Journalist (and former Tucson Weekly intern) Kellie Mejdrich recently learned how easy it is for the average Arizonan to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon in one hour, regardless of whether or not they’ve even picked up a gun.

The one hour course I took, taught by Bob Denis of CCW AZ School, LLC., advertises on the website “1hr Law Gets Permit!”

There’s a disclaimer, that the one-hour stint is “for the person with experience with firearms, who does not have time to seat through several hours of additional firearms training” [sic], as well as a statement in class that the one-hour class is not designed for those new to guns.

But Denis never asked me whether I had shot a gun before, or evaluated my proficiency once I sat down for class.

Now, most responses (focus on the comments section there) to Mejdrich’s article say that she misrepresented her experience to game the system, that she is a liar, a perjurer, that she doesn’t respect the law and that she should be held personally accountable for what she did (on top of the usual internet slander, of course).

But one could make the case that her gaming of the system exposes loopholes that could be exploited by more dangerous folk than a 22-year-old woman with no gun-ownership experience.

Of course, that case would be ignored by legislators, such as Rep. Jack Harper, R-Surprise.

When I showed him my CCW permit and presented him with my experience, he replied, “well, you know, it’s still a background check. That’s important. Obviously you took a one-hour course, that is some kind of training,” he said.

But after pressing Harper on whether he thinks the law should be changed back to the training requirements he boasted the CCW involved, he defaulted to the Second Amendment.

“You’ve been influenced by academia,” Harper said. “The constitution is absolute.”

[Arizona-Sonora News Service]

This article appears in Apr 19-25, 2012.

20 replies on “You Can Get a Permit To Carry a Concealed Weapon In One Hour”

  2. In Arizona do dont required a permit anymore. Any person could carry a concel weapon or just carry a weapon.

  4. It is insane to believe that a criminal would sign up for a 1 hour ccw class, as this clearly ignorant author claims. Besides, you don’t need the govts permission to excersize your right to self defense in AZ.
    Our God given ( not govt. given) human right to self defense with a gun should not require a permit anywhere. I don’t need a church permit to excersize my freedom of religion, or have to take classes about various religions before practicing one. I don’t need a speech permit requiring me to take speaking classes. The ATF is the only govt. agency put in place to hinder our human right to defense. Whats next, the speech police or church police or press police?

  5. It’s funny that the article completely ignores what the purpose of the class is. It is to inform those possessing a CCW about the laws, restrictions and responsibility associated with carrying a weapon. NOT how to fire a weapon, but when.

    As usual, a one-sided story, from small minded reporters…

  6. You will never find a criminal taking a ccw permit class or registering for a background check. So permit laws, background check laws and registration laws are only there to limit law abiding citizens right to defense. So why are law abiding citizens treated like sex offenders and required to register with the state when real criminals don’t.
    Get a convicted felon to take a ccw class and pass a background check successfully and then you would have a story worth writing, until then your ideas about gun laws are unsound and flawed as proven by the evidence of the states with lower crime and murder rates after passing less restrictive gun laws and the high crime rates of places with severe gun limitations. Crazy people are smart enough not to go on a killing spree where they know the people are armed. When is the last time you saw someone go on a killing rampage at the police station or gun range?? If someone wanted to kill a bunch of people they don’t go to their local gun range or police station, they go to the nearest “gun free” zone such as schools or college campuses where they know the people are defenseless because they have been disarmed by the government and denied the human right of self defense. Why are you so anti-human rights and pro-murder??

  7. Eric is correct….WHY….would a bad guy or gal bother with a permit or get a drivers license or get insurance or registration or passport or (god forbid;a voters card) how naive is this Mendez……..Oh but they would all rush to get a 1 hour class to be LEGITIMATE?????????????????

  8. “You’ve been influenced by academia,” Harper said. “The constitution is absolute.”

    OMG, the next thing you know, academia will be teaching our children how to read, do math, and critical thinking! Something that seems to be sadly lacking in many of our legislators who are bought and paid for by the special interest groups.

    Keep in mind that the constitution is not absolute. It was created in 1787 when this country was a lot different and had far fewer people.

    What was appropriate then may need to be modified now that we are in the supposed civilised 21st century. That was the purpose of the amendments. Also note that it was hammered out with a quorum of representatives from only seven states. The last time I counted, we now had 50.

    We seem to expect far more knowledge and training to allow one to operate a vehicle than we do for firearms. This seems to be a real confusion of priorities to me.

  9. Only in Arizona…a state that is crawling with racist illiterates, child molesters and self proclaimed vigilantes.

  10. I can get a nickel plated .380 in 2 minutes… Just go to my girl house and yell “Susie, throw it out the window, SUE!”

  13. I am a convicted felon (1997). I joined the military (2004) AND THEN I had my rights restored by the sentencing Judge, inlcuding the right to Bear Arms (2006). Deployed to Afghanistan (2006). I then flew in a Blackhawk helicopter behind a M240H Machine Gun (2007), came back and attempted to buy a fiream from a gun shop and was denied (2008). I guess I am allowed to Bear Arms, man a Machine gun in warzone and shoot at people that are posing a threat to American Servicemen/Women, but I am not allowed to puchase a fiream when I return home from a warzone. I guess I should go and buy a handgun from a drug dealer in an alley. That should be OK, RIGHT?

  14. Eric, which “clearly ignorant” author are you referring to?

    If you’re referring to me, I’m clearly not ignorant enough to believe that a convicted criminal whose right to carry a firearm has been revoked would carry a weapon.

    But for the sake of discussion, isn’t it possible that someone who is intelligent, clean of a criminal record and mentally disturbed could potentially obtain a weapon through a private transaction or an unscrupulous dealer, then get a CCW through an expedited course and use it to take advantage of a situation with light gun control?

  15. I find the shock that people are expressing here to be the height of hilarity when in Arizona a permit is not needed to carry a concealed weapon. Permits are only used to carry in certain places, like restaurants that serve alcohol, and for carry in states that have reciprocity agreements with Arizona.

    The article is misleading in another way – the author did not complete the class and receive the permit on the spot. She still had to submit an application, proof of training, fingerprints, and application fee and then wait for the state to run a background check, and then print and mail the license to her residence. People do not get a concealed weapon permit one hour after the whim strikes them.

    Criminals, on the other hand, can carry a concealed weapon 1 second after the whim strikes them, and no background check is ever made on them

  17. This article didn’t scare me, it gave me hope. If a battered woman can get a gun and a CCW in an hour to protect herself from a deranged significant other, I happen to think that’s a good thing. And if a stream of dead brutal assholes results, I certainly won’t be shedding any tears over the chlorine in the gene pool. The Second Amendment may well have been written over 200 years ago, but the need to defend oneself, whether from an abusive spouse or an abusive government, will never change.

  18. It’s good that you can be taught so quickly how you need to act and react while carrying. Although it’s a fast process, its very necessary in order to know what we need to do in certain situations. The more people go through this process, the safer this country will end up being, and the happier we will be as a people. http://www.firearmsafetygroup.com/concealed-carry.html

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