TexasCHLforum.com

I suspect that most everyone here would agree that the level of shootings skill required to pass the CHL test is very low.

I suspect that anyone who has observed a police officer trying to shoot an IPDA or USPSA course with only the training they got in the police academy will agree that the same is true of them.

However, training will not make you proficient with a firearm.

Only regular practice after proper training will make you proficient with a firearm. The real purpose of a training program is to teach you a group of skills to practice.

If you want to be proficient, get some training - lots of places offer that - and then practice.

I'd be perfectly happy to have people have the ability to carry anywhere if they had passed a real shooting test, in addition to the existing CHL standards - say, for example, qualify as Sharpshooter or better on the IDPA classifier, and then have to requalify yearly.

But realistically, that's not going to happen anyway.

To tell you the truth, most people who do have a CHL do not practice the one skill essential to an enhanced probability of survival in a real threat environment, which is situational awareness.

I know some who do, and probably a much higher percentage of the people who hang out on this board do - but if you're reading this, it's because you already have a much higher interest in this subject that most CHL holders.

As far as the issue of where you can carry, Charles and the rest of the people struggling to maintain and enhance our ability to carry will carry on that fight, God bless them.

But if you want to enhance your proficiency, do it because you want to enhance your proficiency.