Which First Time Gun Owner Classes Come Before the LTC?
If you have never fired a gun, book First Shots. If you already own a handgun and nobody has shown you how to run it, book a private lesson. Leave the Texas License to Carry class for last, because it teaches the law and tests your shooting, and it does not teach you to shoot. That is the order we give new owners at our McKinney range, and the reasoning behind each step is below.
TL;DR
First time gun owner classes at our McKinney range come in three kinds, and they do three different jobs. First Shots for Beginners is a two-hour introduction with classroom time and range time on a rental firearm, built for someone who has never fired a shot. A private lesson is one hour with an instructor, shaped around your own gun and your own gaps. The Texas License to Carry class is the state course: four to six hours of classroom instruction on law, safety, dispute resolution and storage, a written test and a shooting qualification.
Our own class letter says of the License to Carry course, in capitals, that it is not a how-to-shoot class. So the order is skills first, license second. Book by where you are starting from.
Which Class Should a First Time Gun Owner Take First?
The one that matches what you can already do with a handgun, and for most new owners that is not the License to Carry class. A first time gun owner who has never fired a shot should start with First Shots. An owner who has a handgun at home but has never been coached should start with a private lesson. Only someone who can already load, operate and clear a malfunction on their own handgun should start with the license class.
New owners across Collin County search for this in a dozen different wordings, and the confusion is understandable. The License to Carry class is the only one with the state's name on it, so it sounds like the official place to begin. It is official.
It is also the wrong first class for a beginner, for a reason that comes straight from how Texas defines the course.
| Where you are today | Book first | Length | Posted price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Never fired a gun | First Shots for Beginners | 2 hours | $50 |
| Own a handgun, never been coached | Private Lesson for 1 Student | 1 hour | $100 |
| Shoot comfortably, want the license | Texas License to Carry | 6 hours | $75 |
Lengths and prices are the ones on our online booking page on October 12, 2026. The License to Carry figure is listed there as special pricing against a regular price of $85, and it cannot be combined with other discounts.
First Shots: Two Hours for Someone Starting From Zero
First Shots is a national program from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), and ranges like ours host it. The foundation describes it on its First Shots program as instruction that includes both classroom and live fire, with the stated aim that you leave knowing how to safely handle, operate, and store a firearm. Its outline for a seminar also includes the local requirements for owning and buying a firearm, individual and group training, and a chance to try shooting.
The version we run is listed for booking as First Shots for Beginners. It runs two hours and covers safety fundamentals, proper handling, and range etiquette. The fee includes the classroom instruction, the range time, a rental firearm, the ammunition, and eye and ear protection.
That last sentence is the reason it suits someone who owns nothing yet. You do not need a gun, a case, a box of ammunition, or a pair of ear muffs to take it.
You need a photo ID and two free hours.
Who the two hours suit
- You have never fired a gun, or you fired one once years ago and remember none of it.
- You are deciding whether to buy and want to handle a firearm safely before you spend anything.
- You would rather pick up the basics in a structured class than from a spouse or a friend on a lane.
What the introduction leaves out
It is an introduction, and it stops where an introduction should. The range time is on our rental firearm, so the class does not teach you the controls of a handgun you already own. It carries no state credential and does nothing toward a License to Carry.
Two hours will not make anything automatic. What you take home is a safe starting point and a clear idea of what to practice next.
A Private Lesson: One Hour Built Around Your Own Handgun
A private lesson is the right first booking when the gun is already in the house. The session starts at your current skill level and is tailored to your needs, experience, and abilities, which is how our lesson listing puts it. For a new shooter, our training page names the first things an instructor works on: proper grip, the right foot positioning, and how to lean into the shot.
There are three ways to book one:
| Lesson | Length | Posted price |
|---|---|---|
| Private Lesson for 1 Student | 1 hour | $100 |
| Private Lesson for 2 Students | 1 hour | $200 |
| Private Lesson for 3 Students | 1 hour 30 minutes | $300 |
The two-student lesson fits a household in Allen or Plano where two adults will have access to the same handgun. Both people hear the same instruction on the same gun, which beats one of them relaying it at home afterward.

Our instructors are certified through U.S. LawShield, the NRA, or both, and some are active-duty military or law enforcement. One house rule matters here too. A first-time shooter must have an instructor with them in the range, so a beginner private lesson booked ahead is the surest way to get a first session at the time you want. On-demand lessons exist, and at peak times they may not be available.
A yardstick for what a fundamentals lesson should cover
Not every lesson needs a syllabus, but a new owner deserves a way to judge one. The NRA publishes the topic list for its own entry-level handgun course, and it works as a checklist for any instructor, here or anywhere else. The NRA Basic Pistol Shooting course description lists:
- Gun safety rules
- Proper operation of revolvers and semi-automatic pistols
- Ammunition knowledge and selection
- Pistol selection and storage
- Shooting fundamentals and marksmanship
- Pistol inspection and maintenance
- Shooting range safety
Nobody covers all seven well in a single hour.
Bring the list anyway, tell your instructor which items you have never been shown, and let them set the order. A first lesson with us is not that NRA course and does not end in its certificate. The list is simply a fair picture of what "the basics" means.
What a private lesson leaves out
It is not the state course. An hour of coaching, useful as it is, records nothing with the Department of Public Safety and does not shorten the License to Carry class.
It also will not cover Texas law on carrying or on the use of force. That material belongs to the license class, taught from the state curriculum.
Is the Texas LTC Class a Good First Class for a New Gun Owner?
Not if you have never run a handgun. The Texas License to Carry class is a legal course with a shooting test attached, and it assumes you arrive able to handle your firearm. The letter we send every License to Carry student says so in capitals: this is not a how-to-shoot class. If you cannot show proficiency in loading and operating your firearm and working through malfunctions, the same letter recommends private lessons first.
The reason is in the statute. Section 411.188 of the Texas Government Code sets the classroom part at not less than four hours and not more than six, and it fixes the subjects. The Department of Public Safety restates them in its LTC training requirements FAQ:
- Laws that relate to weapons and the use of deadly force
- Handgun use and safety, including restraint holsters and methods of secure carry
- Non-violent dispute resolution
- Proper storage practices, with an emphasis on preventing accidental injury to a child
Look at what is on that list and what is missing.
Grip, stance, sight picture, and trigger control are not statutory subjects. An instructor has four to six hours to cover four legal and safety topics for a full room, then a written test and a qualification.
Nobody has time to teach one student how to load a magazine.
What our LTC class includes
The in-person class here is listed at six hours. Students are taught the curriculum outlined by the Texas DPS, and both the written test and the range proficiency test are given during the class, so the shooting qualification is part of the same day. The class letter breaks the day down as four hours of mandated class time, not counting qualification or breaks, for a total of 5 to 6 hours.
Rental firearms are available if you do not own a pistol. The same DPS FAQ notes that some instructors require your own gun for the proficiency demonstration and others provide one, so that is a question worth asking wherever you take the class.
One more detail from the DPS page saves a lot of phone calls. You do not walk out with a paper certificate. The instructor enters your training results into your account on RSD Connect, the licensing platform DPS launched on October 1, 2026.
If you take the classroom part online
Texas allows the classroom portion through an approved online course provider. People who do that still have to finish with a qualified instructor in person, and we list a separate session for it: Texas License to Carry Qualification Only, 1 hour 30 minutes, $40. Do not book it on top of the full in-person class, which already includes the qualification.
The steps after the class (the application, fingerprints, fees, and waiting time) are their own subject. We set them out in our full walk-through of the Texas license process, so they are not repeated here. One line from DPS is worth carrying over: permitless carry did not repeal the License to Carry program.
The Three Options Side by Side
| First Shots for Beginners | Private lesson | Texas License to Carry | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suits | Someone who has never fired a gun | An owner who wants coaching on their own handgun | A shooter who is ready for the state license |
| Covers | Safety fundamentals, proper handling, range etiquette, first live rounds | Whatever you need, starting at your current level | Four statutory classroom subjects, written test, shooting qualification |
| Gear | Rental firearm, ammunition, eye and ear protection included | Your firearm or a rental | Your pistol or a rental |
| Leaves out | Your own gun, any credential | Texas carry law, any credential | How to shoot |
Read the bottom row twice.
Each option has a gap, and the gap in one is filled by another. That is why the honest answer to "which class" is usually "two of them, in order."
None of the three chooses a gun for you, either. If you have not bought yet, our post on how to choose a first handgun makes the case for renting a few before you pay for one. A class taken before the purchase is the cheaper way to find out what fits your hand.
The Order We Would Put Them In
tart from the row that describes you.
- Never fired a gun: First Shots, then a private lesson once you own a handgun, then the License to Carry class when loading and operating that handgun no longer takes thought.
- Own a handgun, never coached: A private lesson first. Add a second if the first one shows you how much there is to fix. Then the license class.
- Comfortable shooter, new to Texas licensing: Go straight to the License to Carry class, in person or online with the Qualification Only session.
- Curious and nervous, not sure you want any of this yet: Come on a Tuesday. Women get half off lane fees and free rentals at Ladies Day on Tuesdays, and a first-timer has an instructor on the range with her.
The posted prices for the first path add up simply. First Shots at $50, one private lesson at $100, and the License to Carry class at its current $75 come to $225 in class fees. That figure leaves out ammunition, any rental, and the state's own application fee.
There is a gap between steps that no class fills, and it is practice. An hour of coaching fades if the handgun goes back in the safe for three months. Our post on what instructor-led training looks like here explains why practice without direction tends to stall. A lesson followed by a few lane sessions holds far better than a lesson alone.
The most common mistake, in our view, is treating the license as the finish line.
A License to Carry is a legal credential. The class that earns it spends its hours on law and judgment, which is exactly what it should do, and the shooting skill has to come from somewhere else. A new owner in McKinney who books it first meets the shooting test with whatever skill they walked in with, because the day leaves the instructor no time to coach one student.
What to Bring to a Class or Lesson Here
The letter we send every student lists five things:
- Photo ID
- Ear protection
- Eye protection
- A firearm (rentals are available)
- Ammunition: at least 50 rounds, and we recommend 100
The exception is First Shots, since its fee already includes the rental firearm, ammunition and protection. For the others, ammunition is sold at our counter, and a rental gun must use ammunition purchased from us. Eye and ear protection can be bought or rented here if you do not own them. No home loads are allowed.
Three rules catch new students out more than the packing list does.
Arrive early if you need anything from the counter: The letter asks students who are buying ammunition or renting a handgun to arrive 30 minutes before class begins.
Keep the gun put away until you are in the range: Every firearm stays holstered or in a bag while you are in the building. You may not unholster it or take it out of the bag until you are safely inside the live-fire range. For a new owner driving in from Frisco or Prosper with a handgun still in its retail box, that means bringing it cased and leaving it cased.
Do the waiver before you come: It has to be completed before your class or lesson and before you enter the live-fire range. Our online waiver takes care of that from home. The rest of the visit, from dress code to check-in, is in our guide on what to wear and expect on a first visit.
If your plans change
There are no refunds on classes or lessons. You can reschedule to a different date and time up to 24 hours before the start, or take store credit. Once a class has started, moving it costs a $25 instructor fee, and you have one week to do it.
A private lesson booked online less than 24 hours ahead may have to be moved so an instructor is available. Call us to confirm if you book that late.
Book the Class That Fits Where You Are Today
Choose by what you can do today, not by which class sounds most official. Never fired a gun: First Shots. Own a handgun and want coaching on it: a private lesson. Ready for the state course and its test: the License to Carry class. Anyone who cannot decide between the first two should take First Shots, since it asks nothing of you except showing up.
All three are booked online, and the booking links on our training open the booking page for each one. Call us if you would rather talk it through with a person first. We would sooner spend five minutes on the phone than see you sit through six hours of the wrong class.
The Range in McKinney is at 415 Industrial Blvd. in McKinney, open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best first-time gun owner classes to take?
Start with the class that matches your experience. At our McKinney range, that means First Shots for Beginners if you have never fired a gun, a private lesson if you own a handgun and want coaching on it, and the Texas License to Carry class after those.
Do I need to own a gun to take a class?
No. First Shots for Beginners includes a rental firearm, ammunition, and eye and ear protection in its fee. Rental firearms are also available for private lessons and for the License to Carry class, and rentals must use ammunition bought at our counter.
Is the Texas LTC class a beginner shooting class?
No. Texas law sets its classroom part at four to six hours on weapons law, handgun safety, dispute resolution and storage, followed by a written test and a shooting qualification. Our class letter states it is not a how-to-shoot class.
How long is a private shooting lesson, and what does it cost?
On our booking page on October 12, 2026, a private lesson for one student is one hour at $100. A lesson for two students is one hour at $200, and a lesson for three students runs 90 minutes at $300.
Can I get a refund if I cannot make my class?
No. Classes and lessons are not refunded, but they can be rescheduled up to 24 hours before the start, or you can take store credit. After a class has started, moving it costs a $25 instructor fee within one week.
The Range in McKinney
415 Industrial Blvd., McKinney, TX 75069
Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–7 p.m. | Sunday 12 p.m.–6 p.m. | Closed Mondays
