I spotted one!...

[Hoi Polloi]

Although, according to my poll in the off-topic forum (which is completely unscientific), it looks like there are certain groups of people who are more likely to have CHLs so that if you have one, the people you come into contact with (those being people like you) are generally more likely to be carrying than the average person.

Mmmm... this logic only works for some people though. I mean, 99% of people I encounter on a daily basis are either people I work with (of whom I have no clue if any of them have a CHL or not) or strangers at public venues. I am not necessarily "like" my co-workers in regard to ideals on gun laws or carrying laws as they are just my co-workers. I guess if I was retired (I wish) and only hung out with guys at the gun club, then obviously my chances of being around a CHL would be much higher. I don't think your logic applies to most people in their daily lives though.

It depends on your profession. It looks like computer and engineer types are more likely to be CHL holders who post on this forum and vote in some woman's poll than any other types. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case in real life, too. I'll go ask in the poll thread if it is the anecdotal experience of computer and engineer types if others in their professions express CHL status at a greater than 1.5% rate.

[jackal858]

It depends on your profession. It looks like computer and engineer types are more likely to be CHL holders who post on this forum and vote in some woman's poll than any other types. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case in real life, too. I'll go ask in the poll thread if it is the anecdotal experience of computer and engineer types if others in their professions express CHL status at a greater than 1.5% rate.

Well of course it depends on your profession. But, those people that most people work with aren't the same as in "the company you keep". Not many people really choose to be around those they work with except while at their jobs. My point is that CHL holders come from all sorts of backgrounds, demographics, socio-economical groups, etc. Apart from people we choose to be around (like family and close friends), we will seldom encounter another CHL (and more than likely never know about it). That is how the statistic is applied. Obviously if you're spending time with people you know are CHLs then you're automatically on a higher level of acquaintance with them than the level that most people are with co-workers, and that sort of bucks the stat by default..

[mgood]

When I worked in a gun store and shot in some sort of competition on most weekends, most of the people I hung out with were avid shooters, hunters, competitors, gun collectors, or some combination thereof.
"Hey, how's it going?"
"All right. What're you carrying there today?"
"My Kimber. I've been in 1911 mode lately."
"Is that the one I saw you with out at the range?
"Yeah, probably."

Now that I've moved out of that area and associate with a different crowd, I don't know of anyone I see regularly who carries. I've yet to spot a random stranger who I knew was carrying, other than a few obvious cops who weren't making any great effort to keep it concealed.

[AJ80]

Although, according to my poll in the off-topic forum (which is completely unscientific), it looks like there are certain groups of people who are more likely to have CHLs so that if you have one, the people you come into contact with (those being people like you) are generally more likely to be carrying than the average person.

Mmmm... this logic only works for some people though. I mean, 99% of people I encounter on a daily basis are either people I work with (of whom I have no clue if any of them have a CHL or not) or strangers at public venues. I am not necessarily "like" my co-workers in regard to ideals on gun laws or carrying laws as they are just my co-workers. I guess if I was retired (I wish) and only hung out with guys at the gun club, then obviously my chances of being around a CHL would be much higher. I don't think your logic applies to most people in their daily lives though.

It depends on your profession. It looks like computer and engineer types are more likely to be CHL holders who post on this forum and vote in some woman's poll than any other types. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case in real life, too. I'll go ask in the poll thread if it is the anecdotal experience of computer and engineer types if others in their professions express CHL status at a greater than 1.5% rate.

I was surprised by how many gun people that I work around. One I know has a CHL, another I know was thinking about getting one, but hasn't yet. One shoots skeet competitions. Another has a wife that is thinking about getting a CHL, and I think he may be considering it as well.

Guns and/or CHLs seem to come up in conversation all the time and I'm never the one that brings it up.

I don't know if it's just the part of Texas I work in, or if it's just software developers in general. A large percentage(~25%) of the software developers that I work around either have CHLs or are otherwise gun friendly. I haven't heard the others say one way or the other. I've also never heard any kind of anti-gun comments from anyone at work ever. Although, this one guy has Obama paraphernalia on or about his desk.

I wouldn't be surprised if the percentage of people carrying at my workplace was above state average, especially considering that there are no policies regarding weapons at all that I could find in the employee handbook or website, and I looked many times. I even overheard a partial conversation about guns from the inventory control department(or maybe it was the credit department?) while walking back to my desk.

Even with the heavily gun friendly environment, I'm still cautious about what I discuss. Sometimes I feel like I could just tell everyone there that I carry a gun and no one would care, of course I don't tell though.

[terryg]

I finally spotted one today also!!!!!!!!

I was at the UPS hub in League City - I was there sending my Tomcat back to Beretta for repair.

Of course, I had some pretty big clues - there was a camo painted truck parked right by the door advertising a certain online firearms and ammo store. When I got inside, the gentleman (the only other customer) was picking up several boxes of ammo. I was standing behind him - he was wearing a black t-shirt and I couldn't see any bulge at all. Then went around the counter so that the UPS lady would not have to lift the heavy boxes.

He leaned forward and there it was. He went from no bulge at all to printing like a Gutenberg press.

But I was still impressed. The t-shirt was not very loose on him and yet he was concealing very well until the leaned over. I sooo wanted to ask him about his rig - but, of course, I didn't.

[o2bnTX]

I only carry a small 380 inside the waistband or in pocket but my wife has never noticed in the last month or so. She isn't overly comfortable with idea. So I don't tell her. Not sure I can get away with that with a larger gun.
FD

I just bought the Taurus pt740 slim (.40 S&W). It's only slightly larger than a .380 (only 1 inch thick). I can't even notice it on myself when I look in the mirror. If you're thinking about a larger gun, take a look at it or the pt709 (9mm). They are both the same size and price.

[hirundo82]

Although, according to my poll in the off-topic forum (which is completely unscientific), it looks like there are certain groups of people who are more likely to have CHLs so that if you have one, the people you come into contact with (those being people like you) are generally more likely to be carrying than the average person.

Mmmm... this logic only works for some people though. I mean, 99% of people I encounter on a daily basis are either people I work with (of whom I have no clue if any of them have a CHL or not) or strangers at public venues. I am not necessarily "like" my co-workers in regard to ideals on gun laws or carrying laws as they are just my co-workers. I guess if I was retired (I wish) and only hung out with guys at the gun club, then obviously my chances of being around a CHL would be much higher. I don't think your logic applies to most people in their daily lives though.

I think that logic does carry over to strangers we encounter on the street. The people who go to the same public venues as you are probably more like you demographically (race, age, income, criminal history) than a random person picked from the phonebook simply because similar people tend to go similar places. The fact that you are encountering them also makes it more likely that you live in the same area too.

[jackal858]

I think that logic does carry over to strangers we encounter on the street. The people who go to the same public venues as you are probably more like you demographically (race, age, income, criminal history) than a random person picked from the phonebook simply because similar people tend to go similar places. The fact that you are encountering them also makes it more likely that you live in the same area too.

Well considering only criminal history is a limiting factor as to who has a CHL and who does not, and it's very hard to tell who around you has a criminal history, I don't see how this makes much sense. Besides that, I don't know how it is where you live in Houston, but when I venture to the Parks Mall in Arlington, I am definitely in the minority and there are less people that anyone would consider to be "similar" to me there than not. This holds true for most places in Arlington actually.. so I don't see the kind of equal demographic that you do. I would suspect that you may live in a particularly affluent area of Houston if you actually encounter such consistent types of people in your every day life.

All of this is really moot though. Even if you change the type of company you carry, and say, double the percentage by which you would encounter a fellow CHL, we're still only talking 1 in 40 people maybe. Of course doubling any normalized statistic is quite the feat.

[El_Tortuga]

Only a few, and none as a real CHL "spot":
1) Guy carrying a fanny pack. Very distinct clunk when he set it on the Subway counter.
2) Guy wearing a black photog vest on a HOT summer day. No camera gear in the pockets. Hmmm.
3) Man walking into lowes as I'm walking out. We cross paths at about 3 ft separation. HOLY CRAP he's wearing body armor and packing a sidearm!

Turns out, he's the Brinks man making a pickup.