What brought you to getting your CHL/LTC

[Ipconfig]

As stated before the only reason I initially got my CHL was to be able to carry while bow hunting. I carry now but its more of an after thought than something I feel the need to do everyday.

[b4aftr]

Guess it started with the thought of having one and not needing it is better than needing one and not having it.

I know a lot open their eyes after a serious event occurs, but I subscribe to the proactive not reactive mentality.

[Smokey]

Want to not have my family destroyed in front of my eyes with no way to do anything about it. I also want to be able to come home to them at the end of the day, not that I am a LEO or do anything dangerous. I live for them and if I am not around they are going to have a very hard time. I want to have the chance to defend them and myself, if that time ever comes.

[Liberty]

Hurricane Rita was a great awakening for me .. I was (and still am) living in Galveston, and the media was proclaiming the end of life as we had known it. Remember, this was just after Katrina. We got the Order to evacuate. 2 cats 1 wife and a sister-n-law. Probably at no time since the war between the states were there more guns, people and cats on the move.

We evacuted to a hotel in Dayton. I was working in Baytown .. So I was going back and forth. It was 100 degrees out, no gas and we had traffic jams that were legendary. Peoples tempers were flaring and when we lost power we had the choice of opening the doors and windows, or roasting like briskette in the smoker. As things turned out it we didn't make out too bad. Our home was fine and the evacuation was short lived.. But I got to realizing just how exposed we were. We had little means to protect ourselves.. Police response would not have been available, I needed to take steps to protect myself my family and the cats. I bought a nice pistol , some training and went through the CHL process..

A few years later we had Ike, It was much worse, but at least I was prepared.

[bear94]

I grew up with my dad always doing CC and I knew that I wanted to get it when I turned 21. Bypassing NICS is a great perk too.

[SA_Steve]

I started a business with a friend in the late '90's in Houston and we did a lot of work ourselves to get it going. It was parking lot striping and repair done in the wee hours of the day in all areas if town. The East Side industrial and retail areas were the worst places to be at night by far.

There were two of us which saved us from serious injury or worse from folks who wanted the equipment or our money. Never had to pull our guns but had to talk tough and show them every couple weeks it seemed. The only weapons they showed were knives and screwdrivers.

Looking back, fortunately the bad guys were amateurs. Jobs went much better when we added one, then two other workers. We could concentrate more on the job rather than personal safety. High stress that we don't want to ever repeat.

We got the company going and sold it cheap after about a year and went back to "no gun needed" day jobs.

[thenick_ttu]

I grew up in a very small town in the Hill Country so I was never really exposed to crime or violence. I graduated from college, moved to Dallas and got married. Once we had kids, my father in law (Vietnam Veteran) began to stress to my wife and me the importance of being able to protect ourselves and kids. It didn't take much convincing and both my wife and I got our CHLs a few months after our oldest was born. Now, we both carry every day.

[Jketchum]

My 21st birthday

[Rmartinez37]

When I turned 21 last year, I save up almost all year to be able to buy a shield 9mm and pay for all the CHL/LTC stuff, and as soon as I had the funds available I did what I had to do.
When I was 4 years old, my dad was shot during a robbery, and because of that, he ended in a wheelchair, luckily it wasn't worse. The bullet puntured his lung and currently rests on his spinal cord impeading the nerves from trasmitting signals to his legs.
It was always my goal to have a CHL/LTC because I don't want the same thing that happened to my dad to happen to anybody I might be with.

[chamberc]

Good Morning Everyone,

I am just wondering what brought you to getting your CHL LTC? I see more and more people at the classes lately.

I turned 21.

[RPBrown]

I was robbed at gunpoint while on a jobsite back in the late 70's. From that point on, I carried a weapon in my truck and in my tool bag. As soon as CC passed and then became legal, I was taking my class and getting my license

[LucasMcCain]

In DFW, road rage incidents are very common. I have been the victim of several that nearly turned deadly. That was part of my motivation, although I could of course carry in my car without a license.

However, it was really a shooting that occurred a couple blocks from my work that opened my eyes. There was a lady throwing a birthday party for her child at a roller rink. The child's siblings, cousins, aunts, and friends were all there. The lady's estranged husband showed up with a gun and killed the lady, three of her siblings, and her sister-in-law before killing himself. Now, I know better than to venture into dangerous areas, and I try to practice situational awareness, but the only risk factor in this case was a woman having marital issues. Do you go anywhere in your daily routine where there are definitely no people having marital problems? No divorced people that had a messy divorce? I don't think I do. I have attended birthday parties for the children of friends of mine. A close friend of mine knew the lady in this story. She could have been there. I realized that crazy homicidal people can be anywhere at any time. It doesn't have to be a terrorist or an armed robber or anything. It can just be an angry ex or a crazy boyfriend. Shortly after I heard about this, a friend asked if I'd be interested in taking a CHL class with him, and I said yes.

[Pariah3j]

I kept meaning to get mine for about 10 years. Started learning the law and researching. Bought me a pistol and started going to the range at least once a month to become proficient. This was around late 2007ish. About the time the economy took a dive(or maybe it was just looking like it would - hard to remember) and my company decided the position I held was moving to Louisiana. I had about a month to decide, which wasn't enough time to find a new job that payed well enough considering the direction the economy was taking. So I made the move, and was stuck in Lousyana for a good 4 or 5 years. I met my wife(at the time we were just engaged) and she got a job offer in Houston and we jumped at the chance to get outta Baton Rouge. Moved over, got back on our feet and I finally got back around to getting mine last year. I kick myself for not getting it sooner, but better late then never.

[DonFromTexas]

My reason seems quite different than most, I am a retired US Army Officer, combat veteran as well as a highway cop. Sort of "living" by a gun most of my life, it seems to be a completely silly situation to NOT be able to carry a gun!
I don't feel threatened in my normal daily activities, and do not regularly carry, but find great peace of mind knowing that I legally can.

[TexasJohnBoy]

I decided to take control of my own personal protection. No real event, just a personal feeling and the general state things.