Checkin' in from Killeen

[GatoNegro]

Folks,

Newbie here. I am in the process of retiring from the Army after 26 years active duty. I stumbled into this forum while while doing my last tour in Afghanistan, and decided to get a CHL too, since the last ten years or so have been deployment after deployment carrying a weapon 24/7, and now I feel kinda naked without one, . So I took my CHL class in Austin and I would like to turn in my paperwork instead of mailing it. I am hoping to do this tomorrow morning.
The question: Where exactly is this office in Austin?

Regards,
GatoNegro

[C-dub]

Congratulations on surviving and thank you for being there.

I have two friends in Afganistan right now. One is a Navy corpsman attanched to a Marine unit and the other is his brother that is an electronics tech on helicopters.

I don't know exactly where the office is. There's just a PO box that we mail the oacket to, right? Are you thinking about hand delivering it to them?

Can we do that?

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Well hey there Black Cat!

Thank you for your service to our country.

Even if you find the physical location, I'm not sure a hand delivery will speed the process.

What gun(s) do you own? What will you carry?

SIA

[USA1]

welcome GatoNegro
thank you for your service

i know that someone here will be able to provide you the address and probably even a map .
that's just the kinda folks we have here .

its very nice to have you join us .

[joe817]

Hi GatoNegro, welcome to the forum! Thank you for your years of service to our Great Nation.

As far as the physical address goes, I mailed my application packet to the DPS address that was on the envelope:
Regulatory Licensing Service, MSC 0245
Texas Department of Public Safety
P.O. Box 4087
Austin, TX 78773-0245

I sent it certified mail, return receipt......when I received the receipt, it was date stamped with the stamped street address:

Texas Dept of Public Safety
5805 N. Lamar 78752

I don't know if that's the central mail drop for ALLLLL of DPS or not. I'd suggest calling the CHL licensing unit, and getting the drop off address straight from the horses mouth to avoid any confusion or misinformation.

[GatoNegro]

All,

Thanks for the warm welcome, I hope to be a regular contributor to this board. I have a technical issue that I want to ask the CHL office personnel, and I sure wish I could speed it up, but I see its not possible.

I intend to carry my PT 111 Millenium pro (sweeeeeth!) and if I can find one of the new Taurus "slim" models at a decent price I will get that. I am partial to 9mm ammo.

Regards,
GatoNegro

[boomerang]

My guess is you can probably get at least as good an answer to your questions by calling but if you prefer going in person I think they're at the DPS complex on Lamar between Koenig and Denson. Not sure which building though. I remember people have mentioned hand delivering their applications so maybe one of them can confirm the location.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

I intend to carry my PT 111 Millenium pro (sweeeeeth!) and if I can find one of the new Taurus "slim" models at a decent price I will get that. I am partial to 9mm ammo.

Well, GatoNegro, I will definitely remember you since you are "Taurus Armed" with almost my exact pistola.
(Read my signature).

SIA

[LostInAustin]

I carried my app to the DPS. Went to the front office and they sent me to the back of the complex. Basically there is a street right behind the DPS (don't know the name of it) that runs parallel with Lamar. It connects with Dennison on the north and Koenig on the south. The Concealed Handgun Licensing Bureau is on that stree in the back of the whole DPS complex. You can't miss it. it is back where the parking lot for the DPS employees is. There is no parking in front of the building so I parked in the lot behind it and walked up to the building. They reviewed my app. gave me a receipt that it was received and said the wait was around 60 days. We all know how that goes.

I also did my fingerprint card with F.A.S.T. (the electronic fingerprints) right there at DPS. I figured they would be the people saying they were good or not so I let them do them. Well, I was wrong, FBI sent them back. So I repeated the process at the DPS and still waiting.

If you use the DPS for fingerprinting, it is right down the street from where you turn in the license app. at Dennison and Airport just before the railroad tracks and Highland mall.

Good Luck!!

[GatoNegro]

LostInAustin,

I am concerned because my fingerprints card is really bad, it was done when I took the class, but it never occurred to me that even the FAST ones can get rejected? I am going to try to get the fingerprints redone before I turn it in.

Thanks for all this info, now I am going to give it a good try. Also I run the address in Mapquest and it is Guadalupe St.

Regards,
GatoNegro

[LostInAustin]

Gatonegro,

Your right...Guadalupe Street! When i took my class, the pictures were horrible (too light because of the heat) and they didn't even do our prints. I decided to do as much as I could to facilitate the process. Passport pics at CVS...$6.95, and they are good pics. I have done the FAST prints for my profession...piece of cake...and no ink! even went to DPS thinking they knew what they needed and were doing. So, all that and still reject. What I found out is the FBI rejects the print cards when they do the background checks. I was told that it is not unusal to be reject 3-4 times while the FBI trys to get a set that they like.

And so we wait.....good luck with it. Keep us posted.