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I have always lived by the creed... "I would rather be tried by 12, than carried by six".

jiannichan wrote:After reading some of the responses in this thread and seeing some people ineligible to get a CHL in Texas but is able to get an out of state license to carry, are the charges/convictions not serious enough to prohibit them from owning or purchasing a firearm for them to carry with said out of state licenses? Just curious...

Some states have less stringent requirements than Texas. I have wondered if a person might run into problems when they used a weapon in self defense carrying a non-resident permit, but would not be illegible to have a chl under Texas laws.

srothstein wrote:I will be the first to admit that we have many problems with our criminal justice system. I have seen laws I do not agree with and unjust sentences for my whole career. I personally do not agree with anyone losing any rights after they have completed their sentence. Either we trust them or we should keep them in jail (or under community supervision).

But, I will also be the first to say that this is the best criminal justice system I have seen implemented in the world yet. One of the best parts is that we can discuss the flaws and try to improve it.

There is a huge difference in "violent" and "non-violent" crime. It is wrong that a "non-violent" crime garners the same penalty as a "violent crime" when it comes to the loss of ones constitutional rights.

srothstein wrote:

03Lightningrocks wrote:How about the 18 year old boy who is charged and labeled a sex offender for being caught with his 16 year old girl friend in a compromising situation? A two year difference in age means nothing if she is 17 but at 16 it matters??? He then spends his life explaining why he is a registered sex offender. Regardless of my opinion, it is what it is.

This is a commonly cited example and might be valid in some states. But it is not valid in Texas, with the ages given. Texas law says it is a defense if the couple are within three years of age of each other, as long as they are over 15.

A real example would be the kids who are both 13 (no defense then and both can be charged) or the 15 year old with the 13 year old.

Thanks for the clarification. The company I own does criminal background checks on all of our new hires. We see the sex offender status and stop right there. I can't afford to take the risk when sending guys into peoples homes. I didn't mean to get us off on the technicallities of any particular crime, I was just trying to point out that sometimes people are charged with a crime that conjures up images far worse than what the crime actually was.

In the summer of 1976 I found a group of running buddies that were less than desirable. The age range of our merry band of morons was from 15 through 18. Someone came up with a fun game called "garage hopping". Basicly, we would ride up and down the alleys looking for open garages. We would run into the garage, grab something and run back out to the car and drive away. They got caught one night when I was not with them. My parents had grounded me for stealing their car and driving it to Galveston. They tracked us down via the stolen credit card we used for gas! Lucky me...thank goodness I stole that car. Fate was on my side. My memory is faint on it, but I believe they were charged with burgulary of a habitation. I am not trying to "justify" criminal behavior. I am just pointing out that sometimes we do really dumb stuff as teens or young adults that we are not proud of. Many times the intent was not necessarily "evil". I was lucky I never managed a felony conviction and straightened out my act when I turned 18. Some folks are "goody two shoes" and never do anything wrong... not even speeding. Some do things wrong and realize they screwed up after getting caught. Some, like me, did wrong, get lucky and never get convicted. Having a felony conviction hanging around a persons neck for their entire life for a mistake made as a stupid teen is wrong...IMHO. I sure get humbled when folks assume being convicted of a crime makes someone a bad person for life. Many times the police charge a person with a crime that sounds much worse than what the person actually did. How about the 18 year old boy who is charged and labeled a sex offender for being caught with his 16 year old girl friend in a compromising situation? A two year difference in age means nothing if she is 17 but at 16 it matters??? He then spends his life explaining why he is a registered sex offender. Regardless of my opinion, it is what it is.