Carry Permit Instructor Qualification, Post-October 1, Part I
This will have to be short, but there'll be more later.

Like Paul Horvick, I also had a conversation today with Jeff Luther, BAC Special Agent in Charge of instructor standards, about which more tomorrow, or Sunday.  (I'm teaching a Beginner Class tonight, and I've got a Twin Cities Carry Class tomorrow.)

Short form:  Agent Luther impressed me as a straightforward, no-nonsense guy, who is looking to do his job without fear or favor, and agreed with my initial evaluation of what the new rules mean.   (I'm not always easily impressed, but I was quickly impressed with that.  And, as people who know me know, I'm not unwilling to be critical when I think criticism is warranted.  And, some would say, I'm willing to be critical other times, too.)

Agent Luther sent me his email address, and that I'm copying him on the link to this posting and invite his comments on anything I have to say here, whether he's speaking on behalf of the BCA, or on his own.  For whatever reasons, this livejournal has become one of the main clearinghouses for news on carry permit-related issues in Minnesota, and I'd be very happy to have his participation here. 

Without going into details -- no time, or I would, honest -- I came away with the strong impression (and since I said that this was my strong impression, and Agent Luther said that I was right, I'm pretty confident that that's his position), that the BCA and DPS are simply doing their best to follow the new law about instructor certification, and are not -- in any way -- looking  to make life difficult for qualified people who want to teach carry classes.   It will be, he said explicitly, possible for a one-person-shop (like, say, me) to be able to become an instructing organization, able to certify one's own self, if that one-person-shop has objective qualifications to do that, and is willing to jump through not a whole lot of hoops, but some, to demonstrate that. 

As to what those hoops would be, that leads me to the next part of this.  I also got a call today from Tim Grant, Vice President of AACFI, who was one of several instructors and organizations who participated in discussions with Agent Luther, and others in the BCA/DPS and the local sheriffs, over what the standards for instructor organizations should be. 

Tim told me that about two weeks ago -- July 7 -- the DPS (through the efforts of Agent Luther, who shepherded the process) had come up with a draft of the regulations, which is now waiting the approval of Michael Campion, the Commissioner of Public Safety, and when I requested a copy of the draft, Tim sent it to me within several seconds, and that draft is at the end of this post.

There's a lot more to say -- and I'll be saying some of it, shortly -- but for now, since I promised folks I'd let them know what I know when I know it, I think the best thing to do is to post the initial draft, let y'all discuss it. 

As to what this means for people who are currently carry permit instructors, the law is very clear:  nothing, until October 1, when the new rules take place.  Everybody who was certified by the 2003 MCPPA is certified until October 1.  That's black-letter law in the 2005 MCPPA.  These rules are not in effect now, and won't be in effect until Commissioner Campion signs off on them and October 1 rolls around. 

After that -- and what people who want to continue teaching should do before that, in anticipation of it -- is something I'll be writing on over the weekend.

In the meantime, though, here's the proposal that's sitting on Commisioner Campion's desk.  

Over to you, all.  More from me tomorrow, or Sunday. 

  (d) A person qualifies as a certified instructor if the person is certified as a

firearms instructor within the past five years by an organization or government entity that has been approved by the Department of Public Safety in accordance with the department's standards.

To receive DPS approval, organizations must meet the following standard business practices:

• Register their business or organization with the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office and provide a certificate of authenticity to the BCA.

• Maintain instructor and student training records adequate to verify training

• Monitor the instructional conduct of instructors

• Maintain the proficiency levels of instructors

• Verify that the curriculum used to train instructors meets the minimum instructional standards

Government entities and private organizations may grant instructional certificates to those people that are certified as firearms instructors within

the past five years in a firearms instructor course that has been approved

by the Minnesota Peace Officer and Training Standards Board and/or have met the following minimum instructional standards:

a. fundamentals of adult learning, techniques for assessing learning, and course development skills that will allow that person to competently teach a permit to carry firearms training course;

b. an ability to explain the circumstances pertaining to criminal and civil issues surrounding the use of deadly force, (for the state of Minnesota and in Federal law), psychological and physiological effects of critical incidents, and effects of stress on reaction time;

c. mechanical skills and shooting fundamentals necessary to enable an instructor to safely and effectively teach firearms handling;

d. conducting proficiency testing for the instructors in mechanical skills, shooting accuracy, and firearm malfunction drills;

e. an ability to identify situations and considerations involved in determining whether the use of a firearm is proper, firearm carry and deployment, and target discrimination;

f. simple weapon retention techniques both for holstered and drawn firearms;

g. firearm care, cleaning, and safe storage; and

h. an ability for the instructor to evaluate the permit to carry student’s skill proficiency in practical firearm shooting exercises.