Texas CHL Application - New Fingerprints Needed

[jes]

After waiting 6 weeks for my CHL to be approved, Austin sent back a letter saying that I needed a better set of fingerprints. Well, this is certainly discouraging. Does anybody know how long this will delay my application? Will it take ANOTHER 6 weeks? :banghead: Has this happened to anyone else here?

 

[M2 Carbine]

It's pretty common.
A friend just had to send in new prints for the second time in two renewals.
She has been waiting for several months now.

My Wife had to resubmit Her prints.
If you already have the CHL the DPS will renew your license and give you several months to get reprinted.

Just hang in there. Sometimes I think the Feds are just messing with us because the prints I saw rejected were taken by professional LEO personnel.

 

[WeedWhacker]

I don't have any experience to share regarding Texas CHL applications, but perhaps some words of comfort: those of us in Clark county, Nevada, typically wait four months. The reason, according to the rumor mill, is that the P.D. in charge of issuing the permits simply sits on them for as long as the law allows, Nevada being a shall-issue state.

 

[rbernie]

It's a fairly common occurance - one or more of the prints will be smudged and they'll ask for a new set. I know of a few folk who sent in two complete sets, just to increase the odds that one set was acceptable.

Dunno for sure how much this will reset the clock, but from what I've heard you'll pretty much be starting over.

 

[ChickenHawk]

You might consider going to DPS since you live in a major city like Houston.

They'll have a machine (rather than just paper) so they can review each print as they take it, and can come up with a good final set to submit for your CHL.

Stay safe,
ChickenHawk

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Things like this make me wonder about the state of my birth. My current state of residence is widely considered to be very gun UNfriendly, but renewal of my carry permit was a 5-minute procedure. No new fingerprints required. Go to the counter, get a new photo taken, write a check, and "Thank you, here's your new permit."

Even got a pair of free cable-type gun locks for my trouble.

 

[MICHAEL T]

Why do you need prints to have a permit. Need to change the law. I wasn't fingered printed for my permit. I 'm not printed when I buy .So I see no need for it Why do we even need , the I paid my bribe to state card. We have the 2nd already.

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

This happened to me.

Because of a career spent at a computer keyboard, my fingerprints are quite faint, and they didn't show well on the card.

When I called my CHL instructor, he said that it wasn't unusual to have to re-do the prints. He even knew the name of the specific person to mail the "reprints" to.

I got my CHL just a few days after the resubmission.

Patience...you're very close now.

 

[Azrael256]

IIRC, redo on prints is not considered an "incomplete" application, so you don't have to reset the clock.

Now, if you do something stupid, like forgetting to sign the fingerprint card, you do.

Or so I hear.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

I still wonder why they require new prints for a renewal. They have 'em on file and you're still the same person. Do they think you changed hands in the interim?

 

[ChickenHawk]

I still wonder why they require new prints for a renewal. They have 'em on file and you're still the same person. Do they think you changed hands in the interim?

When I last renewed, the Sherrif (instructor) told us that they do not retain the fingerprints. They run them as a part of the background check procedure and then discard them. That's why they re-print every time you renew in Texas.

Cheers,
ChickenHawk

 

[Shipwreck]

I'm sick of taking that renewal class. Next year will be my 4th time since I got one in 1996 (my first year, they only gave some people 2 year permits - that was what I got).

 

[HankB]

Both on my 1st application and on my renewal, the certified fingerprinters did NOT produce acceptable prints.

Fortunately, living near Austin, I hand-carried my packets in, and had them look over the print cards. IIRC for $10 they were happy to redo my prints on the spot.

Makes you wonder . . . if a certified fingerprinter (or whatever the title is) can't reliably get good fingerprints from a co-operative subject when using a regular fingerprint kit, just HOW many fingerprint identifications gathered from crime scenes are legit?

If I'm ever picked for a jury where fingerprint evidence is a major part of the DA's case . . . I'm going to regard it with a healthy dose of skepticism.

 

[Azrael256]

I'm going to regard it with a healthy dose of skepticism

As well you should. Fingerprints are only slightly more effective as evidence than polygraph tests (which really aren't evidence at all). They're a handy-dandy interrogation tool like a polygraph, and they can allow you to exclude a suspect, but even when highly accurate they don't tell much of the story. Your observations are spot-on. It's difficult enough to get good prints in controlled situations with professionals pressing your ink-covered fingers on a special card. Removing a latent print comprised primarily of pizza grease from a doorknob presents problems that get fingerprint "evidence" tossed all the time.