CHL Paperwork...in the mail!

[BigHoss]

Just last week I finally decided to pull the string on getting my CHL. I received some good information here on "Texas Gun Talk"...key word, "some". What I mean is that so many people are such skeptics or full of "crap"! I have had more people tell me here and in "real life" that it's hard to get your CHL...that the classes are hard...etc. Why so many people are "half empty" kind of guys, I will never know... OK, enough ranting...

I applied last week, got my passport photos & fingerprints, found a great class for $80 here locally in East Texas, got the 250 out of 250 points on the shooting and scored a 100 on the test. Great teacher...a "soldier", so if you are ever looking for, IMHO, the best instructor...let me know and I can put you in contact with him.

Sent my paperwork in this morning and now on to the waiting game.

I will keep you posted on the turn around...as long as all goes well...as I expect it will...just excited and felt like writing about it here!

 

[Dcav]

Congrats, while you wait for the card, get yourself some good carry equipment and it will be here before you know it.

 

[txinvestigator]

Excellent! Here is to a short wait.

 

[BigHoss]

Thanks guys...I have all of my equipment ready and waiting...as I have had for awhile now, just hadn't got up off my rear to take the class and do the paperwork...until the bug bit me last week!

I am looking forward to the "mindset" change that comes along with carrying a loaded gun on me...this place (life in general...) is a crazy place to live in!

 

[Kimber_me_timbers]

The class is easy if you have a third grade reading level and an attention span longer than a pencil.

The range qualifier is easy if you've ever watched an episode of gunsmoke.(though it does require SOME actual skill to get 250/250)

The hard part is the waiting process, and constantly wondering "were my fingerprints good enough, did I triple check to make sure all the t's were crossed and i's dotted? Is the background check going fail because some A-hole with my name and DOB cant keep his nose clean?"
You'll read forums crammed with horror stories about people who have been bounced because some little meaningless technicality. The worse part is, they got your $140, and pass or fail, you aint gettin that back.

It took them for bloody ever to finally send me my plastic, and I finally called them after about 70 days and was told I was pending on my background check because they were choking on my security clearance. You would think the clearance would butter the process a bit, but it was the opposite.

Either way, I finally got it. So just hang tight and dont let all the negative nancies in forums work ya up.

 

[Kimber_me_timbers]

Thanks guys...I have all of my equipment ready and waiting...as I have had for awhile now, just hadn't got up off my rear to take the class and do the paperwork...until the bug bit me last week!

I am looking forward to the "mindset" change that comes along with carrying a loaded gun on me...this place (life in general...) is a crazy place to live in!

Lmao!! Dude, there is no "mindset change" not for me anyway, my gun has joined the ranks of the other crap I carry on my belt, oftentimes I forget Im packin!

The only thing different about me now versus pre-chl, is I dont get weird about shady lookin gas stations, or going into store with ganstas loitering out front like I used to, I would be damn near on fumes and keep driving untill I found a better neighborhood to stop for gas. Not anymore.

 

[BigHoss]

I hear ya! I agree, that the waiting will be the hardest part of it all...and I just sent the paperwork off today!

Funny stuff on your other post!

The class is easy if you have a third grade reading level and an attention span longer than a pencil.

The range qualifier is easy if you've ever watched an episode of gunsmoke.(though it does require SOME actual skill to get 250/250)

The hard part is the waiting process, and constantly wondering "were my fingerprints good enough, did I triple check to make sure all the t's were crossed and i's dotted? Is the background check going fail because some A-hole with my name and DOB cant keep his nose clean?"
You'll read forums crammed with horror stories about people who have been bounced because some little meaningless technicality. The worse part is, they got your $140, and pass or fail, you aint gettin that back.

It took them for bloody ever to finally send me my plastic, and I finally called them after about 70 days and was told I was pending on my background check because they were choking on my security clearance. You would think the clearance would butter the process a bit, but it was the opposite.

Either way, I finally got it. So just hang tight and dont let all the negative nancies in forums work ya up.

 

[txinvestigator]

Lmao!! Dude, there is no "mindset change" not for me anyway, my gun has joined the ranks of the other crap I carry on my belt, oftentimes I forget Im packin!

The only thing different about me now versus pre-chl, is I dont get weird about shady lookin gas stations, or going into store with ganstas loitering out front like I used to, I would be damn near on fumes and keep driving untill I found a better neighborhood to stop for gas. Not anymore.

I am not trying to pick on you, but you are doing exactly, IMO, what you should not be doing. I don't WANT to have to use my firearm, so I avoid places I think I might need the gun. I have the opposite mindset as you.

The mindset change is to be smart and look to avoid conflict. Don't see your gun as a means to stand up to people and suddenly be tough. Look at it as an enormous responsibility, one that comes with it an equal amout of tempered judgment. The guy you used to give the finger to in traffic when he flipped you off; now you ignore him, or apologize if necessary and go about your business. The consequences are severe, the potential damage too great to be macho.

 

[Charlie]

Buy a nice concealed rig and wear it around the house, yard, etc. not only to get used to the extra weight, but to break-in the holster and find the exact spot on your waist (if you're not going with ankle carry or a shoulder rig) that is the most comfortable and accessible. That way when you get out about town with it, you may not be too uncomfortable with it and be "hitching up" or scootin' it around your belt. Just a thought.

 

[txinvestigator]

Buy a nice concealed rig and wear it around the house, yard, etc. not only to get used to the extra weight, but to break-in the holster and find the exact spot on your waist (if you're not going with ankle carry or a shoulder rig) that is the most comfortable and accessible. That way when you get out about town with it, you may not be too uncomfortable with it and be "hitching up" or scootin' it around your belt. Just a thought.

+1 One of the biggest tells.

 

[RstyShcklfrd]

Congrats. I've been waiting for 13 days so far, and I can honestly say I've never been so anxious for something in my life.

 

[Kimber_me_timbers]

I am not trying to pick on you, but you are doing exactly, IMO, what you should not be doing. I don't WANT to have to use my firearm, so I avoid places I think I might need the gun. I have the opposite mindset as you.

The mindset change is to be smart and look to avoid conflict. Don't see your gun as a means to stand up to people and suddenly be tough. Look at it as an enormous responsibility, one that comes with it an equal amout of tempered judgment. The guy you used to give the finger to in traffic when he flipped you off; now you ignore him, or apologize if necessary and go about your business. The consequences are severe, the potential damage too great to be macho.

I dont go around looking for trouble dude, I just dont feel like I need to walk around in fear of what somebody might try to pull on me. Afterall, that is the point isnt it?

I have no desire to perforate anybody, and I hope I never have to, that being said, I wont hesitate to add a few more orifaces to any asshole that thinks hes going to be on easy street by trying to violate me or my familys right to life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness.

 

[BigHoss]

I understand what both of you guys are saying...and I am sure all of us prefer to never have to use it on someone...but knowing that (if needed) we don't need to be "scared"!

 

[txinvestigator]

I dont go around looking for trouble dude, I just dont feel like I need to walk around in fear of what somebody might try to pull on me. Afterall, that is the point isnt it?

No one said walk around in fear, but if you would have avoided a situation unarmed, then it is only wise to avoid it while armed; especially when you can.

I have no desire to perforate anybody, and I hope I never have to, that being said, I wont hesitate to add a few more orifaces to any asshole that thinks hes going to be on easy street by trying to violate me or my familys right to life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness.

Wow, never ceases to amaze me.

 

[Skip]

Congrats! Hopefully the wait won't be to long...

 

[Kimber_me_timbers]

No one said walk around in fear, but if you would have avoided a situation unarmed, then it is only wise to avoid it while armed; especially when you can.




Wow, never ceases to amaze me.

You saying you wouldnt?

 

[speedy223]

i want to say thanks for getting your CHL. alot of people i know locally who carry and LIKE guns refuse to since they say : I don't need it i carry legally in my car.. this is true.. but the more CHL holders in a state the less likely the government will ever be to try to pass restrictive gun laws. even if it is for no other reason but that we like guns we should get this license. We need to increase our numbers to increase our political strenght IMHO... anyway.. congrats on getting one. My wife, I and my parents all are going on our tenth year as CHL holders and we are proud to see the numbers increase.. Welcome!

 

[Texas Solo]

No one said walk around in fear, but if you would have avoided a situation unarmed, then it is only wise to avoid it while armed; especially when you can.

Exactly what I was thinking. Nothing has changed for me since I got my CHL. Discretion is still the better part of valor.
Bravo TXI.

 

[txinvestigator]

You saying you wouldnt?

Wouldn't what, specifically?

 

[winchster]

Wouldn't what, specifically?

In guessing perforate somebody.