boba wrote:Rant all you want about Utah instructors who are good businessmen...
Please.
I'm a businessman. With all due respect, those instructors in question were not "good businessmen." They were the same kind of parasite as ambulance chasing attorneys. You can call that "good business" if you want. I call it exploiting loopholes in the law to get CHLs for people who mostly, but not all, couldn't qualify for a CHL. I call it sleaze.
I have nothing against the CFP itself, and I have nothing against CHL instructors who also offer the CFP. I have a CFP of my own in addition to my CHL. But I didn't get my CFP so that I could circumvent the laws of the state in which I reside. And that is the bottom line. Whether you carry under authority of a CFP because you cannot qualify for a Texas CHL, or you carry under the authority of a CFP because you qualify but don't want to spend the $140 for a CHL, you
are circumventing the laws of the state of Texas, and you
are circumventing the intent of the legislature in passing CHL. What
other laws are you circumventing in your daily behavior simply because you don't think the laws apply to
you?
Now, do I think that the laws of the state of Texas are more onerous than they should be with regard to the right to keep and bear arms? Yes, I do, and among other things I would like to see the fees reduced considerably. But, they ARE the law, and I think that the correct path is to change the laws, not to twist the tail of the legislature that passed the laws. You can argue that the law is unconstitutional, but the legislature's authority to pass laws is
entirely constitutional. When they passed CHL, it was with a specific
intent. When you try to escape their intent by carrying under the authority of a CFP only, then you have only yourself to blame when the legislature reacts to having their tail twisted by slamming that door on you. That's not "good business." That's just plain dumb.
Now, in this case, it was the Utah legislature that slammed the door, but there is a bill before the Texas legislature which, if it passes, would slam that door shut too; and
THAT bill is a direct response to people who twist the legislature's tail by trying to circumvent the legislature's intent. Period. Now, it isn't the CHL instructors who also offer CFP's who are responsible for this situation. It is
entirely the fault of unscrupulous CFP instructors who heavily advertised their service as a means of circumventing Texas (Nevada/New Mexico) state law. You can call this a rant, but if you cannot accept that the fault for this situation lies squarely on the shoulders of those unscrupulous instructors, then you are either one of them, or you are in denial.
Furthermore, if you're not willing to work within the
legislature's intent with regard to CHL law, then how can you argue in favor of the
Founder's intent against someone who persists in misinterpreting the militia clause in the 2nd Amendment? That would be logically inconsistent. After all, if the constitutionally delegated authority to pass laws with a specific intention need not be adhered to, then the Founder's intent in framing the Constitution may be freely disregarded too. That would be the logical extension of your position.