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Vaughn McMillan

Vaughn McMillan

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ABQ NM
I got the word Friday from the State of New Mexico that my firearms instructor license has been approved. Now I can officially start teaching several different courses, but I'll primarily be concentrating on Concealed Carry instruction and qualification for a New Mexico CCW license. With the exception of the actual license, I've had everything in place for several months, but the state Department of Public Safety has been swamped with new CCW license applications. My Instructor license was delayed along with all the others. Now I can actually start getting to word out and advertising classes. :thumb:

Business Card Course List No Phone.jpg
 
Toni Ciuraneta said:
Just out of curiosity can a foreigner get a gun license in US? Must he be a resident?
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To add to Tom's explanation, many (if not most) states don't require a license to purchase or own a gun. Some states have stricter rules and regulations for purchasing a handgun compared to buying a rifle. But most states require a license to carry a concealed handgun in public. And each state sets their own rules for the licensing requirements. Here in New Mexico, you must be a legal resident of the state, 21 years of age, and take a 15-hour course that includes classroom instruction as well as time at the shooting range to prove you can safely handle and shoot the gun. Students can only apply for their Concealed Carry license after they have taken an approved course and have been certified by a licensed instructor. The actual shooting requirements here are laughable because they are so easy...virtually anyone can pass, even if they've never held a gun in their hands. But as an instructor, I can (and will) decide how much training a student gets at the shooting range, and I'll be providing more than the state requires. I've seen some instructors who only hold their students to the minimum requirements, but I intend to only certify students that I feel are safe and not a liability to themselves and their families.
 
Sounds like a typical government entity. Give out millions of permits while trained staff waits for the official certification. When I started with the Sheriff's Posse, our range officer was a retired vet. Then we got some young vets on the department and we really got an education. Both in the field and virtual. The virtual was excellent, don't know how it worked, looked like a big record. But it worked and provided many scenarios to work through. But you got to remember, this was when revolvers were carried.

I am curious and you don't have to answer. But just wondering the liability to you the instructor? Any possibility of you getting roped into a bad shoot?
 
It's been a few years since I'm retired now for about 15 years and the company I worked at the time was in mid to late '80's, but we used to export guns for hunters and foreign buyers.... it required a Treasury (T-License) license to legally export a rifle.... never exported any pistols, but sure that the same license required... control was pretty strict on the licenses..... funny thing was they only covered center fire rifles and I suppose the same for pistols.... no license was required for shotguns (which are usually centerfire if I remember... not a gun owner nor interested in them much) nor for rim fire ammo... you could export a .22 no problem. Most of the ones I did export went into the Scandinavian countries, not sure which one now (remember my memory doesn't go back too far ).... but they had to go to a licensed gun shop.

I did have one rifle confiscated by customs because the shipper lied to me and said he had already filed his license with customs and I didn't need a copy....
I warned him that I needed to submit the license with the export declaration, but he insisted I ship it and not worry... so I did and it was seized... never hear from him again.
Foreign parties can buys guns in the U.S., but shipping them can be a little daunting.
 
Jonathan Shively said:
...I am curious and you don't have to answer. But just wondering the liability to you the instructor? Any possibility of you getting roped into a bad shoot?
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For this reason, licensed instructors in NM are required to carry specific firearms instructor liability insurance. The ranges where I'll be doing my range training and qualification shooting also require that they be specifically named on my policy. I'm also an advocate for concealed carry insurance, which provides legal protection in the event of any shooting incident. Even in cases where you're legally justified to shoot someone, there's still a good likelihood of criminal charges or a lawsuit.
 
Vaughn McMillan said:
For this reason, licensed instructors in NM are required to carry specific firearms instructor liability insurance. The ranges where I'll be doing my range training and qualification shooting also require that they be specifically named on my policy. I'm also an advocate for concealed carry insurance, which provides legal protection in the event of any shooting incident. Even in cases where you're legally justified to shoot someone, there's still a good likelihood of criminal charges or a lawsuit.
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Indiana is not a concealed carry state. We can open carry. I prefer to carry concealed but during the summer when working on the farm and carrying to dispatch varmints it makes it easy to run to town to get gas or whatever and no worries.

As one of my partners on the department would say as we got in the squad car, "if anyone is going to get shot tonight, hope it is you cause this ain't the movies and it will hurt!" Oddly enough his squad took over 20 rounds/hits one night during/after a pursuit. He was a heck of a good partner.

Okay, one more technical question, "how long will you have to carry this insurance?" I would assume until you or your last student dies?
 
Ted Calver said:
Insurance...open carry, or concealed??
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The insurance I'm familiar with applies to any firearms incident...open or concealed carry, and in your car, home or business. But some are limited to just concealed carry. Here's a pretty decent comparison:

concealedcarrysociety.com

Best Concealed Carry Insurance (2023) | Concealed Carry Society

We compared the Price, Coverage, and Perks of 5 major concealed carry insurance companies. Find out the results and who we use for our coverage!
concealedcarrysociety.com concealedcarrysociety.com

I'm associated with the USCCA, but I don't want to use this forum as a platform to sell their products. ;)
 
On the matter of state requirements for concealed carry, Georgia requires that you be a resident, of course, and pass only a background check - a very thorough background check - no shooting test. The permit is called Concealed Carry Weapon Permit, so it covers more than firearms, not that I'm planning to carry my machete with me!

We haven't thought about insurance. Sounds like we should look into it.
 
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