New guy from TX/AR

[btm7687]

Hey all,

New guy here from TX and AR. My family lives in and I am a resident of Texas, but I go to school at the University of Arkansas so I'm here in AR about 9-11 months of the year anyway.

Shot my first gun when my grandfather took me out when I was 6, but stopped for awhile after he passed away in 1999. Didn't go nearly as much after that. Went home for Spring Break a few weeks ago and got the bug again. Went to the indoor range and tested out a few Sigs. My father had been debating getting a CHL for awhile and seeing as I'm 21 now I asked if he was still interested. Well we looked into it some and since I'm going home this weekend for Easter anyway, might as well do the course. So on Saturday April 11th, I'll get to take my CHL class and assuming everything goes well, endure the neverending wait for the DPS.

My dad and I both agreed out of all of them, we both liked the P229 the most. So hopefully if all goes well and we get our CHL's, we will both probably add a P229R to our collection.

Bryan M.

Edit: Since we are from southwest of Ft. Worth, we will be taking the course at On Target Firearms. Just curious if anyone from around the area has been. One of my church members said they recently completed a CHL course there and was very impressed. When we went to go shoot the gentlemen working seemed very nice and knowledgeable, so I assume everything will be well

[papabear]

Welcome Glad to see the younger generation coming on. We may need some s in the near future.

[longhorn_92]

Welcome to the Forum!!!

[MTICop]

Welcome to the forum. I look forward to hearing more from you.

[Lumberjack98]

Welcome!!!

[btm7687]

WARNING: Sorry for the long post

Well speak of the devil. Right after I posted this and started looking around the forum some I get a call from my dad. He says he just wanted to let me know that he was going to cancel the class for a few reasons.

1. He doesn't know why I need a handgun
2. He doesn't think this weekend is a good time (which he sounded like he was trying to play off as the main reason)

After having an in depth conversation about the pro's and con's of carrying a weapon and giving numerous reasons to support my point, including the fact that one of my friends was mugged at knifepoint at Wal-Mart in the last six months, he still decided to back out. He then started to basically say I was convinced I was going to get mugged now, which is not the case; I just understand that people that intend to do harm on someone don't care if you're 21 or 45. What kind of irked me about this whole conversation though is that HE was the one who actually initiated anything. I had asked if he was still interested and the next time I had talked to him he had already signed us up. It especially surprised me since he had told me HE wanted to get a CHL first awhile back and here he was acting like he was against them now. I do know it's not that he is not worried about me handling a weapon safely, since he has been there by my side since I first began shooting.

The other reason he didn't want to was that since this is Easter weekend, my grandmother (mom's mom) decided to fly into town. That I can understand, but with the way my classes and summer sessions are set up, I probably won't have another chance to take it until the beg-August time-frame.

I was however going to go on his dime, so I can't really say much. It is ultimately his call right now. I could see him using this as a test of some sort for me...my parents have always put me under the bus occasionally to see how I react.

I guess for now I'll just have to sit it out and wait to see what happens.

P.S. - About my friend; what is really scary is that she was at the Wal-Mart at 10:00PM...in this college town that is almost main business hours. It is unbelievable the amount of traffic that place gets at that hour. Just goes to show anything can happen to anyone and at any time. She made it out ok though luckily.

[btm7687]

And yep...my father decided he still wanted to do it. Called me this morning to talk about it and decided if I still wanted we could go.

[brian704]

well i am glad you are going now. there are 1000000 or reasons why some one should have a firearm. and one of the biggest ones for me for you is the travel between your home and college.

good luck with the class let us know how it all goes

[mikeintexas]

Welcome to the forum. Good luck with your class tomorrow. And you may have your CHL by Christmas this year! Can you carry while on campus in Arkansas?

[btm7687]

As of now unfortunately the answer is no. As far as I understand from what I read on ConcealedCampus.org, the law is as follows:

"Persons possessing a concealed handgun permit are prohibited from carrying their firearm into any school, college, community college, or university campus building or event."

Meaning that we can at least have our gun in our car on campus. I did notice on ConcealedCampus however, that there was no campus leader for the biggest AR school, my school, the main University of Arkansas campus. I am actually rather intrested now into seeing if I can get an RSO together for SCCC at our campus. Who knows what could happen if we get our school involved as well.

[btm7687]

Just got back from my CHL class today. Overall impressions were good. The instructors were very funny, informative and explained everything very clearly, though I do believe they threw a little too much political commentary than necessary. I managed a 246/250 on the shooting, which I was relatively happy with considering this was the second time I've shot a gun since 2004. Unfortunately my dad did beat me with a 247 so I had to hear it from him for a bit. Had a lot of fun and a good learning experience. They were saying they were pretty backed up right now though so they were estimating at least 3 months.

Last thing...my dad after a day being around it decided it was finally time to commit and picked up his brand new Sig Sauer P229R. They had two with consecutive serial numbers, which would have been cool, but unfortunately I'm still saving he wasn't ready to drop the bomb on mine too. Sorry for the crappy pic...I left my camera back at my house in AR and snapped this one with my cell while we were still there checking out

Edit: Forgot to mention I did my qualifying shooting with one of the range's P239's...I let my dad use the P229R because I knew he was seriously considering walking out with one at the time. During my quals I actually experienced 2 FTF's using Blazer ammo...not sure if it was the gun or ammo on that one, but I was the only once to experience problems with the exception of some woman bringing her own gun and it having a FTL on the second round.

[CJATE]

I too had my Texas CHL while a student at the UofArk, I left it in my truck, as I lived on campus (fraternity house) but I was glad I had it back and forth from home. I also spent a lot of free time at lake Wedington and white rock. Always had it with me. Although I never had a problem, there were some crazies in those parts. Locals commonly refer to them as “da-hill people”

[btm7687]

Really? When were you there and what fraternity were you in? I never got around to going through rush myself, but both my roommates and most of my friends I've met in the last couple years are Sigma Chi's. I definitely know what you mean about the hill people though...I actually lived in Fayetteville for 14 years before moving to Texas

I too had my Texas CHL while a student at the UofArk, I left it in my truck, as I lived on campus (fraternity house) but I was glad I had it back and forth from home. I also spent a lot of free time at lake Wedington and white rock. Always had it with me. Although I never had a problem, there were some crazies in those parts. Locals commonly refer to them as “da-hill people”

[CJATE]

See your PM’s
but I was an AGR

[bryang]

Welcome aboard, Bryan, it is good to have you with us.

It looks as though we share more than just an interest in guns...however at different ends.

-geo Bryan