Training Courses
Every day as we pick up the paper, watch the news, listen to the radio, and talk to friends, we are continually assaulted with the reality that violent crime is an epidemic. It has no boundaries, no color, and there is no clear end in sight. This tidal wave of violence is simply overwhelming police resources that are already stretched to the breaking point. We once took law enforcement resources for granted as our first, and perhaps even as our only line of defense, but we are waking up to the fact that the police are too few and far in-between to ever be our bodyguards.
In 2008, we saw double-digit increases in aggravated assaults in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City: over 23% in OKC, and nearly 11% in Tulsa. In 2009 we saw a record-breaking 70 homicides, surpassing the previous record of 69 set in 2003, and a new high of 29 bank robberies. While all-time crime records are set, our police forces across the nation are making deep cuts to available manpower. Instead of departments being bolstered, many divisions within those departments are being cleaned out to the point of nonexistence. Every day, we hear more stories of overcrowded prisons resulting in the release of hardened, convicted criminals back into the general public far ahead of their sentences. People are beheaded in buses while nobody present lifted a finger to stop it. We read news of crazed lunatics shooting up hospitals, churches, schools, colleges, universities, courthouses, government buildings, buses full of children, and malls. Pastors are murdered in front of their congregations. People are raped and killed in broad daylight. Locally, a man was shot and killed in front of hundreds of other people while nobody did anything to stop the crime as it happened; people present even stepped over EMS workers while they were still trying to assist the victim. In the aftermath of that incident, everyone refused to cooperate with the police, and only a few months later three more individuals were shot at the same location.
Every day, we better understand that when seconds count, the police are only minutes away. Therefore, the burden of self-defense rests on us: not on our government, our military, the state, or even our local police, but on us, the silent majority of working citizens who are present in nearly every case these incidents transpire.
The state-mandated Oklahoma Concealed Carry class is designed to teach gun safety and serve as an introduction to the state's Self Defense Act (SDA) laws, nothing more. Thus, it is severely deficient in its ability to adequately educate, prepare, and train you for the realities of self-defense that you face as a law-abiding citizen carrying a concealed firearm in your daily life. Knowing the self-defense laws and being able to apply them in real-world situations are very different things. The ICC1 course is designed to address these issues and equip you with the appropriate knowledge to assist you in responding to a life-threatening situation.
Here are a few of the questions we have designed the Intermediate Concealed Carry Level 1 course curriculum to specifically address:
- Do I know what type of people commit crimes, how they commit them, who they commit them against, and how to spot tell-tale signs of a crime about to happen?
- Do I know what tools may stop a crime before it ever starts, without resorting to an unjustified use of deadly force? Do I know how to use these tools?
- Do I have a method of carry that is comfortable and concealable enough that I am consistently armed any time I leave my house?
- Can I draw my defensive pistol quickly enough from concealment for it to be a relevant self-defense tool against a criminal intent on doing me serious bodily harm?
- Is my pistol a defensive tool I know how to competently operate, or am I merely expecting its mere presence and noise when fired to stop an attack?
- Can I pull the trigger on a justified deadly force threat that is attempting to do serious physical injury or even kill me?
- Am I a good enough shot to consistently hit what I'm aiming at without endangering those around me?
- Do I know how to get my gun back in the fight quickly when it malfunctions?
- What if one or two shots aren't enough to stop an assailant? What if ten shots isn't enough?
- What do I do after an encounter with a criminal if I was forced to draw my gun, but didn't have to shoot? What do I do afterward if I did fire? Will my gun be taken away? Am I going to jail?
Course overview:
ICC1 is one full day of training including lecture, practical exercises, and live fire on the range. This pistol-focused class is designed for people who want to acquire real-world defensive pistol skill sets designed specifically for Concealed Carry. The only prerequisite to take this class is the basic Concealed Carry class.
You will learn:
- How to identify pre-attack indicators and other bodily cues and behaviors that indicate a crime is seconds away from happening
- About a defensive tool that not only helps us identify a possible threat, but can stop a crime in its tracks before it ever happens in the first place
- How to select an appropriate firearm
- How to manipulate your firearm as a defensive tool
- How to select and use a holster for your firearm that will allow you to be consistently armed in public while still being in compliance with the law
- How to draw your firearm from concealment consistently and quickly
- How to shoot accurately and consistently, and how to speed up consistent accuracy
- Quickly clearing malfunctions when your firearm experiences them
- How to reload
- What to do after an encounter with a criminal
You will need:
- ***Please Note: all below equipment is available for rental/purchase as needed - try before you buy! Don't let a lack of gear stop you from taking this class!***
- A semi-automatic pistol and as many magazines as possible
- A holster you can conceal
- 200 rounds of ammunition minimum
- Ear and eye protection
- Money for lunch
- Proper attire for the weather and conditions
- A hat and/or sunscreen is advisable
In self-defense, we only get one chance to do it right: the first time. We need to find out the realities of self-defense in a safe, controlled training environment where we get a "do-over" when our preparations or equipment fails. We do NOT want to find out what doesn't work in a dirty mall parking lot where failure means serious bodily harm or even death; we would much rather discover those deficiencies in our preparation and equipment in training so we won't have to fail when it matters!
You will never be set up to fail in this course. Our staff is certified, friendly, competent, proficient, fun, and professional. This course is designed to improve you from the very first moment you step in our door, starting from any skill level, with your own equipment, because the edge that you acquire from training will translate to a life-saving difference when it matters most. Pay attention in class, apply what you learn, and you will succeed in every single exercise!
Meet the instructors: Paul Melin, Randy Curry, and Jeremiah "Bars" Blasi!
"The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose." James Earl Jones