Gun safety is important, especially when it comes to how to handle them and knowing the laws.
In the state of Missouri, a resident must complete an eight-hour course - with a few more exceptions - to obtain a concealed carry permit. The state provides the curriculum, but in Steve Kreter's class, he goes further than the state minimum.
Kreter is a retired lieutenant from the Holts Summit Police Department and now owns and runs Mid-Mo Defense in California, which provides a full-service gun and bow shop and beginner to advance classes.
"You're responsible for every bullet that leaves that gun," Kreter said. "I can make my class more in depth than the state minimum. The state says you have to have these minimum things in your course, but I've added a lot of stuff to my courses that I feel people need to know."
The 108-page PowerPoint slide show in the classroom teaches everything from the actual law to which holster best fits the student's situation. The applicant must be at least 19-years-old and have a decently clean background, like no felony convictions or two or more driving while impaired offenses.
"Basically, to carry and concealed weapon in the state Missouri you have to attend an eight hour certification training," Kreter said. "That's the basic program that we provide. It's going over a combination of safety, laws, where you can or can't carry and responsibility of carrying."
The class take place once every few weeks on Saturdays, and it is four to five hours in a classroom environment with the rest of the eight hours on the range. By law, the student must hit 15-of-20 shots on target from 21 feet, but Kreter requires a perfect score.
Not to worry, all eight students passed with flying colors Saturday.
"I pretty much have everyone shoot 100 percent," Kreter said. "If you can't shoot 100 percent, we can work on it and get to that point."
After the range, Kreter teaches his students how to disassemble and reassemble many different types of guns for cleaning.
Once the class is complete, the applicant must go the sheriff's department in the county they reside in to present their certificate of completion and a $100 nonrefundable processing fee, then pass a back ground check. The permit lasts for five years, then a simple renewal similar to a driving licenses renewal.
Permit holders still must be cautious when carrying a concealed weapon. Some obvious places that don't allow concealed weapons are schools and gambling facilities, and locations like a sports arena with more than a 5,000 capacity and polling places on election day are places that a holder might not think about.
Other than the basic concealed and carry weapons class, Mid-Mo Defense offers a long list of advanced classes.
"We have an advance CCW class," Kreter said. "That is above and beyond this. A lot of people come to this and realize they don't know as much as they liked to know. So we'll continue on in their CCW training with different targets, skills and drills."
For more information, contact Margaret Madsen of Mid-Mo Defense at 660-221-0352.