• You are using the old Black Responsive theme. We have installed a new dark theme for you, called UI.X. This will work better with the new upgrade of our software. You can select it at the bottom of any page.

Texas CCW: Revolver/Semi Auto

Status
Not open for further replies.
F

fiVe

Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
1,265
Location
West Florida Panhandle
On January 3, 2003, Art Eatman posted:

If you qualify with a semi-auto, you can carry either a revolver or semi-auto. You're only limited to carrying a revolver if you qualify with a revolver. (There's no reason; it's just our policy," said the Legislature.)
Click to expand...

Does anyone know the reason for this "rule" in Texas? I ask only because I'm curious (I live in FL, but consider San Antonio to be my absolute favorite place in the world).

R/fiVe
 
Ky trust us with those assualt switchblades to. As long as you can shoot the target x number of times. Then you can carry a switchblade makes a lot of sense.
 
My CHL in Texas says "Concealed Handgun License". I guess that is why it doesn't necessarily cover other stuff.

The revolver/semi-auto thing is just a safety issue. They figured semi-autos were more complicated to operate, load, and use safely. Many people taking those classes don't know a dang thing about guns. In my class a few years ago, one guy showed up with a Jennings 9 mm that he had never fired before. The instructor had to help him out a little so it would actually work. He passed I beleive.
 
The state wants to know that if you are going to carry a semi auto that you know how to operate it safely.
Click to expand...

The revolver/semi-auto thing is just a safety issue. They figured semi-autos were more complicated to operate, load, and use safely.
Click to expand...

None of that is any of government's big nosy business—unless, of course, the Second Amendment has been rewritten lately to refer to the "right of government-qualified citizens to keep and bear arms."
 
i just took the Texas CHL Instructor's course.....they did not tell us why. :confused:

so my assumption is no CHL instructor would know the real reason....sorry i couldn't help.
 
my permit says "concealed weapon permit" it allows me to conceal any weapon that i'm allowed to have in the first place (that includes switchblades) i could have qualified with a .22 revolver and carry a mac 10 hmmm :rolleyes: AZ is one of the last free states. people think of texas as a haven for gun owners but the laws seem overly restrictive to me.
 
Art has it right.

Wondering about practical aspects of reciprocity. I can carry in TX by virtue of a FL permit ... which does not specify whether I am "qualified" to carry a semi-auto or a revolver, it just says I can conceal a handgun. I assume, then that since FL says I can carry both, TX will allow me to carry both so long as I abide by their rules about where I can carry it within their borders?

What about the infamous TX regulation on "printing"? Based on other threads I've seen here, if I'm concealing under a shirt and by leaning over I pull the fabric tight enough over the gun that someone can identify it as a gun, that's a violation in TX. It isn't a violation under the laws of any of the states whose permits I have. Would I get busted in TX for "printing"? What would happen if I did get busted, would they send a nasty letter to FL informing them that I was a bad boy for not wearing a looser shirt? Would they lock me up with Jose Padilla and brand me a terrorist? What????
 
Texas Government Code § 411.171. DEFINITIONS.
In this subchapter:
...
(3) "Concealed handgun" means a handgun, the presence of which is not openly discernible to the ordinary observation of a reasonable person.
...

Texas Penal Code § 46.035. UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF HANDGUN BY LICENSE
HOLDER.
(a) A license holder commits an offense if the license holder carries a handgun on or about the license holder's person under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, and intentionally fails to conceal the handgun.
...
(g) An offense under Subsection (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) is a Class A misdemeanor, unless the offense is committed under Subsection (b)(1) or (b)(3), in which event the offense is a felony of the third degree.
(h) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a) that the actor, at the time of the commission of the offense, displayed the handgun under circumstances in which the actor would have been justified in the use of deadly force under Chapter 9.
...
 
Tx Chl

Hey Spreadfire, I get a bunch of buyers who ask about good places to take the class, when will you start doing courses?
Click to expand...

Waterhouse,
Apologies for butting in here....
I just completed my TX CHL renewal with Tom Schaefer through KR Training. Highly recommended. This is my second renewal class and my second with Tom. He does everything from test to paperwork to photos to finger prints....and includes lunch!
 
It makes perfect sense that one who qualifies with a Ruger MKII is clearly more capable of handling a firearm than someone who shows up with thier old K-Frame.

I enjoy the idea that qualifying with a .22lr target pistol will award someone a better permit than showing up with an actual defensive weapon.

Personally, i think you guys should drop the training requirment alltogether. Nothing in the 2nd amendment states that a person has to know what they are doing.
 
In theory, I agree with you.

Although, on a practical level, if someone can't pass the easy Texas CHL shooting test, that someone seriously has no business anywhere near a gun. They certainly are no danger to any would be attacker. :scrutiny:
 
Does anyone know the reason for this "rule" in Texas?
Click to expand...

Well, that's how the legislature passed it and sent it to Bush. I suppose that the theory was that it is more complicated to operate a semi-auto than a revolver; having both, and having carried both, I can say that it is probably true that a semi is a bit more complex. However, I can also say that if you can only operate a revolver and not a semi-auto because it is "too complex," you shouldn't be allowed to carry - with those who are one-handed or one-armed being express exceptions (since there's no slide to rack on a revolver). Of course, some people can rack a slide with only one hand, but that's another story....

Personally, I think that the CHL should be a for any kind of handgun. Maybe we can get that changed in the future, since it seems like every 2 years the law gets modified in some way or other anyhow.

It makes perfect sense that one who qualifies with a Ruger MKII is clearly more capable of handling a firearm than someone who shows up with thier old K-Frame.

I enjoy the idea that qualifying with a .22lr target pistol will award someone a better permit than showing up with an actual defensive weapon.
Click to expand...

TX law requires that you use at least a .32 ACP. When I took my class, maybe one person showed up with one of those; mostly it was 9, .40 and .45. No one, to my knowledge, shot with a revolver, since everyone wanted the flexibility to shoot either, which qualifying with a semi does for you.
 
The reason is simple really.

In 96 when the CHL passed the legislature was a good deal anti-gun and did not support the CHL. The reason it passed is because of overwhelming public support for it, especially after the Luby's tragedy. This is the sole reason Ann Richards got the boot as Governor and Bush got the go ahead, she would not sign a CHL law, Bush said he would and so it went. If Richards would have not have been so against it and would have been willing to sign it she would have won re-election easily and Bush’s political career would have been stopped right then and there.

The problem is after the CHL became law the legislature tacked on all kinds of ridiculous stuff designed to make the CHL a maze of ludicrous regulations which over the years with more and more anti-gun members getting the boot and more and more pro-gun state leaders coming in (especially Governor Perry) they have been ironing through it all and making the CHL more sane.

The semi-auto/revolver distinction is simply a left over crap regulation from the initial passing of the CHL that has not been addressed yet and removed like many of the others were.
 
Thanks guys. Better answers than I could write.

I am sure Texas CHL instructors could all give their stories of people qualifying that knew nothing of guns.
 
TX law requires that you use at least a .32 ACP.
Click to expand...

Thats good to know.

One problem with this training idea is that it takes one away one easy means of getting people involved in shooting. Around here i have talked multiple people into getting a permit even though they dont have a gun. I explain to them that they dont need a gun to get the permit, but that it takes thirty days to get one, and that it takes away the waiting period. If one ever finds themselves with the desire/need to own a gun having to wait five days to take it home and 30 days to carry it isnt going to be much help. Requiring qualification of this nature largely eliminates this option and results in fewer people having permits.
 
yeah, Tom usually puts on a pretty decent spread for lunch. Simple, but you won't go away hungry.

TX is a bit odd about what is and isn't legal to carry. Gun=OK. Automatic knife=bad. ASP=bad.
 
You can take the TX test with a borrowed gun, if need be. Some instructors have loaners available, if previous arrangements are made (I would assume the borrower would provide the ammo: the test uses 50 rounds).

After you receive the CHL, you can carry any handgun you like. I passed using a Makarov, even though I intended to tote a .38 snubby. I guess I could carry a Jennings J-22 :barf: or a Davis .32 derringer, but no thanks. :D

Regards,
Dirty Bob
 
When you shoot your qual, do it with a semi-auto, and then carry whatever you want. If you qual with a wheel gun, you can only carry a wheelgun.

(For Texas CHL, that is...)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

H
  • Locked
SHTF...What guns would you take?
2 3 4
Replies
85
Views
3K
kentucky_Dave
K
E
  • Locked
Semi-Auto for a Lady
2
Replies
27
Views
1K
xenatexas13
X
B
  • Locked
Revolver as a CCW, a question...
2
Replies
38
Views
2K
BobMcG
B
H
  • Locked
Are revolvers inherently more reliable than semi-autos?
2 3 4
Replies
81
Views
8K
Kendal Black
Kendal Black
If1HitU
  • Locked
Revolver or Semi Auto,you don't own,only because of it's price tag?
Replies
8
Views
521
Robert
Robert
Back
Top