6 month after recieving my license ...

[Skiprr]

I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but did you have a specific reason for getting the CHL??

I have to work at swing shift a few time s a year. At work by two in the morning.
My place of employment is rural ... in the sticks!

...With so many 30.06 signs hanging around here, I'm walking parking lots without the gun any way.

Just wondering: If you're in a predominantly rural area, where are you seeing all the 30.06 postings?

[RPB]

I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but did you have a specific reason for getting the CHL??

I have to work at swing shift a few time s a year. At work by two in the morning.
My place of employment is rural ... in the sticks!

Driving in a few months back, came upon an idling P/U truck, stopped straddling a double yellow line.
I saw no head in the cab, so I called 911. I turned on my flashers and bright lights and waited for LEO to show.

In that 10 minutes was when I decided I should have a weapon for personal protection.
I had no idea what was going on, but lots of possibilities raced throuogh my head.

Turns out the driver was passed out drunk, slumped over in the seat and knocked trans in neutral.

And while I've given away my wallet a couple times, I've never felt as though I needed to kill some one to protect me or mine.
Even on the road that night, I could conjour up all kinds of "worst case scenarios".

To me, arming myself for a WCS means I should also be digging a bunker, stocking it with beans and an arsenal of AKs
in order to be ready for the zombies ... just in case.

But how do you draw the line between the two WCSs?

My line is they can have my wallet, all the property I laid on the floor, start trying to take lives and I'll be popping up to surprise the aggressor, whether I'm armed or not and ... my chances are better armed. ... I'm way way way too old to wrestle and my cane will deliver a few good blows, but I might need it to get up too so ... .

[Zylo_X]

I apologize if you thought I was impugning you're support of 2A. I'm truly just trying to understand what I see as a 'disconnect' between jumping through all the hoops to have the CHL, and then thinking its just 'nice to have'. Seems like you'd just be happier in an open carry state, but then wouldn't we all?? For me, the line between everyday and WCS is fluid, like the tide. I try to be as prepared as possible at all times. I regularly work night shifts for extended periods, so the 'pinnacle of my week' might be a 4am trip to Wally World. I've survived a gun fight with a knife, and 18 straight hours at a Black Jack table in Vegas, but I'm not that young anymore. If the CHL keeps me 'legal' then its more than just 'nice to have'. For my WCS, I figure nobody is gonna be checking plastic, and have planned accordingly. As 'they' say, 'Anybody more prepared than me is just Paranoid.'
Your armory already seems well stocked for WCS, so I guess I'll bring the beans and a shovel and help you dig the bunker.

[mitchntx]

Good discussion. Thanks for insights.

And bring that shovel and once finished, I'll help you with yours ... kinda like an old fashioned barn raisin' ...

[mitchntx]

...With so many 30.06 signs hanging around here, I'm walking parking lots without the gun any way.

Just wondering: If you're in a predominantly rural area, where are you seeing all the 30.06 postings?

Banks, schools and where I work.

I guess I lead a rather boring life ...

[RPB]

I've seen 30.06 signs which are 30.06 compliant at a hospital several cities away (the local hospital of the same company has no such sign, just a no smoking one)

but I never saw one at a bank ... my bank has a "no firearms allowed" sign we all ignore, because that's mail not addressed to us, which is slowly peeling off ... but no 30.06 sign or we'd all change banks, including our church's account because the Pastor and deacons are generally armed when we go to the bank.

Schools with a 30.06 sign? that's odd too since most I've seen post a generic no drugs no guns no tobacco or some such sign around here.

The tax appraisal office for years had a "no handguns allowed even if licensed or you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law unless you are a peace officer" ... but it got removed last year. Licensees ignored it and I suppose someone in the government informed the tax office that it was silly to post stupid unenforceable signs which don't comply with the Statutes and that they are preempted from doing such under State law.

I mean I see lots of "no guns allowed per State Law" in doctor's offices and such, but that mail isn't addressed to me.

[texanron]

... I've actually carried a dozen times. And that was mostly on a friends squanderosa near Stephenville to thwart critters who thought I might be trespassing.

I'm glad I went through all the trouble. It's nice to have a CHL. But for all practical purposes and with how lenient the gun laws are in Texas, I have a hard time convincing myself it was worth it based upon "a nice to have".

Any one else feel that way?

Nope, its just you that feels that way.

[Zylo_X]

Good discussion. Thanks for insights.

And bring that shovel and once finished, I'll help you with yours ... kinda like an old fashioned barn raisin' ...

Yes indeed, this is all about the "good discussion". I could have just answered your OP with "NO", but what fun would that be? We're all just gonna do it our own way (hopefully within the law), and hope for the best, and I'm not trying to convince anybody of anything. How sad that we've 'progressed' from barns to bunkers? It always comes down to we the people working together.

[10Shooter]

MVDV ?

[mitchntx]

MVDV ?

My Views Do Vary

[Texas Dan Mosby]

But for all practical purposes and with how lenient the gun laws are in Texas, I have a hard time convincing myself it was worth it based upon "a nice to have".

The odds are pretty slim that anyone would ever be required to use deadly force to defend themselves, so your thoughts are understandable.

However, I would rather have and not need, than need and not have.

Do what you think is best.

[Oldgringo]

... I've actually carried a dozen times. And that was mostly on a friends squanderosa near Stephenville to thwart critters who thought I might be trespassing.

I'm glad I went through all the trouble. It's nice to have a CHL. But for all practical purposes and with how lenient the gun laws are in Texas, I have a hard time convincing myself it was worth it based upon "a nice to have".

Any one else feel that way?

Yeah, sometimes...

I paid my money, took the class, met the requirements and carry my SA compact 1911 nearly everywhere it's allowed and probably some places that it ain't. I just don't know all of the laws of the many states that we travel in but I do know that "concealed is concealed"...and I have a kindly and somewhat grandfatherly appearance (except to the guy in Utah).

After three years and 10's of 1,000's of miles, I've never had to draw it and, thank goodness, I've never had to shoot anybody. Yepper, sometimes I kinda' wonder, 'what's the big deal'? I know a whole lot of people in various states who do not have a CHL/CCP or whatever. They've never been buggered or had to shoot anybody either.

Yes, I will renew when the time comes. Mrs. Oldgringo...probably not.

[johnson0317]

Maybe I should go to Vegas.
Been an accurate guesser for over 50 years ...

It is that first time that you are not accurate that counts. As long as you are willing to take the responsibility that comes along with not carrying, I am willing to take the responsibility that comes along with carrying. You seem all ready to protect your car and home by stashing guns here and there...why would you think the rest of the world is any less worth being prepared for?

My honest to God prayer is that I will never, ever, ever, ever need to draw and use my weapon. I would love to go to my natural death never having had to take the life of another human being. I, absolutely, and without a doubt, pray that I do not have to go to my grave knowing that a loved one died because I figured the odds were against someone taking their life from them. It is not a case of, "Fool me once, shame on your. Fool me twice..." You only get on chance at getting this right.

RJ

[mitchntx]

Yes, I will renew when the time comes. Mrs. Oldgringo...probably not.

We will run parallel courses ...

You only get on chance at getting this right.

RJ

And probably once at getting it wrong, as well.

[RPB]

When we get "Right of Self-Preservation" as the Texas Constitution intended, or "Constitutional Carry" as the Country's founders intended, ... or right-to-life via self-defense as God intended (Luke 22:36) or if He is with us again bodily ... then I won't bother renewing probably.

Until then, I worry about wild boar and rattlesnakes and dogs while out in the wilderness dragging a kayak through tall grass to a river or lake. (Even though Chapter 46 Penal Code was improved with HB 25, I'd rather have it on me than digging through stuff in a hatch to find it))