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by G.C.Montgomery
Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:22 am
Forum: General Gun, Shooting & Equipment Discussion
Topic: Negligent Discharge at Houston Gun show this weekend
Replies: 60
Views: 10036

GlockenHammer wrote:My position is that the TX CHL training should include a segment on gun safety, including handling and administrative tasks (with practicals). I'd also like to see some minimal marksmanship guidance. I agree with tomneal that even the stupid deserve the right of protection. I just think we should make a minimal effort at alleviating some of that stupidity in the CHL course.
Safe storage and administrative handling procedures are a part of the curriculum. It’s up the instructor to make sure these subjects are covered in his class. The State says the class may run a minimum of ten hours or up to a maximum of fifteen hours. Whether a student gets exposed to that curriculum is up to the instructor but I’ll give you an example of what I think is a common problem with CHL classes taught in retail facilities. Many retail facilities improperly schedule the classes and do not allowing the instructor to spend much time, if any, teaching people the basics of administrative handling. The retailer is only interested in the money and causing minimal inconvenience to the students in hopes the students will be repeat customers to the range and retail space.

For example, a retailer schedules their CHL classes from 8:30AM to 6:30PM. This is a common schedule and on the surface appears to be a ten-hour class. The problem is, students are told by the retailer to expect a one-hour break for lunch. That means the class is in fact only scheduled for nine-hours of instruction rather than the mandated ten hour minimum. The same facility generally expects instructors to fingerprint their students as well handle all notary and other paperwork. The facility will provide fingerprinting, photos and notary but that still occupies time that for the students should be spent in the lecture. And then of course, the instructor walks the students out to the range for proficiency demonstrations. In an average class of twenty or more students, all of these tasks combine to burn as much as three hours. Generally that leaves the instructor with about six hours to get through safe storage/handling procedures, non-violent dispute resolution, the penal code, where concealed carry is allow/prohibited, use of force/deadly force, and student questions. But students also must be allowed time to take the written exam and the exams have to be graded before the instructor can sign the student’s TR-100. So typically, that cuts another half-hour to and hour out of time allotted for instruction. The result is students are actually getting only about five hours of lecture time in a class mandated for ten hours. Do you think something might get skipped?

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