TexasCHLforum.com

First of all, let me say that I genuinely appreciate the existence of this forum. Having been laid off twice in the last 14 months, I have a little time to kill and reading these has certainly helped pass some time. I decided to get my CHL, went through the discussions with the boss and the ex-boss, and took the class. Did the application and sent it in on July 7th. Didn't send it registered/receipt requested, but called and they said they got it and all was well. Never received a PIN and called again. They emailed me the PIN. During the call the person said my pictures were good and it looked like every thing was moving right along with mine. Interesting to hear that, given what I have been reading here.......I'll keep ya'll posted as it goes. Still way early in the game for me. Been practicing around the house carrying concealed, nothing fancy, just a little Blackhawk IWB holster for now. It seems to fit and conceal pretty well. Inside the holster is a Beretta 92G Centaurian. Nice little gun. Some might say a bit large for carry, but if I can hide it, I can carry it.

My wife has decided that since I am not currently employed, there are some other things I can do to ease the pain of waiting. Painting the inside of the house and such . Several days of my life there that I'll never get back. Seriously, though, I hope the DPS and counties have gotten their act together. I asked about the wait when I called them, and say said they were adding/had added some more staff. We'll see how that goes. Pretty clean app on my part, one address in Tarrant County, work in both Tarrant and Dallas Counties.

Once again, thanks to all for all the information on this site, and good luck to all in the "Waiting Room"!

well lonewolf ,
it looks like your'e taking everything in stride .

good luck to you , and i hope your wait is a short one .

Update in the status of my supposedly pending CHL. I call, send letters and they all tell me the same thing. There is nothing they can do. I ask the DPS personel I am talking to at the time. " Don't the people who do the field checks work for you? Don't they get paid by our checks? So lets say next time we don't send them the check until after the app is finished? wouldn't you say to us.. Whoa wait a second.. no money, no processing! Well I say you shouldn't get the money until after that bit of plastic has been sent out or denied. After all we have to follow law. Why don't you. " So she sputtered and coughed. Silence on the phone. Then she comes back. " We are following the law. And we cannot help it if the Harris county field agents are busy. " Oh but it goes on and on... I call daily. Wait 15 to 30 min's on hold until I get to speak with a rep who says " Didn't you call us Yesterday?" And I reply with. " Yes I did. I am checking on my CHL Status." They tell me some excuse or another. The last being some progress with "It is sill in print." They cant give me a estimated time of completion. Apparently they have no concept of time and the law. Or at least they think they are above the law. It is well past 90 days for me. As well as for many of the other CHL hopefuls out there. Then I hear the stories of those who get theirs within 6 weeks and I wonder why. What did they do different? Was it their connections? What happened to everyone being treated Equal? * Sighs* Ok ok enough ranting from me.. here is the update.

Jo

Class taken: 12/15/08
App mailed: 12/19/08
Check cashed: 12/23/08
Resent DD214: 2/03/09
app completed: xx/xx/09 ( Still waiting) I call DPS daily and they tell me it is in Print now as of 8/05/09. I am extremely frustrated.
Plastic in hand: xx/xx/09

Good grief Jo* what a horror story. Sorry to hear, and I feel your pain. I hope you get it muy pronto.

there's just no excuse for that

I take most everything in stride. Have to. After all, you can't fight the weather, it just is....Dealing with government bureaucracies is much the same. When they want it, they want it NOW. When you want it, you have to wait until its convenient for someone. I can't stand to go to any government office for anything. My tax dollars at work. Even though I am not at work, losing money.

It's like having a doctor's appointment at 10 a.m. and not being seen until 11 a.m. I get there at 9:30 hoping to minimize the wait, but that is to no avail. Of course, if I show up 10 minutes late, they have let someone else in, cancelled my appointment, and charged me for the cancellation. There are never any excuses, never any apologies. If any company I worked for operated that way, they would be out of business. With good reason.

Both of my brothers live in Houston, and did well enough through the hurricane. One had power back inside of four hours, the other within two weeks. No serious damage. The company I worked for at the time sent MANY generators down there from all our locations to augment power for critical usage. I can see Galveston County having troubles, but Harris County has no excuses for the apparent delays. There are many good folks down there without jobs that can qualify to pull background checks and need a job. They don't want a lot of money, just a little more than unemployment pays and the knowledge they have a job and are contributing to society and providing for their families. Get rid of two present government employees that spend all their time googling on the internet or on the cell phone with their friends/family and they could afford to hire 5 or 6 good, productive hourly workers.

Just my $.02

lonewolf wrote:I take most everything in stride. Have to. After all, you can't fight the weather, it just is....Dealing with government bureaucracies is much the same. When they want it, they want it NOW. When you want it, you have to wait until its convenient for someone. I can't stand to go to any government office for anything. My tax dollars at work. Even though I am not at work, losing money.

It's like having a doctor's appointment at 10 a.m. and not being seen until 11 a.m. I get there at 9:30 hoping to minimize the wait, but that is to no avail. Of course, if I show up 10 minutes late, they have let someone else in, cancelled my appointment, and charged me for the cancellation. There are never any excuses, never any apologies. If any company I worked for operated that way, they would be out of business. With good reason.

Both of my brothers live in Houston, and did well enough through the hurricane. One had power back inside of four hours, the other within two weeks. No serious damage. The company I worked for at the time sent MANY generators down there from all our locations to augment power for critical usage. I can see Galveston County having troubles, but Harris County has no excuses for the apparent delays. There are many good folks down there without jobs that can qualify to pull background checks and need a job. They don't want a lot of money, just a little more than unemployment pays and the knowledge they have a job and are contributing to society and providing for their families. Get rid of two present government employees that spend all their time googling on the internet or on the cell phone with their friends/family and they could afford to hire 5 or 6 good, productive hourly workers.

Just my $.02

renewal:
DPS received renewal paperwork 6/9/09
Got plastic today 65 days later

20 days late then law dictates Government Code 411.185 (c).

It is pretty sad state of affairs when the very organization that is out giving us tickets for violating the law can't seem to respect the law enough to obey it! If you don't believe it look at the number of posts in the 100+ club.

Well, 2 days after joining you guys in the waiting room, my on-line status changed from "Processing Application" to "Application Complete-license issued or certificate active". So I guess that means another month or so to mail it back and I should be golden!

Class completed--3-28-09
Packet Mailed--4-01-09
Application Complete--8-13-09
Plastic in hand--00-00-09

I am a small business owner, and if I tried to run my business the way the government runs theirs, I would be out on the street. "Pay $140 and you get your license whenever we get around to it." Nice. It helps to have no competition I suppose!

karder wrote:Well, 2 days after joining you guys in the waiting room, my on-line status changed from "Processing Application" to "Application Complete-license issued or certificate active". So I guess that means another month or so to mail it back and I should be golden!

more like a few days .

congratulations .

You're getting real close karder. Shouldn't be long now!

Received my PIN in the mail today. It's been about a month since I mailed my packet in. The letter was typed on 4 Aug and post marked the 10th. Arrived today on the 13th. Status online says, "processing application"....waiting....

USA1 wrote:

karder wrote:Well, 2 days after joining you guys in the waiting room, my on-line status changed from "Processing Application" to "Application Complete-license issued or certificate active". So I guess that means another month or so to mail it back and I should be golden!

more like a few days .

congratulations .

Yep. What USA1 said.

The change to "App Complete - etc" happens AFTER the certificate comes back from the printer and has been checked for correctness. The only step left in the process is throwing the envelope in the outgoing mail.

Congratulations! Looks like nachos for you next week! Good luck at Walla Walla World! Looking forward to my own stroll through there someday.....

karder wrote:Well, 2 days after joining you guys in the waiting room, my on-line status changed from "Processing Application" to "Application Complete-license issued or certificate active". So I guess that means another month or so to mail it back and I should be golden!

Class completed--3-28-09
Packet Mailed--4-01-09
Application Complete--8-13-09
Plastic in hand--00-00-09

I am a small business owner, and if I tried to run my business the way the government runs theirs, I would be out on the street. "Pay $140 and you get your license whenever we get around to it." Nice. It helps to have no competition I suppose!

which county are you in?