We got right to work in the morning for this  all day class.. eight hours  of instruction and range time, with a break for lunch. Plan to spend  the day in case the class  goes a bit long (with questions) and if you do well shooting and   on the written test, you'll go home with everything you  need  to apply for  your AZ CCW permit

The Diamondback Police CCW class includes a packet with  your application, fingerprint cards (which you'll complete  during the class) and some handouts  to keep with good information on CCW that we went over in class

Fingerprinting went quickly  and  smoothly with all 15 students  getting their fingerprint cards during classroom breaks throughout the day

Phil has been instructing the  Arizona Concealed Carry Weapons Pemit course since the inception of the program in Arizona in 1994. His expert knowledge of the subject is displayed in his effortless demos for the class. Concepts that have taken  me years of trial and error to understand were  quickly explained with a few simple examples  by Phil.

One of the things  that haunt new shooters and long time marksmen alike are trigger issues. Using the laser grip on a training revolver against a far wall (that the entire  class could see), Phil  was  able  to  again effortlessly demonstrate difficult concepts and how to  deal with them

Although this  was not  a skills class, we did touch on the basics  of marksmanship. Grip, Stance, Breath, Sight Picture, Trigger Control and Follow Through. While not going into too much detail, we did touch on the idea that there  is a lot  to learn about shooting well. And we were reminded  of  the importance  of taking CCW seriously enough  to  learn and practice our shooting  skills.

Examples of the Isosceles, Modified and Weaver shooting stance

Between our first break and lunch we started getting prepared to  do the shooting portion of the class. We went over the requirements of the state, what constitutes  a  'good shot in real life and of course the range  rules for the indoor  range  where we  were headed  to take the shooting tests.

We had   a fairly large  class,  so instead of everyone waiting for both fingerprints and the range, we split  the class up. Half of the students stayed at Diamondback and had their fingerprints taken,  while the rest of the class went to the Marksman Pistol Institute where the shooting portion of the CCW class  was held. This worked out well and there were no  long waits.

Three bays  at  the indoor range were reserved for our class. (Again no waiting) Each of the students went to  the firing line, did their shooting then headed  back or waited to see their friends and classmates  shoot their skills  test

The facilities at the Marksman are ideal for  a  class like this. Our instructor was able  to easily keep  an eye on the students as they shot their  qualifying targets. Each student shot their own target   and could keep it  if they wished. Because the Marksman has a  large lobby area in their   store, the students were able to  watch their friends shoot. Everyone passed  by the way.

On the way back to the classroom students were able to stop for lunch if they wanted to. Although the Marksman is less than 5 miles away, there  are many restaurants depending on the route you take.

Sometimes whole day classes can get boring after lunch  and students my tend to fall sleep  during 'dry' subject matter. This was not the case for this class. We talked about care and maintenance, weapon and gear options and selection as well as the importance of practice

From How to  shoot, we  headed to When to shoot.  Using the AZ Gun Owners  Guide (available at Diamondback) as reference, we went over each AZ law that applies to CCW and also laws pertaining to weapons.

The class ended with the test and passing out course certificates. This was a great  class I'd recomend itto  anyone interested  in obtaining their AZ CCW permit. Diamondback is a comfortable place, centrally located. This is a professional and informative AZ CCW class.