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Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:32 pm
by dthlss1
SQLGeek wrote:
Be thankful you have that at least! We were a little nervous that we might get carded while trying to use a credit card. Thankfully it wasn't an issue.
I was a little sad to give up my CA license at first but when work stopped deducting income tax from my check, I suddenly felt a lot better.
Off topic, how did you turn your Blackberry barcode into an image?
When you're in BBM 5.0, press the BB icon to bring up the full menu, go to "My Profile," scroll to the bottom, click "Display My Barcode" button, press the BB icon to bring up the menu again, select "Save Barcode Image" and then you can e-mail it to yourself, post it wherever you want. I posted mine on Facebook for easy linking.

Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 9:07 pm
by SQLGeek
Thank you. Not that I use BBM much but that is a neat feature.
Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 11:49 am
by PeteCamp
Unless his corner of the world does things differently, the temporary DLs dont have a picture.
You may be right. Guys at the store said they had seen some paper licenses that had the photo. Now how that came about? Your guess is good as mine. Maybe only if you previously had a TX DL and photo on file?
Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 12:26 pm
by SQLGeek
A photo already on file would make sense. Who knows, maybe some DPS offices work differently.
Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 10:39 pm
by dthlss1
Update:
Still no license but I stopped by Academy today to hang out at the gun counter and I saw the Taurus PT111 which is the same length as the Slim but it's a 12+1 capacity and it costs less than the Slim. So I think I'm going to go with the PT111.
In other news, my wife and I got the full-blown hunting and fishing license today and as we were at the customer service counter, this guy walked toward the exit and the loss prevention detector thing started beeping and the second he stepped foot outside, he sprinted. A few guys tried to chase after him but it looked like he had his escape route planned because he got out of there in seconds.
It's a crazy world we live in.
Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 10:48 pm
by s197winstang
Academy is not a good place to get a gun in your situation.. the employees are not well versed in the law and often give bad info. I was in your situation and was told the same thing. Did my research, went to a reputable gun store and within 20 min had a firearm and was good to go. All it took was my temp DL and a passport. Simple, clean and legal.
Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 10:50 pm
by s197winstang
PeteCamp wrote:Unless his corner of the world does things differently, the temporary DLs dont have a picture.
You may be right. Guys at the store said they had seen some paper licenses that had the photo. Now how that came about? Your guess is good as mine. Maybe only if you previously had a TX DL and photo on file?
Just went through this in Jan. The temps have a photo. BTW, the plastic comes a good two weeks later....
Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 10:50 pm
by dthlss1
s197winstang wrote:Academy is not a good place to get a gun in your situation.. the employees are not well versed in the law and often give bad info. I was in your situation and was told the same thing. Did my research, went to a reputable gun store and within 20 min had a firearm and was good to go. All it took was my temp DL and a passport. Simple, clean and legal.
Would you mind telling me where you went? You can PM me if you don't want to post here. I'd really appreciate it.

Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:09 pm
by SQLGeek
s197winstang wrote:
Just went through this in Jan. The temps have a photo. BTW, the plastic comes a good two weeks later....
I got mine in September of last year. Maybe they've upgraded their process since then or they only do it in certain offices.
Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 8:39 pm
by dthlss1
Still no license BUT, I went to The Outdoorsman. I showed them my military dependent ID and my temporary driver's license. I filled out the paper work, they called FBI NICS which only took about ten minutes. Got a few boxes of ammo, some cleaning supplies and I was out of there before I knew it.
Academy said they couldn't do it that way. They weren't able to answer my questions. It just wasn't a very good experience every time I went to Academy.
The guys at The Outdoorsman where very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. I told the guy who was helping me what my requirements were and what my budget was and he introduced me to my newest gun: a Bersa Thunder 9mm. It has a 17+1 capacity. It was on sale for $329.
Just wanted to share with you guys. You guys were right, Academy isn't the place to go. Even the guy that helped me at the Outdoorsman had a few colorful adjectives to describe Academy.
I'll post pictures of my new handgun tomorrow.

Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 5:10 pm
by dthlss1
Just put 100 rounds through the new Bersa without incident. Not much recoil. It's been a few years since I've gone shooting. My rounds were landing a little left of center but I'll work on that.
Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 7:36 pm
by Mando'a
couzin wrote:dthlss1 wrote:...my combination of military dependent ID...
I thought you lose military dependent status at 18 or graduation??
Only if you are not registered in College.
Re: Question about purchasing a handgun
Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 10:07 pm
by dthlss1
Mando'a wrote:couzin wrote:dthlss1 wrote:...my combination of military dependent ID...
I thought you lose military dependent status at 18 or graduation??
Only if you are not registered in College.
Or if your spouse is in the military, like mine. :P People always think of children when they hear or read "dependent." We're both 27, she's in the Army, I'm not. I'm her dependent, no matter how old I get, regardless of whether or not I'm in college, or anything else. If I have a full-time job, I'm still her dependent.