LEOSA: Qualifications and Covered Firearms

[blues7]

I get the range time with the sheriff's office for free.

I pay for my own ammo and the $25 annual fee to the state DOJ for the card they send me which demonstrates that I have met the state standard for LE and the firearms I qualified with.

In my case, if I need to go north to visit family it's a must. Otherwise carry in those particular states would be prohibited.

 

[The Big D]

Update...perhaps a surprise therein.

The Maryland Police and Corrections Training Commission does a large amount of the LEOSA training in the great state of Maryland. As noted previously, a classroom component is required.

Part of the classroom is an update about certain facilities wherein carry is not allowed...and those places where it is.

Had not been to Oriole Park at Camden Yards (home of the pitiful Baltimore Orioles) in about five years and had not carried there since my retirement. Was told the procedure TO carry there and used it without a glitch.

Simply ask for the Baltimore PD officer inside every gate (before going through the magnetometer) and present your LEOSA credentials. Officer will verify and note your section/seat number and you are good to go.

I submit this given that many ballparks/stadia visited recently do NOT allow CCW.

Hope this is useful.

Be safe.

 

[sigp220.45]

I love LEOSA threads.

Its pretty simple here in CO. 40 bucks, bring your own ammo. The SO boys do it on their own time. There is a carbon copy form to record make of the gun and SN, but no mention of either on the card they give out. The course is super easy - 5 shot strings, no reloading on the clock, 30 rounds total. The last two years it was mostly Shields and Glock 42s and 43s. This year I bet some Sig 365s show up.

Everything costs money in Colorado, so I don't mind the $3.33 a month it works out to. I like to travel, and now that National Reciprocity appears as dead as Jacob Marley I don't have to play will they/won't they when I cross a state line.

 

[Cal44]

Well, I used to think the LEOSA program was a great program for retired law enforcement officers.

As a retired computer engineer I was a bit jealous.

But I'm starting to think just getting a civilian CCW license from my home state and a few other states that grant non-resident licenses is less hassle.

Sure there are a few states I can't carry in, but I have a solution for that problem -- don't go there.

LEOSA sounds like a major can of worms. Every district has different sets of rules.

 

[les.b]

Cal44, that's one reason that I keep a CCW license as well as my LEOSA credentials. Some years, due to scheduling conflicts, my annual certification runs out before I can get recertified. But my CCW still covers me in, something like 39 states that recognize the WV CCW. Usually there is no more than a week or so of time that my LEOSA is not good, and then most years there is no lapse.

But it's sort of like a belt and suspenders. And I still have hopes of nationwide reciprocity for all CCWs.

Best Regards, Les

 

[Muley Gil]

I did my yearly LEOSA qual the end of May with the sheriff's office over the mountain. In the past, the SO did a very slow, relaxed 18 shot qualification, with 15 yards being the maximum range. When I showed up, the LT said that they had decided to do the 25 yard state qual for everybody. Gulp, I haven't shot at 25 yards since I retired.

Well, it wasn't too bad. Shot a 85% using my Browning High Power. What was funny was that when the LT went to record my score and make, model and serial number. He asked what model I was shooting and I told him, "A Browning High Power", well, he wanted to know the model number and had a hard time believing there wasn't one.

Youngsters!

BTW, my card from the sheriff's office does not say what firearm was used, just that I have met the annual firearms training and qualification standards established by the SO to carry a concealed handgun. Oh, and they had me wear a vest while I shot. Thinking back to my cop days, there were several officers that I didn't feel all that safe around back then as well.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Every state, and really every agency, varies with regard to LEOSA qualifications . . .

Quote from the staff.

To ensure adequate staffing, we must have an accurate participation count. Unregistered walk-Ins will not be permitted.
]
• Retired Officers are allowed to qualify on one concealable firearm.
•["] ALL weapons must be brought in a case and unloaded, or in an approved holster.
• *** does not supply any ammunition for this Shoot. Retired Officers need to bring 50 rounds of practice ammunition per qualification attempt.
• Qualified Retired Officers will be required to sign an Injury or Accident Disclaimer.
• Retired Officers who have not had a background check within the past 5 years are required to complete a background check PRIOR to the Shoot.


Note, the last item....Yes we would be required to have a background check if not done in the last five years.....

HOWEVER, if one has a state issued permit to purchase a handgun, which must be conducted by a local law enforcement agency, (which are good for 3 years, cost $5.00) this will meet the requirement for a background check. This document must be provided at the time of qualification shoot.

As far as my LEO card for being issued to a "retired" officer, it is non expiring...It has our photo on it.( smiled, didn't have to be my grumpy old, grouchy look)

We are issued a second LEOSA card with our photo on it, with a expiration date 12 months from the date of our qualification.

There is no mention of whether we qualified with a semi-auto or revolver type of weapon...Only that we are allowed to conceal carry.

OH too...it's a freebe to us old codgers.... We only have to provide our own practice ammo.


WuzzFuzz

Sorry about the color change. I tried to correct that, but...well...you get the picture...Us old codgers are not the most computer savy.

 

[CH4]

"As the legislative history, statute, and case law make clear, if you qualify on one type of firearm, you can carry any firearm of that type under LEOSA. Accordingly, qualifying with a handgun enables you to carry any handgun under LEOSA, be it pistol or revolver. No separate qualification is necessary unless the state or agency has a different qualification standard for it."

That's the way the State of Nevada interprets Title 18 §926b/c. I qualify annually with any handgun and I am allowed to carry whatever handgun I choose. I believe "firearm type" diffentiates between handguns and long guns, not revolver or pistol.

 

[JWM]

"As the legislative history, statute, and case law make clear, if you qualify on one type of firearm, you can carry any firearm of that type under LEOSA. Accordingly, qualifying with a handgun enables you to carry any handgun under LEOSA, be it pistol or revolver. No separate qualification is necessary unless the state or agency has a different qualification standard for it."

That's the way the State of Nevada interprets Title 18 §926b/c. I qualify annually with any handgun and I am allowed to carry whatever handgun I choose. I believe "firearm type" diffentiates between handguns and long guns, not revolver or pistol.

That is the way South Carolina interprets it too. A handgun, is a handgun, is a handgun.

 

[apollo99]

I qualify with my semi-auto first, Then If I want to get the revolver qualification in, the instructor fits me in between the jokes and comments about being a dinosaur and the "hurry up, your holding us all up with that antique." I remembers the day when the .357 revolver was the king of the hill in law enforcement, next thing they won't have telephones mounted in the cars and they'll be putting in computers, and they'll stop leather jackets.

 

[Kframerbluvr]

The Maryland Police and Corrections Training Commission does a large amount of the LEOSA training in the great state of Maryland. As noted previously, a classroom component is required.

Part of the classroom is an update about certain facilities wherein carry is not allowed...and those places where it is.

Had not been to Oriole Park at Camden Yards (home of the pitiful Baltimore Orioles) in about five years and had not carried there since my retirement. Was told the procedure TO carry there and used it without a glitch.

Simply ask for the Baltimore PD officer inside every gate (before going through the magnetometer) and present your LEOSA credentials. Officer will verify and note your section/seat number and you are good to go.

I submit this given that many ballparks/stadia visited recently do NOT allow CCW.

Hope this is useful.

Be safe.

Thank you for this information. My son and future DIL live in "Ballmer" as the older locals pronounce Baltimore. May go to an Orioles game in the future.
I always carry either my G27 and/or 442 when in Charm City.

 

[SuperMan]

One of the above posters stated that he was surprised that so few LEOs know about LEOSA...I think the reason is that most of them don't care. 95+% of the LEOs I have worked with didn't carry a gun off-duty when they were full time...and they are going to carry after they retire....at their own expense...

When I worked for Dallas PD we were required to be armed off duty if we were in the city....from what I was told that changed in the 1990s and don't know what the policy is now. In the two smaller departments I worked for after, in the 38 man department only two of us carried off-duty. When both of us went to a 68 man department only us and the chief firearms instructor carried. I was just talking with with the chief firearms instructor in the town I was from in Connecticut. He said that "maybe" 25% of their officers carry off-duty....I'll bet it isn't even 10%.

Anyone come from a department that has a high percentage of officers who carry off-duty and have a lot of officers doing the LEOSA program after retirement?

Bob

 

[Muss Muggins]

In my observations, the percentage of officers who carry under LEOSA is about the same as the percentage of the general populace who obtain their CCW permit. Most retirees I know who utilize LEOSA also have their respective state permits as well, which may skew those private citizen stats even further.

One of the above posters stated that he was surprised that so few LEOs know about LEOSA...I think the reason is that most of them don't care. 95+% of the LEOs I have worked with didn't carry a gun off-duty when they were full time...and they are going to carry after they retire....at their own expense...

When I worked for Dallas PD we were required to be armed off duty if we were in the city....from what I was told that changed in the 1990s and don't know what the policy is now. In the two smaller departments I worked for after, in the 38 man department only two of us carried off-duty. When both of us went to a 68 man department only us and the chief firearms instructor carried. I was just talking with with the chief firearms instructor in the town I was from in Connecticut. He said that "maybe" 25% of their officers carry off-duty....I'll bet it isn't even 10%.

Anyone come from a department that has a high percentage of officers who carry off-duty and have a lot of officers doing the LEOSA program after retirement?

Bob

 

[kld555]

The dept. that I retired from in 1998 required that we carry a firearm and our dept. issued I.D. when off duty. In reference to the LEOSA issue, I went through the bs once, didn't actually ever feel the need to do it again. Just sick of the mess the govt. creates. Life goes on with or without LEOSA.

 

[Russell Cottle]

When I retired in 2004, the state sent me a CCW stating I was a retired officer authorized to carry concealed in the state of Oklahoma and quoted the statute. Nothing about the type of firearm I was qualified to carry. There was no expiration date and the issuing state agency, C.L.E.E.T. was/is responsible for background checks every 4 years. I was recently informed by C.L.E.E.T. that the non-expiration had been changed and I would be required to renew in 2022.

 

[blues7]

When I retired in 2004, the state sent me a CCW stating I was a retired officer authorized to carry concealed in the state of Oklahoma and quoted the statute. Nothing about the type of firearm I was qualified to carry. There was no expiration date and the issuing state agency, C.L.E.E.T. was/is responsible for background checks every 4 years. I was recently informed by C.L.E.E.T. that the non-expiration had been changed and I would be required to renew in 2022.

That would be fine in your state of residence, but does not meet the requirements for LEOSA since, by statute, you have to have an annual qualification conducted either by the agency you retired from, or a firearms instructor authorized to qualify LEOs in your state of residence.

 

[Russell Cottle]

That would be fine in your state of residence, but does not meet the requirements for LEOSA since, by statute, you have to have an annual qualification conducted either by the agency you retired from, or a firearms instructor authorized to qualify LEOs in your state of residence.

Since an Oklahoma permit is recognized by all but 9 states I don't worry about it and never have had a problem in the 14yrs I've been retired.

 

[blues7]

Since an Oklahoma permit is recognized by all but 9 states I don't worry about it and never have had a problem in the 14yrs I've been retired.

I hear ya. I've been retired for the same period. NC pretty much recognizes most every state and is recognized by most...but...I have family in a couple of states that don't reciprocate so I need the LEOSA coverage.

It's not too much of a burden. A morning spent with the sheriff's dept. to qualify annually, (a better bunch would be hard to find), and a money order to the state DOJ for an annual certification card.

 

[Smokey613]

That would be fine in your state of residence, but does not meet the requirements for LEOSA since, by statute, you have to have an annual qualification conducted either by the agency you retired from, or a firearms instructor authorized to qualify LEOs in your state of residence.

This brings up an interesting question. As a TCOLE firearms instructor, I can qualify retired officers for LEOSA compliance and do several a year. I plan to retire on 12-31-2018 and we are moving to Alabama. My TCOLE Firearm Instructor certification does not expire as far as I know and my wife and I plan to keep our Texas Peace Officer licenses active even though we will not hold an active commission. Would it be acceptable for me to qualify my wife annually to meet the LEOSA requirements?

 

[blues7]

This brings up an interesting question. As a TCOLE firearms instructor, I can qualify retired officers for LEOSA compliance and do several a year. I plan to retire on 12-31-2018 and we are moving to Alabama. My TCOLE Firearm Instructor certification does not expire as far as I know and my wife and I plan to keep our Texas Peace Officer licenses active even though we will not hold an active commission. Would it be acceptable for me to qualify my wife annually to meet the LEOSA requirements?

I'm not aware of any conflict of interest regulations but I'm not a lawyer or an expert on all the nuance contained in HR 218.

That said, I think she has to be qualified by someone who can certify LEOs in her state of residence which will no longer be TX.

So, unless you get certification for AL, I think she'll have to go with a local dept. or private instructor who can certify LEOs in AL.

That's my understanding but there may be others with more specific knowledge.