TexasCHLforum.com

gigag04 wrote:

G.A. Heath wrote: Nothing anyone has works as a good guy card. I don't care if its a CHL, Red and Blue lights, LEO ID/Badge, or anything else. Too many people pass background checks then go do something illegal afterwards.

This is the best post of the week IMO.

A BG checks associates and criminal history. Often times it is just an issue of someone that hasn't been caught, which is what I suspect in the case of that theft arrest.

In my hiring class at my agency there was a guy in the hiring process DQ'ed because he was morally OK with shoplifting. He thought everyone did it. He did it all the time.

Umm...really?

I have the utmost respect for LEOs, but I just have to ask based on the above two posts .... would this situation be any different if the OP was a LEO himself? For instance, would a sheriff's deputy responding to a city cop's house located in the unincorporated county ask the city cop to go back inside and disarm?

I fully understand that there are no true "good guy cards". And having a CHL is NOT the same thing as a LEO badge. But I think what seems to mildly upset many CHLees (and greatly upset a few) is that these disarming tactics perhaps exhibit some lack of respect for CHLees?

Personally, I would do exactly what the OP did, comply with request, and not worry too much more about it. But I definitely understand his confusion and perhaps even mild resentment at being asked to do so, especially under the circumstances, at his own residence, etc.

austinrealtor wrote:But I think what seems to mildly upset many CHLees (and greatly upset a few) is that these disarming tactics perhaps exhibit some lack of respect for CHLees?

Particularly if the car is on his property. Someone without a CHL can legally carry on their property and the unlicensed have no duty to tell the LEO they're armed.

I would go inside and enjoy the AC. He can drop off my copy of the paperwork when he's done.

Could the OP ask the officer to leave his property or not come on his property? I'm not advocating that, but I am curious as to the answer.

lws380 wrote:Could the OP ask the officer to leave his property or not come on his property? I'm not advocating that, but I am curious as to the answer.

Anyone can ask anything they want. Whether or not such a request has the force of law, or if it is wise would be a different matter.

G.A. Heath wrote:

lws380 wrote:Could the OP ask the officer to leave his property or not come on his property? I'm not advocating that, but I am curious as to the answer.

Anyone can ask anything they want. Whether or not such a request has the force of law, or if it is wise would be a different matter.

Yes, you may kick LEOs off your property unless they have the force of law on their side (warrant, reason for search, I'm sure there are dozens of other justifiable reasons). I read an article the other day (here?) about an officer being kicked out of a Portland "inclusive and tolerant" coffee house because they didn't want his gun in there. I imagine he could then refuse to fill out the report saying he had no access to the vehicle or he could invite you to visit the station to fill out a report.

I was thinking pretty much the same thing... ask the Officer to disarm or leave also. I have no qualms about being polite with LEOs and I have always had a deep respect for them in general, but being asked to disarm after showing my CHL and while at my residence would just set my ticker off.
When I caught the burglar in my brothers house a few months ago and the Deputy (Harris County) arrived, I described the whole situation about pointing my weapon at the BG. The Deputy never asked me if I was currently armed, he just took down the report. My Sister In Law was going high and to the right about her house having been desecrated and was actually getting loud and obnoxious.
Though the Deputy appeared to be young to me (and possibly former Military), he took it all with a grain of salt and didn't bat an eye.
In summary, he never made an issue of my weapon in what could have been a potentially tense situation.

I can sort of understand him not wanting to have to worry about someone else's weapon. (Doesn't mean I agree with it, but I understand the reasoning.)
On your property, I think it was wrong of him to ask you to disarm. However, since you are asking for help from the police, it's probably not a time to get into a debate with him that just distracts from the task at hand. Choose your battles. He's there to help.

When I go to a range, where there are a number of people I don't know, I feel very safe surrounded by all of my fellow armed Americans.
BUT, I'm very aware of who is doing what. I'm watching muzzle discipine. I'm checking the target of the guy doing rapid fire to determine whether or not he has any idea what he's doing. And I grew up around guns and am very comfortable around them. Some police officers are not as comfortable around guns. If he's not, he may feel that having an armed civilian nearby while he's trying to do his job is just too much of a distraction. I'd love to take him shooting/hunting, put him more at ease, show him that we can both be very safe in the presence of firearms. But right then is not the time.

I don't understand why someone would do that, but I wasn't there. I enjoy rolling my eyes at people when they hand me a CHL and tell me they are not carrying a gun. It is a good ice breaker.

I find someone legally carrying a gun about as significant as me carrying a gun...I am happy for both of us. It does make me feel a little better if they have good taste and carry a Glock.

Jason

jbirds1210 wrote:I enjoy rolling my eyes at people when they hand me a CHL and tell me they are not carrying a gun.

I've gotten the eye roll a couple of times. I always interpreted it as "Why are you showing me your CHL if you're not carrying?" But from the tone of your post it sounds like it may mean, "Why are you not carrying if you have a CHL?"

mgood wrote:

jbirds1210 wrote:I enjoy rolling my eyes at people when they hand me a CHL and tell me they are not carrying a gun.

I've gotten the eye roll a couple of times. I always interpreted it as "Why are you showing me your CHL if you're not carrying?" But from the tone of your post it sounds like it may mean, "Why are you not carrying if you have a CHL?"

That is what I meant... it is everyone's personal business if they carry a gun or not. I just like to give a friendly hassle to those who went through the course, paid the money, and don't have the gun with them. I hassle my wife about it much more than any of my work contacts. I give a genuine thank you to anyone who displays their license to me.

Jason

The Annoyed Man wrote:I wouldn't like being asked to put it in the house, but on the other hand, my primary business at the time would be dealing with the vandalism. Once the report was over, I might conversationally ask the LEO why he asked me to disarm, hoping that I might be able to influence his future decisions in that regard. But, I likely wouldn't waste too much energy being angry about it. There are a lot worse injustices happening in the world than my being asked by a cop concerned for his own safety (even if his premise is wrongheaded) to disarm myself during our encounter.

Look at it this way: at least he asked you to disarm by going and putting the gun in your house, rather than disarming you himself - which he is lawfully entitled to do. Again, although I disagree with his reasoning in asking you to disarm, in his own mind he might have been thinking that this was a way that he could satisfy his own needs while still respecting your person.

In any case, life is too short to dance with ugly women, so I would just let it go. If it were me.

Ditto!

jbirds1210 wrote:

mgood wrote:

jbirds1210 wrote:I enjoy rolling my eyes at people when they hand me a CHL and tell me they are not carrying a gun.

I've gotten the eye roll a couple of times. I always interpreted it as "Why are you showing me your CHL if you're not carrying?" But from the tone of your post it sounds like it may mean, "Why are you not carrying if you have a CHL?"

That is what I meant... it is everyone's personal business if they carry a gun or not. I just like to give a friendly hassle to those who went through the course, paid the money, and don't have the gun with them. I hassle my wife about it much more than any of my work contacts. I give a genuine thank you to anyone who displays their license to me.

Jason

If I'm ever asked for ID by a LEO and I'm not carrying and he or she asks me this, I will just tell them that I thought I would go ahead and show them in case they looked me up and found that I have a CHL and then come back suspicious that I was hiding something.

If it happened the way you said it's not only wrong it's one of the most ridiculous things I've heard in a while. My feeling is that that was just a cop that doesn't like the whole idea of CHLs. I agree that having a CHL isn't an automatic good guy card but having a badge SURE isn't. Sorry, but I've known too many of them . And another thing. My sister is an ugly dancing woman and I am offended by TAM's remark.

gigag04 wrote: Ummm...not all the CHL holders I have encountered are "law abiding, upstanding citizens." In the past 6 months i have personally dealt with three, and one went to jail for class A theft. I booked a unrelated CHL holder for a partner for DWI. I understand that I have a small sample size and that my numbers aren't indicative of the general population of CHLs, however, a CHL is not really an automatic good guy card in my opinion any more.

Not really sure how that officer's intelligence plays into this so....

C'mon,use some common sense here.
Just how many of those "bad" CHL holders have you dealt with on a call to their home for a vandalism report or similar with them being the "victim"?
I'll bet every one of them violated the law to begin with, which was why you were involved, so no-they're not a "certified good guy" at that point.
Asking me to disarm for simply filling out a report is an insult.
JL

Purplehood wrote: I have no qualms about being polite with LEOs and I have always had a deep respect for them in general, but being asked to disarm after showing my CHL and while at my residence would just set my ticker off.

This.Exactly.
JL