TexasCHLforum.com

I live in a rv so I get lots of neighbors during the year. My current neighbor is down for the winter from Michigan. He says he has a Michigan chl but it is not recognized here in Texas. I see where Texas does not recognize it, but I wonder why. Any ideas? Thanks. John in New Braunfels

I don't have specific knowledge, but I suspect one of two likely scenarios. First, Texas requires another State's CHL statute to require a background check sufficient to prove the applicant is not prohibited from owning firearms, pursuant to federal law, before a license is issued. I don't know if Michigan's statute meets this requirement.

The more likely answer lies with Michigan's failure/delay to respond to the AG's letter seeking to enter into an agreement. As soon as the AG's office was given responsibility for reciprocity in 2003, Greg Abbott sent letters to every AG in all states that had any chance of qualifying for reciprocity under Texas law. Some states responded, some did not, and some responded very slowly. This may be the problem in getting an agreement between Texas and Michigan

In the relatively short time Greg Abbott has had the opportunity to work on reciprocity, he has increased the number of reciprocal states by 8; the same number the DPS managed to negotiate from 1998 until Sept. 2003. We all owe Greg a big "Atty Boy." If Michigan meets our requirements and if its AG will respond, I have no doubt Abbott will file the required report with the Governor's Office and see the agreement signed.

While there is no reciprocity, Michigan does honor a Texas CHL .

It would likely be springtime before he got it, but ya friend might want to look into FL permit to get coverage in Tejas and elsewhere. $117 for 5 years.

While we ARE doing better, I decided long ago that if a Texan does much traveling, they could wait a looooooong time before we get around to reciprocatin' with some states.

Well, my neighbor went back to Michigan till next year. I got this e mail from him today:

I researched the Michigan A.G. on Texas reciprocity and they specifically stated that they responded positively to the Texas attorney general's letter I guess the ball is in Texas's court now. I don't know who to contact in Texas to find out what the mix-up is. Maybe you can find out more on your end . Sincerely, Jerry

Any Ideas? John

Michigan's AG has been working with Texas for several months on reciprocity. The hang up seems to be that Michugan law does not "expressly" prohibit the issuance of a cpl to a person who is prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm. This will reqire a tweak in our statute that may come about this year.