I took their CHL handgun class in Oct. 2013. The class is held at a gun range so be prepared for lots of bang noises during the class. My instructor AJ was informative and a good communicator but I came away very confused by the message. She came across with a "if you come to my house unannounced, I will light you up" attitude. And told us many times that if you pull your weapon it is go time, and there needs to be no hesitation. If you think you would hesitate to shoot someone maybe a CHL is not for you. Then we got stories of people who went to jail for shooting an intruder because that intruder was unarmed and not threatening them. The message seemed to be you had better hesitate and be sure the situation is life threatening and not resolvable another way, before you fire. Also, this is not a gun safety or gun training course. We got no gun training before going to the gun range. The first shot I fired with a new pistol cut my hand as the carriage flew back to eject the cartridge. I had my left thumb over the top while bracing my right hand. I received medical treatment and was able to finish my shooting afterwards. Later in the power point presentation AJ rushed through some slides about hand injuries and how to hold a gun. Would have been nice to have seen that first. read more

My wife Kelicia and I attended the LTC class on February 15 with instructor Apryle "AJ" Jefferson at Top Gun on Lancaster in Fort Worth. Unfortunately, our experience was disappointing. There was little instruction provided on firearm handling before qualification, and the overall approach felt rushed and unwelcoming. The tone throughout the class came across as intimidating rather than educational. We completed the course, but we did not find the instruction professional or supportive for returning shooters. Am I am a Marine veteran and retired Juvenile Probation Officer, she shouldn't be teaching. read more

TopGun CHL - Gun/Rifle Ranges Near Me - Fort Worth, Texas

I wish I could put 0 stars, they aren't even worth one! I'm going to start with getting there the parking situation can be very confusing because there are THREE different buildings that no one seems to mention anything about... When I walked in to ask the guy if I could park where I did he was very respectful and allowed me and my grandmother to wait inside for our instructor, Aj. Before I jump to her, I want to point out that my mom had taken a course here two years ago and her experience was completely different than mine she enjoyed it (She had a different Instructor), I would never recommend it. I had to come pay an extra 200 dollars just for the rental guns and some other things ( don't understand why ) but whatever. When Aj got there she DID NOT introduce herself and was very snobbish! When asking us if we had shot a gun before she basically said " if I have to come help you with anything that's an automatic failure and you'll have to retake the course and pay all over again"... There was no instructions given no teaching whatsoever just go in and shoot. While inside the range her commands were rude and you could barely hear her. She would rudely tell people to hurry up and shoot, to count (even when they were counting), that we need to follow better instructions! She told many people that they would flunk! When we got to the classroom portion she was still rude and every time someone had a question or concern she would brush them off and not directly answer their question. Moral of the story is that she's rude and I wouldn't recommend her to anyone or TopGun if they continue to allow her to teach. After reading all the reviews it seems as if only one person has had a positive experience with Aj. I have to question the validity of TopGun when they continue to allow her to teach here when it is evident that the majority of everyone's experience has been poor! Let's do better! And again, I highly don't recommend. read more

My husband and I attended Ms. AJ class and had a great experience. We were very satisfied with your class. Wanted to share the following. This is what I wrote to Ms. AJ directly because I felt like some at the beginning of the class (gun range part) was being disrespectful, rude, judgmental, and assuming things won't go the right way and Not directly in her face, but among the other students: Thanks for all that you do Ms. AJ! You have a very important role in the process and we will never forget your crucial initial training. We understood your firm stance in teaching, guns are serious and deserve 1000% attention from the user. We agreed with your ways of teaching, seriousness, no play, straight to the point, and realistic approach. We are grateful to have experienced your class. It made me have a real perspective, it made me want to learn more, it gave me a curiosity to want more info, it gave me confidence! Great job Boss! Your knowledge is superb! Those that try to negatively judge you because you are not clowning, talking personal, being accepting to mistakes, or want you to hold their hands like a kid in your class are fools, lol, especially during the gun range part. You have to have a stern strict demeanor and in the classroom setting, you are relaxed and engaging as you should be. Thanks read more

DO NOT BUY THE GROUPON for this course! It may seem like a great deal but I can assure you your money will be better spent elsewhere! AJ is extremely rude especially towards the women. She talks down to you acting "tough". She also gives false information regarding the course. It's a real shame that in 2019 women are still bringing other women down! read more

There are a lot of negative reviews on yelp, which had me concerned to go to this class. This is a great value for the class, as long as you listen to instructions, and are there to learn. The instructor, AJ, does what she does to make sure you know how to carry. You start the day off with the proficiency test. There are rentals available at the range. You shoot. Then you do classroom instruction for a few hours, then the written test. If you pay attention in the class, and have common sense, you will pass the test. If you can shoot towards the targets, you will pass the test. What does AJ teach you? She teaches you the logic behind when to use your weapon, and puts reality into the class. Carrying isn't a novel thing, it is something that needs to be greatly considered. I'm glad she put as much effort as she did to teach the course and provide logic for people to think through situations. If every instructor was like AJ, then I would feel comfortable with everyone with a LTC. Note that this isn't a class which will hold your hand through the firing test, you do need to have shot before. read more

I only called to get information and pricing for a group license to carry class. I spoke to a woman that sounded a bit annoyed with my questions and it didn't seem like a very professional place to do our business with and I don't want to have to pay to take another class later because the instructors here may not be qualified to teach the class properly. I'm taking our business elsewhere! read more

It's not often I fall back to the one star review and even fewer times that I wished Yelp offered a No Star rating but this is one of them. It is really my mistake for not taking the extra step to search Yelp before being lured in by the low cost TopGun CHL class so close to my house. If I had seen the reviews of Carrie P. and Dawn B. I would have likely kept looking. Carrie, you did the right thing. Yes, the parking situation is less than ideal but I can understand when you have a weekend class that can easily take up all of the regular business parking that the class attendees be asked to park across the street. However, one should NOT be told to leave their firearms and ammo in their cars parked at an offsite location in E. Fort Worth adjacent to a shooting range. That is ludicrous and I DON'T CARE if you "do this every week." There is no reason that adults coming to take a CHL class cannot be trusted to place their firearms on the floor or in a locker within the same classroom. Freaking ridiculous! Okay, that was the first of the irritants. The second and premier irritant was the instructor, Apryle "AJ" Jefferson. Where do I begin? This woman has a superiority complex to put Napoleon to shame and he has a complex named after him! From the beginning of the class in which she made no effort to introduce herself, other than "I'm AJ", and offered no personal bio or background to explain why the class members should respect her as the instructor. It was simply implied that because she was the one behind the dais that she was The Oracle. Because of an apparent scheduling conflict at the range we did our proficiency test first. So, back out to our vehicles across the street to retrieve our pistols. It was all very rushed and we, unfortunately, had some extremely novice shooters in the class. Some should not have even been in a CHL class considering their lack of experience with firearms. But she ran a stick of nine and then eight through the shooting requirements with her as the only Rangemaster. She would walk back and forth behind the line calling out the commands but became easily perturbed when someone did not follow her commands because they were at one far end of the line and she was talking away from them at the OTHER end of the line. This happened more than once. Then back across the street with firearms exposed or in range bags to store them in our vehicles in the remote parking in E. Fort Worth. (I hope this point gets through to someone.) Once everyone had an opportunity to shoot the qualification round, some were not able to finish, we THEN signed the liability release forms. WHAT? When we got into the curriculum my temptation to leave became stronger by the minute but I hate to waste money even if it is what I think is a good deal. It seemed to me from the moment that Apryle Jefferson started presenting that her objective for leading this course was to convince as many people as possible to remain unarmed sheeple so they could remain easy victims for the low life scum of Fort Worth and the rest of DFW. Basically, she said that if you ever attempt to defend yourself with deadly force "you are going to take the ride." In every scenario she presented she tried to scare the living crap out of these people. What came across was that you had better be one foot in the grave yourself before you considered using your firearm for defense. For the women she said they had to be involuntarily penetrated before they were justified in using deadly force but NOT if the scumbag is finished abusing her and is getting up to leave because then he is no longer a threat. Then, should you be unfortunate enough to survive, you are going to lose all of your earthly wealth because the courts, bailbondsmen, and the criminal's family are going to take everything. PHUuuuuuucK! Once again, I don't know what her background in law enforcement is because she never made that clear to the class but what she didn't know was that at least one person seated there had a lifetime of knowledge about policing in the State of Texas and a decade of first hand knowledge of the Texas Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure. "Irregardless" (one of her favorite non-words and one which drives me crazy) not everyone getting a CHL is a fearful, schmuck, pale-skinned person too stupid to know how and when to use force in defense of one's self. In summary, if you were smart enough to come to Yelp to research CHL classes, unlike me, then you should do yourself a favor and keep searching. Had Apryle AJ Jefferson offered a course/instructor survey at the end of the class, perhaps, I would not have been so thorough with my review on Yelp. read more

As others have stated, if 0 stars was available, that's what it would be. We were lured in by the low cost of the groupon for this terrible Ft. Worth location. Where to start.... Firstly, there is miscommunication as to when the class starts. Confirmation email states 9 AM, others say 8 AM...we had to call to confirm... Second, the sheer thought of charging $25 to reschedule when you pay $40 for the groupon us utterly ridiculous. We were told they had to charge this because the class was full every single weekend, however the class was less than half full. They started out with the proficiency test, because if you don't pass....they send you home. I'm sorry, pretty sure I paid for this class... My wife has shot guns plenty in her lifetime, however the instructors were so terrible, they yelled at her, nearly brought her to tears, and then subtracted 20 points from her score for firing ONE additional shot. I can't imagine anyone who would want to put themselves through this... (by the way, she shot a 222 out of possible 250....for a required score of 175, I'd say that is proficient and does not warrant yelling at people). Finally, the instructor is the worst person I may have ever met. Intimidating, rude, "holier than thou" attitude is the worst. Do not go here. This is not the military, this is self defense. You should not be scared to use your weapon to defend yourself. read more

Worst experience ever. The instructor, AJ, had such a bad attitude we walked out after registration. She has a major chip on her shoulder and the thought of spending 5-6 hours with her was more than we could tolerate. I just wish we would have read Dawn B's yelp review before we signed up. Her review is a spot-on description of AJ's horrible people skills. Do yourself a favor and take your CHL class somewhere else, even if it is more expensive. read more

A couple of months ago I purchased a Groupon for this location in order to take the CHL course with my brother on my birthday. When trying to sign up for the course I had some trouble using the website so I called instead. There was no answer but instead I received a text message asking what I needed. This already had me questioning the business conduct of this facility. I was given instructions on how to use the website appointment scheduler and so I attempted to get signed up for the course. There were only two dates for groupon holders and those were for a month later (May 8th and 22nd which are both Sundays) while for those who are paying full price, there were at least 10 days available in April still, including on my birthday. Noticing this, I wrote to Top Gun via their Instant Messaging portal on the website. The first response I received was from Operator 429, who simply said "hi". I began asking if there was any way I could use my Groupon for my desired date since there were openings for the general public, but they simply stated that since there is such a high demand for CHL licenses that there were no openings. This was not accurate, but I humored them. After a little while the operator says "honestly....most people who really want to take the class just take it and pay for it......for the time you wait to use it, where is the savings?" I was blown away at this seeming attempt to have me trash my groupon and pay full price instead. The operator then explained to me that they only receive $10-15 from Groupon holders so they're basically giving business away. (I think this was supposed to cause me to feel sympathetic to their reasoning for discrimination against Groupon holders?) I then asked how many times per month that Groupon holders are able to attend the course, they said "every class we teach, not that any of this is any of your business". I told them I did not appreciate the lack of professionalism but I understood, and wish them a good weekend. They then before I closed the conversation they said "I really dont appreciate your attitude towards how YOU think we run or should run OUR BUSINESS". I've never experienced such a lack of professionalism before, nor a desire for customer satisfaction. I did not end up using the Groupon but instead took the class at Texas Handgun Academy (who did an exceptional job) since I did not feel that this location showed a desire for my business. read more

My complaint is with AJ the instructor. She walked in with an attitude scolding us with where to park. I DID read the email and parked in the correct place but the way she came across to stating, "your not off to a good start at all" without explaining why she wanted us to park outside the gun range was unreasonable on her part. We had loaded weapons in our cars and she seemed put off with questioning her about ANYTHING. She was negative and said I'm sure several of you will walk out of this class and she was right but it had nothing to do with the class. It was with her. I paid for the course so proceeded to take the weapon proficiency test and give her a try.I can't even begin to explain what a fiasco this was. She gave commands expecting you to understand exactly how many shells to load and fire while we had earplugs and headphones on with her back turned walking away from us. At one time there were only 2 of us who loaded the right number of shells and 8 that didn't. She refused to believe that we couldn't hear her and proceeded to take several points off our targets. I had 8 shells left and she took those points off as well even though I was unable to get off the number of shots she wanted due to me not being able to hear her. I would take my headphones off and attempt to ask her to repeat the order but by that time everyone was firing and it was to late. I follow instructions well, have had many instructors and am very respectful to them as I was to her. After the weapon proficiency test the thought of being in class with her instructing was overbearing so I did walk out. Again not because I wasn't ready for the class, because from the time she walked in I felt doomed and like a failure. I am proficient with my gun and have taken and passed a chl class given by a Dallas police officer that had been with the force over 20 years. He was wonderful. I will always ask as well as check references before I sign up for any class. I normally do but didn't with this one. It was a mistake. read more

Horrible. Absolutely horrible. AJ should not be teaching and treated the entire class as if they were morons. Her attitude started as soon as she walked in and you could just feel the tension in the room. Out of 30 plus people in our class I didn't talk to anyone that enjoyed it. I contemplated walking out myself to take the class elsewhere just because she made it so un enjoyable. However, since I had signed up and waited 2 months to take the course I stayed and hated every minute of it. In addition to the attitude she gave out some false information and verbally abused several of the students. read more

If I could, I would vote no stars. This was the worst experience ever. The instructor, AJ, had such a chip on her shoulder. Rude, demeaning to everyone. She created such a hostile environment that I left before roll call was even over. I did not pay good money for someone to abuse me for 6 hours. Go somewhere else. read more