My husband has been encouraging me to take a concealed carry course for years. As a Marine and a police officer, he knows the importance of self-defense. As a 30-year-old woman, I know that I am at a higher risk, so we had already done quite a bit of training with both pistols and rifles. He finally convinced me to take a course, and we chose the Appalachian Tactical Academy because it was more than just a regular concealed carry course. The curriculum is mainly based on self-defense. It could have been intimidating, being the only female in a room full of men, but I was fairly confident in my shooting skills and there was absolutely no judgement. This class was excellent. It reaffirmed my decision to take a concealed carry course, and it provided me with the knowledge that I would need to defend myself if I was ever in a situation that I would need to. The staff was very professional and helpful. Josh, the instructor, was beyond knowledgeable in this field. We spent a few hours in the classroom, learning helpful information about aiming and stance. From there, we spent around 5 hours on the range.
The shooting portion of the class began with assessing our accuracy and learning skills to improve it. Josh went from person to person and gave them pointers based on the hits on their targets. Next, we learned to quickly resolve a variety of malfunctions. We learned to shoot one handed, then worked through the same malfunctions with one hand. One of the exercises tested how quickly we could draw and shoot if an assailant was running at us. We individually practiced moving and shooting, both forward and backwards and side to side. After we took our test for the concealed carry license, we re-took the accuracy tests and the vast majority of the class had improved.
I firmly believe that this is what all concealed carry classes should be. Learning the importance of carrying and practicing aim and accuracy for self-defense is an essential part of carrying concealed. I highly recommend this class to anyone wanting to improve their shooting skills and become more comfortable handling a pistol. I have already recommended this class to friends of mine. I look forward to taking the next pistol course and the rifle courses with my husband!