TexasCHLforum.com

I originally became a gun owner to better protect my home and family from what I perceived was an increasing risk posed by dope dealers and street people in my neighborhood (at the time).

But like many others, I got a pistol permit to avoid being hassled on my way back and forth to the gun range. This was when living in RI, where the laws regulating the transport of handguns are pretty strict. You can only transport a handgun if it is unloaded (including any magazines) and locked up in the trunk (if the vehicle has a trunk), and you are going directly to or from a "bona fide" shooting range (i.e. not your friend's farm or other informal place). In a few years of recreational and competitive shooting I was never hassled, but it concerned me.

I also needed to get a MA LTC in order to avoid even worse hassles when driving to matches in MA. Theoretically, MA has an exemption for people competing in matches, but the cop doesn't have to believe you when you tell him that's where you're headed. To get a non-resident MA LTC, I needed one from my home state.

So I figured, "Why risk ruining my life with some stupid felony rap when I'm not doing anything wrong?" There were a lot of hoops to jump through, and some "strategy". ("Put in the application to the AG's office a couple of months before an election. They are more likely to approve it then.") Even though I didn't have any special "pull" (the way things usually get done in that sorry little state), I managed to navigate the process and finally got a pistol permit.

Then all I had to worry about was whether whoever was the AG at renewal time would see fit to renew it.

It surprised me that within a few months of getting the permit, I was carrying a gun everywhere I went.

Needless to say, I was happy to move to TX where I could put all that nonsense behind me for good.