chasfm11 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 11:05 am I've thought about Constitutional Carry in OK. I've also thought about it in Texas. Perhaps I just don't understand real day to day life but here are some of the areas that seem worthy of consideration.
1. Rules for carrying. Someone who just straps on a gun and has never had any education or done any reading about the limitations for carrying a gun might find themselves unexpectedly on the wrong side of the law. It seems hard to compare TX and OK in that regard. For example, OK has more Reservations were guns are likely prohibited. Places like Corps of Engineers property are probably more prevalent in TX, though I've never heard about a single incident of someone getting in trouble for carrying a pistol on COE land.
2. Interactions with police. One of the concerns that has been mentioned is gang-bangers being legal to carry guns with Constitutional Carry. I can see that a gang-banger without a felony record would not risk getting jail time in OK now for having a gun. But I'd guess that is is a "break-even" situation since gang-bangers were unlikely to follow the law without CC. In other States like IL, where gang-bangers in the big cities already operate outside the law, it wouldn't make much difference. I don't know if Tulsa or OK. City have similar issues, albeit on a smaller scale.
Other than that, I'd guess that life in OK after Constitutional Carry is pretty much like life was before it. A very small percentage of people who didn't want to take the trouble to get a license may be carrying guns now. But I'd bet that we have a small percentage of those in Texas, too. They are otherwise law-abiding people who either don't think that the government has a role in telling them about firearms or who just like more risk in their lives than the rest of us. And I think that is one of the biggest advantages of Constitutional Carry - it doesn't create a bunch of unnecessary "criminals". There is already a push to get large percentages of non-violent people out of jails. Someone whose only "mistake" was carrying a gun without a license should not be lumped in with those who infringe on the rights of their neighbors. JMHO.
How many people in Texas get their license and then never update themselves on changes to laws/rules? Most of the members on this forum are the exception, as we tend to be more politically active on 2A issues. But we are the exception, not the rule.