TEXAS LEOSA CERTIFICATION

since there has been a lot of discussion regarding LEOSA, I wanted to once again share some information for those LEO's who retired from agencies outside Texas and now live in Texas.

I just received my TCLOSE card today. I shot a qual course on 7-18 so it took only 16 days to get the card. I had been and going back to Florida to qualify at my Department which was one of the two ways to qualify. RBMAC told me about how to do so in Texas and I took him up and did so.

As a Texas CHL instructor I can qualify retired guys and have made the offer to do so and hope some of you will take me up on it. It was a very simple procedure and it was very easy to comply with.

Very nice looking card too.

it takes 16 days to get the qualification card for LEOSA in Texas?

HeyJoe said:

it takes 16 days to get the qualification card for LEOSA in Texas?

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well I had to send an application to TCLOSE for a an assignment number. I called them after a few weeks and asked if they had assigned me one. The lady I spoke to was quite pleasant and said most people send in the application for assigment when they send in the qualification documents. I did not know that.....

I shot the course on 7-18 I received the card yesterday. That was 16 days. I will assume based on my conversation with TCLOSE that if I had sent in the application for assignment number then it would have taken about as long. Now that I have the assignment number I do not need to get a new one. That is apparently my permanent number.

Pretty quick if you ask me

we get ours as soon as we finish qualifying, in other words the same day.

HeyJoe said:

we get ours as soon as a we finish qualifying, in other words the same day.

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'

How so? Just curious as to what process......Are you talking about card issued by the State or the qualification form....what form?/

the photo qualification card is issued by the agency that you qualified with before you leave the range that day listing the type of firearm that you qualified with, revolver, pistol or both.

This one:

www.tcleose.state.tx.us/forms/retired_federal_firearms.doc

Ok guys and gals who want to qualify under LEOSA in Texas. I think there has been some confusion on the process. Im going to spell it out so as to clear up misuderstanding.

1. You are retired from LEO Federal Agency, that falls under LEOSA

2. You are a retired LEO State, local etc that falls under LEOSA but the agency was not in Texas.

3. You now live in Texas

4. You can not get your Federal Agency to qualify you, but they did issue you retired credentials

5. You can not return to your agency because of any reason, travel, money, distance etc or they wont qualify you if you do go back.

6. You go to the TCLOSE web site, down load the application for PID, down load the qualification form.

7. Call me or any Texas CHL instructor. ( I do it for free)

8. Shoot the 50 round qualification course that is spelled out on the qualification form.

9. Submit a "certified or notarized copy" of your retirement credentials to TCLOSE along with a passport type photo and $25.00, and they will send you a certification card. The certification card does not specify any type of weapon. it is not a CHL. It is a card that you carry along with your Department issued identification that would tell a police officer that you are current and qualified under LEOSA and qualified to the minimum standards set by Texas for Law Enforcement Officers.

Some retired guys choose to get a CHL, and it only costs 25.00 but they must qualify yearly. The CHL would specify semi auto or revolver...BUT THE TCLOSE CARD DOES NOT..........IT EXPIRES ON THE LAST DAY OF THE MONTH ONE YEAR FROM THE DATE OF QUALIFICATION...I qualified on 7-18-2011 my TCLOSE card is good until 7-31-2012, I have a Texas CHL, its good until 2013, it does not authorize me to carry in California where there is no reciprocity with Texas.....The TCLOSE card and my retired ID does as long as Im am TCLOSE current. ( and just for fun I qualify at my out of State department too.)

Hope this clears things up. My question to HEYJOE was because he said he gets the card on the same day. Im not sure what card he speaks of or from whom he qualified..perhaps some DPS qualifications run by Texas issue cards on the same day. If so Im not aware of them

jdh said:

This one:

www.tcleose.state.tx.us/forms/retired_federal_firearms.doc

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Im familair with the form. please see my detailed response.That is exactly the form. In Texas a retired officer can obtain a CHL. The fee is 25.00, but he must renew the CHL yearly by qualifying. If that same officer has no CHL and has retired credentials he can qualify and carry under LEOSA and TCLOSE will send him a certification card. Again it is not a CHL and no CHL is needed........Im not 100% certain of this....but if the retired Officer chooses to get a "CHL" Texas mandates a 10-15 hour course. I believe although Im not totaly sure that retired officers do not have to sit through the class........they just shoot the qualification course. If any one knows the definitive answer to that let me know....but here is the problem......retired guy/gal goes to California, NJ, IL some place like that. They have their retired credentials and a CHL...get stopped by some local yokel and show CHL and retired credentials.....the local guy says its not good because he cant determine by the CHL that the retired guy qualifed to the standards of LEO's in the State in which he lives or was not qualified by his Department. He will beat the rap not the ride because yes, he would be in compliance since its the same course of fire.

The TCLOSE card actually says the retired officer is in compliance with LEOSA, but for some reason does not have the type weapon on it. That record is not even on the qualification document......my Department issues me a card with type on it and the qualification record also includes the gun I used, make model and SN...so when outside of a reciprocal state that is exactly what I carry

im not in Texas. I was pointing out the difference between Texas and where i live and qualify. We go to qualify, we can bring a revolver, a semi auto or both. In the law it states that you can carry the type of gun that you qualified with, so i dont know how you can carry any type gun under LEOSA if you havent qualified with that type. After qualifying we are issued a photo id card from the agency or the qualified police firearms instructor who conducted the qualification before we leave. we have it in our hand that day. There is a 24 hour phone number on the back so that if you are out of state it can be verified that you did qualify. The card is good for one year to the day that you qualified. The state does not issue a card for qualification. The state does not charge anything since it has no involvement. The agency or certified police firearms instructor charges what they want to conduct the qualification and issues the card. Texas has a more complicated system but it is not that much more complicated and they do have a good feature which is that your card doesnt expire until the end of the month you qualified. Unless you have someone like Jim willing to qualify you, then Texas is probably more expensive to qualify than here because you have to pay the person who wualifies you and also the state of Texas to get the card.

Nothing that i posted is a criticism of Jim. I think it is a great service that he does in a friendly environment and if i lived in Texas I would take him up on his offer. I wish that there were more people like Jim out there and here where i am also. I was just comparing what is done in Texas with what is done here.

No criticism was taken Joe and certainly no offense was taken....I just wanted to make sure guys in Texas understood the process. Your right it does cost a bit. I was ok under my Department and when I heard CHL Instructors could do this I thought I would find one just so I would know the process. it only takes a moment to dowload the forms from the website. The problem is, that 99% of CHL Instructors dont know they can do this......and 99.5% of retired folks dont know they can either.

Too bad LEOSA did not mandate qualifications but that is another story....This whole problem could simply be fixed by making the law read qualified by a certified State or NRA Instructor......but nah thats too easy for the government...and I was surprised to find that the card does not mention weapon type.....

The problem I and other retirees from certain federal agencies have is with the definition of peace officer in Texas law. I have a retired ID card that says Law Enforcement Officer on the card, however since I was not a "special investigator" Texas does not consider us peace officers. As a result of this TCLOSE will NOT issue us a qual card. Our agency forgets we exist as soon as the gate slams shut behind us and will not allow us to qualify with them.

Limbo and Catch 22 come to mind.

Sorry I posted the link to the TCLOSE form. I will now shut up and go back to lurking in the shadows.

jdh said:

The problem I and other retirees from certain federal agencies have is with the definition of peace officer in Texas law. I have a retired ID card that says Law Enforcement Officer on the card, however since I was not a "special investigator" Texas does not consider us peace officers. As a result of this TCLOSE will NOT issue us a qual card. Our agency forgets we exist as soon as the gate slams shut behind us and will not allow us to qualify with them.

Limbo and Catch 22 come to mind.

Sorry I posted the link to the TCLOSE form. I will now shut up and go back to lurking in the shadows.

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I dont what Federal agency you are retired from, but It is my understanding if that agency falls within the definitions of the LEOSA act then you would qualify. The LEOSA card actually says "has met the minimum proficiency standards for peace officers as required in Commission rule 217.21 (C) and has demonstrated said proficiency" it does not say you have to have been a "Peace Officer" The application for the card where you get your PID number if for retired Federal or Out of State.

I hope that helps. Did you apply and get denied?

To answer your question, TCLOSE will only issues a qual card to those listed in CCP 2.21
CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE  CHAPTER 2. GENERAL DUTIES OF OFFICERS
And if they are in a good mood those on the list in 2.122

No where on either list will you find mention of Federal Bureau of Prisons. I have not sent in the form. I called before I sent in the form. I was told not to send the form as they would not issue a card to non-peace officers but would keep the application fee.

jtpur said:

Im familair with the form. please see my detailed response.That is exactly the form. In Texas a retired officer can obtain a CHL. The fee is 25.00, but he must renew the CHL yearly by qualifying. If that same officer has no CHL and has retired credentials he can qualify and carry under LEOSA and TCLOSE will send him a certification card. Again it is not a CHL and no CHL is needed........Im not 100% certain of this....but if the retired Officer chooses to get a "CHL" Texas mandates a 10-15 hour course. I believe although Im not totaly sure that retired officers do not have to sit through the class........they just shoot the qualification course. If any one knows the definitive answer to that let me know....but here is the problem......retired guy/gal goes to California, NJ, IL some place like that. They have their retired credentials and a CHL...get stopped by some local yokel and show CHL and retired credentials.....the local guy says its not good because he cant determine by the CHL that the retired guy qualifed to the standards of LEO's in the State in which he lives or was not qualified by his Department. He will beat the rap not the ride because yes, he would be in compliance since its the same course of fire.

The TCLOSE card actually says the retired officer is in compliance with LEOSA, but for some reason does not have the type weapon on it. That record is not even on the qualification document......my Department issues me a card with type on it and the qualification record also includes the gun I used, make model and SN...so when outside of a reciprocal state that is exactly what I carry

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Just trying to help others find it.

Just got my TX qual renewal card. Took exactly one month. TX makes it easy. Might stop by for my qual with you next year; there's an In-and Out Burger place in Dallas.
Bob

I may do the same. I will be moving to either Texas or South Dakota for their nice friendly retiree tax laws next year. I have been LEOSA certified in Arizona since 06