I am 28 years old, married with a 7 month old son. I have always owned guns, but normally they were shotguns or rifles. About the time my son was born, I realized I had no way to defend my family while we were away from my home. After thinking about this for a while, I realized that I needed to get my CHL.
I began actively pursueing this course of action about 3 months ago. At that time, I had several friends and family members who all said they were enthusiastic about receiving their CHL. I bought my first pistol and after talking with a guy at work about it, he invited me to shoot with him. I went that weekend and ended up participating in an IPSC qualifier (as a non-member). While there, I inquired about the CHL class and was informed that the next class would be the following weekend.
I invited all previously interested friends and family members, but apparantly one week's notice wasn't sufficiant. I wasn't going to delay it any longer.
Originally, I was going to take the class in order to legally carry a pistol in my vehicle. I have since decided that I will be carrying my pistol on my person whenever it is legal to do so. (and maybe some situations that might be grey areas) I, like so many others, have come to the realization that having a firearm 'in the truck' won't help me...
I took the class and passed it easily. My class was quite different than many of the stories I have read on this board. The majority of the day was spent getting the studen't fingerprints. There was very little discussion and what little there was was not informative. I was pretty disappointed. The instructor was a retired LEO with 35years on the force. I was not impressed. At one point I asked him for advice regarding the safe storage of weapons in households with small children, balancing the need for immediate access in emergencies. He answered by going into a story about medics in Vietnam. If there was a point, apparantly I missed it!
I filled out all of the paperwork and mailed it off overnight priority USPS Monday (6/6). I triple checked everything, but I'm afraid I missed something. At the time I was filling out the paperwork, I assumed that I would have to sign the back of the photo to be paperclipped to the holder. After reading the instructions several times, I never found that instruction. I didn't sign it, it was signed by my fingerprinter...the only signature required as far as I could tell. Now, after reading several posts, it seems I may have screwed that up...I still have the instruction on the tear off portion of the photo holder and I re-read them last night, there is no mention of signing the back of the photo, only the bottom of the holder. Oh well, I hope that doens't delay the process.
Sorry to make this introductory post so long, it's good to know that there are so many like minded people out there. While I belive the whole CHL process is in violation of my 2nd amendment rights, it's better than nothing and I look at it as a start to bringing this country back to the vision our forefathers imagined.
BTW-for some eyecandy, here's my pistola...
Here's the holster I have on order...supposed to be 3 weeks till fulfillment.
Here's my qualifier target, I had a pretty good group going until the 15 yard portion, my eyesight sucks! I guess it just gives me something to practice on!
