TexasCHLforum.com

I like the idea of carrying a copy of both your TDL and CHL in your vehicle. I always ask my insurance agent for an extra copy of my insurance card and keep it in a little pocket on the visor. I think I shall do the same for my TDL and CHL. I am not sure just how much it will help, but at least its something. I suspect that with most cops you might not have a problem anyway unless they were having a particularly nasty day. I was stopped very early (3am) on a Sunday morning on my way to work one day, for not putting on my turn signal at a four-way stop. There was no one around and you could not see another set of head light from horizon to horizon, so I asked officer exactly who the turn signal would have been for. He mumbled something about 100’ feet before the intersection, etc. Well anyway it turned out he was fishing for late night drunks. I gave him my TDL, CHL and insurance card. He went back and, I guess, ran them. He returned and then thanked me for giving him the CHL without having to be asked for it. I was stunned, and asked if that was unusual. He replied that over the last couple of years he had stop a number of CHL holders who had failed to display their CHL at the time he asked for their TDL. I explained to him that now they don’t have to show unless they are actually carrying. He said he knew that, but that theses folks were carrying their firearms. He said he approached every vehicle assuming there is a gun present anyway. He went on to say that he didn’t want to make any trouble for them (CHL holders) specifically because there is no limit on the two failures to display (one in 1996 and one in 2075) count as two under the present law. Apparently this cop had a pretty good grasp of the CHL laws, which I have found to be a bit unusual. He never wrote me a ticket. He said he doesn’t ticket CHL holders unless they are really screwing up. 20+mph over, running red lights deliberately or driving around stopped school buses. This guy was Fort Bend County Sheriffs office in probably his late 20s or early 30s. I think most cops view CHL holders as one of the good guys and here in my area at least 3 times that I can remember, police officers have had their fat pulled from the fire by citizens with guns, so maybe some realize this possible benefit. I have had my CHL since the inception of the program and I am pretty sure that it had gotten me out of at least 3 tickets since then.