Texas concealed handgun permit applications up 39%

[peejay 327]

Texas caught off guard as more seek handgun permits

Some point to anti-gun politics as applications rise 39 percent and swamp the state

By JANET ELLIOTT

2008 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — Demand for concealed handgun licenses has risen nearly 40 percent in Texas in a year, an increase being attributed to many factors, even presidential politics.

Though the exact cause may be unclear, what's certain is that the spike in applications has caught the Department of Public Safety unprepared.

The state is taking a month longer than the 60 days allowed by law to process original applications and 80 days longer on renewals, which are supposed to be handled within 45 days.

"We're trying really hard, but there have been delays because of the tremendous increase in applications," said Tela Mange, a DPS spokeswoman.

She said the department is paying overtime and hiring temporary workers to reduce the backlog. Mange said she doesn't know why applications last month were 39 percent higher than they were in April 2007.

But Ross Bransford, who trains 1,000 Texans a year to qualify for a concealed handgun license, said he believes the looming 2008 election is a big factor.

"People are not sure what's going to happen after the election," said Bransford, who owns Austin-based CHL-Texas.com. "Both Democratic candidates are anti-gun in one fashion or another."

He said Sen. Barack Obama, who is leading the race for the nomination, is a "friend of (Democratic Senator) Ted Kennedy, and that scares everybody to death."

Other instructors mentioned an increased interest from young adults after last year's Virginia Tech massacre and recent changes in Texas law about carrying concealed weapons.

In 2007, lawmakers granted privacy to the 258,000 license holders by closing records that had been public since the concealed handgun law passed in 1995. They also extended the so-called "castle doctrine" defense to persons who use a gun to protect their vehicles, in addition to their homes.

45 minutes on hold

Alice Tripp, legislative director for the Texas State Rifle Association, the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association, said she hears daily from frustrated members about the delay in getting licenses.

She said some have been put on hold for 45 minutes when they called DPS to inquire about their licenses.

"They are really quite alarmed and annoyed," Tripp said. "They sat on hold, and had gotten no answers."

Last month, she took her group's concerns to a meeting with DPS officials, Gov. Rick Perry's legislative director Ken Armbrister and House Law Enforcement Chairman Joe Driver.

Driver, R-Garland, is demanding weekly reports from DPS on license applications. During the week that ended Friday, DPS said it processed 1,043 original and renewal applications but received 1,871 requests.

"I was very surprised at how far behind they are," Tripp said.

Renewal every 5 years

She said she can't understand why it is taking so long for renewals, because people with handgun licenses are continually checked against criminal databases and other records. Licenses must be renewed every five years.

"If you find yourself subject to a protective order, someone will knock on your door and take your license," she said.

Mange urged license applicants to use the DPS Web site to enter basic information required on the permit. Tripp said her members who have used the Web site tell her it does not speed the process.

Tripp said there is no grace period for expired handgun licenses.

Everyone seeking a license, and certain renewals, must take classes that cover safety, state law and conflict resolution. They must submit fingerprints, which DPS sends to the FBI for a background check, and a photo. They must carry their license when they carry a concealed handgun. There are some restrictions as to where concealed handguns can be carried in Texas.

Applicant's suspicions

Ron Freeman, a CPA who lives in Wimberley, said he was asked twice to redo fingerprints that were taken at a local constable's office.

He finally agreed to DPS' suggestion that he use an electronic fingerprint device run by a private company.

"I have a feeling that the Department of Public Safety is using the process as a filter to keep people from even having a gun," said Freeman, 60, who moved to Texas from Arizona last year.

Marsha McCartney, who represents the North Texas Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said she was surprised to learn that so many more Texans are applying to carry guns.

However, McCartney said she is more concerned about an expected battle in the next legislative session over whether the law should be changed to allow college students to carry guns on campus.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5762984.html

[almaty 19]

wow, i thought everyone was apcking in texas, or is that just houston

[peejay 327]

wow, i thought everyone was apcking in texas, or is that just houston

We gotta do something to turn back the invasion of illegal aliens.

This increase must be attributed to the bitter folks that, "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Definitely not the "Obama demographic."

[Heracles 417]

This increase must be attributed to the bitter folks that, "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

:rofl:

Texas obviously does not want to end up like some NE inner city ghetto. The state would shoot the ghettos out.

Edited May 8, 2008 by Boo-Yah!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

This increase must be attributed to the bitter folks that, "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

:rofl:

Texas obviously does not want to end up like some NE inner city ghetto. The state would shoot the ghettos out.

I dunno - Texas has some pretty gnarly cities. You ever been to El Paso?

[peejay 327]

This increase must be attributed to the bitter folks that, "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

:rofl:

Texas obviously does not want to end up like some NE inner city ghetto. The state would shoot the ghettos out.

I dunno - Texas has some pretty gnarly cities. You ever been to El Paso?

Have you ever passed over El Paso in an airplane? I did on a Southwest flight to LA in 1992. It looks a hell of a lot worst on the other side of the river. From the air parts of Ciudad Juárez look like a shanty town of migrants waiting to swim across the river when the sun goes down.

Houston has some pretty scary parts to it too. If you don't look like you belong in the 'hood...you best stay the #### out.

[General Cornwalls 0]

Interesting that the election should be mentioned.

My brother-in-law and my father-in-law are stockpiling arms and ammunition because they think there'll be violence if Obama gets in and violence if he doesn't.

[SaadBell 0]

GUNS ARE FUN

[Heracles 417]

I seriously think this country is going to have another civil war at one time or another.

Or we are going to team up and take down San Fran. I call it reclaiming America.

Edited May 8, 2008 by Boo-Yah!

[Heracles 417]

Houston has some pretty scary parts to it too. If you don't look like you belong in the 'hood...you best stay the #### out.

People have let the country slide since the 60's. You should be sending in SWAT teams and reclaiming those areas.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

An armed society is a polite society.

[Kevin and 10]

An armed society is a polite society.

They behave because you never know who's carrying.

[Scott & Lai 12]

I seriously think this country is going to have another civil war at one time or another.

Or we are going to team up and take down San Fran. I call it reclaiming America.

they have practically ceded from the union

Houston has some pretty scary parts to it too. If you don't look like you belong in the 'hood...you best stay the #### out.

People have let the country slide since the 60's. You should be sending in SWAT teams and reclaiming those areas.

An armed society is a polite society.

They behave because you never know who's carrying.

Edited May 8, 2008 by Scott & Lai

[DeadPoolX 9]

This increase must be attributed to the bitter folks that, "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

:rofl:

Texas obviously does not want to end up like some NE inner city ghetto. The state would shoot the ghettos out.

I dunno - Texas has some pretty gnarly cities. You ever been to El Paso?

Have you ever passed over El Paso in an airplane? I did on a Southwest flight to LA in 1992. It looks a hell of a lot worst on the other side of the river. From the air parts of Ciudad Juárez look like a shanty town of migrants waiting to swim across the river when the sun goes down.

Houston has some pretty scary parts to it too. If you don't look like you belong in the 'hood...you best stay the #### out.

That's why you don't go into the Fifth Ward unless you have a full battalion with you at all times.

[peejay 327]

This increase must be attributed to the bitter folks that, "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

:rofl:

Texas obviously does not want to end up like some NE inner city ghetto. The state would shoot the ghettos out.

I dunno - Texas has some pretty gnarly cities. You ever been to El Paso?

Have you ever passed over El Paso in an airplane? I did on a Southwest flight to LA in 1992. It looks a hell of a lot worst on the other side of the river. From the air parts of Ciudad Juárez look like a shanty town of migrants waiting to swim across the river when the sun goes down.

Houston has some pretty scary parts to it too. If you don't look like you belong in the 'hood...you best stay the #### out.

That's why you don't go into the Fifth Ward unless you have a full battalion with you at all times.

Actually, during daylight hours I pretty much go wherever I want to anywhere in the city within common sense. In many of these areas the only give away that you are entering the "dead zone" is the abundance of spray painted grafitti and the razor wire adorning the tops of the fences in the area. However, when the sun goes down the sh*theads crawl out from under their rocks like cockroaches to do crimes. Like a sick plot from a horror movie you had best be locked away in a safe place when the sun goes down.

I live in an inner city neighborhood in Houston and know all too well the routine. Places I go into in daylight within a couple of miles from my house, I avoid like the plague after dark. It was one of the many things I had to teach my wife when she got here.

Actually I live in a nice house in a nice neighborhood with great neighbors on our street, but when the city decentralized the Section 8 projects and dispersed them throughout the city it spread the ghetto into pockets all over the city. Misery loves company...doesn't it? It was supposed to expose the ghetto to middle class values. As with most grand visions of the politicians, it hasn't meshed with reality.

And, of course, the Obama's, Kennedy's, and Dean's of the world scurry off to their wealthy enclaves while imposing their social experiments on the masses. Eloquent speeches don't impress me one iota. I'm too old for that nonsense. Too much water has passed under my bridge.