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I received this from Alice Tripp after sending her my email.

Thanks very much. I wish you lived closer I'd ask you to testify tomorrow in the Senate Committee but we'll have other good folks.

Alice

You have my permission to use the ideas, in your own words, during your testimony. After writing it, I decided to send it, slightly reworded, to Alice Tripp so she could put it in the record.

Good afternoon Committe Members, I appreciate this opportunity to put a face on the impact that this bill, if passed, will have on the law abiding citizens of Texas. I have been a CHL holder for X years. I got my CHL because I am a strong believer in the Constitution and because I drive to work each day through dangerous neighborhoods. When I arrive at work, I have to disarm and lock my firearm in a safe in my car before I enter the property. I do this each day because I am a law abiding citizen, but I would obviously prefer to be armed all the time. I can't predict when, or even if, I will be attacked and need to defend myself. That is why I prefer to carry every day, all the time, everywhere I am. Right now Texas law arbitrarily disarms me at work for reasons that have more to do with fear than facts. This law proposes to remove the arbitrary barrier that assumes that bad things will never happen simply because I've crossed an imaginary barrier where guns are supposedly not allowed. We all know it's not true. Occasionally we are jolted into reality by awful events such as the massacre at Luby's in Killeen, which prompted the current Texas CHL laws or the tragedy at Virginia Tech, which prompted this proposed change in the law. The reality is that those events are extremely rare. What is much less rare is the single encounter late at night in a parking lot, the sudden attack by a drug-crazed individual intent on robbing so he can get high, the roaming predator looking for victims in the deserted halls of an office building late at night. Each individual must decide for themselves how they will deal with these events, should they happen to them. Some think the right answer is to disarm everyone, leaving them defenseless in the face of evil. They think the police should handle every problem, no matter how unrealistic that view is. I have made the decision that I will take responsibility for my own and my family's safety. I ask that you pass this bill and honor my decision. I speak for hundreds of law abiding citizens all over the state who only ask that their personal decisions be honored as well. We should not be disarmed because others are fearful. We should not be defenseless in the face of evil. We should not be treated any differently than we are in every other place where we carry legally, without incident and without notice, day after day after day. In closing, I ask that you pass this bill and level the playing field with criminals. You can trust us. We CHL holders have proven it in the 16 years that we have been carrying legally.