In many states, you will have to go through a process to carry a firearm and then get your license permit, etc., depending on what your state calls it, to legally have a gun on you and exercise your Second Amendment right.

In Arizona, it’s a CWP, in Texas it’s an LTC, and in California, it’s a CCW.

List of Constitutional Carry States

Some states allow constitutional carry, and as long as you can legally own a gun, you can carry. As of 2023, the following states allow constitutional carry: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida (concealed carry only), Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota (concealed carry only), Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee (handguns only), Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

In a few states, you have to have permission just to have a gun or ammunition at home, like Illinois, with their Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card requirements. After that, you can apply for a concealed carry license. Places like Hawaii, California, and New York make it extremely difficult to get a permit. As you can see, it gets confusing.

What Do Concealed Carry License Abbreviations Stand For

As you can see, the name of the piece of paper permitting you to carry a gun isn’t short, and the concealed carry license terminology is confusing.

• CCL – Concealed Carry License
• CCW — Concealed Carry Weapon
• LTC — License to Carry
• CHP — Concealed Handgun Permit
• CCP — Concealed Carry Pistol
• CCP — Concealed Carry Permit
• LTCF — License to Carry Firearm
• CWP — Concealed Weapons Permit
• CHL — Concealed Handgun License
• CPL — Concealed Pistol License

You May Need a License to Carry Weapons Besides Guns

Not only does this term include handguns, but it may also include other types of weapons, like knives or non-lethal weapons like pepper spray. Applicants need to know precisely what the term means in their own jurisdiction, and if traveling to different states, make sure you understand how the laws work. When another state recognizes your permit, they call it reciprocity.

Understanding concealed carry license abbreviations like CCL, CHL, CWP, CCW, and LTC is important because whenever you read articles, they refer to them differently and sometimes incorrectly. Knowing what they refer to will help you carry legally and clarify concealed carry laws and the requirements tied to the license.

Tactical Firearms Training

If you’re a “tactical” shooter and you train in a tactical way, then the drills you go through on the range need some realistic tactical context incorporated into them.

If you’re a “competition shooter,” then you don’t. Unfortunately, instructors regularly teach competition shooting techniques as tactically sound, which they are not.

I sometimes wonder if the reason for that is because too many firearms instructors are competition shooters. Maybe not enough firearms instructors are instructing from an experienced-based background, i.e., they don’t know how to add that tactical context because they’ve never experienced it in real life. They are not always teaching others to do the right thing in real life, which should worry everyone.

Adding tactical context to your firearms training changes everything about that training. You quickly realize there are things you cannot do and some that don’t work.

Moving backward or up range with a firearm pointing downrange is not an operationally sound drill in a million years. It is a safety drill designed for the range ONLY. It provides no operational training value because you would never do it in real life.

You can be super-fast on the draw and run up and down a range all damn day. Still, unless you’re adding the appropriate tactical context that compliments the specific purpose or situation that you’re training for (armed robbery, carjacking, close-range engagements, close protection contact drills), then your training will never be realistic for the purpose you’re training for in the first place.

Mag dump pouches and Oakley gloves, hanging from a belt kit, flapping around like two squirrels fighting in a hessian sack, does not a gunfighter make.

In a twist of events, the man who defended himself as he was entering his home in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago has had his concealed carry license “revoked.” Fox News reports that the sheriff’s department contacted him yesterday and said it was because he yelled at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers when they were investigating the incident three days later.

Two men had jumped a fence and pointed a gun at Vince Ricci when he was entering his house, and a gunfight broke out. Ricci fired eight shots at the man who attacked him, and now that they synced both video views up, it appears his attacker was firing at him as he was running away. His five-month-old daughter and nanny were inside the home during the event.

In the video, Ricci says, “My situation is unique because it happened at my front door, all on camera. But this happens time and time again all over the country … People sweep it under the rug because it doesn’t behoove their political agenda. The fact is, evil will always exist,”

Some additional facts have come out since the shooting:

• Someone had broken into his home in June.
• A few months before that, someone broke his car into
• Criminals driving a Dodge Charger have been targeting other homes in the area.
• Someone broke into his neighbor’s house the night before his attack.

That would seem to be more than enough reason to justify carrying a gun for protection. Getting a CCW license in Los Angeles takes months and isn’t a simple process. It is called a Concealed Carry Weapon (CCW) in California, and you even have to prove you have “good moral character.”

‘After successfully defending my home and my family and my five-month-old child, California has now decided to suspend my Second Amendment [rights].’

The NRA said, “His decisive actions to protect his wife and daughter embody the core principles that NRA members fight for every day,” said NRA spokesperson Billy McLaughlin. “It’s reprehensible that California is shredding his Second Amendment rights after he defended his family. Gov. [Gavin] Newsom and [Los Angeles County District Attorney George] Gascon’s pro-criminal policies have transformed Los Angeles and the wider state into what resembles a war zone. The NRA stands with Vince and every responsible gun owner in California, firmly committed to defending their rights to protect their families and communities.”

They took his right to carry away, but the criminals who attacked him are still roaming the streets. Thankfully, he has video evidence to show he acted in self-defense.

Police in Shelby, North Carolina, said on November 6th that 33-year-old Unterio M. Jolly got into an argument with another man on the street.

The two guys eventually went in different directions, but according to Capt. Seth Treadway, Jolly found the other man and confronted him with a handgun about half an hour later.

Jolly allegedly then shot the man he had been arguing with in the face. A woman with a concealed carry permit stepped in to help him and shot his attacker five times.

“Then they kind of go their separate ways, and about half an hour after, Unterio shows up with a gun and shoots (the man) in the face and the shoulder,” Capt. Seth Treadway said. “Right after he does that… a concerned citizen shoots back, trying to protect (the man) and hits Jolly about five times. She shoots him five times.”

The attacker suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and Jolly’s gunshot wound left him in critical condition.

Jolly is being charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury, possession of a firearm by a felon, and assault.

The Shelby police said, “We will consult with the District Attorney’s Office later in the day to see if those charges need to stay the same,” and continued, “I do not expect any charges on the person that returned fire.”

Mistakes happen, but if you follow these firearm safety rules, you can minimize potentially deadly outcomes. He was a driving force behind the creation of modern firearms training, which included his version of the “Four Firearm Safety Rules.”

History Of Firearm Safety Rules

In 1976, Jeff Cooper established what would become known as the Gunsite Academy, originally called the American Pistol Institute (API).

Mark Hanbury Beaufoy made Vinger and was a firearms enthusiast who wrote a poem in 1902 that included the lines “Never shoot where you can’t see” and “Never let your gun
pointed at anyone. That it may unloaded matters not the least to me.”

Other organizations, like the NRA and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), have their own versions of firearm safety rules.

What are the Four Rules of Firearm Safety?

Rule 1: Treat Every Firearm As If It’s Loaded

Always assume a firearm is loaded and ready to fire when handling it. Never take unnecessary risks, even if you are sure the gun is unloaded. By adhering to this rule, you develop the habit of exercising caution and preventing negligent discharges.

Whether you are at the range, in the field, or your own home, I cannot stress the importance of this rule enough. More than one person has handed me a gun, claiming it was unloaded when, in fact, it had a live round ready to go.

Rule 2: Always Point the Gun In a Safe Direction

Keep the muzzle (the front end of the barrel) always pointed in a safe direction. A safe direction is one where no one could get hurt, and nothing would get hit in the event of an accidental or negligent discharge.

I wouldn’t want to be the one to explain to the police why I put a hole in my wall and ended up hitting the neighbor’s house.

Rule 3: Keep Your Finger Off The Trigger Until You are Ready to Shoot

Your finger should remain off the trigger until you are ready to fire. This helps prevent negligent discharges, which can happen if your finger is inside the trigger guard and you are not ready to shoot.

In an entry-level class, I try to get my students to put their trigger finger higher than usual so I can see it easier from a distance. I’ve had guns with such a light trigger that barely touching it would make it go off.

Rule 4: Know Your Target and What’s Beyond

Before squeezing the trigger, be sure of your target and what lies beyond it. Bullets can travel a long way and can go through walls, trees, and anything else that gets in their way. Before you take a shot, you should be positive about what you are shooting at and what is behind it.

This rule reinforces the need for situational awareness and being aware of what you might hit besides the bad guy. People standing around might run across the path the bullet will travel if you have to engage a threat. Having to defend yourself in a crowd complicates an already difficult situation.

Following these four basic firearm safety rules is necessary for anyone handling guns. Always prioritize safety, and make it a habit to follow the four basic rules of firearm safety.

By treating every firearm as if it’s loaded, keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction, maintaining trigger discipline, and knowing your target and what lies beyond, you significantly reduce the risk of accidents or someone getting hurt.

Now, for me, as a certified firearms and CCW instructor in California, I am all for people using their Second Amendment right to bear arms and protect themselves. However, this is a prime example of what NOT to do as a concealed carry permit holder.

While this video appears to be of a man protecting his family from armed robbers, let’s pick it apart from a California legal perspective.

• As a CCW permit holder, your goal is to stop the threat. It is NOT to chase it down and keep shooting at what WAS the threat. The way it appears in this video, he stopped the threat when he threw a cup of hot tea at the robbers, and they ran off.
• To avoid any serious legal, financial, emotional, familial, or societal ramifications, good CCW training includes knowing how to make a decision other than shooting.

The way I see it in this video, the robbers were running away. The homeowner could’ve run into his house, locked the door, and instructed his wife or nanny to call 911 while remaining vigilant in the house until the police arrived.

A prosecutor could potentially see the shots fired not as a self-defense move, but rather as four negligent discharges. Once the threat ended and the robbers ran away, the homeowner could’ve made a different decision other than chasing after them and shooting.

What if he had hit a neighbor or car driving by?

On the flip side, the homeowner’s response could meet the requirements of a reasonable and rational fear of great bodily harm or death to him and his immediate family (per CA PC 198). Also, AOJ (ability, opportunity, and jeopardy) appears to have been satisfied.

In a confrontation that happened last year in Antioch, California, the district attorney Diana Becton said: “In the eyes of the law, Mr. Williams’ actions ceased to be self-defense when Mr. Williams pursued Mr. Jackson and the other suspect with a firearm — and continued to pursue Mr. Jackson after he shot him.”

“The legal distinction is clear: when your property and life are being threatened, an individual is legally justified in using deadly force in self-defense,” Becton said. “However, once the threat of harm has dissipated, the victim of a property crime cannot then use deadly force to reclaim stolen property.”

California Castle Doctrine

You can legally use force to protect your home. However, in this case, where the attacker targeted him outside of his home, I lean toward the threat ending when he threw the tea at his assailant.

There are many complexities of the California Castle Doctrine. PC 198.5 says, “Any person using force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily injury within his or her residence shall be presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily injury to self, family, or a member of the household when that force is used against another person, not a member of the family or household, who unlawfully and forcibly enters or has unlawfully and forcibly entered the residence and the person using the force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry occurred.”

The robbers never entered the house, so the Castle Doctrine technically does not apply if the intruder is not inside or trying to enter the residence.

The homeowner’s attorney could argue the latter part of “trying to enter the residence” in his defense if he needs one.

California Stand Your Ground Law

The stand-your-ground law is a defense he might use for someone who uses force inside or outside the home. However, this law has its own nuances and specific parameters.

CAL CRIM 505, “A defendant is not required to retreat. He or she is entitled to stand his or her ground and defend himself or herself and, if reasonably necessary, to pursue an assailant until the danger of (death/great bodily injury) has passed. This is so even if safety could have been achieved by retreating.”

The danger of death or great bodily injury probably passed when the attackers ran off.

As a firearms instructor, I understand his reaction to protect his family. Still, I also see the homeowner’s negligence and lack of trigger control. Shooting all over the place runs the risk of hitting an innocent bystander.

I am certainly not giving the intruders a break here. They still approached the homeowner at gunpoint. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in court, especially considering that this occurred in the very gun-unfriendly State of California and the more liberal County of Los Angeles.

A 23-year-old victim, who, in this case, is also an alleged criminal, was attending a party in Decatur, IL, over the weekend.

Someone went up to him and lifted the hoodie he was wearing, then took the handgun he had concealed underneath.

By the time the police got there, the crook who stole the gun was gone. The victim, though, got taken in and charged with unlawful use of a weapon (UUW.)

Sgt. Steve Hagemeyer from the Decatur Police Department said, “He said a man got really close to him, lifted up his hoodie, and grabbed his gun from his waistband, a 9mm semi-automatic with an extended magazine.”

“The man then pointed the gun at everybody and told them to get out of the house. The victim said he didn’t want to be shot with his own gun, so he left on foot and called the police.”

“He is allowed to have a gun, but he does not have a concealed carry card, and he is not allowed to carry a loaded gun around, so he was arrested for the aggravated unlawful use of a weapon based on his admissions.”

In Illinois, you must have a firearms owner’s identification card (FOID) to own a gun and a concealed carry license (CCL) to have it on you.

The state of Illinois has arrested people for owning a gun and not having a FOID. In 2020, police were called to a home because someone heard a gunshot and later arrested the woman living there for having a rifle but not having a FOID card.

She took it to court and won because the court found the FOID card to be an unconstitutional requirement, but it only applies if you are in possession of the gun when you are in your home.

Do You Train for Concealed Carry?

Have you ever asked yourself WHY you’re training or WHAT you’re training for? Because until you do, your training won’t fulfill its purpose.

HOW and WHY you train has to reflect WHAT you’re training for. If it doesn’t, then your training is not functional.

Training Needs Analysis (TNA)

How many of you have heard of the term Training Needs Analysis (TNA)?

A TNA is a HONEST procedure that most training providers should go through before delivering training to any client. It doesn’t matter what the subject is. A TNA has to be conducted so that the trainer understands the client’s needs and requirements, what the client is capable of achieving, and, more importantly, what the client wants the training for, i.e., what is the aim of the training?

A TNA can be conducted in several ways. However, it will involve asking the client many HONEST questions to understand their training needs, allowing the trainer to develop a suitable training program. Pretty simple, right?

Conduct an Honest TNA on Yourself!

• What are your needs?
• What do you want to achieve?
• What is the purpose of the training you are currently doing?
• What are your current capabilities versus what you want them to be in six months?
• What is the aim of your training?

Generic Self-Defense Training

We see many people on instagoogletweetbook, who are undergoing self-defense training, which is excellent. However, their training doesn’t always look as if it correlates with WHAT they’re training for.

We still see twenty students on a static firing line, with two instructors, running a self-defense shooting class (a horrendous student-to-instructor ratio), where it is clear that no TNA has been conducted by either the trainers or the students themselves.

Whether you’re a new or seasoned concealed carrier, conduct a TNA of your own personal training.

Write Stuff Down on a Piece of Paper

All the stuff you believe will make you better trained, more responsible, and better prepared to deal with the situations you are concealed carrying for in the first place.

Hell, even if you don’t attend any of our courses, drop me an email or a message in the comments with WHAT you’re training for and WHY. We’ll put something together for you that addresses your requirements.

You have to train according to YOUR needs and requirements, not by copying or mirroring how others train because their needs might differ from your needs.

Your average “self-defense” course might cover carjackings, road rage incidents, or robberies. You need a TNA for you.

Ability: Can They Do It?

The first thing in deciding if using deadly force is justified for self-defense is the other person’s ability to cause you harm. Ability refers to the other person’s capability to cause you serious bodily injury or death. The person’s ability involves different factors, like their physical strength and whether they have a weapon. That weapon could be anything from a baseball bat to a gun.

Are there multiple attackers? If there are, this brings in a term called “disparity of force.” Five against one isn’t fair odds, which tips the scale towards the attackers.

Opportunity: Is the Threat Imminent?

Okay, let’s say the individual has the ability to harm you. Now, you must decide if they have the opportunity and if the threat is imminent.

The second factor to consider when deciding if you can use deadly force is whether they have the opportunity to carry out the threat. Opportunity is the immediate and proximate circumstances in which the threat unfolds. It involves assessing whether the assailant can harm you imminently.

If the attacker has a knife but has a few vehicles in the way, you need to decide if the other guy can cause immediate harm. If the guy has a gun pointed at you and is a few vehicles away, that’s different, and the opportunity factor might be there.

Understanding the concept of opportunity helps you gauge the immediacy of the threat and whether using deadly force is the only workable option to prevent harm. Sometimes, the best choice is to get out of there while you can and live to fight another day.

However, if they are charging at you with a raised weapon, that’s a different story.

Intent: Do They Mean Harm?

The third and final thing to consider is the assailant’s intent. Intent relates to the other person’s purpose or state of mind about hurting you. Are they showing clear signs they intend to cause you harm? There must be a “reasonable belief” that the assailant wants to cause you serious bodily harm or death to justify using deadly force.

Deciding intent can be tricky because it involves assessing the other person’s actions, words, and demeanor. It comes down to reading someone’s body language and verbal cues.

A person who explicitly threatens you with harm or shows aggressive behavior may give you strong evidence of intent. However, remember that you need to evaluate intent objectively based on the information available to them. Some people just want to act like a bad *ss and cause trouble, like in the case of this YouTuber who recently got shot.

What if someone is armed with a holstered gun and talking to you without making any aggressive moves? In that case, he probably isn’t out to harm you.

Once that person starts yelling threats, waving around a gun or knife, or displaying signs of aggression, it’s more likely they intend to harm you.

Wrap-Up – Deadly Force for Self-Defense

Remember, the rules and laws governing the use of deadly force can vary from place to place. You need to familiarize yourself with the specific laws in your area and seek advice from legal experts.

Deciding if you can use deadly force for self-protection involves determining if ability, opportunity, and intent exist. Understanding these three factors can help you make informed decisions in high-stress situations and, hopefully, keep you and those around you safe.

ALL of these three things combined are what you base your decision on. You have to understand the intricacies of these components so you can make informed decisions if sh*t ever hits the fan.

Following the guidelines about the legal use of deadly force is vital for your safety and to keep yourself out of jail because you made a bad decision.

Always remember information in an article like this is not legal advice. Please consult an attorney for specific legal guidance.

I’d like to share my thoughts on the setup of this Glock 19 with a red dot sight and a tactical flashlight. This one also has a compensator as well. It’s cool and something out of a “John Wick” movie. But how effective is this, and is it practical for concealed carry? It isn’t! This is a full-size semi-automatic with a tactical light, red dot, compensator, and extended magazine. Unless you wear a shirt three times your normal size, you will leave a print the “bad guy” can see. Hell, Stevie Wonder could see it, so this isn’t effective for concealed carry.

Optics on Handguns for EDC

My single biggest concern with optics on handguns is people become dependent on them. So, when they don’t have them, you may not shoot as well. My approach to firearm training is K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid), which means focusing on the basics. The more complicated you make it, the harder it is to actually learn. So, the less effective you truly are.

The F.B.I. national average is up to 7 yards, or 21 feet. I’m 6′ 2″, so when my arm is extended, I have roughly three feet of arm sticking out. Then, add the length of the actual firearm,  up to nearly four feet. A red dot isn’t going to help you with a distance of less than 17 feet, at least, it isn’t for me. And if you need a red dot to hit at 17 feet, well, you need a lot more practice.