List of Minnesota CCW Instructors

[JeremiahSa]

Hello Everyone!

Pro Carry USA is a new CCW (Permit to Carry) instructor organization certified to teach the permit to carry class in Minnesota.

We offer classes in the Twin Cities area (Brooklyn Center) and also in Cocato near Hutchinson, MN. Inquire to find out if we can teach a class in a location near you!

Website:

www.procarryusa.com

Email:

jeremiah@procarryusa.com

Phone Number:

(763) 732-9710

Instructor Name:

Jeremiah Sandahl

We also offer NRA classes as well as a multi-state permit course which includes the Florida permit and will soon include the Utah permit.

[MarkBudd]

I was wondering if there is an instructor that can help. I am a Colorado resident. My company brings me up to Minneapolis every other week. I submitted my application to the Hennepin Sheriff's office and they rejected it because my Colorado certificate was older than a year. I submitted it again today from my home range dated last Friday and they rejected it again saying it wasn't a Minnesota instructor.

My issue is I am never here with any free time except in the evening and I usually take the light rail downtown. Is there an instructor who teaches downtown? A range?

Thanks

Mark

[JeremiahSa]

Most instructors hold classes on Saturdays, but I'm assuming those will not work for you.

If you are willing to make a couple of later nights, we can work something out for a MN and/or UT permit in the evenings. I get off my other job about 8 PM and could meet you at our house or your hotel room for a few hours for 2-3 nights. Bill's Gun Shop in Robbinsdale is where we do most of our shooting. It's the closest range to downtown. We cover range fees as part of our classes.

If you are interested, feel free to call me at (763) 732-9710 or visit our website at www.procarryusa.com to find out more information.

Thanks!
Jeremiah Sandahl
Pro Carry USA Instructor
www.procarryusa.com

[joelr]

I was wondering if there is an instructor that can help. I am a Colorado resident. My company brings me up to Minneapolis every other week. I submitted my application to the Hennepin Sheriff's office and they rejected it because my Colorado certificate was older than a year. I submitted it again today from my home range dated last Friday and they rejected it again saying it wasn't a Minnesota instructor.

My issue is I am never here with any free time except in the evening and I usually take the light rail downtown. Is there an instructor who teaches downtown? A range?

Thanks

Mark

There's no range downtown, so that part isn't going to happen -- unless you can find some instructor who does the shady practice of, say, using a pellet gun or a laser training device in a hotel room. (I hope there aren't any, anymore, but there used to be.)

You've got two issues -- one is the lack of downtown range, and the other is the time limit, if you're only available in the evenings. There are some instructors who will do a quick-and-dirty class in two hours, but I wouldn't recommend any of them.

There's also TCCarry Express -- which is an expensive option (and one whose price is going up shortly), but one that might work for you. (Full disclosure: it's my own short class; full details at the website.)

For carrying in Minnesota, your best bet is probably a Utah permit, as much as I dislike saying that. Utah doesn't require a range, and I'm sure that there are some Utah-certified instructors who will run you through a quick class in your hotel room. Just avoid the Coconut Charlie types.

[turk]

i have read someplace there is a ccw class (or instructer) in Hermantown Minnesota can you let me know who or how i can reach him (or her)
Thanks
Turk

[JeremiahSa]

@Joelr

I don't know what information you are going from, but Bill's Gun Shop in Robbinsdale is pretty close to downtown.

We now offer a Permit to Carry Course Online at Minnesota Permit to Carry, Concealed Carry Courses where you can self-study the material and meet us for a Q&A and range qualification.

As for the Utah permit, we also are qualified to teach the Utah permit. However, we recommend that you support Minnesota and get a Minnesota permit, because New Mexico lost reciprocity with Utah because they were getting only the Utah permit instead of the New Mexico permit. We don't want to risk that here in Minnesota.

Utah, by the way, does not allow their instructors to teach by electronic means, so you'll have to come to an in-person session for the Utah permit, while Minnesota has approved our online course. (Although you can't shoot online...)

[joelr]

@Joelr

I don't know what information you are going from, but Bill's Gun Shop in Robbinsdale is pretty close to downtown.

Just over nine miles. I'm pretty familiar with the city, and with Bill's, which is why I use (and strongly recommend) BPR. It's worth a little extra driving; among other things, you'll make up in lower range fees what it costs you in gas, unless you're walking to Bill's and maybe even then. Plus, it's got a much better vibe, IMHO. The gangbanger and pseudo-gangbanger crowd never seem to hang out at BPR; I guess that's because they can't rent guns there.

You might want to consider meeting your students somewhere near BPR and doing your quals there; Bill's won't let you conduct instruction (and your Q&A is instruction) without renting a classroom. Your call, of course.

We now offer a Permit to Carry Course Online at Minnesota Permit to Carry, Concealed Carry Courses where you can self-study the material and meet us for a Q&A and range qualification.

As for the Utah permit, we also are qualified to teach the Utah permit. However, we recommend that you support Minnesota and get a Minnesota permit, because New Mexico lost reciprocity with Utah because they were getting only the Utah permit instead of the New Mexico permit. We don't want to risk that here in Minnesota.

Well, my opinion is that online carry classes run rather greater risks for everybody, but I've written about that extensively and fairly forcefully already (if you're interested, search for "hybrid" and/or "Coconut Charley"), and I don't see the need to repeat myself. You've decided to do them, and that's certainly your call.

[JeremiahSa]

joelr,

Thanks for your replies. I will have to look at the Burnsville Pistol Range. I am good friends with the people at Bill's and they will let instructors take students to the range without teaching at their range, as long as the class size is under 6. We try to keep our classes small so our students can get the most out of them. Our normal classroom course is 8 hours long and more thorough than many others. We still prefer people to take the classroom training, but there are some who can't make it to our regular classes, so we want them to still have opportunity to carry. We didn't take any shortcuts on our online course. We developed extra quizzes to test their knowledge and have everyone take a written test as well. The Q&A at the range is intended for us to get to know the person and observe them handling a firearm. If they display an unsafe attitude, we will not issue a certificate.

We also have a disdain for the Coconut Charlie types. We attended one such class and were not thrilled with the quality of instruction. We are inexpensive, but our content is thorough. It looks like you're doing a good job with your TCCarry Express. We have done evening courses as well on two nights with advanced students. You just can't show a person online how to properly hold and handle a firearm, which is what we do in person at the range. You can learn the laws, the effects of an encounter, and general knowledge about guns and ammunition on your own with a good text. That's what we're trying to accomplish.

[joelr]

joelr,

Thanks for your replies. I will have to look at the Burnsville Pistol Range. I am good friends with the people at Bill's and they will let instructors take students to the range without teaching at their range, as long as the class size is under 6. We try to keep our classes small so our students can get the most out of them. Our normal classroom course is 8 hours long and more thorough than many others. We still prefer people to take the classroom training, but there are some who can't make it to our regular classes, so we want them to still have opportunity to carry. We didn't take any shortcuts on our online course. We developed extra quizzes to test their knowledge and have everyone take a written test as well. The Q&A at the range is intended for us to get to know the person and observe them handling a firearm. If they display an unsafe attitude, we will not issue a certificate.

We also have a disdain for the Coconut Charlie types. We attended one such class and were not thrilled with the quality of instruction. We are inexpensive, but our content is thorough. It looks like you're doing a good job with your TCCarry Express. We have done evening courses as well on two nights with advanced students. You just can't show a person online how to properly hold and handle a firearm, which is what we do in person at the range. You can learn the laws, the effects of an encounter, and general knowledge about guns and ammunition on your own with a good text. That's what we're trying to accomplish.

And thanks for your kind words about TCCarry Express. (Actually, I prefer to have my students take the regular TCCarry class -- as part of BeginnerToCarry(tm), if necessary -- rather than Express. But some people just can't fit it into their busy schedules.)

That said, I'm of the strong opinion -- perhaps wrong, but not uninformed -- that online classes are, at their best, an inadequate shortcut, which is why I think that the Utah BCI was right to ban them (and, I believe, decertify instructors when they've been caught taking inadequate shortcuts), and wish our own BCA was still that wise, as they were when Jeff Luther (now Chief in Rogers; I'm proud to say, "I knew him when...") was running their carry permit instructor certified organization program. Maybe his replacement, Joshua Florell, will grow into the job... after Michael Campion stops filling the big chair at DPS.

As to Bill's having possibly relaxed their rules for outside instructors' classes (as long as they're small, which seems strange) that's certainly their prerogative. I don't do business with them; John Monson gave up asking me to, some time ago.

[turk]

can you use a gun safety certificate from another state if it is not over a year old to get a Nevada ccw license or do you have to go to a nevada class??