drill it into them.....

[SewTexas]

I've noticed on the boards we've been getting frequent "am I eligible" questions.

I have taught my children since they were young, that there is no room for "young and stupid" mistakes. I have had the opportunity to teach teens in a classroom setting and have also been able to teach this lesson to them. "Teenage and Stupid" mistakes can follow you to your grave. They can impact your chances of getting into the military, getting jobs in the future (security clearance), getting a chl, adopting a child, etc. We have to teach our children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and every kid we come in contact with.

[77346]

there seems to be quite a few of those questions lately; stupid youth mistakes have consequences that could last a lifetime... I keep telling that to my girls

[JALLEN]

It is astonishing how prevalent this has become.

In my day, a long, long time ago, someone who was doing things like this would be ashamed of themselves, mostly. The few that weren't were off to reform school, prison etc. Getting caught at school with your shirt not tucked in was about as wild as it got mostly.

I was waiting out weather in El Paso some years ago and got to talking with another pilot sitting it out. He told me that as many as 25% of those who apply to become highway patrolmen in whatever state he was from were ineligible, due to criminal convictions, some drug possession, some petty theft type stuff, some property destruction vandalism, of course. I was astonished! What provokes a young person to do these things is beyond me. Walk out of a store with something you haven't paid for, get caught, that's it for most occupations involving trust of any kind, military service probably, too. Here in Cali, having a banned magazine of more than ten rounds means you won't be owning a firearm again, ever, legally anyway.

[MeMelYup]

It is astonishing how prevalent this has become.

In my day, a long, long time ago, someone who was doing things like this would be ashamed of themselves, mostly. The few that weren't were off to reform school, prison etc. Getting caught at school with your shirt not tucked in was about as wild as it got mostly.

I was waiting out weather in El Paso some years ago and got to talking with another pilot sitting it out. He told me that as many as 25% of those who apply to become highway patrolmen in whatever state he was from were ineligible, due to criminal convictions, some drug possession, some petty theft type stuff, some property destruction vandalism, of course. I was astonished! What provokes a young person to do these things is beyond me. Walk out of a store with something you haven't paid for, get caught, that's it for most occupations involving trust of any kind, military service probably, too. Here in Cali, having a banned magazine of more than ten rounds means you won't be owning a firearm again, ever, legally anyway.

That raises a question. In California you are convicted of possessing a 20 round magazine. What effect would that have on a person buying a gun or getting a CHL in Texas?

[JALLEN]

That raises a question. In California you are convicted of possessing a 20 round magazine. What effect would that have on a person buying a gun or getting a CHL in Texas?

Don't they run a background check in Texas, to discover convictions/mental health issues?

It is what in CA we call a "wobbler" in that it can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor. There are no degrees of misdemeanors here. A felony carries a penalty of imprisonment for more than one year, a misdemeanor is jailed for less than a year, local time.

Penal Code 12020:

12020. (a) Any person in this state who does any of the following
is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year or in the state prison:
(1) ...
(2) Commencing January 1, 2000, manufactures or causes to be
manufactured, imports into the state, keeps for sale, or offers or
exposes for sale, or who gives, or lends, any large-capacity
magazine.

If you have a felony, no more guns ever. I'm not completely certain what a gun-related misdemeanor will do, but it might show up on the NCIC or whatever it is that rats out criminals, except gun runners of course.

If you are a gang member, it gets you a full ride scholarship to graduate school, or post-graduate school as the case may be.

[MeMelYup]

Guess that is sort of like having a billet in your pocket in DC.

[Oldgringo]

It is astonishing how prevalent this has become.

In my day, a long, long time ago, someone who was doing things like this would be ashamed of themselves, mostly. The few that weren't were off to reform school, prison etc. Getting caught at school with your shirt not tucked in was about as wild as it got mostly.

I well remember those days of yore. I suspect you Mother was at home like mine was back then too?

I remember one semi-cool dude a couple years older than me who stole some stuff from our after school, soda fountain/drug store hang out. The Owner was a WW II combat marine vet who had gone all through the PTO. VJ day was only about 10 years old at the time. The Owner gave this kid a choice: jail or the marines. He chose the marines and became a man.

Yes sir, back then bad behavior had real consequences rather than excuses.

[ryouiki]

That raises a question. In California you are convicted of possessing a 20 round magazine. What effect would that have on a person buying a gun or getting a CHL in Texas?

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but so long as it was in the state pre-ban, possession of a "high-capacity" magazine is not illegal... and owners can still use them (and repair them) as required.

Anywho, I agree with the OP... this was drilled into me when I was young as well... but I don't think you'll find anyone that doesn't have at least one youthful indiscretion somewhere in their past (whether or not they were caught is a whole different issue). Of course, the consequences for actions seems to have changed quite significantly as well over the years... I came from a very traditional/conservative/"old values" community... so if I did something wrong, someone usually "put the fear of God" into me... nowadays all the "soft-language" and political correctness just doesn't really get the point across.

Of course one of the larger issues I see today more then anything is that everyone is "televising" their lives 24x7 with Facebook/Twitter/etc. I've known more then a few people that have forever damaged their lives this way... the internet does not forgot/forgive.

I've spent my entire life trying to keep my nose as clean as possible... and most people who know me say I'm a very "boring" person because of it.... but hey, soon everyone on the forum may be a Felon if Feinstien gets her way!

[The Annoyed Man]

It is astonishing how prevalent this has become.

In my day, a long, long time ago, someone who was doing things like this would be ashamed of themselves, mostly. The few that weren't were off to reform school, prison etc. Getting caught at school with your shirt not tucked in was about as wild as it got mostly.

I was waiting out weather in El Paso some years ago and got to talking with another pilot sitting it out. He told me that as many as 25% of those who apply to become highway patrolmen in whatever state he was from were ineligible, due to criminal convictions, some drug possession, some petty theft type stuff, some property destruction vandalism, of course. I was astonished! What provokes a young person to do these things is beyond me. Walk out of a store with something you haven't paid for, get caught, that's it for most occupations involving trust of any kind, military service probably, too. Here in Cali, having a banned magazine of more than ten rounds means you won't be owning a firearm again, ever, legally anyway.

I remember having a conversation with my dad about 35-40 years ago. I would have been 20-25 at the time. He was saying that he kind of felt bad for people of my generation (baby boomers) because we had to face a lot of decisions that weren't even on the radar for people of his generation. I asked him if people smoked pot when he was in high school. He said yes, but very few; and those that did were also the same kids who ended up getting arrested for felonies like grand theft auto and armed robbery. Now, my dad was a pot-smoker in the 1970s, so it's not like he thought it was a bad thing; it's just that there was a very large generational difference between the way his generation looked at drug use in the late 1930s, and the way my generation looked at it 30 years later (I graduated high school in 1970). Pre-marital sex did happen when he was in high school, but with far less frequency than today; and there was a cultural taboo against it. "Easy girls" were nowhere near as celebrated as they are today. I know that's chauvinist, but it was a chauvinist era. From my Christian perspective, I think that male chastity is as laudable as it is for women—regardless of what decade it happens in.

When I was in high school, kids brought guns to school all the time. I remember the principle out in the parking lot admiring a student's shotgun that the student had in the trunk of his car....as they talked about bird hunting. I remember walking down the streets of my town (Glendora) as a 10 year old boy with a .22 caliber rifle in my hands. Nobody cared, because it was normal. At the time, I couldn't have quoted "The Four Rules" because nobody had taught them to me as formal rules, but if you had stopped me going down that block and asked me questions to see if I knew how to be safe with the rifle, I could have answered the questions appropriately, because they made sense. My dad or mom didn't teach me any of those things. I had just picked them up by being around friends who had guns and the principles made sense. I had seen what a .22 could do to an orange, or a soda bottle. It made sense that I didn't want that to happen to one of my friends and fellow miscreants. So I knew not to point the thing at something I didn't intend to shoot. A friend of mine did shoot another friend of mine in the butt with a .22 short because they were hiking together and my friend was walking behind his friend, when he stumbled, holding a loaded rifle with his finger on the trigger. When he hit the ground, he accidentally fired the rifle and hit his buddy in the bottom of his buttock. I learned to carry the rifle unloaded, and to keep my finger off the trigger. And so on and so on.

One big difference..... back then, boys (I'm not qualified to speak about the girl mind) wanted to be firemen, cowboys, welders, soldiers, plumbers, and cops....whatever their dads were....and that's what their dads wanted for them. Somewhere along the way, parents became convinced that their child could not have a productive and happy life unless they graduated from college. And so, high schools changed from the mission of preparing kids for life, and instead started preparing them for college—never mind that the vast majority would have been better served by a vocational school. I'm not saying that college is bad, but realistically it doesn't serve most kids to go to school when they have no intention of becoming professionals, or academics. Instead, we have a lot of people with English degrees serving fries with those shakes, because they are not qualified to do anything else.

[chasfm11]

As much as we have a permissive society, I think that we also have an idle society. I don't know about anyone else but in my yut, I was hard pressed for time to get into trouble. I do realize that there are families today where the kids are on a merry-go-round of youth sports, dance and karate lessons, etc. But there seem to be a lot more families where the parents are either working extraordinary hours or have leisure pursuits of their and and the kid are left to amuse themselves for long periods of time. Put groups of kids together during those "amusement" periods and you have the makings of problems whose consequences may last a lifetime.

Crime is reduced in the big cities when they start enforcing the truancy laws. To my way of thinking, the extremely high rates of unemployment among inner-city kids are one of the main things that drive gangs, etc. Slinging haybales as I did is a great way to take a lot of excess energy and trouble-making thoughts away from you.

[SewTexas]

Anywho, I agree with the OP... this was drilled into me when I was young as well... but I don't think you'll find anyone that doesn't have at least one youthful indiscretion somewhere in their past (whether or not they were caught is a whole different issue). Of course, the consequences for actions seems to have changed quite significantly as well over the years... I came from a very traditional/conservative/"old values" community... so if I did something wrong, someone usually "put the fear of God" into me... nowadays all the "soft-language" and political correctness just doesn't really get the point across.

what are you counting as a 'youthful indiscretion'? cruising the local Sonic isn't what I was talking about. I was talking about things that impact your entire life. And NO there is nothing in my youth that qualifies. My parents raised us to understand that there were just certain things that simply didn't "go away". That along with the fact that I have always tried to live to honor my parents and G-d, well, it's kept me out of trouble. maybe I'm boring.

[JALLEN]

I remember having a conversation with my dad about 35-40 years ago. I would have been 20-25 at the time. He was saying that he kind of felt bad for people of my generation (baby boomers) because we had to face a lot of decisions that weren't even on the radar for people of his generation. I asked him if people smoked pot when he was in high school. He said yes, but very few; and those that did were also the same kids who ended up getting arrested for felonies like grand theft auto and armed robbery. Now, my dad was a pot-smoker in the 1970s, so it's not like he thought it was a bad thing; it's just that there was a very large generational difference between the way his generation looked at drug use in the late 1930s, and the way my generation looked at it 30 years later (I graduated high school in 1970). Pre-marital sex did happen when he was in high school, but with far less frequency than today; and there was a cultural taboo against it. "Easy girls" were nowhere near as celebrated as they are today. I know that's chauvinist, but it was a chauvinist era. From my Christian perspective, I think that male chastity is as laudable as it is for women—regardless of what decade it happens in.

When I was in high school, kids brought guns to school all the time. I remember the principle out in the parking lot admiring a student's shotgun that the student had in the trunk of his car....as they talked about bird hunting. I remember walking down the streets of my town (Glendora) as a 10 year old boy with a .22 caliber rifle in my hands. Nobody cared, because it was normal. ......

One big difference..... back then, boys (I'm not qualified to speak about the girl mind) wanted to be firemen, cowboys, welders, soldiers, plumbers, and cops....whatever their dads were....and that's what their dads wanted for them. Somewhere along the way, parents became convinced that their child could not have a productive and happy life unless they graduated from college. And so, high schools changed from the mission of preparing kids for life, and instead started preparing them for college—never mind that the vast majority would have been better served by a vocational school. I'm not saying that college is bad, but realistically it doesn't serve most kids to go to school when they have no intention of becoming professionals, or academics. Instead, we have a lot of people with English degrees serving fries with those shakes, because they are not qualified to do anything else.

I put the cultural divide somewhere in the mid sixties. I graduated in 1964, my brother in 1965, my sisters in 1968 and 1969. They were greasy haired hippies compared to those who graduated earlier. Before that, you got regular haircuts, knew how to tie a tie, had at least a modicum of manners, ambition, pride, and fear of throwing it all away by messing up. After that, not so much. Those who didn't were certain to end up shot dead in a bar or in prison or both. "Easy girls" were just as celebrated, just not nearly as common! Luckily, most of us made it through those perils without either our prayers answered or our worst fears realized! We were stupid enough, though, to show our independence by smoking cigarettes.

Having to stay after school was a humiliation, and often had repercussions afterwards. Since everybody knew everybody, you got away with nothing. Your dad would hear about some flagrant breach of decorum before you even got home. I'm 67 years old and I still avoid doing anything that might have me end up in jail, at least while my mom is alive!

[SewTexas]

As much as we have a permissive society, I think that we also have an idle society. I don't know about anyone else but in my yut, I was hard pressed for time to get into trouble. I do realize that there are families today where the kids are on a merry-go-round of youth sports, dance and karate lessons, etc. But there seem to be a lot more families where the parents are either working extraordinary hours or have leisure pursuits of their and and the kid are left to amuse themselves for long periods of time. Put groups of kids together during those "amusement" periods and you have the makings of problems whose consequences may last a lifetime.

this could be a part of it, I think another part of it is a lack of "accountability/responsibility" maybe responsibility is the more appropriate word. kids don't "get in trouble" anymore. remember when you did something wrong you'd get a slap on the rear...and if you did something really, really wrong you'd be told "just wait 'till your Father gets home" and you'd live in fear for the next few hours in your room. That doesn't happen anymore. They get grounded for a few hours from their computer, but they have an ipod, or a phone, which is a computer still, so they can get on fb or tumbler and moan about how unfair the parent is. what is a kid a to do when the first time he gets a real consequence is from a cop?

I think we have many bored kids who have absolutely no sense of responsibility or accountability to their family much less the community at large.

[Stripes Dude]

Seems like a lot of the people posting with comments about "youngsters these days" were youngsters quite a long time ago. You must remember things have changed. In the 50s, 60s and 70s, what would have gotten you a slap on the hand by the cops, a ride home, and daddy to deal with (which was the worst part)...will now get you a court date, cost a lot of money, and will follow you forever.

Now I have noticed a lot of questions about prior felony convictions, people claiming their felony charges were reduced to misdemeanors, and other comments and questions that make me wonder.....but youthful indiscretions that many of us took part in during our youth are now death with in a more serious fashion. I'm not pretending I was an angel, surprised so many of us are though.

[JALLEN]

Seems like a lot of the people posting with comments about "youngsters these days" were youngsters quite a long time ago. You must remember things have changed. In the 50s, 60s and 70s, what would have gotten you a slap on the hand by the cops, a ride home, and daddy to deal with (which was the worst part)...will now get you a court date, cost a lot of money, and will follow you forever.

Now I have noticed a lot of questions about prior felony convictions, people claiming their felony charges were reduced to misdemeanors, and other comments and questions that make me wonder.....but youthful indiscretions that many of us took part in during our youth are now death with in a more serious fashion. I'm not pretending I was an angel, surprised so many of us are though.

We were raised with the idea that we were going to be something important and that getting into trouble would ruin that, or worse. Frankly I don't understand why it is so hard to avoid trouble with the law. One way is to not commit any crimes. What's so hard about that?

The only interactions I had with police until I came to California was getting 3 parking tickets in less than an hour from the old policeman who walked around town checking meters. None of my friends got in any trouble either. There were a couple of scofflaws in our class. The minister's kid was an alcoholic; he knew the cops all by name, and they knew his . Another fellow couldn't behave himself. After high school, he was shot dead in a bar, something about money, a prostitute and her husband or something, pretty sordid.

I got a ticket the first day I was here in Coronado, for going to slow on the Strand! I doubt I have had more than 3 tickets or so in my life. One I beat because the officer was flat wrong and I proved it.

One thing that helped is that we could go out and raise Cain out where they were building Canyon Dam. Nobody lived out there; even the Indians had moved out. The Old Rancher, out by Wimberley someplace, often taught that there is always as disadvantage for messing up. The smart ones didn't want to mess up!

My dad never got tickets, or had any trouble with the law whatsoever. Neither did my granddad, who lived and worked in Houston.

People aren't ashamed of themselves anymore when they ought to be.