Don't tell everybody!!

[SouthEndXGF]

Dont get me wrong, I will talk about the 2nd ammendment and guns ALL day long.

I have just decided not to talk about my CHL when I dont know the stance of the person I am talking to.

At this point, I think I would have to have a pretty in depth gun conversation with the person before telling them I have my CHL. If they appeared to be interested, I would have a whole CHL conversation with them.

I was telling EVERYONE!

Ty

This.

I have no problem discussing guns with people. You'll be surprised how many actually own and like guns, that you might not have thought would. My CHL discussion, however, would be limited to a need to know business. We were discussing this at work, and there was one lady that politely requested we quell gun discussion around her, and we have - the rest of the workgroup is pretty open about it, 5 of us went together to get our CHL's..

[suthdj]

[quote="SouthEndXGF
This.

I have no problem discussing guns with people. You'll be surprised how many actually own and like guns, that you might not have thought would. My CHL discussion, however, would be limited to a need to know business. We were discussing this at work, and there was one lady that politely requested we quell gun discussion around her, and we have - the rest of the workgroup is pretty open about it, 5 of us went together to get our CHL's..[/quote]

Give her ear plugs, she may have been polite in her speaking manner, however she was rude in her request, or should we just stop talking about anything because somebody is "polite" in their asking. Maybe I am just a bit to "mean sprited" because I think that way.

[seamusTX]

You have no idea why the lady asked that her coworkers stop talking about firearms around her. Maybe one of her relatives blew his brains out and she found the corpse.

You just don't know.

- Jim

[marksiwel]

You have no idea why the lady asked that her coworkers stop talking about firearms around her. Maybe one of her relatives blew his brains out and she found the corpse.

You just don't know.

- Jim

I used to leave my guns and Ammo Mags in the work break room after someone jacked the TV and DVD player. I would find them in the trash or int he bathroom.
I didnt mind the bathroom, it was the trash that bugged me.
So I started to bring my wifes old Entertainment Weeklys, trash
Comicbook Magazines and Gaming magazines trash.
Finally talked to the boss about it, he told me he would figure it out (He read the guns and ammo too!) turns out one Old Lady didn't like "Hollywood homosexuals, Pornographic Comics, Violent VIdeo Games, or Gun Killer Magazines" Ask my boss said, well basically we had to stop bringing in all Reading Material so as not to offend.
Go in the other day see her reading a Knitting Magazine, needless to say I tossed it when she was off lunch, I wrote on the cover "I am a Nudist and your covering your body with cloth offends me" She can deal with that

[seamusTX]

I used to leave my guns and Ammo Mags in the work break room ... I would find them in the trash ...

The same thing happened to me. Whoever threw them away made sure to get them in with the coffee grounds and banana peels.

Dealing with obnoxious people in the office is a challenge. It is even more difficult when the obnoxious person can claim to feel threatened or sexually harassed.

- Jim

[grumble]

forget threatened or sexually harassed. It's called a "hostile work environment" and pretty much anybody who disagrees with anything going on around them that is not work related can ask that such activities be prevented. If they are not prevented, the complainer can sue for a "hostile work environment" and many times will win. Ugh.

Dealing with obnoxious people in the office is a challenge. It is even more difficult when the obnoxious person can claim to feel threatened or sexually harassed.

[VoiceofReason]

I am too old to live my life to please others.

I have had my CHL for about a year and a half. I have told others I work with. There are three of us that work together and quite a few others in the building that have CHL’s. Others that I work with have indicated they intend to get a CHL. I have told a few neighbors I am well acquainted with and one wants to go to the range with me. If a neighbor doesn’t like it, I don’t care. I make no secret of it.

I leave my main carry in the car when I go to visit some in-laws and just carry my pocket gun and don’t say anything. One sister in-law and her grown family does not have any problem with me carrying. I took my coat off one day while visiting her, took my shoulder holster off and laid the holster and gun on the floor beside me with her permission of course. She even indicated I am wise to carry because of the way her neighborhood has become.

As I said I make no secret of the fact I have a CHL. Those people that don’t like it can just go pound sand.

I told my wife my goal is to be the grouchiest old man in the world. She told me I have a good start.

[Outbreaker]

Whew - there for a while I was afraid I was gonna be in the minority....

I'm not bashful about my love of firearms, and best of all is that my employer is not only cool with it, I'm kinda the company "go-to" guy when someone's looking to buy a gun - and of our 40+ employees, 80% are either "gun nuts", or married to 'em! I've actually helped the owner find several guns he wanted, and every time I walk in the office (I'm outside sales, so only make it to our main office about every 2-3 months) he loves to try to figure out where I've got mine stashed, and what I'm carrying. So far, he's never been able to figure out where I'm carrying it (yes, I switch around because I carry different ones depending on what I'm wearing and where I'm going to be), so it's a great "double-check" on how effective my CC efforts are.

Bottom line - I'm not bashful about being a "gun nut". Frankly, if someone is going to not do business with me because I choose to own a gun I don't really need them as a customer. Funny part is, a LOT of 'em either own 'em, or want to - and I've taken any number of them to the range to introduce them to the sport AND the realities of owning/carrying 'em. And yeah - I display my "NRA Life" decal on both my truck and the wifes' car. Some folks worry that it makes 'em a target - I want the bad guy to go find someone LESS likely to be able to put up a fight.

Just can't figger out why folks call me "Redneck".....

I made a 10k commission with an off the hand comment about CHL (just passing comment when I thought the sale was going no where). Turns out he was a CHL. We talked for 2 hours about guns and how I was planning on carrying. I got the sale after that.

[NcongruNt]

Yeah, I posted a thread about this when I was waiting for my license. I similarly talked to a lot of people about the CHL, and learned later the error of my ways. It's a natural thing to want to talk about, and I've since advised other folks who are getting their license not to do so, and explained why.

Basically, I was trying to check to see if there was 30.06 notice given in the employee manual, an asked a coworker (who I had talked to about guns previously, as she had mentioned she was looking for one for home) if she had a copy and why I was looking for it. She then (supposedly, according to my him) told my manager than I was bringing a gun to work, and I have no idea how she got that idea. I'd NEVER carried at work (duh, I didn't even have a license yet) and told them so when questioned about it. The ensuing discussion about CHL was a stupid emotional reaction by the other parties involved, and none of it had any grounding in facts.

I have suspicions that what happened at my workplace ultimately led to my getting fired - not officially for that reason of course, but the "reasons" (and circumstances that led to them) given never made sense to me. My workplace environment got more and more difficult due to scheduling changes imposed by my manager, until I was getting 3 hours of sleep per night due to my internal clock being scrambled because of the shifts I had to work. They then fired me for "performance issues" - which occurred because of the exhaustion I was experiencing. My manager would not listen any time I brought up my schedule in the many weeks prior.

You live and learn. Learning from others' mistakes is definitely better.

My direct family and in-laws (and very select members of my extended family) know I carry, but I am relatively tight-lipped otherwise. Some close friends know, but for the most part they only find out when I take them to the range for the first time, or (in some cases) they are looking to get a CHL of their own and come to me as the "gun guy" friend.

Here's my original post, for posterity:

http://texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6052" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[howdy]

I have never talked about having a CHL (11 years) but the word is out that I am a CHL Instructor. Most of my classes are small and for people who DO NOT want the fact that they have a CHL known to the general public. (Clergy, their Spouses, local Politicians etc.) They were concerned that in a regular commercial class, they might see someone they know and it would be bad for them professionally.

[74novaman]

I had a good friend put as her facebook status "Going to get my CHL today!".

I'm proud she's getting it, but I sure as heck wouldn't have advertised like that.

[VoiceofReason]

Yeah, I posted a thread about this when I was waiting for my license. I similarly talked to a lot of people about the CHL, and learned later the error of my ways. It's a natural thing to want to talk about, and I've since advised other folks who are getting their license not to do so, and explained why.

Basically, I was trying to check to see if there was 30.06 notice given in the employee manual, an asked a coworker (who I had talked to about guns previously, as she had mentioned she was looking for one for home) if she had a copy and why I was looking for it. She then (supposedly, according to my him) told my manager than I was bringing a gun to work, and I have no idea how she got that idea. I'd NEVER carried at work (duh, I didn't even have a license yet) and told them so when questioned about it. The ensuing discussion about CHL was a stupid emotional reaction by the other parties involved, and none of it had any grounding in facts.

I have suspicions that what happened at my workplace ultimately led to my getting fired - not officially for that reason of course, but the "reasons" (and circumstances that led to them) given never made sense to me. My workplace environment got more and more difficult due to scheduling changes imposed by my manager, until I was getting 3 hours of sleep per night due to my internal clock being scrambled because of the shifts I had to work. They then fired me for "performance issues" - which occurred because of the exhaustion I was experiencing. My manager would not listen any time I brought up my schedule in the many weeks prior.

You live and learn. Learning from others' mistakes is definitely better.

My direct family and in-laws (and very select members of my extended family) know I carry, but I am relatively tight-lipped otherwise. Some close friends know, but for the most part they only find out when I take them to the range for the first time, or (in some cases) they are looking to get a CHL of their own and come to me as the "gun guy" friend.

Here's my original post, for posterity:

http://texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6052" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You have my sympathies on the loss of your job. These jerks were obviously setting you up to fail. I know this may sound hollow having been fired, but I would not want to work for those people in the first place. I was fired many years ago (nothing to do with firearms) after fifteen years with the company. I now have twenty years in a better job at higher pay. From what I understand happened in the company after I left, it looks like they did me a favor. Moral, keep fighting don’t give up.

We all have different situations though and some of us may be able to be more open concerning firearms, our CHL and other things. We have a Union where I work and it would have been extremely difficult if not impossible for a supervisor to do to one of us what those jerks did to you. I am also eligible for retirement and I could get my retirement papers through before they could go through the steps to fire me.

I suppose my point is that no one rule fits all.

[davidtx]

I had a good friend put as her facebook status "Going to get my CHL today!".

I'm proud she's getting it, but I sure as heck wouldn't have advertised like that.

I did the same thing. Only one of my friends responded - just to ask "what's a CHL?" I responded "Concealed Handgun License". No further responses. No drama, but in retrospect, I'm surprised. Since then, I've decided to (mostly) keep my mouth shut.

[NcongruNt]

Yeah, I posted a thread about this when I was waiting for my license. I similarly talked to a lot of people about the CHL, and learned later the error of my ways. It's a natural thing to want to talk about, and I've since advised other folks who are getting their license not to do so, and explained why.

Basically, I was trying to check to see if there was 30.06 notice given in the employee manual, an asked a coworker (who I had talked to about guns previously, as she had mentioned she was looking for one for home) if she had a copy and why I was looking for it. She then (supposedly, according to my him) told my manager than I was bringing a gun to work, and I have no idea how she got that idea. I'd NEVER carried at work (duh, I didn't even have a license yet) and told them so when questioned about it. The ensuing discussion about CHL was a stupid emotional reaction by the other parties involved, and none of it had any grounding in facts.

I have suspicions that what happened at my workplace ultimately led to my getting fired - not officially for that reason of course, but the "reasons" (and circumstances that led to them) given never made sense to me. My workplace environment got more and more difficult due to scheduling changes imposed by my manager, until I was getting 3 hours of sleep per night due to my internal clock being scrambled because of the shifts I had to work. They then fired me for "performance issues" - which occurred because of the exhaustion I was experiencing. My manager would not listen any time I brought up my schedule in the many weeks prior.

You live and learn. Learning from others' mistakes is definitely better.

My direct family and in-laws (and very select members of my extended family) know I carry, but I am relatively tight-lipped otherwise. Some close friends know, but for the most part they only find out when I take them to the range for the first time, or (in some cases) they are looking to get a CHL of their own and come to me as the "gun guy" friend.

Here's my original post, for posterity:

http://texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6052" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You have my sympathies on the loss of your job. These jerks were obviously setting you up to fail. I know this may sound hollow having been fired, but I would not want to work for those people in the first place. I was fired many years ago (nothing to do with firearms) after fifteen years with the company. I now have twenty years in a better job at higher pay. From what I understand happened in the company after I left, it looks like they did me a favor. Moral, keep fighting don’t give up.

We all have different situations though and some of us may be able to be more open concerning firearms, our CHL and other things. We have a Union where I work and it would have been extremely difficult if not impossible for a supervisor to do to one of us what those jerks did to you. I am also eligible for retirement and I could get my retirement papers through before they could go through the steps to fire me.

I suppose my point is that no one rule fits all.

Oh, different folks certainly have different situations. I don't knock anyone who is more vocal than I am. From a starting point, though... it's much better to keep your mouth shut until you understand the dynamics of having a CHL and how others react to such a thing in general. You can always start out tight-lipped become more vocal and outgoing about CHL and not have an issue. Once you've started talking and run into problems, you can't take any of that back. That's why I advise people to err on the side of caution when they're new to CHL.

[Drewthetexan]

I have a friend who works at a bank. She was telling me about how this 95 year old woman used a CHL as a form of ID. It was a surprise, she said, only in so much as middle-aged men are usually the ones proudly using their CHLs to identify themselves.

I trust her enough to have been tempted to fess up, but I like keeping secrets.