Choose your Illinois CCW Instructor Carefully

Concealed carry instructors investigated for granting permits without training

Posted: Dec 17, 2013 7:59 PM CSTUpdated: Dec 18, 2013 2:46 PM CST

By Mike Flannery, FOX 32 News Political Editor - bio | email

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -

There are another two and a half weeks until Illinoisans may apply for a permit to carry a concealed, loaded handgun, but FOX 32 News has learned scam artists are already hard at work. State Police say they've already revoked the credentials of at least two firearms instructors and they may be investigating a half-dozen more.

Sources tell FOX 32 News some concealed carry instructors are offering to certify that applicants have done the required 16 hours of training in exchange for cash when, in fact, they have not. The revelations raise new questions about a process that relies heavily on the honor system--something that hasn't always worked real well in Illinois.

Illinois's new gun law details the 16 hours of training that most residents need to complete before they may apply for a permit to carry a concealed, loaded handgun.

But the law is largely silent on what's required of those who provide that training.

Rushing to comply with a tight timetable, state police have relied on the National Rifle Association and other, similar groups to certify the qualifications of firearms instructors.

The NRA's Illinois affiliate told FOX Chicago News it's discovered some trainers it certified committing apparent fraud. One, for example, even advertised, that applicants willing to pay him would only have to take three hours of gun safety training and he'd certify that they'd completed eight. The NRA's Richard Pearson wants such violators prosecuted as criminals.

Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, Richard Pearson, told FOX 32 a similar scam earlier this year in Missouri earned the offending firearms trainer a jail sentence. Pearson said his group and the Illinois State Police are investigating as many as eight instructors for fraud.

A state police spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday that they've decertified at least two concealed carry trainers, based on complaints from students and groups such as the NRA.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart told FOX 32 News Monday that the process for granting concealed carry permits has too few safeguards and far too many question marks. Oak Park's State Sen. Don Harmon said he's worried too.

Despite Sen. Harmon's misgivings, a committee he chairs gave final approval to the process today. The first applications will be accepted online beginning Jan. 5th.

Many gun rights activists were delighted last spring when the General Assembly made Illinois the 50th and final state to let residents apply for a permit to carry concealed, loaded handguns. Others, though, were angry that the new law required a mandatory 16 hours of firearms training for most applicants. Military veterans or others that can prove previous experience only need to complete eight.

For information on what you need to get a concealed carry permit in Illinois, click here.

Five Reasons to get any Non-Resident Permit (e.g. Utah, Arizona, Florida, etc.) Now

Question:

Why get the Utah, Arizona, Florida or any non-resident permit now, when the State of Illinois permit is close to becoming law?

 

Answer:

1. The current House Bill 0997 includes a provision that, if passed, will allow you to carry in Illinois under an out of state non-resident permit for 365 days. Yes, we all will still need to sit for the Illinois class once we know what those classes will look like. But we all will avoid the onslaught of students and severe price gauging initially.

2. The Utah, Arizona, Florida or other non-resident permits are "multi-state" permits, allowing you to conceal carry in many States, depending on the permit.

3. In the current political climate, our second amendment rights are being chipped away, slowly but surely. Once you have these multi-state, non-resident permits, you are showing your support for your 2A rights.

4. Illinois might not reciprocate / honor any other State permit for a long time even after some law is passed.  So if you travel across the Illinois borders of Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri or Iowa and would like to protect yourself and your family once you cross the state line, you will need a multi-state, non-resident permit (i.e. Utah, Arizona, Florida, etc.).

5. Because it is our God given right!  The second Amendment is not what gives us the right to keep and bear arms, rather it says that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.  This clearly means that the right to bear arms precedes the Constitution.  Our Constitution codifies how our government should operate (what it can and can not do), so the Second Amendment says that the Government shall not infringe on the existing right to keep and bear arms.  The Declaration of Independence tells us that our rights are inalienable and endowed by our Creator.

ACTION:

Join us for a concealed carry class at:
Grace Gospel Church, 4N220 Route 83 Bensenville, Illinois 60106.
Half of the proceeds from class is going back to Grace Gospel Church.

Register & visit our website
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Disagree with Expanding Background Checks Courtesy of Senator Kirk? A Letter from Illinois Concealed Carry

Senator Kirk's position is to expand background
checks on law abiding citizens

Dear Senator Kirk,
I strongly disagree with your recent positions to expand background checks on law abiding citizens.  It infringes on our rights and puts my life in danger.

I assume that you do know that criminals could care less about what laws are passed. Right?  You also should be aware that current laws, passed by you: our esteemed representatives, are IGNORED.  How are they ignored?  Ask police officers who arrest criminals on firearms violations only to see slaps on wrist given out instead of tough sentencing.  Could you please make sure that the laws our Representatives pass are ENFORCED?  I prefer that instead of a repeat of history.

How and why does it put my life in danger?  I am a direct descendant of survivors of gun control, registration, followed by confiscation, followed by a MASS extermination of human beings by forces of communism and their goons.  The experience and memory is in my DNA.  You can’t legislate that away.  You only sharpen the memories of my predecessors and cause alarms to go off when you continue to infringe on our rights by passing more gun legislation.

My great grand fathers, unable to protect themselves after firearms were confiscated from their families, suffered greatly.  One even spent countless years in Stalin's camps.  Only by the grace of God, he persevered and survived, to tell his story so that history does not repeat itself.  I am simply lucky to have been born at all because many of my predecessors simply died at the hands of the government goons (who never took weapons away from themselves by the way).  Those perished predecessors and distant relatives could not have offspring as a result of their demise.  There will never be countless people I would otherwise call: cousins, aunts, uncles etc... or other relatives of mine as a result of what started as "expanded gun laws".

Now, the end result which is mass extermination after arms are confiscated, does not occur overnight.  This is why people ridicule those who sound the alarm.  We are now an instant results/gratification society and when we don’t see some result instantly, we tend to ignore and ridicule the issue at hand.  Same with firearms.  Mass exterminations NEVER occur the next day after restrictions.  Firearms controls, registrations and other restriction, take many years and then one day, you don’t have firearms anymore.   Then the day after, you can’t defend yourself anymore if you need to, and you perish.  This process takes years but it always ends in the same way: millions upon millions of dead people at the hands of very few with weapons.

I don’t believe that there’s a single Representative in our Government Today who has an evil plan in the works to exterminate Americans.  However, there are today, tyrants among us, men who will grow up and seize power if given a path and a chance to do so.  2A is there to remind us that we can defend our freedoms from evil.  Stalin and Hitler did not confiscate guns themselves, it was done when they were young and not in power at the time of registration and confiscation preceding their tyrannical “careers”.  Prior restrictions gave them the path and a chance to do evil without any resistance.

I really am saddened that you support further restrictions of our II Amendment, which by the way does not give us the right, but rather it tells the Government that the Government can’t infringe on that right which already exists.

I hope that Illinois can produce a strong supporter of the 2A in the next election.

Respectfully, a student of history, survivor of gun control, and your constituent.

Contact Senator Kirk to express your support for 2nd Amendment.
Get training with Illinois Concealed Carry to exercise your right safely!

Illinois Concealed Carry Releases April & May Calendar of Classes

Illinois Concealed Carry Releases April & May Calendar of Classes

Oakbrook, IL | Firearm & Non-Lethal Weapon Training For Safety, Defense & Recreation Illinois Concealed Carry out of Oakbrook, Illinois releases April & May Calendar of Classes.

Click here to view the Illinois Concealed Carry calendar of events

Illinois Concealed Carry Law has yet to be been passed! Such a class does not exist yet.

The Illinois concealed carry law has not been passed yet! Do not fall for instructors who are offering classes right now

Unscrupulous and Unethical Instructors are
already offering Illinois Concealed Carry classes.

Oakbrook, IL | The Illinois concealed carry law has not been passed yet! News flash... Do yourself a favor and do not fall for unscrupulous and unethical instructors who are offering you an Illinois concealed carry class right now. Such a class does not exist yet. The seventh circuit court made it perfectly clear that the current prohibition on concealed carry in Illinois is unconstitutional. The court stayed its order for 180 days thus giving the Illinois General Assembly until June 9th 2013 to come up with an Illinois concealed carry law/bill. If no concealed carry law is passed, the court is likely to permit concealed carry without a law: in other words we could have constitutional carry.

The bill in front of the State of Illinois Legislative Assembly has undergone a dozen changes and will undergo a dozen more before the final Illinois concealed carry law is finalized and passed. These changes will incorporate instructor qualifications and registries with the Illinois State Police as well as student class requirements. Furthermore, the State of Illinois Concealed Carry law might require that all training be effective after the Illinois concealed carry law has passed.

I know what you are thinking: It is very reasonable to assume that the 8 hour NRA Basic pistol class will be the foundation to qualify for the Illinois concealed carry license/permit, once it passes. It is easy to make that assumption because the 8 hour NRA Basic Pistol class qualifies you for most other concealed carry permits/licenses in the Nation and it is listed as one of the proposed student requirements in HB0997. DON'T TAKE THAT CHANCE!! The current Illinois Concealed Carry bill already has specific range (live-fire) qualifications that are different from the typical 8 hour NRA Basic Pistol class. Furthermore lawmakers have changed the range (live-fire) qualifications multiple times already.

The Illinois concealed carry class is likely to have specific examination requirements during classroom portion and discussions on the use of deadly force as they pertain to the laws of the State of Illinois.

However, there is something you should be doing to prepare for Illinois concealed carry. You absolutely must obtain a non-resident permit from Florida, Arizona or Utah. In the proposed legislation (amended HB0997) there is language that states the following: "Any Illinois resident who has a license or permit to carry a handgun issued by another state shall be able to carry a handgun in accordance with this Act using that license for 365 days following the effective date of this Act." This means that you would be able to carry concealed in Illinois on the date when the bill becomes law for 1 year. Avoid the initial onslaught of applications to the Illinois State Police and price gouging.

In addition, having a non resident permit will allow you to carry in other states since it may also take a while for Illinois State Police to enter into reciprocity agreements with other states.

We recommend Utah + Arizona permit combination due to the coverage they provide and the low costs both states charge to process the applications. Florida permit is recommended if you travel to Florida.

I am disgusted with the instructors and companies misrepresenting to the hard-working people of Illinois their classes by implying that you can take a class now and it would satisfy Illinois concealed carry requirements. If you are one of those people who paid for a class already, call those companies and instructors back and demand a refund! 

Feel free to call or email Illinois Concealed Carry, LLC. if you have additional questions about this topic. And please keep us in mind for all your firearm and concealed carry training needs.

Read more at our Illinois Concealed carry website

Illinois Concealed Carry providing a dual concealed carry permit class for Utah and Arizona CCW permits

Dual concealed carry permit class offered by Illinois Concealed Carry

Oakbrook, IL | Illinois concealed carry, LLC is now able to provide a Dual concealed carry permit class. Obtain the Utah and Arizona CCW permits, which between the both are honored and recognized in 36 States.  As a non-resident permit holder you will be able to safely and legally conceal carry in 33 States, with both permits. PLUS there are no range qualification (live-fire) required.

This will save you time and money.

Qualify for both the Utah and Arizona permits in a single classroom session (4-5 hours) and leave the class with everything that you will need to obtain both permits.  We also have fingerprints and passport photo services onsite.

Sign up for this class here!