It’s always fun going to see some of my friends who are in the instructing world. Trainers are always evolving and trying to make their classes better whenever possible. After a year and a half, I had the opportunity to sit down with an old friend of mine named Cody. Now Cody has worked his tail off and ended up building one of the largest training programs in southwest Michigan. Hanging out with other people in the gun community can twist your perception of what’s popular and what new concealed carry trends people are doing.

At the end of the day, not everyone is going to shoot multiple times a week to test out products and spend a ton of time either training or shooting. Some people just want to carry a firearm for self-defense and don’t hit the range a lot. That’s completely alright but I don’t always get the chance to spend time around new concealed carriers. I decided to swing by one of Cody’s beginner pistol and CPL classes to see what some of his students were shooting and their prior experiences. Afterward, I had a chance to sit down with Cody and have a rather fun Q and A with him about concealed carry trends with his new students. Let’s dive into some of the new concealed carry trends.

Question 1: What’s The State Of New Shooters Today?

One of the biggest questions I had for him was the overall quality of new shooters and what they were like. His answer was somewhat surprising. Over the last couple of years with Covid and the recent events that have happened, Cody’s classes have seen not only an uptick in class numbers but also a raised level of experience.

“People have been showing up in greater numbers with more experience trying to feel more confident with a concealed firearm. It’s great to see more regular people who typically wouldn’t be interested in firearms wanting to understand and take their personal responsibility into their own hands. New shooters seem to have more prior knowledge of gun safety and we have had some great courses because people are able to move from basic pistol skills and move on to more advanced tactics. It’s really great to see everyone of different ages and backgrounds all coming together in an effort to better themselves.” 

Question 2: What Guns Are You Seeing Students Use?

When I attended previous classes, I have seen everything from small 22 pistols to people showing up with snub nose revolvers shooting full-power .357 Magnum rounds. Since ammo has become more expensive over the last couple of years, I was rather curious to see if trends have changed or if there was a more predictable consensus. Cody had a rather surprising answer when it came to student firearms.

” It used to be like a roll of the dice when it came to firearm selection. I had people showing up with small 22 caliber pistols to short .357 Magnums and once even a .44 Magnum. These days it’s mostly smaller higher capacity carry guns right out of the gate. My mind is blown how many students show up with either a Glock 43, 43X, or P365 already from the start”

“It seems like people have moved away from the lower budget guns as well in exchange for more expensive but higher quality pistols. It’s a great trend to see and there are a ton of people at least in West Michigan that are taking their personal protection seriously. Whether it’s higher quality carry guns and holsters to wanting more training. Not everyone comes to my class ready to go, but it’s crazy to see the vast majority of people showing up with quality gear.”

Question 3: Why Do You Think There Are So Many People Getting Training?

Everyone has a reason when it comes to more training, but I was curious what the head trainer seemed to think was the cause of such an uptick both in gun ownership and concealed carriers. I think we can all guess a few things but I was curious if students ever talked about their personal reason to take a shooting course and better their skills.

” I think there are a number of reasons why people have decided to take personal protection so seriously in the last couple of years. There’s been a number of abnormal situations happening from covid, unrest, geopolitical situations and just people feeling uneasy in general. It’s been interesting to see the amount of people who were once anti-gun or against firearms start to take interest in self-defense and personal protection. I think that every day Americans are starting to realize they have some incredible rights and opportunities to carry a firearm to protect themselves and their family. I have started offering more classes and every time a class goes live, it becomes sold out on the same day. It’s a good problem to have and I’m very curious to see what the future holds.”

Overall Thoughts

Spending time at my friend’s classes and sitting down with him was definitely an interesting experience as it always is. In the two classes I sat through, I started to see what Cody was talking about. In previous classes, I always saw a wild mix of handguns as well as a variety of prior knowledge when it comes to firearms. Watching the classes today, I saw much nicer firearms than in previous years as well as more focused individuals who want to not only learn but become better. I think it’s a great sign for the next generations of gun owners and individuals who carry concealed firearms.

Let me know what you guys think about my friend’s responses to the state of concealed carriers. Is he starting to see a pattern that reflects a nationwide trend or do you think this is just a trend regionally? Let me know down in the comments below. If you have questions about carrying concealed or just firearms-related questions in general, feel free to shoot me a message on Instagram @fridgeoperator. Stay safe out there.

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