New California Law Restricts Thousands of Firearms Instructors From Teaching Courses

A weapons instructor shows students how to properly handle a gun with a rubber pistol during a class at Burro Canyon Shooting Park in Azusa, Calif., on Feb. 12, 2023. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Regulations contained in a new California gun-control law that took effect Jan. 1 invalidated more than 1,000 firearms instructors from teaching concealed weapons training.

California’s Department of Justice was required to write emergency regulations as part of Senate Bill 2 to address training and other requirements for the state’s new concealed carry permit holders.

The DOJ’s emergency regulations, adopted Jan. 2, provides state firearms trainers three options to qualify for state certification to teach a concealed weapons permit course. The rules also set out new shooting qualifications for trainers.

Although courts have put a stop to enacting sections of the new law that designated most of the state off-limits to firearms carried by concealed carry permit holders, other sections went into effect Jan. 1.

Under the new law, firearms trainers must either be certified by the state’s Bureau of Security and Investigative Services; qualified as a firearms instructor or rangemaster through a law enforcement course called Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training; or authorized by a state-accredited school to teach a firearms training course.

According to those familiar with firearms training in California, the state-accredited courses don’t yet exist.

The new requirements have automatically disqualified over 1,000 current firearms instructors from teaching concealed weapons courses, according to Sam Paredes of Gun Owners of California, a nonprofit lobbying organization dedicated to preserving Second Amendment rights in the state.

The gun-rights organization plans to add the issue to an existing lawsuit filed against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that challenges the law’s processing time frame and cost, Mr. Paredes said.

“The state chose to be so vindictive in doing this, it obviously needs a lawsuit to figure it out,” Mr. Paredes told The Epoch Times.

The new rules leave fewer than 100 instructors in the state who qualify to teach the course, and even those who do qualify still have to pass the new shooting test requirements, which remain unclear, Mr. Paredes added.

“It’s just a childish act on the part of the state to do this,” Mr. Paredes said.

Curt Hamett, of the Police Science Institute, a Fresno-based organization that offers concealed carry permit classes and other security training, said he can no longer teach the same courses he has taught for years.

The new regulations will “absolutely” hurt his business, he said.

“I’ve been doing this for over 16 years and have always been qualified with my [National Rifle Association] instructor credentials,” Mr. Hamett told The Epoch Times.

He also has instructor credentials from the United States Concealed Carry Association.

“Now, all of a sudden with one stroke of a pen, now I’m no longer qualified to teach it,” he said. “Basically, it shut down most concealed carry weapons classes in the state, which is ultimately what they wanted to do in the first place. This was just another way for them to help shut it down.”

The Police Science Institute has four Peace Officer Standards and Training certified instructors on board who can take over and teach the classes until the situation is clarified, according to Mr. Hamett.

The DOJ’s office did not return a request for comment.