Got my conceal carry permit

[imabmwnut]

Got it in the mail Saturday.......feels pretty darn good!

[Spats McGee]

Woot! Now off to the Wally Walk with you!

And if I may ask, in which state are you located?

[BarryLee]

Sounds great, but be sure you read and understand the laws. Also, remember not everyone is looking at you.

[Marty8613]

Congrats. I've had mine a full two weeks.

Things I know now, that I didn't then:

It is way easier to conceal than I initially thought
CCW does not have to be small, thinner is more important than shorter.
Comfort does not take long at all
TFL is an addiction

[jnichols2]

Congrats to both of you.

It feels good, and a little cool.

But always remember the awesome responsibility of carrying a deadly weapon.

[USMC 77-81]

I've had mine for about 6 years. When those with new permits first go out in public they tend to look around a lot thus drawing attention to themselves, just act like your natural self, having a 'Wild eyed' look will draw attention to yourself making you self concious. One thing that might really help you in the beginning would be to conceal deeper than you otherwise might. I rountinely walk around in warmer weather carrying a commander 1911 dressed very light and no one looks at me twice, of course I'm in Northern Idaho but still the way you carry yourself has a lot to do with it.

[JimDandy]

Woot! Now off to the Wally Walk with you!

Careful with that one. I have the dubious honor of living in a state where the Cabelas I might patronize (less and less so because that particular location is going downhill rapidly) is probably not by coincidence located next to a Wal-Mart. Nothing fishy so far, right? Go to Cabelas, get your carry piece, strap it on, then wander next door for some range FMJ.

I found out in a roundabout way that may not be a good idea. The Wal-mart didn't carry vodka to go with the bottle of Bloody Mary mix that caught my eye wandering the aisles. When I asked where it was, I found out the Wal Mart doesn't carry it, as they're on tribal land and don't have permission from the Tribe to sell alcohol.

Now, chances are, our OP isn't in the same area I am. May not even have a lot of tribal land in his area. But I bring it up to get him/her thinking. In this case, I'm pretty lucky. This particular tribe is fairly firearms friendly. They kind-of-sort-of-mostly recognize the state issued permit, and for the rare chain of events where they wouldn't, you can get (I think shall-issue) endorsements on your state issued permit for the modest fee of $15.

There are other tribes in the area that are apparently less so. Even finding this information can be difficult. Some tribes have their tribal law on the internet, some don't. And there is some question as to what would/could actually happen to me if I was carrying, and stopped by a tribal officer. While I'd like to know the answer, I'm not interested in finding out the painful way, which may ironically be the easy way.

There's another thread going on right now about concealed carry permits, and out of state visits near a school zone. When I visit some out of state family on their farms, I'm pretty safe, but if we go into some of those incredibly small towns that have a school in them, I might not be. That's something I have to pay attention to.

What I'm getting at is - Permits are great to have. But you've still got to pay attention to where you're going. Not everywhere, even in the state that issued your permit is created equally. Not even the Walmart.

[Armed_Chicagoan]

My Illinois CCL just went active yesterday according to the Illinois State Police web site, which means it is now in the mail. Should arrive within the next few days. No, you can't carry without it physically in your possession even though your CCL status is linked to your driver's license. Just another card to cram into the wallet... yeah we have to also carry our FOID cards too even though you cannot get a CCL without a valid FOID. You would think you'd only need the CCL but this is Illinois and common sense does not apply here.

There's a bill to merge the FOID and CCL, but anti-gunners in the state legislature will oppose it just out of spite.

[motorhead0922]

Congrats to imabmwnut, Marty8613, and Armed_Chicagoan.

When I first carried, it seemed kinda creepy to do something that only a day before was a felony.

[Spats McGee]

Originally Posted by JimDandy

. . . .I found out in a roundabout way that may not be a good idea. The Wal-mart didn't carry vodka to go with the bottle of Bloody Mary mix that caught my eye wandering the aisles. When I asked where it was, I found out the Wal Mart doesn't carry it, as they're on tribal land and don't have permission from the Tribe to sell alcohol. . . .

While I have never seen a Wal-Mart that did sell alcohol, that is an interesting wrinkle that I hadn't even considered.

[imabmwnut]

I am in the northwest corner of Arkansas!

[motorhead0922]

When I visit some out of state family on their farms, I'm pretty safe, but if we go into some of those incredibly small towns that have a school in them, I might not be.

I didn't think of that when I drove through Arkansas and Tennessee last month. I would not be too worried about it though.

Walmart supercenters all have alcohol.

Highjack over...

[bitttorrrent]

When I first carried, it seemed kinda creepy to do something that only a day before was a felony.

I cant wait. I think I will feel the same. Just need to take the time to get registered .

[JimDandy]

While I have never seen a Wal-Mart that did sell alcohol, that is an interesting wrinkle that I hadn't even considered.

I suppose it depends on the state laws handling it. We just recently switched from State Run stores to public licensees. And I'm sure it is a wrinkle you've thought of, just maybe not in that way. It's an aspect we don't really cover much here, so I try and make sure to bring it up when I see people talk about recently getting their permit. I'm sure just about every state has some loophole like that in their system. Be it Indian Reservations, Army Corps of Engineer installations etc.- For example our local Ballard Locks are apparently an ACE facility. It's never happened to the best of my knowledge, but I wonder if they inspected a "live-aboard" ship transiting the locks and finding a firearm what would happen.

That's probably another sneaky little place you could (unlikely but still possibly) run into trouble.

[Armed_Chicagoan]

Mine came in the mail today. I carried when I went to the store to do some shopping simply because I could. All is well.