TexasCHLforum.com

I believe the concept of the TX CHL program being financially self-supporting was one of the compromises that had to be made during drafting/passage of the law in the mid 1990s - with legal handgun carry previously being generally "prohibited" over 120 years.

Although I've not personally seen the "overhead" figures, I suspect that in the states that issue handgun carry permits (based upon similar requirements), their cheap fees (such as $25) are probably being subsidized by funds from other sources.

Fatman - As an instructor having done multiple schools with DPS since 1995, I suspect there may have been some miscommunication/misinterpretation. Of the $140, we were told that the first twenty-something off the top goes to the FBI related to fingerprinting requirement of blue-lined card.

In addition to the admin. people in CHL unit, for each license, a trooper may be pulled off other duties to go down to the local courthouse to research records that may not have shown up in normal computer search(es). Granted, DPS folks are not paid big bucks, but there ain't no way their "cost" is only $20, even on simple applicants. Individual who have questionable or undocumented items in their "history" can be extrmeely time consuming.

At the outset of the CHL program, IIRC, any "overage" was to be put into the "Crime Victim's Fund". Not sure if that is still the case, but do know the cost is an issue that has been and will likely continue to be controversial.

Fatman - While I'm not necessarily pleased either with the DPS fee for TX CHL, I'd request that you cite your individual source regarding the information posted, the bold print in particular ... Instructor here since summer of '95 and that is contrary to anything I've been told or learned on my own ....