Instructors have seen a huge spike in demand for firearms training, but say they’ve had difficulty finding shooting ranges available for lessons.
Illinois State Police officials have begun accepting applications allowing the carrying of concealed weapons in public. But it requires 16 hours of safety training before an application is accepted.
James Monk II of Naperville says he’s trained about 80 people since November. He says it’s difficult to schedule training because there’s a wait for gun ranges and classrooms to become available at the same time.
Barry Soskin owns Article II Range in Lombard and allows outside trainers to teach there. He says some ranges that have indoor classrooms are not opening up to independent instructors.