Mountain Lake Firearms Academy has been offering instruction in southwest Minnesota for Minnesota's Permit to Carry since 2009. We take pride in providing the best possible training available to you.

Our Permit to Carry class instruction is approved by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. We review and evaluate our course instruction to make sure all information presented is up-to-date and accurate as well as easy to be understood.

Our Chief Instructor, and owner, Chuck Witt, has served in the Minnesota Army National Guard as an Indirect-fire Infantryman. He also has an AAS degree in Law Enforcement which he received in 1994. He has private, contract, and corporate security experience.

Minnesota Permit to Carry

With our Minnesota Permit to Carry course, we go into depth with the laws, responsibilities, risks, and possible consequences of carrying a firearm. We also provide facts to support the importance of carrying for personal protection. We discuss where you can and can't carry, how to select a firearm for self defense, firearm safety, and the required live-fire exercise. When it comes to the live-fire exercise, we will never have more than two people on the shooting line per range instructor. This gives us the opportunity to provide better personal instruction should it be needed.

Advanced Training

After your initial training to get your permit to carry, we offer instruction designed to take your self defense training to the next level to better prepare you for that possible encounter. Our advanced training courses cover different aspects such as encountering multiple threats, defending yourself from non-standard shooting positions, defending yourself from within a vehicle, using cover and concealment, moving "off the X" to better defend yourself, and much more. During the life-fire exercise of each advanced training class, only one person will be on the shooting line at a time. See our class offerings for more details.

 Why Choose Us?

We take the time to give each person the attention they need to complete our course. We want each person to be properly informed when it comes to carrying for personal protection. We also believe everyone needs to be comfortable in their ability to handle a firearm. We care about everyone who receives their training from us.

Chuck Witt

Chuck Witt
Chief Instructor/Owner
Location: Mountain Lake, MN

Chuck Witt has been providing firearms instruction since 2009. In 2011, he began Mountain Lake Firearms Academy to serve southwestern Minnesota.

The experience he brings to Mountain Lake Firearms Academy began in 1991 and is comprised of a background in law enforcement, military, private security, contract security, and corporate security.

From 1991 to 1993 Chuck served as an Indirect-fire Infantryman with the Minnesota Army National Guard. He went through basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and served as a part of the 34th Infantry Division, 1/94th Armored, HHC-Detachment in Cloquet, MN.

His background in law enforcement begins with him receiving an AAS degree from Hibbing Community College in 1994. Shortly after completing his degree, he performed volunteer work for the Douglas County Sheriff's Department in Alexandria, MN, as a part of the Douglas County Sheriff's Posse. Some of the duties performed by the sheriff's posse included event security, traffic control, and scene security.

He has worked for several private contracted security companies providing armed and unarmed security as well as working undercover for one of them. He oversaw teams working security for several events including local stock car races and airshows. During his time providing contracted security, he received a high level security clearance which was only granted to five others in the nationwide security company.

In 2006 he was hired by a major retail company to help develop and establish a new division of their asset protection department. This group was charged with monitoring all of the company's asset protection incident reports to make sure all incidents were handled correctly and if any incidents needed to be reported to corporate executives. They also monitored all of the company's interests worldwide including any pre-trip research of an area in which a corporate team would be traveling to.

Chuck enjoys hunting, fishing, and spending time with his family. In the summer of 2016, he experienced two firearms related activities he had never done before: trap shooting and competition shooting and fell in love with both of them!

Chris Marsh

Chris Marsh
Instructor
Location: Jeffers, MN

Chris Marsh joined us as an instructor in the fall of 2018.

He served in the US Army for 11 years with the first two as an Infantryman and the last nine as a Blackhawk crew chief and flight instructor. During his time in the Army he also specialized as a Range Safety Officer.

Tim Boucher

Tim Boucher
Instructor
Location: Becker, MN

Tim Boucher became a firearms instructor in January 2020. He is providing firearms training to Becker, MN, and the surrounding area.

Tim joined the United States Army at the age of 20 and reported for basic training at Fort Benning, GA. Due to an injury received during basic training, he was unable to continue forward with the Army. Upon his discharge, he moved to Colorado where he worked as a fugitive recovery officer as well as private security. Tim has also worked in the armored car industry in both Minnesota and Colorado.

In his free time, Tim enjoys rifle and archery hunting, snowmobiling, and car shows.