A Joliet man has filed a lawsuit against a firearms instructor after his application for a concealed carry permit was rejected by state police and the instructor’s accreditation was revoked.

The lawsuit, filed April 4 by John P. Ambrose in Cook County, cites James Andel and Security Guard College, Inc., as defendants. Andel is president of the company and an instructor, the suit says.

Ambrose said he took concealed carry training classes run by Andel at Bass Pro Shops in Bolingbrook, and that company is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.

"The training class was worthless because it did not qualify consumers for the concealed-carry permit," the lawsuit alleges. "(Ambrose) wasted a significant amount of time taking the worthless class, and had his application for a concealed-carry permit rejected."

Ambrose must now spend additional time and money receiving the training before he can again apply to the state, according to the lawsuit.

Andel could not be reached for comment Monday. Repeated calls to Security Guard College were not answered, and Bass Pro Shops representatives did not return a request for comment.

Illinois State Police officials said earlier this month that the agency had denied concealed carry licenses to 327 applicants who received inadequate training from an instructor in Bolingbrook.

State police officials initially had declined to name the Bolingbrook instructor, who they said was responsible for the wide majority of the 425 concealed carry applicants statewide who were denied permits due to improper training. But a spokewoman Monday indentified the instructor as Andel.

State police officials said those denied applicants will be allowed to retrain and will have their $150 fee waived for future applications.

The lawsuit alleges that more than 300 people are in Ambrose’s situation and his attorney has filed a class-action motion.

Clinton Krislov, Ambrose’s attorney, said Monday he believes the class-action designation will be granted since the issues involved and money lost attending the classes will be uniform among those affected.
"They won’t have to do anything, and hopeful we’ll get them all their money back," Krislov said of other potential plaintiffs.

Information about the instructor and the subsequent concealed carry permit rejections have been referred to the Will County state’s attorney’s office, state police spokeswoman Monique Bond said last month.

State’s attorney’s office spokesman Charles Pelkie said Monday that the matter is under review.
Ambrose saw a booth offering Security Guard College’s concealed carry training class in October at the Bass Pro Shops location in Bolingbrook, according to the lawsuit.

The booth was manned by Andel, “who told (Ambrose) he was a licensed firearms instructor and had been approved by Illinois State Police to train concealed carry permit applicants,” the lawsuit states.

While the state requires 16 hours of in-person training, Andel told Ambrose that “his course satisfied the requirement by providing an eight-hour class, some time at a shooting range, and was supplemented by online educational materials,” the lawsuit states.

Ambrose paid $125 and attended an eight-hour training class at the Bolingbrook Bass Pro Shops in December, according to the lawsuit.

After a firing range class a few days later, Andel presented Ambrose with an Illinois State Police concealed carry training certificate confirming that he had successfully completed his training, according to the lawsuit.

But that certificate cited exemptions to the 16-hour training requirement that Ambrose did not qualify for, the lawsuit alleges.

Ambrose submitted his permit application to the state in January, according to the lawsuit, and received a call from an Illinois State Police investigator in March regarding his training class.

Illinois State Police revoked Andel’s instructor certification on March 7, according to the state police website.

“Neither Andel, Security Guard College, nor Bass Pro Shops informed Plaintiff that Andel’s certification was revoked or that Plaintiff’s permit application would be denied,” the lawsuit states.

Ambrose received a letter on March 31 informing him that his concealed carry application was denied because his instructor did not provide the minimum training hours, according to the lawsuit.
Krislov said the lawsuit will seek to reclaim the money spent for the classes, as well as compensation for inconvenience and the time spent.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, and that the defendant’s conduct was “immoral, unethical, oppressive and unscrupulous.”

“The training class was advertised and described as fulfilling the concealed-carry training requirements,” the lawsuit states, “but it certainly did not.”

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