearm instructor for 27 years with military experience, explained the ins and outs of getting your concealed carry.
In the state of Arkansas, concealed means complete obstruction from public view... it allows you to carry an legal handgun... for yourself and for your family.
Technically there are many instructors that can help you get your license, but as Kevin points out, firearm training is not something to skimp on. You need to properly vet your instructor, especially for gun safety and law experience.
Just vet your instructors, make sure they’re good quality instructors, make sure they know what they’re talking about, because you pay the price, not anybody else.
For example, in firearm incidents, your concealed carry does not legally protect you when things go wrong, and most instructors, as Kevin highlights, do not spend the required time on the law portion of the class.
It’s a minimum 4-5 hours of classroom time and that’s not including paperwork or range time. They’re supposed to bring in an attorney, a lawyer, somebody that has a good knowledge of justification, use of force and what can go wrong. Make sure they have other background training before you go through them because you have to look at the legal and financial aftermath of something that you can do wrong.
When it comes to firearm training and safety, there is never enough. And anyone can learn too, even a meteorologist!
Anybody who is a law-abiding citizen, that has the need and want to defend themselves and their family should. I think everbody should... you don’t want to be a victim if you don’t have to be.
Once you do your concealed carry, that is a good start for your training, even if you’re an expert... even after that, you need to continue your training. If one day you feel as if you’ve had enough training, that’s the day you’re going to get hurt. You can never have enough training.
My target was no match for this meteorologist.
That combat accuracy, that 8-inch circle is what we look for.
A concealed carry license lasts for 5 years in the state of Arkansas. Matt will return to the gun range soon to learn about getting an enhanced carry license with Dugans Tactical Solutions, the next step above a concealed. That will be coming up in a few weeks!