LBS,
I know, i've been there in the same spot years ago, I switched jobs for that and a number of other reasons. My permit came when I got married and had a kid, more because of the pesky responsibility thing of providing for them.
Tyme,
I was already convinced annoucing illegal carry was generally a bad idea, but that's now been reinforced.
I don't think it was a bad idea, you asked a question many people seem to be forced to wrestle with everyday. I know I am from time to time, even when I seem to think I have it all decided something will arise that makes me question the very premise I choose to live my life under.
I went to town to order a new gun and a scope and grab some other things and decided to pose your question to a couple San Antonio police officers. The consensus with them seemed to be most of the officers would let it slide if at all possible, that most would not even ask the question that for years had been a standard, "Do you have any firearms in the vehicle?" I think studies like the one done by Lott have come a long way in promoting carry, legal or illegal, within the elements of law enforcement. You have to be a complete and total fool to believe that honest otherwise law abiding citizen are a menace to society simply because they wish to protect their loved ones lives.
I think that mentality is fading, sure in areas like Chicago you'll be seeing it for years to come. In corrupt places in Texas where the Law enforcement divisions are the largest criminal element in towns or counties you will see intrusive and routine harrasment of not only un-permited carry people, but also permitted carry individuals, not because of some underlying concern for the other citizens, but because they see it as a threat to their own criminal enterprises.
What this country needs to see, needs to have broadcast on the national news is a shooting at a public place it is illegal to carry being thwarted by an armed citizen who neglected the law. The place I feel least secure in my life is a college classroom, zero security, and thousands of students under severe stress from many different angles. You can feel the tension in those classrooms somedays. It is one of the places I regularly go to that outright bans the possesion of firearms and places some pretty strict punishments on those who violate that law. The thing is it is not the law that is preventing a huge dose of violence there, it is a smidgen of common sense on the part of the people there and the values they use to lead their lives.
This country through various outlets has worked hard to destroy those values that preserve human life, and attempted to bury the Golden Rule under some political red tape. We have reaped the harvest of that in our lives and the laws we have seen enacted in an attempt to save us from ourselves. The thing is, we as a culture have never stayed from that value of the preservation of human life, the Golden Rule, and equality for all of us. So we need to look at these laws as what they truly are, a way to silence us and remove our ability to live peaceful lives. Don't ever believe for a moment that politicians truly believe that guns and people like us who own them cause crime, Charles Schumer may say it from time to time, but the true reason politicians like that push the laws they do is for the same reason crooked sheriffs harrass people who carry guns, they see it as a threat to their criminal enterprise. People like Schumers criminal enterprise is stealing from America her free market system, replacing capitilism with socialism hybridized with fascism.
So everytime you ask yourself should I slip that S-O-B Holster on and go about my business or leave it tucked away in the dresser, remember that the laws that make you ask that question are written by men with the intent of stealing your country. Then ask yourself the questions that have justified in my mind my past un-permitted carry, "Is it what the Founders would have done? Am I doing this with the goal of being a better citizen? Is it the responsible thing to do in this circumstance?"
I leave my gun at home if I think I might even consider touching booze on the outing. I leave it at home if I feel everyone else via security will be checked and rechecked. I leave it at home if I feel that a threat won't exist to me or my family. I'll go on to say I rarely feel any of the above things.
But I also know that at some point in my life I will meet a police officer who will conduct a search without probable cause, and that I will have an arrest for illegal carry. I try to lesson the places it could happen by planning on my part, but on occasion I am forced to ask myself, "Am I willing to chance arrest today for this?"
Feel out your local officers and see what they say, engage some at a local gunshop and see what their view is, then ask what they think their peers views would be. You can gain some real insight in that situation, I know I did today by asking a few questions about various things, one the carrying of a knife that has been a part of my dress for years but which someone just informed me was illegal. It is, but they felt most of their peers would harrass someone like me for carrying a knife like that. I asked what "like me" meant and was told someone who was well groomed and polite.
I've come to the conclusion that in most areas of Texas, laws are enforced on the criminal element and the otherwise law-abiding citizen is for the most part ignored. I know it isn't that way throughout the country, but it should be.
So their you go, that is the Texas standpoint.
I wish the leo's would express their views on this, it would be interesting to read. Tyme you asked a question that is one of the main reasons I turned down a position in a Law Enforcement Agency a couple years ago. I couldn't find a way to be comfortable with enforcing some laws, i'm curious how some can and would love to hear it.