Find an Colorado Verified Firearms Instructor

If you are trying to obtain a Colorado concealed handgun permit, current law requires certain applicants to complete training with an instructor who has been verified under the process created by HB24-1174.

This directory exists to help students find instructors who have been verified under that process.

GFEN does not support concealed handgun permits, mandatory training requirements, instructor verification, or the government requiring permission before a person may exercise a constitutional right.

We provide this resource because those requirements currently exist, and people who choose to navigate that system deserve a practical way to find instructors who have been verified.

A Listing Is Not an Endorsement

An instructor appearing in this directory does not mean that GFEN recommends, endorses, certifies, or vouches for that instructor.

GFEN may have no relationship with the instructor beyond knowing that they have been reported or documented as verified under the HB24-1174 process.

This directory is not intended to evaluate an instructor's teaching ability, experience, philosophy, pricing, business practices, or compatibility with a particular student.

“Verified” means verified for purposes of the current legal process. Nothing more should be inferred from a listing.

Students should make their own decisions about which instructor they choose to train with.

Listing Is Not Support

GFEN's decision to help instructors and students navigate Colorado's permit system should never be interpreted as support for that system.

We do not believe a person should be required to obtain government permission to carry a firearm. We do not believe instructors should have to obtain government approval before teaching firearms training. And we do not believe a constitutional right should depend on permits, fees, certifications, appointments, administrative discretion, or the county in which someone happens to live.

HB24-1174 added even more bureaucracy to an already burdensome process.

Instructors are now required to navigate a verification system administered through sheriff's offices, and students must determine whether an instructor satisfies the State's verification requirements before taking training intended to qualify for a permit.

Some sheriff's offices have made that process even more difficult by imposing additional requirements or interpretations that GFEN believes exceed what Colorado law actually requires.

A Government-Created Market Is Still a Problem

GFEN also rejects the idea that mandatory training should become a protected source of income for firearms instructors.

When the government tells a person that they must purchase a product or service before exercising a constitutional right, it creates a captive market. We believe instructors should be extremely cautious about benefiting from that arrangement without also recognizing and opposing the coercion that created it.

There is nothing wrong with being paid to teach firearms skills. Instructors provide their time, knowledge, facilities, equipment, and experience, and legitimate training has value.

Our objection is different.

When instructors support, defend, or remain comfortable with laws that force people to purchase their services, the firearms training industry can become part of the very system restricting the right it claims to support.

GFEN does not believe firearms instructors should depend on government mandates to create customers.

A healthy firearms training community should exist because people want training—not because the government threatens to deny them the exercise of a right unless they buy it.

Why We Maintain This Directory

The existence of this directory is practical, not philosophical.

People are still applying for permits.

Instructors are still offering the training Colorado requires.

And until Colorado stops placing these barriers between ordinary people and the exercise of their rights, someone needs to help people understand the system they are being forced to deal with.

That is why GFEN maintains this directory.

We want students to be able to quickly identify instructors who have been verified under HB24-1174 without having to decipher county websites, inconsistent procedures, or changing administrative demands.

Maintaining this directory does not mean we believe the process should exist.

The Problem Goes Beyond HB24-1174

Our objection is not limited to the way HB24-1174 has been implemented.

GFEN fundamentally disagrees with the premise that responsible people should need a government-issued permit to carry a firearm.

A right is not a privilege granted by a sheriff, a legislature, or a licensing office.

Requiring citizens to complete government-approved training, submit applications, pay fees, wait for approval, and carry government-issued documentation before exercising that right does not become acceptable simply because the process is called a permit system.

HB24-1174 compounds that problem by placing additional government controls on the instructors who provide the required training.

When Sheriffs Go Beyond the Law

Even within a system GFEN opposes, government agencies are still required to follow the law.

Instructors should not be subjected to additional requirements simply because an individual sheriff's office decides it wants more documentation, more testing materials, more curriculum information, or additional administrative hurdles beyond what Colorado law authorizes.

GFEN will continue helping instructors identify and challenge those situations.

We are not interested in making an unlawful requirement easier to comply with. We are interested in making sure government officials are held to the limits of the authority they actually possess.

Find an Instructor

Use the directory below to locate a firearms instructor who has been verified under the HB24-1174 process.

Instructor listings may include location, service area, contact information, websites, course information, and other information supplied by the instructor or obtained from available verification records.

Again, inclusion in this directory is not an endorsement by GFEN. We are providing information about verification status so students can navigate a legal requirement that we believe should not exist in the first place.

If you are an instructor attempting to become verified and believe a sheriff's office is requiring something beyond what Colorado law permits, we encourage you to contact us.

We will help people navigate the system that exists while continuing to oppose the idea that they should have to navigate it at all.