RoyGBiv wrote:I have held a Florida license for nearly 10 years.
Nobody associated with the State of Florida has ever seen me shoot.
On my initial application, they accepted my NC class certificate as proof of training. As they should.
I'm sorry... Just because Texas has decided to make it difficult and expensive for citizens to get a TX license doesn't make it either "right" or "defensible". If I can get a license more easily (cost or time or...) elsewhere legally, I have the right to do so. The only down side is the potential for TX to overreact to the "loophole". Rather than making it easier to get a TX license (as they should), rather than reducing the burden to achieve parity with VA or FL so that TX residents would have less incentive to get a non-TX license, TX might make it more restrictive. That would be both wrong and sad.
You keep using the term "overreact" but it is misplaced. The problem is the way instructors are promoting out-of-state licenses. They are pitching them as a way to circumvent Texas requirements to get a CHL. People doing this aren't championing the cause of Texas gun owners; they are making a profit and they don't care if it ultimately hurts some Texans. I agree that the cost of a CHL is too high, far too high, but that won't change in a down economy. I agree that the required initial class is too long, thus more expensive than it would be if it were shorter. This can and I think will change in 2013. I even agree that we shouldn't need any license to carry a handgun, but so far the United States Supreme Court hasn't even ruled that the Second Amendment extends to carrying firearms outside one's home, much less that a license requirement would be unconstitutional. (It has strongly hinted that licensing systems will pass constitutional muster, if they do not establish unduly burdensome requirements.)
What I view as irresponsible advertising of out-of-state classes is going to force the Texas Legislature to deal with the issue. Some will decry legislators who support a Texas-only law for Texas residents as anti-gun and that will be both false and counterproductive. These are the people who have stood by us and passed pro-gun legislation every session, some since 1995 when CHL was first passed. Like it or not, no one in authority likes to have their rules and regulations superseded by an outside authority. This isn't limited to guns; it applies to everything. If a change in the Transportation Code created unintended consequences that allowed Texas residents to drive using out-of-state driver's licenses, the reaction would be the same -- fix it. How about allowing Texas peace officers to get a peace officer license from Florida, or a doctor to practice medicine in Texas without a Texas license? Yes, these activities aren't constitutionally protected, but the concept is the same.
How many times have we seen parents in an uproar because of something a school district, administrator or teacher decided to present to students in class? The parents are rightfully incensed at a school tampering with subject matter parents feel is reserved to their discretion in raising their children. I've talked with irate parents who wanted to do something about their children's teacher asking them if the parents used spanking as a form of punishment. They correctly felt the school was inappropriately trying to establish a no-spanking rule for their home. We are NOT going to get into a discussion on same-sex marriage, but many Texans would infuriated if Texas was required to recognize a same-sex marriage as valid, if it took place in another state. Here's another like-it-or-not fact, the majority of Texans don't like people getting an out-of-state carry license to circumvent the Texas requirements for a CHL. These are not anti-gun people, they are everyday Texans interviewed by the media in the Houston area during the last legislative session. These folks generally support gun owners' agenda and we need not alienate this voting block by trying to defend the irresponsible acts of a few.
Those promoting the out-of-state licenses are doing a disservice to some of our fellow Texans who are the victim of the Texas judicial system and misinformation given by attorneys and judges. Some Texans are wrongfully prevented from obtaining a CHL because of the absurd definition of "conviction" that includes a successfully completed deferred adjudication. They were told by their attorneys, the prosecutors and even some judges that a deferred adjudication is not a conviction (true) and that it wouldn't hurt them later in life (false). Relying upon this inaccurate information, they took/take plea bargains rather than go to trial when they were innocent. (The cost of a good attorney is usually the determining factor.) So even though someone was never convicted of a crime, and are not otherwise ineligible, they cannot carry a self-defense handgun because of this absurd provision. We added language to the code that would help many people, but some are still trapped. Other people cannot get a CHL because they can't pay their property taxes or their child support. Delinquent school loans used to be on that list. All of these money provisions violate the Texas Constitution that authorizes the Texas Legislature to regulate the wearing of arms with an eye toward crime prevention. Taxes and child support have nothing to do with crime prevention -- it's all about money. I'm far more concerned with not leaving any of these fellow Texans out in the cold CHL wise because of unjust laws, than I am preserving the revenue stream of out-of-state instructors.
We need to make changes to the Gov't Code to remove the unwarranted eligibility provisions and reduce the initial course from 10 hours to 4 hours. There are other changes that should be made, but these will go a long way toward reducing the appeal of out-of-state licenses.
I know some will use this post to claim I support changing Texas law to require Texans to get a Texas CHL. That's not true; I didn't support that bill in 2011 and I won't support it in 2013. But the simple truth is we were able to defeat Lon Burnam's bill for two reasons; 1) F-rated Lon Burnam filed it; 2) Utah was the focus and Utah changed their laws. That won't happen again in 2013.
Chas.
who has at least 150 poor-boyed black and white flyers with the headline "Out-of-State License Scams Spell Probable Trouble in Texas Legislature in 2013". Along with the complete text of and a link to Chas' first post at "The 'Utah Problem' is back in uglier clothing". As well as a few choice tidbits of text directly from the Florida statue. 
