The USCCA: Is It Right For You?

The USCCA is probably the most comprehensive concealed carry insurance you can get. USCCA concealed carry insurance also comes with a full collection of training resources to help you use your firearm efficiently and succeed in a self-defense scenario.

Before we proceed, I will admit that it’s not the perfect concealed carry insurance for everyone. However, it’s a solid value for most concealed carriers.

Here’s what you get with a USCCA membership, and how good (or bad) all of it is.

The Basics: Legal Protection

It wouldn’t be concealed carry insurance if it didn’t cover at least some of the legal costs associated with a self-defense incident.

Right off the bat, I’ll say this is probably the weakest aspect of the USCCA insurance and the thing that makes the USCCA less than ideal for everyone.

The USCCA offers up to $250,000 in criminal defense and bail funds coverage. And you get up to $2,000,000 in civil defense coverage.

Those numbers are for the Elite membership. There are lower tiers of membership, which offer lower coverage limits for a lower monthly premium.

And, as you’d expect, there’s a team available 247/365 to help you through the process if you ever need to use your firearm for defense.

Overall, the coverage is solid and probably totally adequate. And the immediate response resources are just as good as any other concealed carry insurance. I have no doubt that the USCCA chose the coverage limits based on how much you’re most likely to need.

However, other concealed carry insurance groups offer better coverage.

US LawShield boasts no limits on their legal defense coverage. CCW Safe also offers unlimited coverage for the defense costs in a criminal or civil trial and at least $500,000 in bail bond coverage.

So the USCCA coverage limits are not the best on the market. But, again, most likely totally adequate.

But where the USCCA membership really shines is in the additional educational and training that comes with the concealed carry insurance coverage.

The Bonuses: Training and Education

A USCCA membership—even the Gold membership levels—comes with a whole slew of digital and physical training resources.

We’ll start with the digital resources.

The USCCA showcases that you get over 33 videos as part of your membership. That’s a lot of video content.

And all the video content is dedicated to improving your proficiency with your firearm and helping you survive a defensive scenario, so that you can actually take advantage of the legal protection coverage.

The digital content covers everything you’d need to know to successfully defend yourself with a firearm, from what to do before an attack to the aftermath. That’s everything from situational awareness and when to use deadly force to emergency first aid.

Additionally, you get Concealed Carry and Home Defense Fundamentals. So it’s not all about concealed carry. You get some educational resources for home defense as well.

As I mentioned earlier, all these digital training resources are videos. The digital training is as engaging as you can get.

Also, the USCCA has an app that includes a CCW reciprocity map. The map is super helpful if you travel and want to legally carry your gun wherever you go.

The USCCA app also consolidates most of the USCCA digital resources. The app helps you find local USCCA instructors and gives you access to all your digital training resources on your phone. That way you can learn on your phone, wherever you are.

Overall, the USCCA digital training resources are robust. But there are also physical training assets.

Even More Bonuses: Physical Training Resources

The thing that USCCA has that no other concealed carry insurance offers is access to firearms instructors that are certified by the USCCA. That way you know what you’re getting without having to thoroughly vet your instructor.

All the USCCA trainers teach a program based on the concepts and principles from the Intuitive Defensive Shooting (IDS) program, designed by Rob Pincus.

USCCA training is designed to help you use your gun more efficiently within the context of a civilian self-defence incident, where using a firearm is an appropriate response.

The best part about the USCCA training is that it’s realistic and contextual. Learning military and law enforcement tactics and techniques may be good fun. But that’s not particularly useful for civilian self-defenders, because civilians must use their guns in very different ways and for very different reasons than the military and police.

If you take one of the USCCA classes that’s built on the IDS system, you’ll very easily recognize how everything you do is applicable to how you might have to use your gun for self-defense.

Additionally, the USCCA courses are paced so that anyone can take a course and improve their shooting. Brand new shooter? Perfect. Seasoned shooter? You’ll learn some things, too.

Along with access to the USCCA network of instructors, you also get physical copies of “Concealed Carry Magazine.” It’s not exactly a training resource. But it’s got good information regardless.

Ultimately, the USCCA gives you far more firearm and self-defense training resources than you get with any other concealed carry insurance.

The Perks: Discounts and Gear

Even though you can take classes with the USCCA instructors, the cost of those physical classes isn’t included in the membership fee. But you get a discount on the cost of courses from USCCA instructors.

Additionally, your USCCA membership gets you discounts from quite a few firearms and equipment manufacturers. So the membership can save you a bit of money if you need home defense and concealed carry gear.

The USCCA also has their own line of equipment. It’s decent gear. All the USCCA gear is also branded with the USCCA logo. You may or may not be into that.

My only complaint about the USCCA gear is that some of it is a bit pricey, even with the USCCA discount. But buying through the USCCA will save you money on things like range gear.

Conclusion: Who’s the USCCA for?

While it’s true that no other concealed carry insurance has a network of certified instructors, this is actually the part that may make the USCCA less than ideal for you.

The USCCA membership is at least $247 a year ($497 a year for the Elite membership level). If you’ve already trained extensively, you may not get enough value from your USCCA membership to justify the price.

That also brings up my biggest complaint with the USCCA membership: the membership tiers.

The USCCA coverage limits vary based on your membership tier. At the lowest tier, the coverage for legal defense costs is set at $600,000 in combined coverage for criminal and civil cases. If you want the full $2,500,000 coverage, you’ll need to sign on at the Elite level.

In contrast, competing companies like US LawShield and CCW Safe offer their maximum coverage limits for all their membership plans or simply provide maximum coverage for a single flat fee.

US LawShield comes in at around $150 a year, with no legal coverage limits. CCW Safe charges $499 per year for their highest membership level, which also has no coverage limits.

Honestly, I think a USCCA membership would be a slam dunk if all their membership levels came with $2,5000,000 in legal protection coverage. As is, the USCCA isn’t quite a slam dunk.

But the USCCA alternatives come with far fewer training resources. You’ll most likely get more value from dedicated concealed carry insurance if you’re not going to take advantage of the USCCA training resources.

But I will say that you’ll be surprised by how much you learn if you’ve never taken an Intuitive Defensive Shooting course.