Online courses
Do the hours at home. Qualify in person.
California splits a CCW permit into two things: classroom instruction, and a live fire qualification. The instruction can happen online. The qualification cannot, and never will. Everything on this page is about getting the first part off your calendar.
✓ Online covers your instruction hours
16 for a first permit, 8 for a renewal
✗ Online cannot cover live fire
Every route still ends with Bill at a range
✓ San Diego County accepts it
Same certificate as sitting in the classroom
Which course you need, and what follows it
The course length depends on whether this is your first permit or a renewal. What you do afterwards depends on how much range time you want.
First permit
16 hours
The county requires sixteen. You can take all sixteen online, or take eight online and get the other eight on the range, which is the option with live coaching in it.
$559 total
All 16 hours online, $499
Then one Monday evening to qualify, $60 at the range, about 30 minutes, indoors in Kearny Mesa.
$548 total
8 hours online, $249, then 8 on the range
Then a full range day in Escondido or Alpine, qualification included.
Opens californiaonlineccw.com, our online training partner, where the course is bought and delivered. Your live fire date is booked back here.
Renewal
8 hours
A renewal is eight hours and a qualification. Taken online, that leaves exactly one thing to show up for, and it is an evening rather than a day.
$309 total
8 hours online, $249
Then one Monday evening to qualify, $60 for the first pistol and $20 for each one after, paid at the range.
$299 total
Or skip online entirely
A one-day range class covers the hours and the qualification together.
Our own course, bought here and sent to you the moment you pay. Your Monday qualification is booked here too.
Online is the more expensive way to do it, not the cheaper one.
A first permit taken entirely in person is $499. Taken online it is $548 or $559, because the two in-person days carry a $49 pair discount that a course cannot join. You are paying roughly fifty dollars to get a day back.
Start to finish
Getting your CCW online is easy with CCW USA
1 Sign up and take the online course
Renewing? Our eight hour course is twelve professionally recorded chapters, sent to you as soon as you order. Watch them at your own pace, on any device, in whatever order suits your week. When you have worked through all twelve you complete and sign your certificate of completion and bring it with you.
First permit? The sixteen hour course is run by our online training partner. You buy it on their site, they send your login, and your certificate comes back to us.
Takes 8 or 16 hours of content, at whatever pace suits you. Most people spread it over a week of evenings.
2 Complete your range qualification with Bill
Book this on the first permit page or the renewal page as soon as you have bought the course, because it is the only part with limited seats. If you took all your hours online it is one Monday evening in Kearny Mesa. If you took eight online it is a full range day in Escondido or Alpine, and your qualification happens as part of it. Bring your completion certificate, your ID, and the pistols you want on the permit.
Takes About 30 minutes for a Monday qualification, a full day for a range class.
3 Turn in your training certificate to the Sheriff
Your training certificate is issued the day you qualify. It goes to the San Diego County Sheriff with the rest of your permit application, and that is the last thing we owe you.
Takes Issued same day.
Finish the course before step 2, not after.
Your completion certificate is checked at the door. If the course is taking longer than you expected, move your date rather than turning up short. Moving is free with more than 72 hours notice, and arriving without a certificate is a wasted trip.
Whether it is right for you
The online course is not a lesser version of the classroom. It is the same material with a different set of trade-offs, and they are worth knowing before you buy.
Take it online if
- You cannot give up a Friday or a Saturday
- You would rather spread it over evenings
- You are renewing and have heard the material before
- You live far enough out that a second trip is the real cost
Take the classroom if
- This is your first permit and you have questions
- You want to ask about your own situation out loud
- You want more coached trigger time, which the range day gives you
- You know you will not finish a self-paced course
If you are new to carrying, we would rather you trained with us in person.
The law is the same either way. What a classroom adds is the chance to ask questions, and first-time permit holders usually have several.
Questions people ask first
Yes. The Sheriff accepts the 16-hour and 8-hour online courses we use, and the live fire portion is done in person with Bill either way. What the county will not accept is a qualification done remotely, which is why every route still ends at a range.
The eight hour renewal course is ours: professionally recorded by CCW USA, bought here, and sent to you directly. The sixteen hour first permit course is run by our online training partner, californiaonlineccw.com, and bought on their site. Either way the live fire, the qualification and every date on this site are us.
There is no deadline from us other than your own live fire date. Finish before then and you are fine.
Call us. Depending on how far in you are we can usually credit what you have paid against a classroom seat rather than leaving you to eat it.
No, you can start the course whenever. You do need it in hand for the live fire session, which is the part where it gets checked.
No. A first permit done entirely in person is $499, because the classroom day and the range day carry a $49 discount when booked together. Online it is $548 or $559. What you are buying is a day back, not a saving. For a renewal it is the same either way, $309, whether the eight hours happen in a classroom or at your kitchen table.
Pick the route that fits your week
Both start with the same course. They differ only in what you show up to afterwards.
Not sure which is yours? Call 619-871-9834 or email info@ccwusa.com and we will tell you straight.