Well, I took my CCW class on Saturday, I was the only one in my class to bring his own weapon. The county Sheriff's department gave the course and they supplied the ammo for me and the guns and ammo for the rest. The range master liked the Taurus but the deputies are trained on Sigs and Smith and Wessons.

My memories include one of the range assistants' expression when he told me to load and ready the weapon and saw it cocked and locked on the table (pointing down range of course). He was used to decocking double/singles and I am not sure he ever handled a 1911. I know he was not willing to put any rounds through it because he was not "checked out" on the 1911.

As my nick states, I am a rank amateur and the Taurus is my first pistol but I had been practicing for the last couple of months, proper procedures and shooting for accuracy. When they had us shoot for practice with various distances and lighting levels, I tried to shoot each group as tight as possible.

When we did the qualification, the target was a vertical rectangle 8.5 inches wide by 33 inches tall (3 sheets of vertically stacked letter paper) set at 4 yards. The goal was to keep all rounds from 2 out of 3 groups with 6 rounds per group within the rectangle. Needless to say, all of the class passed ( I would be very worried if anyone missed!). I kept my hits within a 2 inch circle and the range assistant quietly called me a showoff. I passed.

where in mi are you i just west of lansing clint

I had no idea that we could take the class from the county Sheriff's office. Which county are you in?

I took mine from total firearms when MI first passed the CCW bills but had to let it expire after 3 years due to financial reasons. It's not cheap to be "allowed" to carry but I'll more than likely get another permit before I ship out to Fort Sill.

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C BTRY 1st BN 119th FA

Wayne County had the class. You take the classroom session at the Wayne County Community College Western Campus on Haggerty just north of I-94. And the range work is at the Wayne County Road Patrol Headquarters on Henry-Ruff just north of Michigan Avenue. $125 includes use of pistols and ammo.

Wayne County Sheriff's Office
Training Center - Western Campus
Wayne County Community College
9555 Haggerty Road
Belleville, MI 48111
734-699-6007

http://www.michigan.gov/mcoles/0,16...82083--,00.html

They also have an 8 hour point shooting class I hope to take in the fall.

Congrats! When I took my class many years ago, I was amazed at how big the area was (and how close). Still, there was a woman in the class who had never shot before who had trouble keeping them on that target with the .40 S&W Glock the range rented her (she asked for a rental gun, that's what they handed her). She was flinching like crazy from the recoil, and starting to panic that she'd fail the class. I swapped her pistol for my big 9mm pistol I brought for the rest of the range portion, and she then did fine.

Like you, I was putting my shots into a decent group. Instructor called me a showoff and told me to shoot the rest one-handed. When that didn't expand the group much, he made me shoot the rest weak hand.

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--FJC

Yes, it amazed me when my father told me of such horror stories when he got his ccw permit here in alaska. He had told me that from a close distance, within 15 ft, they had to hit the paper. That was it. In order to "qualify" to carry a firearm in the police, you have to be able to hit someone at 15 ft or under. That's it. Hit them anywhere, but hit them. What amazes me the most, is that there are actually some cops who have to take the class over and over in order to "finally" qualify.

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Of course the 1911 is an outdated design. It came from an era when weapons were designed to win fights, not to avoid product liability lawsuits.

What was the point of forcing handicaps on you? That sounds ridiculous. I've taken the CHL course of fire from two instructors in Texas. Both were glad to have a couple of students who could be relied upon to hit the center even under modest time constraints.

What is normal wait times for Wayne County?

I called the Wayne County Clerk's western Office, (734) 326-4690, and asked for a status after 8 weeks from CCW application. My application has not yet made it to the Gun Board. They meet the second Tuesday of the month. If approved that month, (I have no known reasons to be rejected) I hope to see the CPL by the end of September.

For the Record,
delivered the paperwork to the Wayne County MI Clerk the Friday before July 4th,
was approved by the gun board 9/11,
and received notice to pick up 9/24.

I would have received the permit in the mail but they needed to redo my card therefore needing a new signature.

3 months almost to the day.

Three months....that`s nuts. I took my class in SW Mich in very early December of 06, got the application in that following Monday and fingerprinted, the board met the next week Tuesday and I had my permit in hand by Christmas. 3 WEEKS nearly to the day.

The group that took the class with me (around 30) had far more newcomers than regular shooters. It got to be a long afternoon before we were done...but the range instructors did a great job with the newbies...they never got frustrated with the length of time that it was taking. 2 groups of newbies each took 10-15 minutes per drill, the intermediate groups took about 5-7 minutes per drill, and the one group of who were regular shooters took about 1-3 minutes per drill. It made for a long cold afternoon shooting an outdoor range. We even had to skip the last drill since it was getting dark.