YOU’LL BE LEGAL IN TEXAS. YOU’LL ALSO BE READY, WHICH IS NOT THE SAME THING.
RANK 3 OF 7
6-8 hours · the LTC day · 60 rounds from the holster · draw stroke on the clock
“I CARRY EVERY DAY, AND I CARRY WELL.”
Who this is for
The person who wants to legally carry a handgun and not freeze doing it. The license is the easy half — a classroom and a qualification you can pass half asleep. This rank also grades the part the license ignores: whether you can produce the firearm from where you actually keep it, inside the time a real answer allows.
What changes
You stop being a person with a license and start being a person who carries on purpose.
YOUR PERMIT
You leave with the Texas LTC requirement satisfied — classroom, range and the paperwork trail DPS wants, verified against the current requirement.
YOUR DRAW
A draw stroke assessed on a shot timer, so the first move you make under pressure is one you have already made hundreds of times.
YOUR CARRY
A holster and garment check against how you actually dress, so what you carry on a Tuesday is what you trained with on a Saturday.
Before & after
Same person. One LTC day apart.
BEFORE
X You own a pistol and it lives in a case, because a holster felt premature
X Your LTC is either not started or half done and sitting in a drawer
X Your draw has never been timed, so you do not actually know what it is
X You have drilled exactly one drawstroke pattern: the one from a video
AFTER
✓ LTC course completed, DPS requirements verified, paperwork in hand
✓ A draw stroke measured on a shot timer, not estimated
✓ 48 of 60 on paper from the holster at 3, 5 and 7 yards
✓ A holster and garment setup checked against what you actually wear
What’s included
✓ Course hours: 6–8 hours — the full LTC day
✓ Texas LTC course: classroom and range portions, with current DPS requirements verified
✓ Draw-stroke assessment: timed, from your own holster and garment
✓ Round count: 60 rounds from the holster — 20 at 3 yards, 20 at 5 yards, 20 at 7 yards
✓ Holster / garment check: the carry position checked against your real clothes, not a range rig
✓ The Step-Up Kit 3: patch, rocker, certificate, coin, presentation box — plus the “CARRY READY” rocker
NOT INCLUDED
– ammunition
– a firearm and a holster, if you are not supplying your own
– Texas DPS licence fees
– other fees where applicable
The standard – published in full
Every rank is earned against a published standard, scored by an instructor and signed. This is Rank 3’s, in full.
| Assessment | What you must do | Pass threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Texas LTC course | Classroom and range portions, with DPS requirements verified | Completion of both portions, and the licence paperwork filed correctly |
| Draw-stroke assessment | Draw and fire, from your own holster and garment, on the clock | 90% of draws under 2.5 seconds |
| 60 rounds from the holster | 20 rounds at 3 yards, 20 at 5 yards, 20 at 7 yards, all from the holster | 48 of 60 inside the 8-ring |
| Holster / garment check | Your carry setup checked against what you actually wear | Instructor-signed. No adjustments made after the check |
| NRA MQP benchmark | Your third qualification, and it is legible outside this company | Marksman First Class — “Benchmarked to the NRA Marksman First Class.” |
Any safety violation fails the rank outright, regardless of score.
Rank 3 is the volume rank — the one most people name when you ask them what they want. That is exactly why the draw-stroke standard is timed: an untimed LTC qualification proves you can shoot, not that you can produce the firearm.
The award
Awards are presented formally, at a graduation – not handed over in a parking lot. That is what makes them worth earning.
- Embroidered patch – the Rank 3 insignia
- Rocker arc – “Carry Ready”
- Certificate
- Yellow Rose Tactical Coin
- Presentation Box
Yellow Rose Tactical awards are Yellow Rose Tactical issued. Nothing in this kit is an NRA award, and no part of it implies an official NRA program. NRA Marksmanship Qualification awards are purchased separately by the student from the NRA Program Materials Center.
Prerequisites & bypass
PREREQUISITE
RANK 2 – HOME READY
Carry Ready assumes the storage and dry-fire habits from Rank 2, because a draw stroke is built on dry practice. The 14-day log you completed at Home Ready is what makes this day achievable.
BYPASS – FOR EXPERIENCED SHOOTERS
Private Skills Check – $149
(90 minutes)
You do not have to start at Rank 1 to enter the Path. The Skills Check places you at the rank you have already earned, so an operator is never sent back to First Steps.
CARRY EVERY DAY, AND CARRY WELL.
Not ready for this? See Home Ready.