TexasCHLforum.com

i am going to send my packet in tomorrow and had a question. lets say it is approved and the DPS sends out the plastic. lets say i get pulled over in the time the card is in the mail and i have not received it yet. since it is attached to my DL, will the cop be told i have one even though i haven't received it yet?

Not a dumb question but one I don't know the answer to.

It's one I considered in the gap between my license being approved and the plastic arriving.

Even if he is told you won't be carrying concealed so you don't have to produce the plastic to him. My instructor was clear on this point. You offer the plastic to law enforcement contact WHEN CARRYING and you don't have to offer it when you aren't carrying.

If I have mis-remembered what I was taught then hopefully someone else has a better perspective.

That actually happened to me. Only time I have been pulled over in 5 years, too. I informed, and said I hadn't received the plastic yet and was NOT carrying.

I don't know if it would have come back because I don't know if the DB updates had happened yet.

If and "If" the officer runs you, he/she will see the date it was issued and should understand that it takes time for the mail to get it to you.

I posted this message as a reply to a message that has been deleted. Here is the applicable law:

GC §411.205. DISPLAYING LICENSE; PENALTY. (a) If a license holder is carrying a handgun on or about the license holder's person when a magistrate or a peace officer demands that the license holder display identification, the license holder shall display both the license holder's driver's license or identification certificate issued by the department and the license holder's handgun license.

- Jim

oh once i get it i will have no problem doing the right thing and showing it along with my license to an officer, i have many of them tell me it puts their mind at ease just a little bit when you are that upfront and honest, so showing it once i have it will be no issue with me. i am anxious to get my card now, get my wally world trip in

People will say to show it anyway, even if you aren't carrying, because an officer might get a bit worried if he runs you, sees you have a CHL, and didn't know about it.

While there's nothing legally wrong with that, anything to keep an officer calm is a good idea.

Not a dumb question.

Do not arm yourself until you have your plastic in your wallet. When the application is approved and the card is in the mail, if you should be pulled over, inform the officer of this fact. LEOs don't like surprises, and the fewer they encounter the better for you.

i agree, good thing is i am a "good" driver. follow the speed limit, use my turn signals and all that, not to say people don't make mistakes. outside that i rarely have contact with LEOs. i don't call the cops for loud music or any other pointless reasons, i am a private person and enjoy that. but if i ever have to identify myself to a LEO, i intend to show the card if i have my gun or not. i don't want to get shot over poor communication. thats why i turn on my dome light, roll down all the windows and put my hands on the steering wheel when i do get pulled over. and when the officer asks for the license and insurance i tell the officer where it is and that i am going to reach for it. i can see the tension ease just a little by this, i think they can appreciate that, i know i wanna go home everyday and i am sure they do too!

My CHL instructor made the sugestion to show my CHL if I am carrying or not.
The LEO may wonder what I am trying to hide when he finds out I have a CHL and didn't inform him.
IMHO:
For what I and others have had to go through for a CHL, why would I not let the LEO know I have a CHL.
I have met the requirements set forth by the Texas State Legislature.
Passed an FBI background check.
Passed a State background check.
Pay my bills.
I'm not a dead-beat-dad.
I don't consider my CHL a Badge of Honor, but it helps to give the LEO a baseline of who I might be.

My 2¢
CS

ok new question same threead!

after dps receives my application, how long should i expect to wait for my PIN? and my plastic? aaaahhhh the wait is agonizing and it's only been six days LoL i may lose my mind before then!

Four to five for the PIN weeks these days. Receiving the plastic is running 60 up to 101 days for one guy.

- Jim

rbaker772 wrote:If and "If" the officer runs you, he/she will see the date it was issued and should understand that it takes time for the mail to get it to you.

Should and will are terms that are far apart in the lexicon.

When I was waiting for my plastic to arrive I pulled a late night shift at work. On my way home I went through an area where Plano Police were conducting a drunk sweep (it was about 2am.) I took my exit, which was before the sweep, and one of the cars peeled off and followed me, without his lights on and then lit me up.

The officer took my license and insurance card back to his car, without telling me why I had been stopped, and then was back moments later wanting to know if I was "packing" which I didn't understand, and then he asked if I was "strapped up" which confused me even more, all the while sticking his head way into the car to try to smell my breath.

When he finally, plainly, asked if I was carrying a gun, I told him that I was not and that I did not have a CHL, to which he responded "according to our records you do." I told him that was news to me, but that I had applied for it and it may not have arrived in the mail yet, which seemed to make sense to him.

He gave me a warning for license plate light out, which he said he stopped me for, but when I checked only one of two was out, in that "fancy" vehicle I would have gotten an indication if both were out. It was also questionable if it could have been enforced anyway - I had already established residency but had not changed my tags from IL to TX yet due to the logistics of our move, and IL does not require license plate lights.

My plastic arrived in the mail the next day.

I mentioned the incident to a Plano LEO friend of mine and he told me that the one that stopped me was new and a little over enthusiastic. I also poiinted out that sticking his body into my car the way he did, through the driver's window, was probably not a good practice, if I was a bad guy I could have driven off with him dangling.

Maybe they have improved the system, but back then the issue date did not appear, just the fact that you had a CHL.