5 Feb
CHL Tips from a Newbie for A newbie
Okay, for the vast majority of my readers (3 out of the 4 of you) this will be old hat.
For some folks it might be useful, for me it is a way of documenting what I learned along the way. And since it is my blog, I get to write what I want 
So, let’s talk about what to do when you decide to get your Concealed Handgun License as it is called here in Texas. Maybe you won’t do things backwards like I did.
I decided to get my license, started the paperwork, took the class submitted it, got my licenses — then figured out what firearm I was going to carry, had to buy said firearm, then figure out how to carry it, had to buy said holster.
Not as smart as I should have been.
I would recommend going about it a little differently.
1. Buy the firearm you are going to carry before you get your license.
Practice with it before you strap it on. I actually bought my Taurus after I recieved my license then didn’t carry it for a long time until I was confident that I could reasonable hit what I was aiming at.
Buy the gun, practice practice and then practice again.
2. Buy a cheap holster or two.
WHAT? I can hear the screams of many people already but let me explain. Most of us don’t have access to friends who can loan us holsters for our particular firearm, so what do you do to figure out how to carry it?
Buy a cheap holster or two.
You know you will have problems with that holster, but it will point out the problems with carrying in that position. Does Small of the Back interfere with you sitting down? How does IWB (inside waist band) change how you reach for things? Does an OWB (outside Waist Band) show too much when you bend over to pick up something? A cheap holster will help you answer these questions without going broke.
Just realize that the cheap holster is just that and a quality holster will make a world of difference.
3. Carry around the house and yard for a while before venturing out in public.
It is better to find out at home that you have to be careful going through doorways or else that brand new SSTz5000 Blastomatic will ‘clunk’ very loudly then to have people wondering if you are part cyborg in public.
Many activities you formerly took for granted will present you with interesting challenges also. Does your holster keep your firearm secure when you are trying to fasten your pants after a visit to the little boys room.
Is your wardrobe sized sufficiently to let you carry IWB or do you need to buy half a dozen more pants. (People really look at you strangely if you wear the same set of slacks 5 days a week–just saying).
4. Practice drawing from your choice of concealment.
–UNLOAD THE FIREARM FIRST, then Check to be sure it is unloaded — Carrying a firearm in public won’t do a person any good if it takes 15 minutes to get into action.
I found that using an Airsoft version of my carry firearm was a great way to safely practice this.
Just general advise from a relative noob. What other suggestions do you folks have?
Please join the discussion.
Posted by Thomas on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Nah, if money is an issue, take the CHL class BEFORE you even own a firearm. If you are going to go with a natural right of man being treated as a permission, it’s most important to get the permission out of the way. One of the guys in a CHL class didn’t even own a gun yet, as he hadn’t decided, but he HAD DECIDED that he was intent on having the ability to carry one to the extent that it was possible. He wasn’t a deranged or odd man. He was quite thoughtful about things and far from rash in thought or actions as he was/is a commercial airline pilot. He rented a Kimber Custom II, passed the quals, took the class, and when he decided which gun and holster etc he wanted he could walk out the shop carrying iffin he wanted to.
Bet you never thought about it that way. I didn’t either until I saw a guy do it in front of my very eyes.
Posted by Bob S. on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Thomas,
I actually thought of it that way and I actually did it that way.
I received permission from the state to carry in Oct 08 but didn’t buy my Taurus until March 09.
I still think that getting the firearm first makes more sense but wouldn’t fault anyone for doing it the way I did.
I can see advantages to both ways– maybe I should have expressed it as before you start carrying in public instead of simply getting my CHL.
Posted by Stephen on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
I agree with Bob on everything … except when to get your CCW, which I concur with the other commenters. I think all his advice his good, though, if you are absolutely planning on carrying all the time and have a fully thought out strategy. Which is what Bob is suggesting you do, but which didn’t represent my experience.
When I got my CCW I wasn’t really planning on carrying and didn’t own a concealable weapon or holster, but just wanted to have it. It’s a long process to get it, and having it is important because who knows when you might decide you need it? It was several months later I decided I had enough money in my pocket to get a new gun, and bought a Taurus snubby … and the rest is history.
What I like about Bob’s plan is that it would have served me well for the rest of the process. Once I got into carrying … over the next couple of years I bought several more guns and several more different kinds of holsters. A real plan with some research would have saved me time and LOTS of money. And saved me drawer space, as I’d have less holsters lying around (though I don’t regret purchasing the extra guns — always good to have more of those around
Posted by Weer'd Beard on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Great point about the cheap holsters. Just make sure before you go out for reals you have a quality kydex or leather holster on.
Also I did an intermediate step between carrying at home (which I did in two parts, first I carried my gun 100% empty just to make sure the safety stayed engaged the whole time, and the hammer never fell, then I carried at home only, but fully loaded. I also made it a point at some time during the day to show my wife the gun and see if it surprised her. If she didn’t spot it, nobody else would.) But after I was comfortable with carry at home, I started carrying only on short trips out. Places where I was always moving, and not under a lot of scrutiny. This just boosts your confidence. Also was a long time before I carried my 1911 at work, instead choosing to carry the MUCH more hide-able J-frame in a sensitive place like that.
BTW I’m looking for a Blue Gun of a 1911 Commander with the hammer cocked so I have a non-gun to practice my holster draws with. They’re pretty cheap so that’s not a cost-prohibitive item.
Posted by R. Stanton Scott on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Thanks for posting this, Bob. I found it very interesting.
Posted by Bob S. on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Stan,
Just curiosity; what did you find interesting?
Posted by TXGunGeek on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Bob,
getting out to the range with armed friends and or a class where there are lots of loaner guns available is a good way to find out what fits you before you buy. Of course knowing what good gun fit means is important during this exercise.
As far as timing of the CHL class goes, since it isn’t a shooting class it doesn’t really matter from that perspective of buying a gun when you take it. As far as permission goes I would be more inclined to advise people that the CHL is good to take just so you know what Texas law is if nothing else. Even if you are planning to have a gun at home for protection, you need to know the law.
As far as carrying, your approach is great, get used to the gun on you so you are not fidgeting with it out in public. The Mrs and I love to play “spot the CHL/Cop” when we are out. New CHL’s especially can’t seem to stop playing with their gun or checking to make sure it is still there. Cops on the other hand couldn’t care less. They may make some tacit attempt to conceal but since they don’t have to they don’t care if it shows.
I’ve even gone so far as to introduce myself and suggest the new CHL get a bit more comfortable and then leave the gun alone because it is so obvious.
Cheap holsters, well, figuring out where to carry is important. Using a cheap holster to find that out is good but then understand that a really quality carry holster is not available in any gun store. You are going to have to order it and it is going to cost. It is sad when students show up for advanced classes with a floppy cheap holster that they can’t draw from or re-holster without sweeping their off hand and with one spare magazine. You spent good money on the gun, spend some more on a good holster to keep it secure and magazines are disposables. They get bent and tweaked and are the most common source of malfunctions in a semi auto besides limp wristing.
The final part is CARRY! Tom Givens up at Rangemaster in Memphis has had 50 some odd students that have been engaged in defensive gunfights. 2 lost. Neither had their gun on them, all the rest did and won.
A number of the gun bloggers have had a series of posts up recently around, “do you carry a gun (here)?” and the overwhelming answer is NO. I just carry it. It needs to become part of you and it is just there all the time.
Posted by Bob S. on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
GunGeek,
Part of my reasoning in the timing was carrying a firearm turns the idea of an armed conflict from concept to concrete.
Practicing drawing helped me realize that the only time I would be doing that for real was if there was a threat to myself or my family.
Carrying the firearm around the house made me realize what an effort it could be, considering how I would have to plan my days — going to the post office – have to leave home disarmed — made me evaluate how much I wanted to carry.
Overall, I made the decision to carry and feel it was the right one but carrying at home gave me time to think about it.
. I just carry it. It needs to become part of you and it is just there all the time.
That was really what carrying at home gave me time to get used to. I started developing that attitude: Pants, Belt, Firearm, Socks, Shoes. I simply carry.
The license could be obtained in either order and as I said earlier it might be better expressed as “before you carry in public”.
Posted by R. Stanton Scott on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
I’ve carried sidearms in a lot of different situations, typically using a military shoulder holster with the weapon hanging near the left arm. I just found it interesting to hear you give some thought in and advice on the practical aspects of carrying a pistol–it will for example sometimes get in the way.
Posted by Bob S. on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Stan,
Carrying in a shoulder holster is something I haven’t tried although friend Weer’d Beard highly suggests it.
Using the restroom takes practice with a belt mounted holster, especially some of the ones that do not have retention mechanisms.
Using an office style chair is another issue, if you carry too far back the grip is pushed against the back of the chair making sitting uncomfortable.
Friend Hsoi had a great post about something as simple as ‘hugging’ being an issue during the holidays, it was a read.
Posted by R. Stanton Scott on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Mostly I carried an M1911A1 or a 9MM Baretta. These are bulky, and would show too prominently under a suit.
If I carried now, I would opt for a smaller pistol but stick with the shoulder holster, something a bit more into the armpit than the military holster, I think.
When I did bodyguard work in Germany, I often had to drive while armed. Shoulder holsters are best for this, I would say.
Posted by Thomas on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
If you get the CHL before the firearm you can buy the gun you want without having to wait for the FBI losers in West Virginia, on CUSTER HOLLOW, to approve you to have a firearm and possibly delay you. Just sayin’, not that I’d know anybody who was prompted to take the CHL course because of random delays and a random DENIAL he sued over and WON who likes to collect and trade firearms but doesn’t wish to carry a FFL because he’s 95% buyer, rather than a firearms dealer and many of his friends have FFLs and are reasonable if one were to need a transfer orchestrated and having to deal with the BATFE is often worse than the NICS people and he does black powered and antique gunsmithing for other people and barrel work and such, carefully avoiding things that involve modern receivers and any needs for BATFE and keeps up on the rulings related to such things so as to not go to jail over an accidental transgression instead of paying MORONS hundreds or thousands of dollars a year to potentially fuck with him, DPS is pricey enough, as is….
Posted by Thomas on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Oh, Mr. Scott. My friend that is doing Armed Response security and Bodyguard details in Limpopo skips the shoulder holster. RSA is semi-civilized and a MP-5 with folder is a hell of a lot more useful than anything in a shoulder holster, whether slung or snapped in place on the console of the bakkie. You’d think Germans would be used to guns in public…they went soft.
Posted by Bob S. on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Stan,
I have seen many people carry a full size 1911 IWB or OWB without being noticeable. I think that Tamara of View From The Porch carries that way.
I agree that a shoulder holster is a great option for driving and if you are worried about problems while sitting.
Thomas,
Getting your CHL to avoid the hassles of the background check is a great reason to get it.
Posted by Linoge on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
IMNSHO, you missed the most-important suggestion – practice, practice, practice, and practice some more… not just drawing and presenting, but also shooting, in every way you can either imagine, or your range allows you. Far too many people just carry around a gun, hoping it will protect them when the time comes, without the prerequisite amount of practice to ensure that their muscles will remember how to draw, present, and accurately engage in a very short amount of time…
In fact, I need to hit up a range soon, myself.
Apart from that, I will second Blue Guns as being a worthy investment, though the frakwits do not make a PPS yet.
Oh, and I hate you Texans getting to avoid background checks with your CHLs… not only do we Tennesseeans have to undergo a TBI check in addition to the BATFE check, we also have to pay for it…
Posted by Thomas on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Avoiding repetitive background checks is a more logical reason to get a CHL than worrying about getting arrested for being concealed as if you conceal properly you likely wouldn’t get caught, not that I’m advocating criminal behavior, and if you conceal improperly with a permit they suspend or revoke your permit.
I bet most everybody with a CHL has accidentally committed a felony and possibly not even known they were doing it, anyway. Even people without CHLs thinking they are covered under the law of traveling. A parking lot where a friend is a college prof was not considered part of a university and you didn’t need a uni parking permit and became part of the university and still didn’t have signs requiring permits for a LONG time to park there and nobody told him.
Wouldn’t have gotten him out of:
Sec. 46.03. PLACES WEAPONS PROHIBITED. (a) [amended 6/20/97] A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly possesses or goes with a firearm, illegal knife, club, or prohibited weapon listed in Section 46.05(a):
(1) [amended 5/30/95] on the physical premises of a school or educational institution, any grounds or building on which an activity sponsored by a school or educational institution is being conducted, or a passenger transportation vehicle of a school or educational institution, whether the school or educational institution is public or private, unless pursuant to written regulations or written authorization of the institution;
…
Even though he had a CHL and nobody had told him and it’d have been a FELONY.
Either you have guns in society or you don’t (and the genie is out of the bottle, so you have guns in society, like it or not). Every single time you try to draw a line you fuck somebody over, or more correctly, a lot of somebodies…Regulating tools is never a good approach to preventing bad behavior. I’ve got more guns than I can think of offhand here in the office workshop and not a fookin one of them is menacing anybody or shooting me or anybody or anything else. Odd thing that, about inanimate objects, they are inanimate and need a sentient or semi-sentient (in the case of R Stanton Scott, the Military Bigot, that oppressed Serbian people and violated their sovereignty because he could and yet thinks he’s a noble hero) being to operate them to any effect other than perhaps acts of God of a freak nature like when they guy set his shottie down and his gun dog or retriever steeped on the trigger and he hadn’t safed it and his dog killed him. But things like that happen a lot less often than people get struck by lightning twice in the same day…
At the end of the day one must be realistic about things. Only having to do a background check once is handy because NICS are morons. I have a large file related to my dealings with them, in the hanging folders of the office, labeled “INCOMPETENT FASCIST ASSHEAD MAROONS” (sic).
Posted by Thomas on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
FWIW, Pursuant to 46.03, the SPJST near where a friend lived had to get written permission to allow it’s own members to “chl” when they were hosting a benefit for the local school kids. Logical, right? Somebody joined the SPJST 15 years ago so they could carry a gun to a charity they were throwing for the local school kids and MURDER THEM ALL. LURID DETAILS AT ELEVEN!!!!!
There was a question of who was the ultimate sponsor, the school or the SPJST, so the SPJST lawyer member said it’d be best to cover a possibly un-needed base.
Posted by More CHL Tips « Stuff From Hsoi on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
[...] CHL Tips Posted February 6, 2010 Filed under: Guns | Tags: Guns | Bob S. writes a good article for CHL newbies. He passes along some tips he acquired from his own [...]
Posted by Weer'd Beard on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Yep Tam over at View from the Porch carries a 5″ all-steel 1911 IWB. I carry a lightweight Commander (4.25″ same size grip frame, and about a pound lighter) in a Glaco Miami Classic II shoulder holster with two spare mags in the mag carrier. It’s VERY discreet with a properly sized sweatshirt or chamois. Hell I’ve worn it in the summer with just a short-sleeve cotton shirt over it (given that the shirt is a bit loose and cut square at the waist). I had the wife take a ton of pictures (which didn’t come out as well as I’d hoped) for a post on shoulder carry, I might still do a post on it.
But the M1911 is a GREAT carry gun for both power, but also concealability because the damn gun is so slender if you use the right grips. I have some slim grips on mine, and it’s an inch wide across the grips, 0.9″ across the slide, and 1.1″ across the wing of the safety.
Posted by R. Stanton Scott on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Given that the Serbs were using their sovereignty to commit genocide–and rather effectively, I might add, despite the widespread possession of firearms among the Bosnians and Croatians–I don’t feel much sympathy for your whine that the United States “oppressed” them by sending me and my buddies to intervene. Slobodan Milosevic and his cronies deserved everything they got, and I am indeed proud that I had a part in putting a stop to the killing.
Yes, regulating tools (at least sometimes a good idea) and the general drawing of policy lines always produces winners and losers. This is a feature, however, not a bug, as long as we make “losers” out of people like this sort of ignorant gun nut rube by limiting his arsenal and thereby his ability to murder eight people, including his sister and four year old nephew.
If thinking we should keep weapons out of the hands of whack jobs like Speight makes one a bigot, then sign me up. Speight shot at least one person–a man who would be alive today had no guns been involved–as he tried to flee. Self-defense my ass.
Of course, some of you are so vain, you probably thinks this comment is about you. But that’s not my problem.
Posted by AntiCitizenOne on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
It looks like we all need to look out for each other then…
Out of about 500,000 CHL holders in Virginia, I don’t know how many are part of VCDL…
Posted by Linoge on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
No, your problem, Stan, is your inability to even generate a logical argument… or understand the difference between “regulating tools” and “regulating criminals”… or the inability to comprehend that limiting a tool will not limit a person’s ability to kill other people.
But, then again, I stopped expecting much of anything out of Stan a few weeks ago.
Posted by Thomas on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
I don’t think the Muslims of Bosnian and Croat extraction had been playing very nice with the Serbs, Stan. Maybe you need to crack a hsitory book. It was their fight in their sandbox. The croats and bozzos had SIDED WITH NAZI GERMANY against the serbs, as often as not. SO who’s genocidal now. Europe is OLD. They remember these things. As an English friend often points out when laughing at arrogant yanks with no sense of history, his house was a pub FOUR HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE THE US ws an independent nation. It was the starting up of an old grudge match and we destroyed the country in the proess of “fixing it” and created a hell of a lot of environmental damage along the way that will likely kill more of all factions in the long run, albeit more slowly. Bombing refineries and chemical plants on the MAIN RIVER ARTERY THAT ALSO PASSES INTO MANY OF OUR ALLIED STATES was especially brilliant. I could come up with plenty more examples of the fine use of force we displayed. One might also point out it was a NATO op, more than a UN one, that caused most of the carnage.
I guess you’re America’s Own Super Hero, Stan. Go save the world. Why aren’t you in Haiti like my cousin that’s over there with Operation Hope? If you really cared instead of just had a government paid MEAL TICKET that allowed you to abuse people, you wouldn’t have time to be on the internet because you’d be out rescuing people from oppression and iniquity. You were a paid gun operating at the benefit of those that hired you for those that hired them and have deluded yourself into believing you were somehow noble.
Posted by Thomas on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Oh, RSS, BONUS POINTS for taking in and training a bunch of Jihadists who came from all over the world of muzzieville to fight for their brothers against the serbs for a little while, training them to use a lot of our toys, and then letting them melt away back into the land of international jihadism to use their new skills and weapons against Americans.
You’re a hell of a patriot. Interfering in other people’s school yard fights at the point of the largest and most powerful gun in the world like a bull in a china shop with lots of knock on effects that weren’t planned for that were detrimental to the Western Nations, with little to no actual risk to yourself but you think it made you a brave hero and then WHINING about the risk of a few private citizens of stable nature that mind their own business having arms in the society you claim to be for the continuation of? Kudos. Super Hero! Super hero that’s afraid of inanimate objects. You must be hell on kittens and bunnies, too. I’m trembling in awe, here….
I like laughing at stupid people though and people like you will keep the internet entertaining for a LONG time as there are more stupid people than sentient humans on the web. Thanks for being a shining example of “being all you can be” without having any actual knowledge of what you are or how others perceive you.
Posted by mike w. on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Given that the Serbs were using their sovereignty to commit genocide–and rather effectively, I might add, despite the widespread possession of firearms among the Bosnians and Croatians.
BS – How many of those mass executions were carried out while those being executed were still armed?
You are a bigoted hypocrite Stan. You have no problem carrying firearms while working paid security, yet make baseless claims about how your fellow Americans are dangerous and shouldn’t be allowed to carry.
You’ve also done an excellent job of abandoning debate both here and at every single post you’ve made on your blog. Your inability to defend your positions is indicative of just how baseless and without merit those positions really are.
Posted by mike w. on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
Linoge – No kidding. The deadliest school massacre in history was committed not with firearms but explosives. Supply-side restrictions simply DO NOT WORK. They have never worked throughout all of history.
Posted by sevesteen on 05.02.10 at 11:01 AM
If you are going to get training prior to CCW, I would have a slight preference for taking the training before buying a gun–you will likely get exposed to a wider variety of guns, and may discover that you are an ace with a revolver, or that the trigger of an XD suits you better than a Glock. You may also (hopefully) learn why a Jiminez/Davis/Bryco is so cheap…
Holsters are difficult. A cheap holster isn’t all that similar to a good one. If I based my view of IWB carry on the Uncle Mike’s I’ve tried, I wouldn’t have an IWB on right now. i would join a gun forum and get recommendations from people with a similar build and gun.