Questions concerning CHL Application Form

[Bradley]

Hello,

I have my CHL application form that I am attempting to fill out and mail in. However, I have a few questions that I would like to get answered first. Seeing as today is a government holiday, I can't call Austin and ask.

First of all, is it recommended that any blank areas of the application be filled in with N/A, such as unused residence history fields? Also, how do they feel about abbreviations in addresses, such as "St." for street, or "TX" for Texas?

The biggest concern I have, however, is regarding the criminal history. The only legal trouble that I have ever had, outside of traffic violations, is being arrested for shoplifting a $5 item when I was in junior high. The form says to include certified copies of judgment and sentence from the courts. Not only do I not have such paperwork, I don't even remember the details such as how old I was, what year it was, etc. All I can remember was that it was summer time, the store I stole from, and that the judge told me that if I stayed out of trouble for the next year that it would be removed from my record when I turned 18. Yet here it is over 15 years later and it looks like it might come back to bite me in the butt.

I asked my CHL instructor about the situation when I took my class, but he did not have a 100% sure answer for me. He said that it was likely that I would have to go through a laborious legal process to obtain any records due to them being from when I was a minor. I would like to avoid having to obtain any official records, but I don't want to cause a problem with my application.

Can anyone here make any recommendations? I appreciate your help.

[seamusTX]

Welcome to the forum.

I recommend spelling out everything, like on a Form 4473 (the one you fill out when you buy a firearm).

If you have a completely unused field, like 18 (which is drug, alcohol, and mental health treatment), put "none."

You don't have to put anything in the unused extra fields, like residence and employment history.

On the arrest, I recommend getting a certified letter from the county clerk of the county where you were arrested, saying that you have no conviction record. That takes some time and costs some money.

I am not an instructor. I'm just speaking from experience.

Oh, and good luck. This kind of thing can be worked out eventually.

- Jim

[xrod69]

not trying to be rude but there are a lot of chl classes that fill out everything for you properly.

[txinvestigator]

not trying to be rude but there are a lot of chl classes that fill out everything for you properly.

I doubt that. Perhaps you mean they TELL YOU HOW TO FILL everything out.

[SmokeTA]

I have the same problem but i was arrested in 1999 for failure to pay a turn signal ticket. I called the local municipal court and they do not keep any records over 8 years old in there files. Clerk told me it was a class C mis. I never saw a judge and was given jail credit for being booked. They have no record other than what the date of the arrest and when warrant was issued. They told me they could not print out certified letter about any arrest prior to 2000.

So what should i do send it in and hope they do not reject it? I listed the arrest date and what it was for on the application.

[lrb111]

That should be sufficient. Being arrested for a traffic ticket 9 years ago won't affect your chl.