If you are like me, getting into training classes always seems like a minor miracle. By the time you find the class you want, and then get your chain of command to approve it, the class is either fully booked or already finished. Armorer’s schools seem to be the toughest of the bunch because of costs, time, and demand from other officers/agencies.
The American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is now offering an alternative: the AGI Certified Law Enforcement Armorer Course. The course consists of 14 DVDs with more than 21 hours of instruction. The entire course covers 14 different firearms including most popular pistol, revolver, rifle, and shotgun series.
Firearms covered:
- Glock pistols
- 1911 pistols
- Smith & Wesson M&P pistols
- Springfield XD pistols
- Beretta 92 pistols
- H&K USP pistols
- SIG SAUER pistols
- Smith & Wesson pistols (first, second, and third generation)
- Ruger double action revolvers
- Smith & Wesson revolvers
- Ruger Mini-14 rifles
- AR-15 rifles
- Remington 870 shotguns
- Mossberg 500 shotguns
Other courses could have been included, like the Remington 700 rifles or 1187 shotguns, but those training videos are also available from AGI.
The price is $797. That price is cheap for an agency having to pay for the class and travel, but out of reach for most officers who might want to obtain the certification independent of his or her department. The course includes a comprehensive exam, which upon passing, you will receive a certificate of completion from AGI and an armorer’s patch.