Hi,

I need to get my CCW permit & am looking around for a course in the St. Louis or surrounding areas. Looking for a short, streamlined, low-cost course. Don't need to be taught how to shoot, just need to satisfy the bureaucratic rules. Any info/suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Jimmy

go HERE

hope this helps!

Duane Z. at Top Guns in Arnold / Imperial.  His website is "Pack n heat" or something similar.

Good class.  He was one of the original guys you started the CCW campaign and has a lot of good stories about how the it played out and how crooked the Carnahans are.

He's also a Utah & Florida instructor and gives you everything you need if you decide then or later to get the UT and/or FL permit.

This guy is a friend of mine;

http://www.uscca.us/instructors/showproduct.php?product=204&cat=27

Not sure where you are at but this guy works our of North St Louis County, and is a retired Marine and County Officer.  He was a range instructor in the service and is very low speed.  A lot of our officers like working with him because he is patient

http://greywolfservices.com/index.html

Johnross.net

I got mine with John also, good guy and one of the people who got the whole CCW pushed through in the first place. I have sent a few other to his class, all of them have come back with good reports.

John Ross is who I refer people to. He is a good guy and knows a whole lot, but he has his class session and range session on different days, which is a problem for some.



I still would recommend him over anybody else.

Thanks for the leads everyone. My understanding is for the MO CCW permit you can choose to put the CCW credentials on your driver's license, or alternatively be issued a CCW ID card.

Anyone know what the advantages/disadvantages to each are? The fewer cards and other associated BS I have to carry around the better, as far as I'm concerned... is it worth it to have a separate CCW ID card?

It says in big red letters: "CCW until XX-XX-20XX" right above your picture.

Advantages:

-Lots of times when you use a credit card, cash a check, buy alcohol, rent a car, check into a hotel, etc they check your DL.  Do you want them knowing you *may* have a concealed weapon on you?  What about going through security at the airport?  Not that you're carrying, but get a jerk TSA agent and you might get flagged.

-When in a traffic stop in and out of state, the police will not know you may have a concealed weapon in the car (unless a MO cop looks to see why you have a ID card and finds the endorsement through MULES.)  Do you want an IL cop seeing you have a CCW endorsement?  Even though you're not carrying in that state, it could cause some unwanted attention.  There are very long threads on whether or not you should inform the officer (not required to legally.)  Make your own decision on that, but it's one more step to conceal your CCW.

-In the great state of IL, get a citation for a moving violation and the officer can take your DL as bond.  You have to give them cash on the spot or pay at the county court house several weeks later to get your DL back.  Same goes if you ever get your DL suspended or revoked.  Your CCW is on a separate ID and hopefully not compromised.

Disadvantages:

-You have to carry a second ID.

-It an extra couple bucks to renew it (two renewals vs one.)

It isn't a "CCW ID" per se. It is just a non-driver ID that has the CCW endorsement on it. I have always carried a non-driver ID as a second form of ID anyway so it wasn't a big change for me.

Cost is one reason. CCW endorsement lasts 3 years, and you can renew your DL for 6 years. A non-DL (State ID) costs $11.00, a DL costs more. In my case I have a Class C CDL which raises the cost of renewal even higher.

On a side note. Most people will not see or understand the endorsement on either the DL or non-DL. So is it really an issue, I don't know.

One final note: I am NRA Certified instructor in Franklin county. If you are in my area, give me a PM and we can see what we can do to get you qualified.

You should never get CCW on your license.  You're carrying CONCEALED, its not the business of others to know whether you are or not.