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Yesterday at about 9am I was at the gun counter at a big box store. It was quiet at the time and I was talking to the only person at the counter. He had mentioned that he was all ready seeing the new LTC carried by individuals who were using it to buy guns. The interesting thing was he said that a number of people recently were purchasing handguns so they could open carry. Somehow he determined these people had no CHL (I assume he asked them if they wanted to use their CHL to make the purchase). He said these people told him they had no idea they had to have a CHL to OC. I would have thought that enough publicity had been put out re the necessity of a CHL to OC.

stash wrote:Yesterday at about 9am I was at the gun counter at a big box store. It was quiet at the time and I was talking to the only person at the counter. He had mentioned that he was all ready seeing the new LTC carried by individuals who were using it to buy guns. The interesting thing was he said that a number of people recently were purchasing handguns so they could open carry. Somehow he determined these people had no CHL (I assume he asked them if they wanted to use their CHL to make the purchase). He said these people told him they had no idea they had to have a CHL to OC. I would have thought that enough publicity had been put out re the necessity of a CHL to OC.

Their LTC has the same privileges as a CHL when purchasing a firearm. They are basically the same thing, except that the LTC no longer says "Concealed" on it. Whenever you renew next, you'll be receiving an LTC to replace your old CHL. As far as people who don't have either the CHL or LTC, the clerk has no idea if they are waiting for it in the mail, but have already taken the class and submitted the application. Those may well be buyers who recently went through the process, have not yet received their plastic, but are choosing to buy a certain gun in anticipation of being able to OC.

Tam - You may be right re your thoughts and I hope you are, but the gun clerk told me these individuals had no idea they had to have a CHL/LTC to OC. I would hate for a person to get arrested for OC without a CHL/LTC because they did not know the law.

stash wrote:Tam - You may be right re your thoughts and I hope you are, but the gun clerk told me these individuals had no idea they had to have a CHL/LTC to OC. I would hate for a person to get arrested for OC without a CHL/LTC because they did not know the law.

And don't forget the additional impact on all CHL/LTC holders who might be legally OC'ing, because with each arrest of an unlicensed individual I'm guessing that there will be those who will use that as validation for why anyone OC'ing needs to be stopped to produce their license.

There is much misinformation about OC as in: In a recent (roughly issue before last or even the month before) by "G&A" magazine wherein they printed OC in Texas is legal.

What they didn't specify was that "will" be true Jan. 2016, but is not "currently" the law. Reading what they printed could lead one to believe OC now to be legal, when it's not.

Plus, they didn't specify that one must be in possession of an LTC to quality to OC.

This lack of specificity could lead some to think OCing is open to one and all...

There certainly are quite a few that do not understand the new law. I've run into several of them myself.

Ay Yi Yi!

Some much needed "Public Service Announcements" stated on Radio/T.V., printed in Texas magazines and newspapers to help clear up what the public "thinks" it knows about OC.

Who qualifies/Who doesn't/Holster Specifics, and so on and the penalties if you don't qualify or OC the wrong way, like carry in one's hand...

If this isn't done, they'll be some knuckleheads who don't qualify (or know safety rules regarding how to handle firearms, etc) sportin shootin irons and struttin round completely oblivious as to the laws regarding OC.

It's gonna be interestin....