Paul Braun of Down Range Training Concepts in Becker held a permit to carry class next to the Big Lake Library and Police Dept. last week in which over two dozen attended.

The attendees ranged in ages from young, to middle-aged to a few seniors and also included five women in the session. All attendees wore masks during the class.

Braun, who is experienced in the military, law enforcement, firearms training, firearms manufacturing and public safety equipment retail over the course of his career. Braun is a federal law enforcement officer and held positions on his agencies SRT, HAZMAT and protection services unit as well as the department weapons armorer. 

Typically, during a normal 12-month year, Braun and his staff would hold 3-4 classes every month. Lately, the classes have been reduced to twice a month due to COVID protocols.

Braun introduced himself to his class Dec. 17 and began instruction with a slide show. He introduced various styles of handguns, instructed the class on proper handling of a firearm and how to load and unload the weapon. He ran through the legalities of owning a gun, safety and etiquette, differences in weapons and how to purchase the firearms.

Braun’s permit to carry classes are typically four hours which includes handouts, targets and a certificate of completion for $80. The course requires the attendee to have a functioning handgun, 50 rounds of ammunition and eye/ear protection.

After successful completion of this course, the certificate issued is used to turn into the county to obtain one’s permit. 

Braun’s team also conducts advanced carry classes as well as force-on-force carry, an introduction to handguns and handgun foundation classes. They also hold a LEOSA-HR218 course for retired law enforcement officers to obtain proper ID.

For rifles and weapons that are not handguns, DRTC has courses to introduce students to AR rifles, rifle foundations, advanced rifles, distance precision scoped rifle, group movement operations, dynamic prehospital trauma casualty care and private firearms training. 

For more infromation and to see their many other courses, check out their website at: www.downrangetrainingconcepts.com. Registration for the courses is also available on their website.

Braun holds armorer and master armorer certifications for many platforms and has spent several years as the Chief Instructor for a major rifle production company. He has written firearm user manuals for different firearm manufactures, conducted test and evaluation for the Israeli Ministry of Defense Procurement Program and preformed research and development evaluations for many carbine parts and accessories. He continues to work alongside skilled machinists for new production ideas and improvements to AR style rifles and armoring tools.