TexasCHLforum.com

It's likely that some of the actual instructors are not actually gun guys at all, but work for a company whose owner took the necessary courses to be authorized to sign off on the forms. I would bet that the online process was started by a member of the legislature who was taken to an expensive golf course by a lobbyist hired by Sylvan, or another mass provider of online courses so they can get into this market.

That is why the requirements to be approved as a provider were so exclusive, so they could protect that turf.

Just got an email from someone who is charging $229.00 for the online LTC course. Really? Who in the world would pay that much for a class that can't possibly be worth over $100.00?

I better raise my rates.

I doubt I will be asked to do any of these. I have been approached by several online providers already, and they seem to think I can do a private lesson and Proficiency for $30-40 and make more per hour than teaching a class of 16. You do the math. In addition, they want me to send them students.

Some of the online providers are promising that the total cost will be about the same, but many people will find out that either the cost is higher, or it is more difficult to schedule the Proficiency.

I saw a Facebook ad for one of these online providers. They claim that, after taking their $49 course, you just have to go to a local range for the Proficiency, and you will end up paying about the same as for a live course.

I think that is a lie. The average cost of a class seems to be about $80. I don't see any instructor doing one hour of range training + the Proficiency for $31. Based on my current rates, that would cost about $90. I suspect most people will end up having real trouble getting the range training, or paying a lot more than they bargained on.

On the flip side, I visited the website of an LTC instructor who also offers the online course, and it *appears* that he is not requiring the range training, just the Proficiency.

I suspect that the only consultation on this idea undertaken by our legislature was with *one* online training firm, who designed the requirements to benefit themselves (and that legislator).

It is my understanding that we have to give an hour of range instruction, then the Proficiency. Until DPS clarifies this. I'm not doing these at all. If it turns out that I am correct about the requirement, then I'm still not doing them. Let the online providers do it.