First off, what is NRA Carry Guard? If you asked someone off the street, they might tell you it’s protection for carrying a gun.  However, it’s a bit more than that, mostly because a lot has changed over the past year. So, we’re here to give you all the details in our complete NRA Carry Guard review, which isn’t exactly what you think it is.

NRA Carry Guard is an educational resource through the NRA. Unfortunately, unless you call them you won’t get a lot of answers (probably their way of making sure they get the opportunity to sell you more than what you intended). After searching their website endlessly for pricing details and doing a LOT of digging, it appears the NRA Carry Guard website has gone through some significant changes, mostly for legal reasons.

Not sure which self-defense legal service defense to take advantage of, compare them in our guide, Best Concealed Carry Insurance.

What stayed the same, however, is their educational resources, which are mostly for free, their online guide on what to do in the case of a self-defense shooting (also free), and a little bit of information provided about training courses.

Disclaimer: NRA Carry Guard is NOT a concealed carry insurance (anymore).

What is NRA Carry Guard

Okay, before we get too deep in this, you should know NRA Carry Guard is NOT what it used to be. It used to be up there with programs like USCCA and U.S. & TX LawShield. However, after only a couple of years, the NRA has gone from offering a liability self-defense insurance to a training program.

This is why, if you go on their website, you no longer find pricing or details on the site making you want to purchase the service. However, they still offer a lot of training resources, so we’ve decided to go ahead and look at what NRA Carry Guard can do for you, even without the “insurance” tag on the end.

If you’re looking to take advantage of a legal defense service with plenty of educational resources, check out U.S. & TX LawShield. You can read about them in our blog, U.S. LawShield Review.

What happened to NRA Carry Guard insurance?

There’s a reason companies like CCW Safe don’t advertise as “insurance” companies. In fact, they make it quite apparent by saying they aren’t insurance, but a self-defense legal service. This is because selling insurance requires things like permits. Of course, insurance sales are different for every state. However, for our example, we’ll use California, since that seems to be one of the major areas of concern NRA Carry Guard had.  In California, you have to have a permit to sell insurance. NRA Carry Guard did not have said permit. When the state of California found out, the NRA came under fire.

Unfortunately, for NRA Carry Guard, this didn’t just happen in California. If you haven’t noticed, NRA Carry Guard’s website has had a complete makeover and they no longer associate themselves with any type of insurance sells. In fact, they talk about training and more training (which by the way isn’t a bad idea; the more training the better).

NRA Carry Guard Then

NRA Carry Guard was actually a firearms liability insurance sponsored by the NRA. This is why you couldn’t sign-up for an NRA membership through NRA Carry Guard. The NRA was pretty much just attaching their name to it. Various news sources have suggested that the NRA was going under financially (because Trump assured everyone their gun rights weren’t going to be taken away when he came into office) because people stopped signing up for an NRA membership. When this happened, the NRA wasn’t getting an influx of funds like they were when people thought their rights were being infringed upon.

So, the NRA decided to attach their name to self-defense insurance to help make up for what they’d been losing in regular NRA membership fees.  Unfortunately, it didn’t work out because, well…look where they’re at now. Back to being the regular NRA, we suppose.

NRA Carry Guard Now

Today, NRA Carry Guard offers several free and paid for training guides and programs.  They offer a free “aftermath” guide to help you answer questions like what to say to the 911 dispatcher after you’ve shot someone in self-defense and what you should and shouldn’t say to the cops when they show up on scene.

However, you don’t actually have to be a member of NRA Carry Guard to take advantage of these resources. Even the training courses are offered to almost anyone who wants it. While you don’t have to be a member of the NRA or NRA Carry Guard to attend these courses, you do have to have a CCW permit. Unless of course, you live in a constitutional carry state, then this is not a requirement.

Since NRA Carry Guard isn’t what it used to be, look at companies like USCCA for help with legal protection after self-defense. You can read about USCCA in our blog, USCCA Insurance.

NRA Training Courses

NRA Carry Guard offers three types of training, the basic course, intermediate course, and a scenario-based course, ranging from $300 to $859, for 1 to 3 days.

NRA Carry Guard Basic Training

This is the most basic course you can take through NRA Carry Guard, although it’s not the cheapest of the three. That’s because this course involves 1.5 days of training. Along with your training, you get materials and some apparel. This course will run you $425/person.

NRA Carry Guard Intermediate Training

Intermediate training is the next step up from basic. You’ll receive 3 days of training along with the stuff you get in your basic training course. This course will run you $850/person.

NRA Carry Guard Scenario Training

The cheapest training option you can go with is the NRA Carry Guard Scenario Training course. The course is only 1 day, so it’s a bit cheaper than your 1.5-day basic course. You’ll still get materials and some SWAG, but it’ll only cost you $300. And in case you were concerned, your weapons, ammo, and safety gear, of course, are all included in the cost.

Why NRA Carry Guard Training

Unlike many other weapons courses you can take, the NRA Carry Guard courses, particularly the scenario-based one, shows you how to confront situations where you might need to use your firearm. You’re doing more than simply shooting at a target and working on technique. You’re working to be able to effectively take down the adversary through training that puts you in that mindset.

If you’re interested in an actual self-defense legal service, you should check out CCW Safe, one of our number one picks. You can read about them in our blog, CCW Safe Review.