'Twas the ides of November...

... and all through the Castle,
not a creature was stirring
'cept... um ... a couple of cats.

That opening rhyme needs work... Sorry, a poet I'm not. No apology. (Feel free to post your rhymes in the comments)

The SandCastle Son is off at a weekend long birthday bash, and the SandCastle Queen (SCQ) is taking a CCW (Carry Concealed Weapon) class. After taking the Babes with Bullets class, she felt confident with the weapon and wanted to get her CCW.

Arizona mandates an length and content of the class. Leading up to the class she was apprehensive that she was the only woman in the class and that their might be some yea-hoo in the class. You know the one... Wears combat boots and camo while bragging about covert operations. But the beer belly physique and beater car suggests quite a different background. I promised her there would be one of those in the class, all the while hoping that with a class of only 8, she might get lucky.

From the stories she reports, it was even worse than expected. The day started with the Yea-Hoo, er, Socially Inept Character (SIC guy) bragging "I killed a man with my bare hands in New York. I head butted him three times but the sucker wouldn't go down...", and "I was required to register myself as a deadly weapon". The class rolled their eyes in unison and the stories got worse as the day wore on.

I happened to be chatting with the Arizona Rifleman FTF when she called on lunch break. She was disappointed in her shooting only 90% on the qualifier (5 shots at 5 yds, 5 more at 10 yds on "the biggest target we have"). She said a breeze in the range caused the target to flap about. She asked to try again. The instructor shooed her away saying "This is a 70% government test. You passed, now go away!"

She further related how whenever the SIC guy spoke up the two guys a the table with her would pick up the application form and point to the "Adjudicated Mentally Defective" question.

Since she had completed her shooting qualification, I took her weapon home. Good thing since as class wore on they talked about different confrontations. For every story the instructor told, the SIC guy always had to top him. Ugg.

JR the instructor kept the class lively and entertaining. Most of the class is on is justifiable and what is not. They teach the basics - your CCW is for protection of yourself and immediate family. Anything else, you don't have enough information. Call 911 and hope for the best. The discussion of different scenarios alone are worth the price of admission. "As you arrive home and open the garage door, someone runs out and heads down the street with your stuff. SCQ answer: "Call the insurance company and say I want new stuff!" She also now understands my suggestion for the umbrella insurance policy. Of course the SIC guy wants to engage and shoot 'em in the back.

She's tired and her application is almost complete 'cept the state required processing fee money order (no, the state doesn't take checks or cash). SandCastle Son is also tired and ready to sleep in his own bed too. Expect din to resume normal levels in the AM.