Stopped in a small home town

[LJM]

I was pulled over recently for speeding here in Kermit. Very polite stop handed my dl chl and insurance and visited a moment with the officer. He went back to his vehicle ran the information on the radio. Came back and isuued verbal warning sent me on my way. Good stop right. Here is the rub by the time I got back to my office I had 2 differnt people say they did not know I had a chl. I live in a very small town and have for more than 30 years , everyone knows everyone and many have a police scanner. They heard him run the license and chl over the scanners. Most just wanted to rib me about speeding through town on the way to breakfast but it now seems my chl is not much secret anymore. No big deal for me here. I just wanted to let folks know it can happen.

[The Annoyed Man]

[A-R]

yeah what he said with his non-verbal communication.

that doesn't seem right that anyone listening on a police scanner can pick up this kind of personal information.

[Oldgringo]

One's particular employment situation notwithstanding, why would anyone care who knows if you have a CHL or not?

As far as I'm concerned everyone should; especially strangers, assume that I have a CHL and am armed and in a defensive mode - which is what it's all about. I got the "concealed is concealed" learnin' from my class, did I miss the "secret" part?

EDIT:

While I'm not particularly concerned with who knows of it, my CHL is definitely not a Batman license.

[MojoTexas]

With my NRA and TSRA stickers on my truck and my often vocal opinions on second amendment issues, most people that know me probably (and correctly) assume that I have my CHL. I don't advertise the fact that I have my CHL, but I'm not shy about talking about it.

I agree with OldGringo--I *WANT* bad guys to assume that I'm armed and willing to defend myself, even when I'm not carrying. That's the beauty of legal concealed carry...it turns violent crime into a potentially lethal lottery for the bad guy. Am I armed? You'd better guess right if you wish to injure me or my family.

MojoTexas

[terryg]

+1

[lonewolf]

I know a sweet little old lady of eighty five years young in Kansas that listens to the scanner daily. Getting out is difficult for her and it keeps her company through the day.....

[JNMAR]

I don't go out of my way to discuss it with anyone but if they do I'll gladly share my feelings with them...On the other hand, if they happen to be behind my truck and can read AND understand the English language, I'm thinking they have a pretty good hint when they see my one and only bumper sticker: "I Don't Call 911"...I think it's important they should know that.

[NOS]

If asked by someone who "found out", I would simply answer their questions, within reason of course. I see no need in hiding my CHL if the "cat is out of the bag" that I have one. Who knows, the person you are talking to might find you as inspiration to pursue their own CHL. I'm not saying to run into your local Walmart and yell that you have your CHL and you're carrying a handgun. I just don't think that it is a big deal for someone with a police scanner to find out you have your CHL.
If they have had their scanner for any length of time, they should know and understand why you have a CHL to begin with.

[jimlongley]

With my NRA and TSRA stickers on my truck and my often vocal opinions on second amendment issues, most people that know me probably (and correctly) assume that I have my CHL. I don't advertise the fact that I have my CHL, but I'm not shy about talking about it.

I agree with OldGringo--I *WANT* bad guys to assume that I'm armed and willing to defend myself, even when I'm not carrying. That's the beauty of legal concealed carry...it turns violent crime into a potentially lethal lottery for the bad guy. Am I armed? You'd better guess right if you wish to injure me or my family.

MojoTexas

With my K5NRA license tag, which is a TSRA logo plate, I pretty much leave that part of my politics out there for anyone to see, and I expect them to assume I have a CHL.

The thing that always gets to me is how many people don't even know a CHL exists, or are completely uninformed on various aspects of same.

I have five scanners in my possession at this moment, I was a volunteer fireman for 17 years and it's tough to keep the old fire horse from champing the bit and kicking the stall doors when the sirens go off, so I listen in.

In the years I have lived in TX I have only heard CHL status mentioned on the radios a few times, so maybe there are not many CHLs getting stopped.

-----

When we lived in IL, just a few days after Christmas one year, I was working in the garage around lunch time with the door up and saw the very young daughter of one of our neighbors come running down the sidewalk and across the street in clothes not suitable to the weather. Just as I was about to step out and scold her for crossing without looking (a very low traffic street thankfully) I heard my scanner light up with a call and the address sounded very familiar - it was her house.

I stepped inside the house and yelled to my wife that "Jan and Bob's" house was on fire, and took off running myself. With 17 years behind me as a fireman you might think I would have better instincts, but I ran over completely empty handed, passing two fire extinguishers and a big first aid kit as I left the house.

The scene when I arrived was somewhat chaotic. The neighbors had had a fire in the fireplace the night before, and early in the morning he had cleaned up the ashes. Being somewhat of a city feller he had not realized that the ashes were not cold, and he dumped them in the city rolling barrel in the garage, the big plastic rolling barrel.

Just as they were about to sit down for lunch his wife commented about the smell of plastic burning and when he opened his garage door he was met with a "wall of flames" (I saw the burn marks, and his version of a wall is much smaller than mine.) He tried to fight te fire himself while his wife called 911, but he did it in bare feet, and the garden hose, carefully stored in the garage during an Illinois winter was frozen solid, so he was reduced to filling pans in the sink and trying to kick out the fire.

When I got there I hauled the smoldering rubble out into the driveway and threw snow on it while another neighbor treated the burns. The fire did get into the wall next to the door from the garage to the living room, but it didn't extend far, so everything was pretty much ok, except for the burns on his feet, they required a trip in the ambulance.

----------------

I have heard all sorts of interesting stuff on scanners over the years, avoiding traffic snarls due to major accidents, and when the neighbor's kid got arrested, and even when they local police were setting up to raid a house nearby. One of the things I enjoy most is listening to the speed traps: "The green Mazda in the left lane, 85" and such.

[BLG]

"Am I armed? You'd better guess right if you wish to injure me or my family. "

MojoTexas


I make it easy. No guess-work.

[chuckybrown]

We have a scanner at our weekend place up in San Jacinto County. When the agencies pull someone over and provide the TDL number to be run (I think they request a "27"), dispatcher will share if the person has a CHL.

[Mando'a]

yeah what he said with his non-verbal communication.

that doesn't seem right that anyone listening on a police scanner can pick up this kind of personal information.

No kidding, I'm surprised the transmissions aren't encrypted.

[hangfour]

"I Don't Call 911"

I like that bumper sticker ... Being new to CHL I did not connect the dots when I have seen it before.

On the matter of being secret about my CHL ... I am. If the purpose of having a CHL is defense, I've reasoned that having the element of surprise (even among my acquaintances ) would be to my advantage. Is this not true? I do a lot of community service work in my town. I can't imagine that it would be to my advantage in any way for those I serve to know that I'm carrying.

[OldCurlyWolf]

Personally, I never tell anyone. My family knows. I want the Scum Suckers to wonder and not know. Then when it is necessary, I want them to freeze for that vital second because of their surprise. Take every advantage you can get.