BEWARE: Allegedly Illinois-approved CCW classes that are NOT|| UPDATED

UPDATE:

We certainly don’t have a lot of love for flim-flam artists who would defraud Illinois gun owners, but Equip 2 Conceal assured us this morning that they are neither flim-flam artists, nor looking to defraud Illinois gun owners.

Chad Ward, Vice-President of Equip 2 Conceal, was very “concerned” over our post (see below) that we put up last night.

His point was that there is no way to register for the courses, nor were any dates or locations given.

I countered with his site’s text stating, “This class meets the certification and re-certification training requirements for the Illinois CWP.  We have the following locations at this time” (emphasis added).  I noted the language in the new CCW law prohibits advertising courses that are not Illinois approved, or certified, when they are not.

In the end, Mr. Ward agreed that they might have been a little premature with the language on their webpage and agreed to make a tweak or two for the time being to reflect they, like hundreds of other instructors, are patiently waiting for their submitted coursework to be approved.

It’s good to see these aren’t a bunch of out-of-state guys looking to fleece Illinois gun owners.  Chad says it is local instructors who are affiliated with Equip 2 Conceal, not a bunch of out of state guys who roll in from Florida to teach the classes – and I suspect we’re not going to get to see that fancy Raptor pickup truck in person.

His willingness to make slight changes in the language of the course description is a good sign that these guys are good people, not the potential villains we suspected they might have been in our earlier post.

As such, we’re striking much of the language in the original post…  Or, more accurately, pulling it from the public side.

Thanks for reading!

If you would like to contact Chad personally about this, send me an email and I’ll check with Chad to see if it’s alright if I share his cell phone.

ORIGINAL POST (sans redactions) BELOW

We don’t have a lot of love for flim-flam artists who would defraud Illinois gun owners who don’t know any better.

…

In reality, there are no Illinois-approved classes at this time.

…

Here’s the text from the website:

Illinois Concealed Carry Classes

This class meets the certification and re-certification training requirements for the Illinois CWP.  We have the following locations at this time to serve you in Illinois those being Aurora, Arlington Heights Bloomington, Belleville, Carbondale, Champagne, Chicago, Decatur, Elgin, Effingham, Evanston, Freeport, Fairview Heights, Galesburg, Joliet, Jacksonville, Maryville, Macomb, Mount Vernon, Naperville, Oak Lawn, Olney, Peoria, Quincy, Rochelle, Rockford, Springfield, Tinley Park and Waukegan with more coming soon.

This Illinois concealed carry class is designed to satisfy the requirements to obtain an Illinois Concealed Carry Permit. The course consists of both classroom work and range work. Students will be required to successfully complete the course and pass a practical range proficiency test. Students must read, write and understand English and be able to follow all of the directions given by the Instructor. Course attendees must pass a practical proficiency test on the firing range, scoring no less than 70% with a minimum of 30 rounds, fired at distances of 5 yards, 7 yards, and 10 yards, in addition to the classroom portion, in order to be certified as having completed the course. Upon course completion, for either the eight (8) hour or full (16) hour program, the course attendee will receive a “Certificate of Course Completion”.

The State of Illinois requires combined firearms training of 16 hours in order for an individual to apply for an Illinois Concealed Carry Permit. Individuals may use up to eight (8) hours of firearms training obtained prior to the effective date of the Firearm Concealed Carry Act as credit towards the 16 hour training requirement.

If you have a DD214 or NRA 8 Hour Basic Pistol then you can be given credit toward our Phase 1 course and would only need the Phase 2 which includes the practical range time.

Can I has the class for Champagne, IL puleaze?

Maybe they can come up in that fancy pickup truck they’ve got…