As mentioned yesterday, we hosted the Range Qualification portion of a Kansas Concealed Carry class yesterday out at the Castle. SWWBO won the prize for qualifying with the most-difficult-to-shoot-accurately pistol, her 2" barrelled S&W snubby in .38 SPL - she scored 20 of 25. Considering she was shooting 10 of those rounds at 30 feet with a snubby... that's not bad shooting. Two of her fliers would have been hits on someone my size.
I got two prizes - Oldest weapon, and weapon least suited to concealed carry. I shot the Polish Radom-under-Nazi-supervision-built Vis 35 in 9mm, getting 23 out of 25, with two almost-nick fliers caused by a rather arrogant rapid-fire on my last 10 rounds from 30 feet.
A good time was had by all, and all qualified. For those wondering, the Kansas requirement is 5 rounds, one hand, from 3 yards, 10 rounds, any style at 7 yards, and 10 rounds, any style, from 10 yards, with a minimum of 18 hits to the body on an FBI "Q-style" target.
The class was sponsored by a local business, Kansas Country Store, and was conducted by Jim Lee, who did a good job of making 8 hours of somewhat tedious training bearable. People exited the class qualified to apply for Kansas, Missouri, Utah and Florida. SWWBO and I will be going with Kansas and Utah, as that will give us coverage in all states that allow concealed carry [Except Oregon, as noted by Rivrdog in the comments].
Yesterday was also the debut of the Castle's new diagnostic tool/toy, a Casio Exilim camera capable of 1000 fps video capture. While the resolution at that speed is low, it is suitable for diagnosing shooter issues, and with some tweaking of the camera position, I should also be able to do some diagnosing on feed issues with semi-auto weapons.
All in all - probably not a bad way to spend Osama's Death Day, given that al-Qaeda is probably rather grumpy about it. And Muammar might be annoyed with the loss of his heir, too.
Oh, and use of the hot tub is extra.
Is there a time limit on the course of fire? Say, if one's hand begins to tremble, the sight picture wobbles a bit, and he has to lower the piece (we're not allowed to come to "Raise Pistol" anymore) and refresh his breath, does that count against him?
The NRA Conductor got all flustered and NoNoNO about that, and told me to point it at the ground, the reason apparently being "There are Golf Course Communities over that way!"
What Lurch said.
I do hate golfers, though, and one of the most-severe reproaches I have for my Dear Dead Dad, is that he was a golfer.
Yes, boys can have Daddy issues, too.
However, as a servie to all Grumpy Majors, I provide armed escort when they have occasion to visit this benighted State.
JTG - No, no time limit. The instructor encouraged everybody to take defensive firearms use classes.
Jim did provide validation for my standard answer to the question I get a lot "What kind of gun should I get for concealed carry?" My standard answer is... "I don't know, it depends on a lot of things." And then follow that with the recommendation to try a lot of different pistols and calibers and see, in the end, what pistol causes you to put the most holes in the torso, and does so reliably, and will fit your style of carry.
I especially liked his discussion of why tight shot groupings aren't a good thing... essentially, the point is that punching six holes right next to each other doesn't do as much damage as hitting the target in both lungs, the liver, stomach and heart....
Rivrdog - while I will *always* check state laws prior to carry in a state, your point is well-made, and one I will make to Jim. The clear impression Jim left (and the Centurion can weigh in here, as he is one of the people in the picture above) was that between having the two licenses, you were covered. I may have put my own too-optimistic a spin on what he said. He did cover himself by repeatedly telling people to always check before you travel, never assume the laws are static.
Truthfully, I don't expect that I will carry that much when traveling, if only because of the security issues involved. When I travel, it is often for work, which means military installations, which are not friendly places regarding firearms in the hands of non-residents.
JTG - when the blogads total up to $1k, I'll hire someone to do a thorough rebuild on the back-office. That's the price I've been quoted by the several people I've asked who I believe have the technical savvy to attempt it. Things are creaky back there, certainly. I need to break the gnome's union.
Your mileage may vary, but according to the instruction that we received, of the 37 states that have CC, Kansas has reciprocal agreements with 25. They do not have such agreements with 12 states because of differences in training requirements primarily (Kansas - 8 hours plus firing exercise). Possession of a Utah CCL (or Florida CCL) covers those other 12 states. Neither Florida or Utah have residency requirements. Kansas does, plus if you are a Kansas resident you must have a Kansas CCL, Utah's is no good in Kansas for Kansas residents. With so many differences in what CCL means in each state, I would say that checking beforehand would rank right up there with ensuring that your weapon is clear before leaving the firing line.