The fallacy of the Enhanced Carry Permit “training”

I’ve been a firearms instructor for well over 10 years now and during that time, I’ve always preferred to do live-fire in-person training. Live-fire training allows me to coach students in the proper fundamentals of self-defense and firearms. In 2020, Tennessee introduced a new permitting process that let residents obtain the concealed carry permit training online instead of an in-person 8-hour course. A lot of people see this as deficient training and wanted to see students take a live-fire portion of the training. As someone who teaches the Enhanced Carry Permit course, let me be the first to tell you that the gun handling portion of the Enhanced Carry Permit is not training. It’s a sobriety test. As long as you don’t shoot yourself or someone else, you’re going to pass. You’re expected to be able to handle a gun when you show up to class and state regulations tell instructors that we can only make sure you’re safe, not help you shoot. The targets for the test are huge and you have to make shots at 9, 15, and 21 feet. A trivial distance for even the most inexperienced shooter. Oh, and you only have to hit 70% of your shots. For those doing the math, that’s 35 of your 50 shots that have to hit inside of a target that’s as big as a hubcap and within spitting distance. When we introduced our site and if you’ve watched our course, you’ll know that one of the first things we tell folks is to get in-person training. My advice to people is to take the concealed course, use the money you saved, and take an in-person class with a good instructor. The Enhanced Carry Course should be one of the very first steps to carrying a firearm, not the last. Do not think that by taking the Enhanced course you’ll be equipped to defend yourself in a fight with a gun.

Whichever course you choose, please get additional training.