+1 victory for CHL advocates

[atxgun]

I had posted before about a friend I seemed to have convinced at least considering the good of getting a CHL. I guess I'm on a roll. I was having lunch with another friend yesterday, there was a song from Pulp Fiction playing. I quipped it would be funny if someone stood up and tried to rob the restaurant in the style of the movie and how I'd be like "Dude, No way! The pulp fiction song is totally playing!"

We laughed and and then she got kind of serious saying "You know, I'm glad you carry a gun. I think maybe I should get my own CHL"

As a corollary to this story I'm getting less and less convinced that keeping your CHL status top secret is the way to roll.

[dewayneward]

I have learned TO keep my CHL status...or at least carry status private.....really until I can read the person(s) I am talking to.

Trust me, I am excited about all this and cant wait to wallywalk and carry 24/7 (because thugs dont take a day off), but I had mixed reactions from people that I have been vocal with.

When I was visiting family and carrying in the house, I was commenting on the utah officer that shot a bunch of people. I commented on that saying that if people were carrying guns of their own, they could have stopped him sooner. I then said that Texas is talking about allowing open carry.

I no sooner got "carry" out of my mouth when my mother in law almost shouted "there will be blood in the streets". I swore I had fallen into a CNN/NPR/NBC moment. I recovered a bit and asked her if she has looked at any stats to support this. I said that I have read and crime goes down when the people are allowed to carry...not mention that it is a 2a right".

My facts were met with "there will be blood in the streets" again.

Unfortunately my wife's side of the family is not known for letting facts determine their course of actions. Of course, neither is mine.

[atxgun]

Well, to be clear I'm not saying I walk around with one of those stupid "CHL Badges" or anything like that. At work, for instance, I completely avoid gun subjects all together as I get the strong feeling there are many anti's there. The other day at lunch someone had brought up the topic of what-would-you-do if you found yourself in a Maumbai style terrorist attack. "Run", "hide" "wait for the police" were common responses. I had to bite my tongue on what I would have done.

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

Due to being in the military I am not allowed to carry at work. It sucks cause I have a good 20 min drive to and from. Who is to say that nothing will happen between here and there? Or if I need to go somewhere after work I have to drive all the way home change get armed and then go. There is nothing I can do about it. Its just aggrevating.

On subject now. I live in a nice area but there is a group of thugs that are burglarizing our neighborhoods. I have joined a saftey comittee and we are starting a neighborhood watch. I usually keep the CHL topic for my friends and family but there are a lot of people that are getting worried because we have a lot of kids in the area. I have told a few neighbors and people on the comittee that I carry and they seem a bit relieved. I have also had some of them talk about what kind of gun they should get for home defense. However I have also been met with a few resisters. My mom being one. She thinks that it is just horrible that I carry a gun. I asked her if she enjoys and exercises her rights to free speech and freedom of religion. Of course she answered yes. So I simply said so do I and I also enjoy my right to carry. I have not heard another thing about it.

[magicglock]

I have been very careful not to say anything to people at work about my CHL. (Personal preferance) Not too long ago I overheard a conversation between a member of higher level managment and one of the other managers about having their CHLs. A few other people got involved in the conversation. Before I knew it, they had mentioned 50% of the people in the office have or are actively persuing CHLs. Guess my office is rather CHL friendly! Although I was pleased to hear the responses, the conversation reaffirmed my reasoning for keeping quiet....tell one might as well tell all! The only person who seemed shocked was the HR person in the office. I think I actually saw bubbles coming out of her head like a cartoon....."Wonder if anyone is carrying now?", "Wonder if anyone has a gun in a vehicle on company property?", "Wonder if I need to have a meeting to refamiliarize this office with the company's weapon policies?" Nothing came of it yet....keep you posted.

[Morgan]

I love working for an officially gun-friendly company.

I learned a lesson tho, and it's an odd one. Before any of us in my area had our CHLs a bunch of us were talking about it, and the company had "plans" to do the class for people. That class took months to materialize and I didn't want to wait, so I got mine. A woman I work with who is now in "processing" status the other day asked me, point blank and in front of a bunch of others who were NOT in "I'm getting my chl, taking the class" mode if I was carrying. I found THAT to be singularly annoying, even tho I work for a gun free company. So yeah, I took to heart the advice of a lot of others and I'm a LOT more careful about who knows than I figured I would have been just a few months ago.

My answer was an innocent "I don't know, AM I?" and I laughed it off. Nobody could tell. In fact, several said, "Well I guess I wouldn't be surprised if you had one in your car."

Of course, I rode my bike that day. LOL

IWB - 3 o'clock.

[ELB]

I am not for casually advertising my CHL status, but I am not ashamed of it either, and will talk about it -- or more specifically, the whole CHL issue -- given the right circumstances and people. Sound off without regard to the audience or the situation is probably not wise -- targeting your audience, or taking advantage of opportunities (like atxgun's lady friend commenting "maybe I should get my own" is the way to go. Good luck atxgun.

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

well put

[Aggie_engr]

I swayed everyone that is close to me to go out and take the class. One of my good friends from school took it not long after I got mine. Mom, pops and my uncle took the class together and just sent their stuff off to Austin. My older brother went out and got his after I got mine also. We are blessed to live in Texas and have been born in America!