TexasCHLforum.com

A satisfactory outcome. Unfortunately, it took place in New Mexico where open carry is already an established fact with supporting case law. I wouldn't depend on that particular ruling to get you out of trouble here in Texas if the cops roust you for openly carrying a long gun. You might (maybe) beat the rap, but not the ride, and that's kind of what's at stake in your own proposal about patrolling your area with a long gun - not to mention any possible push-back from local residents and business owners.

ifanyonecan wrote:I'd really like it if you could provide some details with experiences on this. Or is it mostly general wisdom you're talking about? In which case, I understand better where you were coming from before.

I was talking more along the lines of general wisdom. I take my cues as much as possible from the Bible. I'm not trying to preach any theology here, but there is a lot of common wisdom to be found in the Good Book, whether or not you believe in the theology. One of those principles is when from Matthew 10:16, when Jesus is sending his disciples out to preach, and he tells them, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

Modern secular translation: "It's a dangerous world out there. Be smart, and don't get people unnecessarily riled up." That's just common wisdom. So in this context, ask yourself, "If I am walking around the streets with an openly carried shotgun (which other people are going to assume is loaded), is it smart, and will it get people unnecessarily riled up?" The most likely answer is, "It probably will get people unnecessarily riled up, therefore it might not be the smartest thing to do." Here's another one: Discretion is the bettor part of valor.

Please understand that I share the same end desire - the completely unrestricted RKBA. The problem is how we got to where we are now. The unrestricted right was infringed incrementally over a fairly long period of time. Think of the frog boiling analogy. We (gun owners) were complacent, and the opposition raised the temp of the water so slowly, we never noticed it going up. Pretty soon the water is boiling and we are in dire straights. To get back to where we were before "progressives" began trampling our rights, the incremental approach in the other direction is the better way. It requires great patience on our parts, but its effects will be more permanent. When you try to shock people into giving you want you want, more often than not, the reaction will be the opposite of what you desire.

So that is where I am coming from. I hope that helps.

ifanyonecan wrote:Rather than mocking me and questioning my ideas and what they're based on, it would be nice if you'd provide your own years of experience with openly carrying long guns. What other historical research can you provide.

I did not mock you. I pointed out a lack of experience on your part, bolstered by the question you posed. If you took offense, that was not my intent. I even said, and I quote, "I don't mean to denigrate you, and your passion for the RKBA is admirable."

As to my experience, if you're in college, then I am old enough to be your grandad. I'm not going to waste my time or yours with details. Let's just say that enough years of life experience has taught me what is wise, and what is not, and I'll leave it at that. You may, of course, do whatever you want with that.

Peace out.

pbwalker wrote:

ifanyonecan wrote:Do I have a background check and/or waiting period for buying a shotgun? Or can I walk in and walk out that day with it?

With all due respect, if you are a native Texan and you don't know the answer to that very basic question, then maybe pursuing your project at this time is not a very good idea. Wait until you are better informed about the state's gun laws. By then, you might have acquired the wisdom to believe that it is a uniquely bad idea.

I don't mean to denigrate you, and your passion for the RKBA is admirable. But it is worth pointing out that other OC activists, in California for instance, are mostly older than you, and have spent years familiarizing themselves with the laws of the state as well as the federal laws before entering into open carry activism. It doesn't sound to me like you've made that investment in time yet to be that familiar with the gun laws in Texas. If you were, the above question of yours would not need asking.

ifanyonecan wrote:

SwimFan85 wrote:ifanyonecan you can. BUT DON'T DO IT PLEASE!

Every business in Austin will post signs prohibiting guns if you open carry.

I find this hard to believe. Besides, it's unlikely they'll post enforceable 30.06 signs. Lucky for CHL holders, business owners are generally ignorant on that matter.

You find it hard to believe based on what? Years of experience? Historical research?

As to enforceable 30.06 signs, business owners are not going to remain ignorant (to the extent that they actually are ignorant; that's a dangerous assumption) for very long if you rub their noses in it. Sooner or later, one of them will ask a cop, "How can I keep people who are carrying concealed pistols from coming into my store?" And the cop will tell them to just put up a 30.06 sign. It won't take a lot of research for these folks to learn the correct wording and other specifications, and to put the signs up.

Here's the problem. You make an assumption that that business owners are stupid. For the most part, they are not, including the one typing these words on my laptop. For the most part, business owners are smarter and harder working than your average Joe, because that is what it takes to be self-employed. No, they are not stupid. What they ARE is generally uninformed about gun laws — unless they are themselves gun owners and CHLers. But while stupid is generally not a reversible condition, ignorance is.

Parading around with an unloaded pistol, which presumably only you know is unloaded, is behavior calculated, whether deliberately or not, to cause alarm in the average observer. When you cause enough alarm in enough people, watch how fast those 30.06 compliant signs will go up. When that happens, you will have had a direct hand in seeing to it that lawful CHL holders are barred from entering those business establishments.

It is a time tested axiom in the CHL community that it is better not to inform a business owner that their sign is not compliant. It is a corollary that it is better not to inform them that they even have the option of putting up a 30.06 sign. When you push them, anti-gun businesspeople will push back, and it is nothing more than whistling past the graveyard to assume that they are either stupid, or they won't.