Kentucky Concealed Carry Training Requirements

Kentucky Concealed Carry Training Requirements

Kentucky splits into two worlds on training. If you are 21 or older and can lawfully possess a firearm, KRS 237.109 lets you carry concealed with no license and no training, in the same locations a licensee may carry, and has since June 27, 2019 (2019 Ky. Acts ch. 10, sec. 1). A CCDW license is different: for reciprocity, for the dealer benefit, or at ages 18 to 20, training is a condition of issuance.

KRS 237.109 removed the need to train before carrying. It did not touch the training condition for a license in KRS 237.110(4)(i), and it did not remove the consequences of carrying a loaded handgun without knowing how to draw it, clear it, or when the law justifies using it. KSP makes the same argument in its FAQ: a license "will also assist in weapons purchases from licensed dealers and provide the holder with training and familiarity with gun laws."

The requirement: KRS 237.110(4)(i)

KRS 237.110(4)(i) conditions issuance and renewal on the applicant demonstrating "competence with a firearm by successful completion of a firearms safety or training course." Two routes qualify.

A nationally certified instructor. The instructor must be certified by a national organization with membership open to residents of any state or territory, created to promote firearms education, safety, and the profession of firearms use and training. That organization must hold members to its own code of ethics and must certify instructors using written tests, in person instruction, and live fire. The statute names the NRA, the USCCA, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and says that list is not exclusive.

A course offered or approved by the Department of Criminal Justice Training. DOCJT runs this program under KRS 237.124(1), and only the General Assembly may eliminate it. The statute caps the course at eight hours, requires firing of not more than 20 rounds at a full-size silhouette with at least 11 hits on the silhouette portion, and requires instruction on handguns, safe use, care and cleaning, and marksmanship plus a copy of the KRS Chapters 237 and 527 firearms laws and the KRS Chapter 503 use of force laws.

The KSP qualifications page still describes only the DOCJT route. Where it and the statute disagree, the statute controls.

Inside a DOCJT applicant course: 503 KAR 4:050

The regulation is what a Kentucky instructor is held to: the standardized DOCJT course, taught by a certified firearms instructor, student supplying a safe, functional handgun and factory ammunition.

• Classroom. Six to eight hours on handgun safety at home, on the range, and while carrying; marksmanship principles; care and cleaning; and, by DOCJT video, the license requirements, KRS Chapters 237 and 527, and the use of force provisions of KRS Chapter 503. It may run as one six-hour block or in segments of not less than one hour.
• Live fire. Twenty rounds, each observed by the instructor, fired from a safe position with no assistance in holding, aiming, or firing, at a DOCJT-approved full-size silhouette at seven yards. A student fails for disobeying the instructor, for dangerous handling, or for putting fewer than 11 unassisted rounds into the silhouette portion.
• The jam-clearing carve-out. Section 2(3) is the part instructors get wrong. Where the range's own policy requires staff to clear or supervise the clearing of all jams and malfunctions, a jam cleared by an instructor or range officer under that policy "shall not constitute prohibited assistance."
• Class size. Section 12 caps a course at 40 students in the classroom portion and 5 students per range officer engaged in range firing. Students waiting at the range who are not actively loading, unloading, or firing do not count toward that ratio.
• Furnishing a handgun. Section 8 lets an instructor provide a handgun only at the student's request and only where special circumstances dictate the need. Advertising that handguns will be furnished is prohibited, no fee may be charged for furnishing one, and only the actual cost of ammunition may be recovered.
• Paperwork and the video rule. Every student completes Form #126-A, the "Applicant Request for Training," carrying the acknowledgment of receipt of the KRS Chapters 237, 527, and 503 material, and Form #126-B, the release of liability. A certified instructor "shall not discuss the videotape or KRS Chapters 237, 503, or 527 with students, either individually or as a class." The video is the legal instruction, and a standard DOCJT examination closes the classroom block.

The handout, and proof of training

KRS 237.110(4)(j) separately conditions issuance on demonstrating knowledge of the law on justifiable use of force: file with the application a copy of the DOCJT concealed carry deadly weapons legal handout plus a signed statement that you have read and understand it.

Under KRS 237.110(5)(a), a legible photocopy or electronic copy of a certificate of completion from a nationally certified instructor or DOCJT is the evidence of qualification. On the DOCJT route, the instructor sends Form #126-A, the course fee, and the class roster to DOCJT within five working days, and DOCJT issues a Certificate of Completion of Training within 15 business days. Both DOCJT and the KSP FAQ state the certificate is good for life. Renewal under KRS 237.110(14) asks only that the licensee remain qualified under the subsection (3) and (4) criteria, so no new course is needed.

Out-of-state training is a dead end. KSP's FAQ states that no waiver is authorized for training completed for a license elsewhere, and DOCJT requires all training under its program to be conducted in Kentucky.

Who is deemed to have met the requirement: KRS 237.110(6)

• Peace officers currently certified by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council under KRS 15.380 to 15.404, and retired peace officers in a Kentucky state or local government retirement system.
• Current and retired peace officers of the federal agencies named in KRS 61.365, officers of other federal civilian agencies who completed that agency's basic course, and military and Coast Guard peace officers who completed their branch's law enforcement course.
• Corrections officers currently or formerly employed by a consolidated local government, an urban-county government, or the Department of Corrections who completed a basic firearms course required for the job, retirees also needing retirement system membership. Read this one from the statute: KSP's FAQ omits the Department of Corrections, so a DOC officer reading the FAQ alone would wrongly conclude no exemption applies.
• Active or honorably discharged service members of the Armed Forces, a reserve component, or the National Guard who completed handgun training or qualification in that service. KRS 237.110(5)(b) accepts DD 2586, DD 214, CG 3029, DA 88-R, DA 5704-R, OPNAV 3591-1, or AF 522, or an honorable discharge plus a notarized KSP affidavit sworn under penalty of perjury.

Ages 18 to 20, and the 45-day protective order permit

KRS 237.118, effective July 15, 2026, is in force and directs KSP to issue provisional licenses to applicants who are 18 but younger than 21. It waives only the age criterion in KRS 237.110(4)(c), so a provisional applicant completes the same training as a 21-year-old. On switching at 21, KRS 237.118(6)(g) provides that the applicant "shall not be required to retake the firearms training described in KRS 237.110(4)." KSP has not opened applications yet: it says its portal is expected to be updated this fall and will then accept applications from eligible individuals ages 18 to 20.

KRS 403.754 runs the other way. A protective order petitioner under KRS 403.715 to 403.785 may apply electronically for a temporary permit, which KSP issues if the applicant is not disqualified under KRS 237.110(4)(a) to (h). That range stops short of the training criterion, so the temporary permit requires no training. It is valid 45 days, cannot be extended, and under KRS 403.754(7) the holder must complete the KRS 237.110(4) training inside that window to convert it.

Becoming an instructor or instructor trainer

Certified firearms instructor (KRS 237.122). Hold a CCDW license issued under KRS 237.110 and complete an instructor course of not more than 16 hours taught by a certified instructor trainer, though KRS 237.122(2) lets DOCJT conduct those courses too. Certification runs three years, during which the instructor must conduct or assist in at least one applicant course, and attend an in-service course of not more than four hours. Recertification is free, and a lapsed instructor may recertify within 180 days by taking in-service.

Firearms instructor trainer (KRS 237.120). Meet the instructor requirements, hold a high school diploma or High School Equivalency Diploma, complete a DOCJT trainer course of not more than 16 hours, and hold an NRA Personal Protection Instructor or NRA Pistol Marksmanship Instructor certification, a firearms instructor certification from a state or federal agency course, or one the DOCJT Commissioner deems equivalent. Certification also runs three years, but the teaching condition is looser: under KRS 237.120(3) a trainer may conduct or assist in either an instructor course or an applicant course, while an instructor under KRS 237.122(4)(a) must use an applicant course. In-service costs not more than $50.

What counts as assisting. Under KRS 237.110(22)(e) and (f), a trainer who assists in an instructor or applicant class for more than two hours, or an instructor who assists in an applicant class for more than two hours, is deemed to have taught a class for certification. Class record forms carry signature spaces for assistant instructors, so sign them.

Course content for both (503 KAR 4:040). Fourteen classroom hours, a graded teaching demonstration, and live fire. Qualifying takes at least 70 percent on the written examination and 80 percent on unassisted firing of 10 rounds at seven yards and 10 at 15 yards.

Fee ceilings (KRS 237.120(6), 237.122(7) and (8)). A trainer course costs no more than $100; an instructor course no more than $150, of which $50 goes to DOCJT; an applicant course no more than $75, plus actual range, target, and classroom costs capped at $10, with $25 per student remitted to DOCJT. Nothing is refunded to a student who fails or quits.

Instructor duties, discipline, and criminal exposure

Under KRS 237.110(22)(d), an instructor or trainer must send DOCJT a confidential roster naming and addressing every student who enrolled and completed the class, within five working days. When DOCJT believes a class was not taught as required, it sends each listed student a VF-1 verification form, sworn and returnable within 45 days. A student who misses that deadline, or who is found after a KRS Chapter 13B hearing not to have received the training, loses the CCDW license.

Four offenses backstop the system:

• Not providing firearms training (KRS 237.126). Representing to DOCJT that training was conducted when none was provided. Class D felony.
• Providing incomplete firearms training (KRS 237.128). Representing that training was conducted without lecture instruction, a required visual aid, hands-on safety training, range instruction and firing, or a cleaning demonstration, or passing a student who did not achieve the required marksmanship. Class D felony.
• Failure to report nonreceipt of firearms training (KRS 237.130). Receiving a certification of completion having received no training, and not reporting it in writing within 30 working days to KSP or to the sheriff, Commonwealth's attorney, or county attorney where the training was conducted. Class A misdemeanor. A timely report bars prosecution.
• Failure to report insufficient firearms training (KRS 237.132). The same duty, deadline, and safe harbor where training was incomplete rather than absent. Class A misdemeanor.

KRS 237.134 routes those reports to prosecutors. KRS 237.136 lets DOCJT suspend a certification for up to five years or revoke it after a KRS Chapter 13B hearing, and suspend it temporarily beforehand when public safety requires.

Open questions to verify before you rely on them

• Can an 18 to 20 year old sit a DOCJT applicant course? 503 KAR 4:050 Section 4(1) states that an applicant training course "shall not be open to persons who are less than twenty-one (21) years of age." The text relied on here predates the effective date of KRS 237.118, whose subsection (2) requires provisional applicants to satisfy the KRS 237.110(4) training criterion, so it may since have been amended. Check DOCJT's filed regulations page before booking a student. The national-organization route is not governed by it.
• Where may a national-organization course be taught? DOCJT requires its own program to be taught inside Kentucky and KSP rejects out-of-state training as a waiver, but KRS 237.110(4)(i) does not on its face impose a location requirement on that route. Confirm with KSP.
• Course length. The statute caps a DOCJT course at eight hours while 503 KAR 4:050 requires six to eight classroom hours plus live fire.

Statute and regulation reference