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Good morning all, I am new to this forum and I am going to apply for my Texas resident LTC in September after the fee's decrease. I have research a lot online about the process and found some ambuguity in the advice as to what to do first in order to speed things up. Any info or insight would be greatly appreciated!

TopCat wrote:Good morning all, I am new to this forum and I am going to apply for my Texas resident LTC in September after the fee's decrease. I have research a lot online about the process and found some ambuguity in the advice as to what to do first in order to speed things up. Any info or insight would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome aboard, I think you will find a lot good information on this forum, lot of good people mostly very polite and informed.

Take the class now!! so you will be ready to send the info on the 1st of Sept. Unfortunatly I believe there is ging to be a rush of applications in September. May it will be worth it to pay the extra and get ahead of the line.

Hello Liberty! I was thinking of going ahead and taking the class first for the reason you stated. Thank you for the advice and confirming my suspicion. I may go ahead and apply before Sept. but funds are a little tight, and every little bit helps. Also, being new to this whole thing, I have a dumb question that I'm sure other posts have addressed that I am just unaware of or are not current. I understand that some folks apply for a Virginia non-resident LTC because it is said to be much faster and you can attain one while waiting on the application backlog in Texas to catch up. The laws seem to be reciprocal, but how is that looked upon by Texas LEO's and effect other practicalities of concealed carry? Not looking forward to the wait, but at least I can talk with others in the same boat. Thanks again Liberty.

Welcome to the forum.

As Liberty said, take the LTC class now, then be ready on September 1st to apply online and submit required paperwork. Then be patient. The length of time is going to be dependent upon how much work DPS has to do on your background check, and the number of new applications that they receive on 9/1.

At least here on the forum I don't recall any of the instructors saying their classes are busier than normal, so it's possible that the rush of applications will be after the media reports about the fee reductions going into effect that day. I'd bet that the LTC classes are going to get fuller the closer it gets to September 1st, so get it over with as soon as you can. Check Groupon for deals.

Thank you sir, will do. I appreciate your input.

TopCat wrote:Hello Liberty! I was thinking of going ahead and taking the class first for the reason you stated. Thank you for the advice and confirming my suspicion. I may go ahead and apply before Sept. but funds are a little tight, and every little bit helps. Also, being new to this whole thing, I have a dumb question that I'm sure other posts have addressed that I am just unaware of or are not current. I understand that some folks apply for a Virginia non-resident LTC because it is said to be much faster and you can attain one while waiting on the application backlog in Texas to catch up. The laws seem to be reciprocal, but how is that looked upon by Texas LEO's and effect other practicalities of concealed carry? Not looking forward to the wait, but at least I can talk with others in the same boat. Thanks again Liberty.

These days Texas LEOs will accept a non-resident LTC without much thought. Remember the most like place you will be asked for an ID is at a traffic stop, and concealed carry in your car is legal under the MPA. The advantages of the Texas LTC are:
You are allowed to carry into a gun free zone near schools.
The dealer can skip calling into the Feds NICS system when purchasing a gun from a dealer.
The Texas LTC has the most widely accepted reciprocity among other states.

MY unsupported opinion is that, while almost every LEO will not reflect on an out of state LTC negatively. Most officers will view a Texas LTC almost as a good guy badge.

Welcome to our "little" family here. Lots of great folks and lots of knowledge.
As others have said, take the class now.
But above that, go ahead and figure out what and how you want to carry. Use the time from now until your plastic comes to carry around the house to (1) find out what works best for you (2) get comfortable with your carry option and with the extra weight and (3) get used to having it on so it becomes second nature and you are not quite as nervous when you go out.
The above suggestions will get you a head start on your empty holster drawer . Don't laugh, we all have them, or at least those of us that have been carrying a while.
A member of this forum gave some pretty sound advice. "Carrying a weapon is not supposed to be comfortable but is supposed to be comforting".

TopCat wrote:Good morning all, I am new to this forum and I am going to apply for my Texas resident LTC in September after the fee's decrease. I have research a lot online about the process and found some ambuguity in the advice as to what to do first in order to speed things up. Any info or insight would be greatly appreciated!

I really like the fact that you are doing homework before stepping off into it. I would love to see every responsible citizen armed but part of the 'responsible citizen' thing is having an understanding of what you are doing (which most people nowadays aren't in the habit of doing.)

Just as in life, learning doesn't stop when you leave the classroom...and also just like in life, if get to a point that you think you know everything, you just took a step backwards.

Welcome aboard! Stay safe and keep a round in the chamber.

Lee

RogueUSMC wrote: keep a round in the chamber.

Yep- lets go ahead and get that into his mind from the start... but I'm hoping his research has already revealed that an unloaded gun is of little value when time is short!

Welcome to the forum! We're glad to have you aboard.

The following things will be recurring in most answers that you receive on this forum:

• Yes, you'll have to learn to dress around your gun
• Get a good holster. Holsters serve two purposes: keep the gun securely in place, and keep the trigger area protected
• Yes, get a holster, even if you're going to pocket carry. See the last five words of the previous bullet
• A good gun belt with a poor holster is better than a poor gun belt with a good holster
• A .380 that you will carry is better than a .45 that you won't carry. Don't get talked into carrying something that you won't actually carry daily. That being said, I do have some smaller handguns that I carry when the occasion (and dress code) make it a better choice
• On-body carry is better than off-body (e.g. purse, backpack) carry
• Printing is not illegal
• 30.06 and 30.07 signs can sometimes be described as 'invalid' or 'unenforceable', but rarely as 'illegal'
• Sign up RIGHT NOW for www.Texas3006.com. Download the app on your phone. It's free of charge, but it's a very valuable tool for the LTC holder in Texas
• Carrying is not meant to be comfortable, just comforting

If you live in the Houston area, you're welcome to join in one of our local CHLForum breakfasts. We have one on the first Friday of each month in Friendswood, and one on the third Saturday of each month in Katy.

If you live in the DFW area, they also have one on the third Saturday of each month.

If you live in the Austin area, I'm sure someone here on the forum can help you find a good realtor to help get you out of there

and don't forget the Wally walk. It's the first thing to do when plastic arrives.

Virginia non-resident is $100 and seems to require a bunch of paperwork and fingerprinting which doesn't appear cheap if money is tight. A non-Texas permit should be fine and the only issue I would think is that carrying in a school zone is technically illegal unless you have a license in that state. Has anyone ever been prosecuted for this? I don't know and a lot of Texans have a gun in their car and drive through school zones every day.
Take the course, get everything else ready, I don't remember if you can do the fingerprint portion ahead of time as I had to do mine several times, research the gun you want and relax as the process seems to be much faster now than it used to be. On the other hand, if you were going to spend money on the Virginia license, go do Texas now, pay a bit more but be at the front of the line. I bet they really process fast right now with people waiting for 9/1 discount.

Welcome~~~

As mentioned in previous post a good gun belt and holster are the key to carrying, I carry a full size1911 15 rds 45 acp in the gun and a spare 14rd mag, the belt is the key to carrying and the holster is gonna be a learning process. Good luck and welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum