CROSSING to and from MEXICO

[TIN BENDER]

Business may require me to go to Mexico via some AIRLINE.
All my PUPPIES will remain in the safe but when asked for an I.D. ,
will I be req'd to show my TCHL ?

Are the agents at the airports LEO's ?

Any input will be appreciated.

[bigdook]

you dont have to show your TCHL ID unless you are carying on or about your person.

[txinvestigator]

you dont have to show your TCHL ID unless you are carying on or about your person.

And I WOULD NOT in that situation. Good way to have the wacky TSA strip searching you.

[frankie_the_yankee]

you dont have to show your TCHL ID unless you are carying on or about your person.

And I WOULD NOT in that situation. Good way to have the wacky TSA strip searching you.

FWIW, I have my TX driver's license and my TX CHL together in a small ID wallet. When I flip it open, both are clearly visible. If someone sees it, like when I pay for something with a credit card, I could care less. I'm legal. What are they going to do to me?

I've had the occassional store clerk ask me how to go about getting one.

Now maybe someone might think of jacking me up or breaking into my house to steal the gun or something. I wish them a whole lotta luck, 'cause they're gonna need every bit of it.

But my guess is that people so inclined will avoid me like the plague.

If I get pulled over for a traffic violation, it makes making the declaration completely straightforward. It's obvious to the officer that I am not trying to hide anything.

I've produced this ID while going through airports all over the world, including Japan. No one has ever batted an eyelash. This includes air travel within the USA, when I will frequently declare and transport a handgun in my checked baggage, in full compliance with all laws.

These days, when you check a bag with a gun in it, they have you stand by the scanner while TSA checks it out. Sometimes they ask me to unlock the case so they can inspect it. Sometimes not. So far, all of the TSA people I have encountered have been completely courteous and professional.

Just my 2 cents from my own experience.

[jimlongley]

Good way to have the wacky TSA strip searching you.

I used to resemble that.

Actually TSA is not allowed to use the type of ID presented as a determinator for a search. If you get to the airline counter and cannot ID yourself to the agent with an acceptable ID, you WILL be marked for special search.

Most of the time if a TSA screener (they are called "agents" now I think) sees a CHL for some reason in the normal screening procedure the reaction will be to want to chat about it, the ones I know are aware that a CHL indicates someone who has been screened other ways.

[Venus Pax]

TSA isn't law enforcement. You are not required to show them your CHL along with your driver's license.

Since an alternate form of ID was requested last time I flew, I gave my CHL. He didn't even know what it was. I think some people live under a rock.

[yerasimos]

For years I have used my passport for routine domestic air travel hassles, as it eliminates another reach for the wallet and another opportunity for the wallet to get lost or stolen. I would rather lose my passport than my entire wallet.

By the way, maybe this is already common knowledge and already presumed, but a passport (or equivalent) is now required for air travel between the USA and Mexico. See http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html. Get your passport and use it for dealing with customs and immigration officers, both foreign and domestic. I would never let these people see my CHL unless they insisted on riffling through my wallet.

[135boomer]

I think I would leave my CHL and my retired military ID in the safe with the guns while visiting any forign country.

[age_ranger]

Not required to show to TSA or the Texas Border Patrol.

[dihappy]

Not required to show to TSA or the Texas Border Patrol.

Reminds me a few weeks ago when i was coming back from Laredo, TX and going thru the new Border Patrol inspection station.

Nothing CHL related, but the agent at the check point asked if what did i have in my trunk. For a split second i thought about everything i had read on here and our rights and search, etc., etc. but i still replied "Nothing, you wanna have a loook?"

He said yeah sure, so i popped the trunk lid and he walked back.
He opened the trunk and shut it just as quickly. Then yelled out "Have a nice day".

Since then, ive been through the checkpoint one other time and it was the first time they have ever asked me more than "are you an american citizen?"

THey asked me what did i do in Laredo, where was i born, ,where was i going, whos car was i driving, etc.

It was a bit strange, but i guess it was a new guy :)

[jimlongley]

TSA isn't law enforcement. You are not required to show them your CHL along with your driver's license.

Since an alternate form of ID was requested last time I flew, I gave my CHL. He didn't even know what it was. I think some people live under a rock.

You're right, and TSA has to call a LEO when they find anything that might be a violation of the law.

When I worked at TSA I heard one of my fellow screeners telling a passenger that a gun packed in a bag was considered concealed and that they had better have a CHL. I reported the conversation to my supervisor, which didn't make me popular with that screener, and the next day we got universal retraining on what laws we were supposed to enforce and that a packed gun was not concealed.

[barres]

Most of the time if a TSA screener (they are called "agents" now I think) sees a CHL for some reason in the normal screening procedure the reaction will be to want to chat about it, the ones I know are aware that a CHL indicates someone who has been screened other ways.

The one time I flew with a gun, the TSA person at the metal detector noticed my CHL (it was behind my TDL in a window compartment of my wallet, and I had my DL out). His comment: "You're not carrying it on you, are you?" I smiled, thinking of my pistol in my checked suitcase, and said, "No. I might be a little crazy, but I'm not stupid." He laughed a little and said that they had had people "forget" that they were packing until getting up to the metal detectors and that, at that point, they were held for the local police to handle. All in all, he was a nice guy.