MR Redneck wrote:Lots of interesting advise and im thnakful for it.
The first being the legislature comment. If legislature has issues with anyones choice of license, then that just shows the negativity that they promote. I for one dont agree with the state charging for self defense.
Agreed, but it is a fact of life, for now. You should be aware that Charles L. Cotton, the man who owns this discussion board, is the man who actually wrote the CHL law, and who wrote most or all of the changes made to it since it first passed. There's what you or I
think about something, and then there is what the legislature thinks. That legislature is not in lockstep with one another. The democratic process means that there are state senators and representatives who get elected by (mostly liberal) voters and who are anti-gun. The laws had to pass
their muster too before they could vote on it. So that's just a fact. You should also be aware that some of those same politicians who had/have doubts about CHL in the first place have now got their panties in a twist over people obtaining Utah CFPs to get around the CHL law. Those politicians are brewing trouble for us, and if you go the CFP route and do not get a CHL, then you are adding yeast to their brew, and it
will rear up and bite us all on the butt. So you don't have to like those facts, but neither should you be too cavalier in dismissing them, because they have an effect on
all of us, not just you.
MR Redneck wrote:The second being LE officers not know the Utah license is accepted by Texas residents. Well, I have experianced this issue on several different subjects and I agree that could create a problem.
I have no bone to pick with LEOs, but if I want to final disposition on the law, I go to a lawyer, not a cop. I see no profit in tempting fate by assuming that any LEO I encounter is the next Melvin Belli.
MR Redneck wrote:Third is the money. Sure [sic] I can come up with the money, but now days I simply try to stretch it out as far as I can. Im no different than anyone else, I have bills piled up and im simply trying to use my money as effictivly as I can.
Believe me, I understand. We're all in that boat to some degree or other these days. One possible solution, as I pointed out earlier, is to decide what vices you can do without in order to fund your CHL. That will have the added benefit of giving you a real sense of where your priorities
really lie. Do you smoke or drink alcohol? What do cigarettes cost? $7-$9 per pack... something like that? (I don't smoke, so I really don't know.) But if you were a pack a day smoker for instance at $8/pack, you could could cover both the cost of the licensing fee AND a CHL class by quitting smoking for a month - and by then you'd be past the worst part of quitting and could make the health benefit permanent.
MR Redneck wrote:All of the advise is very good and i'll consider those comment. Except for the Legislature issue. Legislature is elected by Texans and should represent the people who put them in office.
Like I said, this is a representative democracy, and there are people in the legislature who do not represent
you, but
DO represent their anti-gun constituencies. Those legislators would not be doing their jobs if they did not represent their anti-gun constituencies effectively. The problem isn't so much the legislators as it is the voters. The legislators are basically just doing what they were elected to do. They would not be elected and doing anti-gun things if the
majority of the
active voters in their districts weren't responsible for it (which is why it is almost criminally negligent to not vote if you are able to do so). The voters, on the other hand, are often truly stupid, and so they ask for truly stupid stuff. The solution is to lift stupid voters up out of their ignorance and convert them into pro-gun voters, so that they will in turn elect pro-gun legislators.
MR Redneck wrote:I did look at the Utah licenses state acceptance last night. I found New Mexico doesnt accept it , but I can open carry in New Mexico without a license. I prefer open carry anyway. I just wished Texas had the same.
Im still a little confused by the school zones comment. Texas has a castle doctrine and considers your vehicle to be an extension of your home. Its legal to conceal carry in your vehicle in Texas, so I really dont see what the issue is there.
Castle doctrine is often misunderstood. It is the Motorists Protection Act that allows you to carry in your vehicle. Castle doctrine simply codifies that Texas is a true-man state, and you have no duty to retreat to protect yourself - either with a firearm, or with some other kind of weapon.
However, as far as I know MPA does not protect you within 1,000 feet of a school zone. Neither does a Utah CFP. But a Texas CHL
is a defense to prosecution if you are within the 1,000 foot exclusion zone. As a practical matter, you are not likely to get caught, and also as a practical matter, unless your behavior is truly egregious you're not likely to get prosecuted if caught inside that school zone with a gun and no CHL.... ....but it is not a
guarantee. Having that CHL is.