tommyg wrote:I think it is stupid to give someone a license to carry if they can't
show that they are competent to load fire and carry safely
Why not? You don't need a license to speak just to prove that you won't speak irresponsibly. You don't think that speech is as dangerous as guns? Have you ever been in the middle of an actual riot which was incited by speech?
I hate the idea of having to have a license, pay a fee, or take a class. I believe completely in constitutional carry. BUT......... the
reality of it is that we
do have a licensing law and other restrictions on the books. Another
reality is that government, no matter how conservative, does not easily
relinquish power once it has taken it, so any attempt to get constitutional carry passed in Texas is going to be a fight. For cryin' out loud, THIS state has a person like Wendy Davis running for goobernator, and the
DNC (they may be evil, but they are not stupid) thinks she is the best opportunity in decades to turn Texas "treason blue." Constitutional carry will never pass as long as Joe Strauss calls himself a republican and keeps getting reelected, and as long as the alleged "conservatives" in the legislature keep voting him in as Speaker. It will
certainly never pass if Davis somehow wins.
As badly as I want it, I am a realist and understand that Constitutional Carry is dead on arrival in Texas. No matter how badly some of us want it, there just aren't enough right-minded people to get it passed. Sorry......that's just a
fact.
SO...... what does that say about our licensing laws? We have a legislature which is (like most of legislatures) jealous of its prerogatives. When people try circumvent the legislature's intent, the legislature WILL react. You can take that to the bank. Their reaction won't be one of "Oh, they're right....we're too restrictive and we need to loosen things up." No, it will be a negative one, and they'll tighten the screws even harder.
That's what governments do. It's one thing to
expect different because you have high expectations. It is quite another thing to expect different based on any kind of experience.
I expect the legislature to behave differently because I hold them to a high constitutional standard. But I don't expect them to behave different based on any kind of historical experience. You tweak their nose, and we will ALL suffer. It is the macrocosm of the Starbucks OC demonstrations. You tweak the company's nose, and now we are ALL on notice, both OCers and CCers, that we are not welcome at Starbucks because of the irresponsibility of a few OCers.
That's why I think those class offerings are a bad idea. I understand that, for some people, that may be all they can afford, but that doesn't change the fact that in a general way they are a bad idea. In fact, it was Texas vendors advertising non-resident Utah CFPs as an end-around to Texas CHL law that compelled Utah to change its own law so that non-resident licenses will not be issued to anybody who doesn't already have a license in their home state. THAT is what happens when bozos act without discretion.
TBM