I am a lifelong resident of Indiana (Marion County). At the ripe old age of 54, I decided it was time to buy my first handgun. Long story short, on Jan. 2, I purchased a Glock 17. Being the responsible citizen that I am, I recognize that I need training on this weapon. At the time of purchase, my gun dealer did recommend an all day, $110, NRA recognized pistol course taught once per month about 30 miles from my house at an outdoor facility. Not exactly convenient. especially in January. I also discovered an indoor range on the east side offering unaccredited instruction for $50/hr. So, I start calling the authorities because surely they will be involved in ensuring that their armed citizenry is a trained armed citizenry. Wrongo! I tried the IMPD, the ISP and the DNR. The DNR does offer a "hunting" class which has little to do with pistols. IMPD-nothing. ISP-nothing. After leaving a message at the Indiana State Police Superintendant's office, I did get a very nice call back from a Colonel who loved my idea of a for-profit training course but stated that their organization could not charge the public for anything without legislative approval! In short, my exhaustive search found that there is no formal pistol training available in the Indianapolis area from any police agency. Should I be shocked by this? The day I bought my gun, the gun store was a mob scene: no where to park and 3 and 4 deep at every counter. You would have thought that it was the last day in history to buy a gun. I went to the city-county building to buy a permit. The line was 15 deep. I was again surprised that all I had to do to get a lifetime carry permit was fork over $125 and allow my fingerprinting. There is absolutely no requirement whatsoever that a permitted gun carrier demonstrate even a minimal understanding and capability with their weapon. Based on my experience at the gun store and the city-co bldg, there is a huge wave of new gun owners intending to carry them in public with no training. I'm as big a fan of the 2nd Amendment as anyone but shouldn't there be some demonstration of proficiency required with a lethal weapon before the state coughs up a lifetime license to carry it amongst the innocents?