This is my thinking as well. I guess you might have the exceptional 'bad cop' who dislikes you having a CHL, but for the most part I had thought from second hand stories (I have yet to need to provide ID to a peace officer since I received my CHL) that by and large, LEOs are good with people having CHLs.treadlightly wrote:My untested guess is that showing a CHL should indicate you aren't a problem child. You've been through background checks and presumably you walk the streets with the means and opportunity to create all sorts of mayhem - but you don't, because vetted law-abiding citizens with guns are even less of a problem than unverified law-abiding citizens.
In other words, why would you not practice de-escalation and show your CHL? I don't think it will make any difference in whether or not you're going to get a ticket, but it might make for more cordial conversation.
Cordial is good.
Frankly, watching police interact with armed nuts on youtube, I'm pretty sure the average cop in Texas has long since lost any knee-jerk reactions against lawfully armed citizens. Guns.com headlined this video as "Houston cop goes off on open carry advocate". But did the officer really "go off" on anybody? I think the cop was pretty cool when confronted by a kook with a kilt and a rifle, and appears to quite appreciate (sane) armed citizens and the Second Amendment - " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I think I would always show the CHL whether or not carrying.
As has been said, we are much less likely to cause any problems, you'd think that would be something an officer would be glad to know.