TexasCHLforum.com

nitrogen wrote:Last time I went to the doctor, I just put my weapon in my backpack.

Ding ding, we have a winner! You know, I usually have my backpack with me, but that day I don't think I did. But for future appointments, that is a great suggestion. Thanks!

So last week I went to the Allergist, for a checkup and to get my weekly allergy shots. Normally, I just wear a short-sleeve shirt which I'll just roll up, so no big deal. But this time I was wearing a long-sleeve shirt on top of an undershirt. Gonna be tricky! When I parked my car, I realized that this was going to present a problem, not just for the shots, but because of the almost certain "take your shirt off" portion of the checkup. So, at first I considered just letting the doctor see my gun at this point, preparing him with "don't be alarmed" before I unbutton my shirt. But then I concluded this would be an unnecessary risk.

Well before even that part of the exam, I had to get my shots. I should have known this would've happened first. I faced 2 problems, right away. One was that my undershirt wasn't long enough to full cover my gun when I was seated on the examination table, so I couldn't just take off my outershirt entirely. Two was that I didn't have a chance to disarm and hide my gun under my outershirt before the nurse gave me my shots. (I had assumed I would have a short interval, but nope!) So, with my gun side facing away from her, I took off just that sleeve, but kind of wrapped it around that side of me to conceal it. This was a lot more awkward and drawn out than I make it sound, though!

Well, when she left, I disarmed, took off my outshirt entirely, wrapped it around my gun, and set it aside. When the doctor came in, I didn't have any trouble, and after it was over, I asked to use a bathroom, and then put everything back together in there.

So here's what I keep thinking about. Let's say the nurse or the doctor or both noticed my gun. I imagine they might have had a problem with it, as their office is inside a medical center (not quite a hospital, but close), and many people mistakenly believe that hospitals are automatically off-limits. And anyway, you never know how someone is going to react. So, in case of an accidental exposure in this case, I've been thinking I would say the following: "Don't worry, I'm a State of Texas CHL." I think this sounds official enough to calm anyone's worries...almost as though I'm saying I'm a cop. And therein lies the rub: could this get you busted for impersonating a police officer?