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BARRY, ILL. -- Concealing a weapon in Illinois may be illegal, but learning how to properly use one isn't.

A local veteran police officer is offering classes to teach the public how to personally protect themselves with a firearm.

For the one's that don't know anything about guns, the can look and sound scary.

But for Sergeant Duane Long, it's an instrument he's more than familiar with.

"It gives me a more well rounded view because I have both the professional end of it where as a police officer that has carried a gun and sees the real world so to speak, as far as personal defense. And the competition aspect of it," said Sgt. Long, CEO and Master of Firearms of Personal Protection Services.

Sgt. Long has been a fire arms trainer for the Quincy Police Department for 27 years and is also an awarded competitive shooter. So it was no surprise when people that owned a gun or wanted to asked him for personal shooting lessons.

"People who knew me kept asking me about individual instruction and to teach them. But I want to make sure that the people that I'm sending out there have the skill and the knowledge necessary to be responsible," said Sgt. Long.

With his growing cliental and gun knowledge Sgt. Long formed the Personal Protection Services in 2010.

"Personal Protection Services is what we offer is shooting instruction for personal and home defense and we offer that for both hand guns, rifles. If someone chooses to learn how to use a rifle," said Sgt. Long.

Personal Protection Services offers three mainstay courses, a two day defensive pistol class, a four day all woman's introduction class, and and AR 15 rifles class. Each course contains different information geared toward that specific fire arm and participants but Sgt. Long wants all his student to leave with one main thing.

"Confidence is what I want them to leave here with. I want them to be confident that they know the gun their shooting," he said.

Each class is balanced between in class learning and actual shooting. Participants are said to leave with the same knowledge that a police officer would get at the end of his basic training.