I've been reading these forums for several weeks now. I recently took my CHL course and mailed in my application. The road to me getting a CHL has been years in the making, but I thought I'd share the experience I've had in the past and wish to never have again.
I grew up in a house without guns. Not that my family was against them, it just wasn't really something that we did. The most I had was a Co2 powered air rifle. That being said, I was familiar with firearms, and was always a sharp enough kid to know they weren't something to be messed with. I tell you this because the idea of carrying a gun daily has not always seemed like a reasonable thing to do. Amazing how experience changes one's perspective...
The first incident occurred back in January of 2006 when I received a phone call from my Dad that one of my cousin's had been shot and killed by a man with a rifle in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Conroe. He was a promising TCU football player, and the incident struck a heavy blow on my family. This was when the cracks started forming for my view on concealed carry.
The next incident occurred in May of 2007 when a couple of friends and I took a several week trip to Europe. While in Rome, we had met some Australian girls at a bar and had been spending the night out on the town. One of these girls started to not feel well decides she wants to go back to their hostel, and insists she can go alone (it's about 2 AM). She didn't seem to understand the obligation of a good Texas boy to make sure she got home safe, but after some convincing she let me escort her for the mile or so walk back to her hostel. I drop her off safely, and begin walking, by myself, with a few drinks in me, through the streets of Rome back to the hostel we had been staying in. This by itself is a bad situation to be in, and I fully knew it at the time. As I walked down some dark, Roman street near Termini station (main train station in Rome), a hobo began talking to me in Italian, obviously asking for money. I quickly passed him and tried my best to ignore him as I did not want some confrontation in the middle of the night on an empty street. Well I got it anyways. He came from behind and gave me a right hook to the side of my face. The hit disoriented me, but I quickly recovered and was able to dodge his next drunken swing, and land two solid hits of my own to put him on the ground. Against my better judgment, I just left him there as a couple that was down the street that saw it happen came running over to check on me and him. So with a bruise on my face, blood blistered knuckles, and some Roman hobo skin in my Aggie ring, I finished my walk back to the hostel.
The "final straw" occurred in August of 2008. gigag04 might actually know about this one...
It was a Saturday night after a home Texas A&M Football game in College Station. Me and two female friends decided to go to Subway to get some sandwiches after we got home from the massive traffic jam that always occurs after the games are over. We went to the Subway on Southwest Parkway, which was just about 1/2 mile from my apartment at the time, and was a Subway that I frequented. We got our Sandwiches and went to sit down, and as my late grandfather always said "a good gun slinger never sits with his back to the door", and though I never had carried a gun, I tended to always do this anyways, so I positioned myself facing the door with my two friends sitting across at a table close to the register. We were just about to leave (around 12:30 AM), and right as I was about to get up I see a man wearing all black and a black ski mask with something in his hand came walking by the glass windows at the front of the store towards the door. Before he even got inside, I calmly told my friends sitting across from me, "Don't freak out." As he came in the door, he started waving a SA black pistol around (I'm sure I'd be able to ID the gun now, but this was before I knew much of anything about particular makes or models). He immediately went to the register and demanded the money, which one of the employees quickly complied. I suppose him realizing I was the most likely person to intervene (being male and with open space between me and him), he decides he needs to pacify me above any others, so I get the gun pointed at me from about 8' away. I have never felt as helpless in my life as I did at that moment. I had no choice but to simply sit there and hope to God that I didn't go the way of my cousin. My absolute number one emotional reaction was anger, with a tad of fear just enough to keep myself from doing something stupid. He got the money (something like $140), and quickly ran out the back door into the dark alley behind the building. I immediately got up to make sure the back door was fully shut, instructed one of the workers to lock the front door, and called the police. The fine CSPD was there within a minute, and we ended up being there until close to 2:30 AM as they processed the scene and took our statements.
Since then, I have become exponentially more aware of my surroundings. I bought a hand gun after this incident, kept it loaded near my bed every night, and took it with me when I travelled. I have become engaged since then, and realize more and more that I need to be able to protect myself and my soon to be wife from these types of maniacs. It is a sobering experience to realize that those stories you always grew up hearing about and but somehow thought would never happen to you had happened, and not just once.
So, CHL class taken, application received by DPS, and the online system just this morning told me I have a green light pending fingerprints and background check. I look forward to joining the ranks of CHL holders after so many years of waiting and some perspective altering experiences.
