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Went on a tour with some out of town friends. Walked in the south entrance and the troopers had a sign that says "all patrons will be subject to metal detectors." The wife looks at me with the "now we have to go back to the car" look but I just smile and said "no, it's cool." We go in and there is a seperate lane with a sign [CHL Access] I present my CHL and the trooper proceeds to run the numbers, I guess to ensure it's valid. Then calls over another trooper, I guess he had never used that computer program before. Then they ask for my DL. They end up forgoing the computer CHL program and just running my DL number to verify. One asks me "Are you currently carrying?" To which I reply, "yep." Radio response comes back clear..."here's your license, have a nice day."

Couldn't have been easier. I did notice a trooper or two leering at me as I showed people around the rotunda but I didn't think much of it. It gives those poor guys and gals something to talk about. Overall, a great experience.

Sounds about like my experince. They either need to fix the swipe business so it is instantaneous or ditch it and rely on the card itself.

Was your wife carrying too? If not, could she go in line with you or does she have to wait through the 'regular' line?

My wife was not carrying as she has yet to get her CHL but I assume she would've gone through the same procedure.

jecsd1 wrote:My wife was not carrying as she has yet to get her CHL but I assume she would've gone through the same procedure.

I think the question is whether she had to go through the regular line or would did they allow her to go through the CHL line with you?

She went through the regular metal detectors with everyon else. The line I went through was marked CHL

Seems like having a separate lane for "CHL" kind of takes the "C" out of "CHL"?!?!?

Thats what i thought at first. Thats why I just walked up to the trooper and gave him my CHL. I thought they would walk me behind a partition or in a seperate room and do a metal detector there. But in reality I had to stand there for 2-3 mnutes and it was then obvious why I was standing there.

What hit me later was why they would ask me if I was carrying at that time. If I wasn't I would've went right through the detectors with the rest of the herd and never approached the CHL lane

The system was just set up folks and I'm sure they will work out the bugs.

Chas.

I am appreciative of the efforts of TSRA and NRA and others who have made the state sensitive enough to the issue
that they have tried to find a solution. Our state capitol building is leading the way for other facilities to follow.

A news article I read about the CHL line at the State Capital said that it was started because so many legislators and staff had CHL's and were carrying that it just made sense for them to have a seperate line.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:The system was just set up folks and I'm sure they will work out the bugs.

Chas.

The beauty of this is that it should lay the groundwork for repeal of the "court or court office" stuff where a whole building is marked off-limits because of a municipal court pay window, for example. After all, if it works just fine at the state capitol for a CHLer to show the plastic, be validated, and then proceed how could that logic not apply elsewhere? We will have yet another demonstrated track record of good behavior to point to.

SA-TX

Pawpaw40 wrote:A news article I read about the CHL line at the State Capital said that it was started because so many legislators and staff had CHL's and were carrying that it just made sense for them to have a seperate line.

I wonder if any of the legislators or staff have to wait for their CHLs to be verified or if they just show their IDs and go right on in.

I was told an interesting side of things today. I don't know if this is a recent change based on the news articles, an older policy, or just a freak incident. A co-worker's father went to the capitol today. When he saw the line at the detector's he went over to the CHL line. He showed his CHL and was asked if he was carrying at the time. When he answered no, he was sent back to the regular line.

After I stopped laughing, I asked her why he wasn't carrying and she aid he almost never does. I had to point out the theory is still carry 24/7 or guess right.

I'm wondering what the penalty would be or how ticked the DPS guys would be if someone said they were carrying, but really weren't. It's not a traffic stop or an investigation, so are we obligated to tell the truth? It would be an interesting twist, saying that we are armed when we are not.

To those who have been to the capital and gone through the CHL line, were you asked to show your weapon or prove that you were carrying?