A universally accepted concealed carry qualification doesn’t exist. I don’t believe you should have to pass a state-mandated qual to conceal carry, but I’d love a good skills test that is oriented at concealed carry. The closest I can find are the various backup qualifications designed for police forces for plain clothes, off-duty, and of course, backup gun carry. Today we are looking at the Georgia Backup Weapon Qualification designed by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.
Who exactly is the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council? Well, let’s let them answer that question. From their website:
The Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) was established in 1970 by the Georgia General Assembly as a regulatory body. The composition of the Council, its power, and function is established in Title 35 Chapter 8 of the Official Code of Georgia, Annotated. The Council is responsible for the certification and regulation of Georgia’s peace officers and other various public safety personnel. Additionally, POST is responsible for establishing the minimum training standards and curriculum of the personnel certified by the agency.
This backup weapon qualification is clearly aimed at police officers, but it can be a great qualification course for concealed carriers looking to test their shooting skills with their smaller, concealable handguns.
The Georgia Backup Weapon Qualification — What You’ll Need
Logistically the Georgia Backup Weapon Qualification doesn’t require much. You’ll need at least 15 yards of open range. You’ll also need to be capable of drawing your firearm at this range. Additionally, you’ll need something you can use for cover. I typically use a PTSB Lite, but you can use anything from a trash can to the old blue barrel.
Ammo is expensive, but don’t fret. You’ll only need 20 rounds per run. You also only need a single magazine. There is not a specific weapon championed for this qual, and both snub-nose revolvers and small automatics are suitable. You’ll need a holster, but the qual doesn’t specify which type or where you can carry. In fact, they even mention ankle holsters as allowed.
Shooters will need two targets, with the qualification listing the SQT A-1 targets as the target of choice. However, any general anatomy target will work. I used the Sage Dynamics free printable targets. These things are actually smaller than the SQT A-1, so I feel it’s fair to use them. Every string of fire is timed, so a shot timer is a must-have.
Don’t forget your eye protection and ear protection as well.
The Little Things
Before we dig into the Georgia Backup Weapon Qualification, let’s do a little housekeeping.
Scoring properly does require the SQT A-1 target. The maximum score is 200 points, and the minimum passing score is 160 points. A shot inside the center mass line is ten points, and a shot outside the center mass line is 8 points.
The center mass line is fairly small, so it does require shooting skill. I still feel confident with my Sage Dynamics targets, and the torso target is certainly smaller than the center mass box on the SQT A-1.
Another note worth mentioning is that if you use an ankle holster, you are allowed to fire every stage from the kneeling position.
You’ll see the phrase low ready often. Low ready is a position with the weapon oriented down range, your finger off the trigger, and generally pointing at the ground ahead of the shooter.
Per the Backup Weapon Qualification instructions, before beginning each stage of fire, the shooter reloads their weapon to maximum capacity.
The course of fire is really set up to have an instructor present to announce both cover and fire. If you don’t have a partner, a timer will work fine enough. The times are so generous in the qual that you can likely assume cover and fire well within just the ‘fire’ time.
Now that that’s out of the way let’s get shooting.
Stage One — 15 Yard Line
Before you start, ensure you have your cover or cover area setup. You’ll stand outside of it with your weapon fully loaded and holstered.
String One
Start outside of cover and on the Go signal, draw and move behind cover—specifically on the right side of cover. Then, engage the right target with a single round. You have four seconds to accomplish this. Go to the low ready, stay outside of cover, and on the ‘Go’ signal, fire a round into the left target in four seconds.
String Two
String two starts outside of cover and essentially mimics string one. On the command, move to the left side of cover and fire one round on the left target in four seconds. Go to the low ready, stay outside of cover, and on the ‘Go’ signal, fire a round into the right target in four seconds.
Stage Two — 10 Yard Line
String One
Start outside of cover with your weapon holstered, and on the cover command, draw and move to cover. You can choose which side to shoot around. At the fire command (or timer beep), peek around cover and fire one round into the right and left target.
Immediately drop to a knee and fire one round into each target. All four rounds have to be fired within eight seconds.
Stage Three — 7-Yard Line
String One
Stand in the open, with your firearm in the low ready. On the fire command, give verbal commands to the target and then fire two rounds into the right target and then two rounds into the left target. You have five seconds total to complete this string.
String Two
Start with the weapon holstered. Your first action will be to draw the weapon and come to a low ready with the weapon hand only. On the command (or beep), raise the weapon and fire one round on both targets in any order with your dominant hand. You have three seconds to accomplish this.
String Three
Start with your weapon holstered. Draw the weapon and come to a low ready with the support hand only. On the command to fire, use your support hand only to fire one round into each target in any order you desire. You have three seconds to do so.
Stage Four — 3 Yard Line
String One
Stand in the open with your weapon held in the low ready. At the signal to fire, take a step to the left or right and give verbal commands to the threat. Then fire a single round at both targets. This has to be done in three seconds.
String Two
Stand in the open with your weapon held in the low ready. At the signal to fire, give verbal commands to the suspect target. Then, fire one round at the head of both targets. You have four seconds to do so.
That’s All, Folks
Yep, that’s it. The Georgia Backup Weapon Qualification is short and sweet. Four stages from 15 to 3 yards. It’s not a bad qualification and does do some things well. This includes multiple target engagements, headshots, movement, and the use of cover.
The downside is the overly generous times. I could shoot the drills with excellent accuracy and have plenty of time to reload before the par timer sounded. The Backup Weapon Qualification isn’t much of a challenge.
Additionally, there are no timed reloads, and I think they could be valuable, especially with weapons that traditionally have much less capacity than a standard firearm. Reloading small guns is a great skill to have.
I’d also love to see more than one round per engagement. Pistol rounds aren’t always known for their ability to instantly stop a threat, and learning cadence, control, and accuracy with multiple rounds is important.
Now that I’m done griping, what’s your opinion of the Georgia Backup Weapon Qualification? Let us know below!
