INSTITUTE
Alaska Personal Protection Institute (APPI) teaches courses in personal protection and the use of firearms specializing in training required for Alaska's "Concealed Handgun Permit," commonly referred to as a CCW. Alaska's is just one of many state programs.
We have trained hundreds of Fairbanks men and women for the CCW, women making up more than 47% of the total. We began teaching these courses just before the law actually took effect in 1994, with more than 98% of all students successfully completing the course. Minimum age for permits is 21, but younger students may be allowed to take the course by permission of the instructor.
Courses are designed for the beginners who have never fired a gun, but we find that the experienced shooters also are kept interested by the course content which includes:
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All instructors and range officers are NRA certified and the course is approved by the State.
1987--Ten states had "Shall issue" conceal carry laws.
1994--Twenty-two states had "Shall issue" concealed carry laws.
1996--Thirty-one states had "Shall issue" concealed carry laws (ten
additional states considering).
1998--Twenty states have some sort of reciprocity agreements with other
states, others pending.
"Shall issue" (or right-to-carry) means that if you are not a criminal or addict, you have a right to a permit, and no sheriff or chief of police will be allowed to decide arbitrarily whether you deserve one. In California, with no "Shall issue law," one county where the sheriff believes in armed citizens, may have issued some permits, while the sheriff in the adjoining county may not have issued a single one (except possibly to his friends) because he doesn't think citizens are capable of their own defense against violent criminals. It is interesting that the U. S. Supreme Court, in the last four years, has decided in three cases that no law enforcement agency has a duty to protect any individuals, but rather are responsible for "keeping general order."
Florida has shown a 30% decrease in violent crimes since their law passed in 1987, with no increase in firearms related accidents, and almost no serious crimes committed by the 336,000 people with permits. In the ten+ years, less than 0.2 of 1% have had permits suspended or revoked and many of those were reissued. At least the criminals are smart enough to understand..."Don't do crime on armed citizens!" No police officer has ever been shot at by a concealed carry permittee, and any crime at all by CCW holders is almost non-existent, less than almost any other group in the U. S.
By 1998, many of the thirty-one states each had issued more than a quarter million permits, some a lot more, some less. That's 6 million of us! That's ten times the number of police officers in the U. S., and we're spread out all over the country except some big cities and some states (California and Illinois) where it is almost impossible to get a permit; in those places crime is exploding, because only the criminals have guns. Prof. Gary Kleck, criminologist at Florida State University, has found in his extensive studies that more than 1% (2.6 million) of Americans use guns in self defense each year (most do not result in the guns being fired), thereby preventing many crimes, something the police are rarely able to do.
Professor John Lott, at the University of Chicago Law School, in his just completed study, being hailed as the most comprehensive of its kind, ever, found that, "If those states which did not have right-to-carry concealed gun provisions had adopted them in 1991, approximately 1,570 murders; 4,177 rapes; and over 60,000 aggravated assaults would have been avoided yearly." By mid-1998, one-time critics are now praising Dr. Lott's work.
Shooting is required, but only beginner skill levels are needed to satisfy the requirements. Written tests are not required. We feel it is very important that a person who carries a gun for self defense know the basics of applicable law, shooting, handling and carrying a gun.
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