Almost one week after concealed carry takes effect, four-hour weapons training requirement gone

Lawmakers Monday suspended the time requirement of four hours of firearms training before people can carry concealed guns.

Now, there's no time requirement, and some argue, no way to know if the training is legitimate.

The question of what constitutes concealed carry training was a question left open by the legislature, which left it up to the attorney general to write the rules, and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen decided on a minimum of four hours.

"Did I want to?  No, but in the absence of a clear law, I was required to do so, and that's what I did," Van Hollen said.

Conservative lawmakers, and the National Rifle Association bristled at the requirement.

Republican Rep. Scott Suder agreed before the Administrative Rules Committee that lawmakers didn't set a time requirement, because they didn't intend for there to be one.

"The intent of the legislature was very clear, whether the course is three hours or 30 hours, the choice should rest with the individual and be arbitrarily established by the government," Rep. Suder said.

The Republican-controlled committee did away with the four hour requirement, meaning when you apply for a concealed carry permit, the Department of Justice will accept any training certification, no matter if that training lasted one minute or one week.

At Waukesha County Technical College, Brian Dorow has trained more than 300 people in a standard, six-hour course. Dorow says most people will continue to do thorough training.

"At this point, I don't think hours really means anything.  What we're finding out is there's a high interest in this training.  People are very interested. Our classes are filling up as fast as we can offer them.  We've heard no gripes about offering a six hour course," Dorow said.

The no time training requirement is temporary. Lawmakers say they'll likely write permanent rules defining training sometime next year.