2007 Goes into History

Texas Travel Law
By
Gary W. Burris

One of the most misunderstood parts of the Texas Concealed Handgun law is the part dealing with travel. At least that is one of the most questioned parts of the CHL course that I teach. The Travel law was slightly modified and clarified and the changes went into effect the 1st of September, 2007.

Laying all the legal mumbo-jumbo aside, the law simply says that if you are in your vehicle, you are considered to be traveling. The gun you have in that vehicle must be concealed but you do not have to have a CHL. You are able to transport the gun concealed from your place of residence to the vehicle and back but you may not otherwise carry it concealed outside your vehicle unless you have a CHL.

You are not protected by the travel law against carrying a firearm illegally if you cannot legally own a firearm or are involved in anything illegal, other than a Class “C” offense (traffic violation), or if you are a member of a street gang, or are a mentally deficient person.

The other part of the law that was changed is that you no longer have to prove that you were traveling. This burden lies with the state or county or city to prove that you were not traveling and thus are guilty of carrying a concealed gun illegally.

The travel law is very clearly defined in the code. However, there is so much misunderstanding and misinterpretation associated with this law that I highly recommend that everyone get a CHL and then there is no question when you have a concealed gun in your car.

It may surprise you to know that law enforcement officers in many jurisdictions do not know or understand this law. And it may cost you a considerable amount in lawyer fees to clear things up if you are wrongly accused of illegally carrying a concealed weapon.

I’ve been known to leave my car gun in my wife’s car. So without her knowledge she could have been breaking the law prior to the change that went into effect on one September.

Consider getting a Concealed Handgun License even if you will only carry in the vehicle. You might avoid a lot of problems.

Display CHL to Law Enforcement
By
Gary W. Burris

Concealed Handgun License holders who have a handgun on or about their person are required by Texas law to show both their driver’s license and their CHL when asked for identification by a law enforcement officer. You do not have to show your CHL if you don’t have a handgun with you.

But my question is: Why wouldn’t you show both even if you don’t have a gun with you at the time?

Let’s assume you’re not carrying a handgun but you have committed a minor traffic violation and you see the telltale red and blue flashing light bar in your rear view mirror. And being a normally law abiding citizen you dutifully pull safely to the side of the road, roll your window down and wait with both hands on the steering wheel and the overhead light on, if its dark.

The chances are good that the officer has already run your automobile license plate and if it is registered to you, he probably knows that you are a CHL holder. When he asked for identification I would give both the driver’s license and my CHL explaining that I don’t currently have a handgun with me. That should put the officer at ease because he knows that an extensive background check has been done on you in order to get the CHL in the first place and you probably just made a stupid mistake and are not a career criminal.

Now let’s say that the officer did not run your vehicle license plate and simply asked you for identification and you hand him you vehicle operators license. He will then run it through the computer system to see if it is valid and check for any outstanding warrants. And bingo the computer will indicate that you are also a CHL holder. At that time he will come and ask you if you have a handgun.

If you do have a handgun on or about your person, you are subject to suspension of your permit and the officer might get very upset. If you don’t have a handgun you are within your rights not to display the CHL when asked for identification. But again, why go through all the hassle? I don’t know about you, but I want to make friends with the officer in hopes that he will overlook my small indiscretion.

Running an IDPA club is no easy task unless you have quality help. No one individual can do everything required to run a club. And believe me, I’ve tried. Let’s review some of what it took to get the Tactical Shooters Club going.

When I started out I had a minimal amount of help. I paid the club affiliation fee, bought insurance, storage shed, target stands, targets, staplers, tape, sticks, timers, clipboards and everything else it took to run a match out of my own pocket. The club now is pretty much self supporting. But recovering my investment is slow. I’m not really complaining. I could recoup my investment much faster if I charged the shooters more to compete. But I don’t want to do that because it costs them about $18 to shoot now. Only $2 or $3 dollars of that goes to the club and the rest is paid directly to the range owner in range fees. There is no intention to make the club profitable. As long as it continues to pay its own way, that is all I could ask for.

We shoot on an indoor range that somewhat limits what scenarios we can shoot. It is only 10 bays wide and 50 feet deep. Basically, we have to keep all the shots in the bullet trap, so we do a lot of skills type scenarios as well as regular scenarios. I will never complain about not having enough room after having gone to the Arkansas Winter match in Springdale a couple of times. They conduct a great regional IDPA match on a range that is smaller than the one we use. I’m fortunate to have several shooters with a lot of experience and they can always come up with a new scenario when I run out of the over 1,100 scenarios I have collected over the years.

My first objective was to find a range to hold matches. I started at an outdoor range and had a lot of difficulties with the weather. Having only one match a month and then getting half of the matches cancelled due to weather seriously impacted both wallet and membership. I then moved to an indoor range and started have matches every Tuesday evening. This has met with some success. We can get anywhere from 10 to 20 shooters every Tuesday and don’t have to worry about the weather.

My next objective was to recruit willing volunteers from the membership to help run the matches. Many of the regular shooters have taken my Safety Officer class. Now there are several who can and do run shooters through the scenarios. The club has been blessed with a lot of new shooters who become enthusiastic and want to help. I won’t try to mention all of them but I want to single out Richard Shipp or “Shorty” as he is called. Shorty exemplifies what IDPA is all about. He is the first to offer to help another shooter or to buy new target sticks for the club. He has assumed the roll of Range Master and is responsible to insure that we have everything needed to run a match. He will be seen signing up the shooters as they arrive for the match and handing out IDPA membership application forms to new shooters. Shorty can always be depended on to be there when I have to be out of town. Somehow he manages to keep everything going. I guess I will have to consider giving him a raise to reward his hard work.

I’m proud of all the shooters in the way they pitch in and help set up and break down the match. And they are not afraid to grab some tape and help patch up the targets. It is extremely helpful when some of the old hands pitch in and help new & beginner shooters to understand the rules and get them safely through the match. It is largely due to their help that we attract so many new IDPA members.

An International Defensive Pistol Association match is more than a shooting match. True, it is a competitive shooting event but the primary focus should be defensive in nature. The reason the IDPA was formed was to have a way practice defensive shooting skills while at the same time having fun doing it.

I was the Chief Safety Officer for the 2006 Italian National match. And I helped teach Italian IDPA Safety Officers in 2007. I noticed that some of my Italian friends had a slightly different view of IDPA. I got the impression that many of the Italian shooters viewed IDPA as simply another shooting competition. Not much different than IPSC, Olympic or other shooting venues. It may be that Italians are so competitive by nature that they fail to see the defensive aspects of IDPA and simply shoot to win the competition.

I understand this attitude because I was very competitive myself at one time. After more than 10 years shooting IDPA I have found why I like it so much. It is not the competition it is the people I have met at all the matches. I still enjoy winning but now if I win or lose it makes little difference. I’m keeping my defensive skills sharp and I’m enjoying the fellowship of some wonderful people.

Here in Texas as in many of the other states that make up the USA, it is possible for a law abiding citizen to carry a concealed handgun for self defense if they have a concealed handgun license (CHL). I have been certified by the Texas Department of Public Safety to teach the CHL class to civilians. My students must take ten hours of classroom instruction including a shooting proficiency test. After the training an extensive background check is done by the state and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to insure that people with criminal backgrounds are not issued concealed handgun licenses. I always encourage my students to get involved in IDPA so they will become good defensive shooters. Those states that have enacted concealed carry laws have seen a reduction in violent crime. It should also be noted that areas of this country that have the most restrictive gun control laws, also have the highest crime rates.

I got my license to carry a concealed handgun in 1996. And I began looking for a way to practice self defense. The IDPA fit my needs perfectly. I could use the off-the-shelf gun I had without spending a lot of money to have it tricked out for competitive shooting. IDPA rules for handguns used in competition are based on stock guns. The scenarios that the IDPA uses in competition are supposed to be defensive in nature. In other words, these courses of fire should be something that could happen in real life like a home invasion, car jacking or robbery.

2007 Goes into History
By
Gary W. Burris

I wanted to review the events of the year as 2007 fades into the past. It has been a year of extremes for me with many memorable events both high and low times.

The Tactical Shooters Club has grown over the last year with new shooters joining almost every week. I’ve made a lot of new friends and we are now sponsoring an IDPA match twice a week. As you can imagine it would be impossible to manage if it were not for the help received from people like Shorty Shipp and George Gibbons who have assumed the rolls of Range Master and Assistant Range Master. I call them my Range Bitches but only because they enjoy the titles. They can be counted on to keep things going in my absence. Thanks for all your help guys.

The year started on a high note with a deer hunting trip when my old pal Johnny Van Etta invited me to go to his deer lease. It was a successful trip and one that will stand out in my memory.

The Thursday evening ladies only introduction to IDPA shooting was also a highlight of the year. And after they learned almost everything I could teach them we opened Thursdays to all IDPA shooters. We still use that time as mostly a training session but now shooters of both genders can take advantage of the opportunity.

I was in Italy again to give Safety Officer training. I made some wonder friends and had a great time. This time I was accompanied by Robert Ray from IDPA Headquarters and Franco D’anna from Michigan who served as interpreter. I’ll have more about my new acquaintances in Italy later.

Not long after my return from Italy my father fell ill and was admitted to the hospital. I drove to Oklahoma City to visit with him. His wife of 63 years and his two children were at his bedside when he passed away. It was an emotional time for me but as I looked back on his 85 years I had to admit that he really did have a wonder life.

Less than six weeks later my mother was admitted to the hospital. I returned to Oklahoma City to visit mom. She appeared to me to have lost the will to continue on without dad. I returned to Houston and a couple of days later my sister called and told me that she died. Again it was an emotional rollercoaster ride, as you can imagine having to bury both your parents within a six week period of time.

I really needed to have an uplifting experience so when my old friend Roger Peterson invited me to his cabin in Canada for some fishing, I jumped at the opportunity. I invited Johnny Van Etta to go with me mainly because we have traveled many a mile together and he had invited me to go hunting with him earlier in the year. I have to put the Canadian fishing trip on the plus side of the column for great adventures.

When I was in Bologna, Italy this year I met Girogio Simoni the owner of Armeria Zanotti. He makes handmade side-by-side shotguns. I also met Simone Ciucchi who is my main contact with Zanotti. Simone is a sergeant with the Bologna police department. They asked me to try to find someone in the US to be their representative. And after a couple of failed attempts to find someone suitable, they asked if I wouldn’t take on the responsibility. I agreed and started Zanotti USA a representative of Armeria Zanotti. I have arranged a booth in February at the Shot Show in Las Vegas, Nevada and another in May at the NRA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. My plan is to attend the EXA gun show in Italy in April. I’ll be attending other local gun shows in and around Houston in the coming year. Zanotti is sending me three of their shotguns to take to the gun shows. I’m very excited to be a part of the gun industry.

Another issue I have agreed to help my Italian friends with is starting something similar to the National Rifle Association in Italy. Their gun laws are rather confusing but still better than someplace like England or France. They need an organization with some political influence to help make things better. To that end I am in the process of arranging to have the President of NRA, Mr. John C. Sigler, and possibly the Executive Vice President, Wayne LaPierre attend the EXA show in Italy to take part in a conference with FISAT the Italian federation of shooting disciplines that hope to form NRA ILA Italy. Assuming we can make this happen the Italian NRA organization would be completely stand-alone and not affiliated with NRA in the US. They are only seeking some help with organization and direction from NRA US.

Well this year has been interesting to say the least. And I’m excited to see what 2008 has in store for me. My wish is that all my friends both here and abroad take time to enjoy the past great times and I wish them all a joyous and happy New Year.