Unlicensed open carry in Texas: a proposal

[drw]

"Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defense of himself or the State; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime." -- The Texas Constitution

History and reason teach us that when law abiding citizens are armed, violent crime is reduced, and the opposite is true. Therefore, with a view to prevent crime, Texas should relax their regulations of wearing arms and remove the law against open carry.

I propose that the Texas state legislature be lobbied to enact a law that allows the unlicensed open carry of handguns by law-abiding citizens in Texas. Convicted felons and other bad guys may not carry, and the state must impose heavy punishments for those who break this law. Increase the prison sentence for crimes committed with a firearm.

An open carry law would make the citizens safer in Texas, and I think January of 2009 is a great time to get this done.

[Tactical_Texan_CHL]

There have been TONS of open carry discussions on here. Sorry, drw, but I don't know if you're going to get anywhere on this one. Not that I'm going to agree or disagree, I'll just keep my opinion to myself on this one. Just don't be offended at some of the responses that are sure to come.

[melkor41]

You mean that "if you are going to start shooting, shoot me first" sign on your hip?

[drw]

Just don't be offended at some of the responses that are sure to come.

No worries there. I'll either defend the position, or will have my position changed.

[drw]

You mean that "if you are going to start shooting, shoot me first" sign on your hip?

Yes, that's the one. If the risk is unacceptable to you, then you shouldn't be carrying openly. The open carry would only be used by those who are serious about protecting those that need protecting, at the cost of increased risk to themselves. For me, it's a suitable risk.

[DoubleJ]

how's about finding one of the 47 other OC threads and just read all 23 pages of that.

[melkor41]

I am not a LEO.

I see no tactical advantage of open carry to protect myself or others.

If I need to draw my gun I can just as easily push my shirt aside and draw and have the added bonus of not being the first target on the shooters list.



But yeah.....

deadhorse

[drw]

I'm new enough here that I haven't seen them. I'll go back through and check them all out. Thanks. :)

[drw]

I see no tactical advantage of open carry to protect myself or others.

I don't either, but I don't see unlicensed concealed carry coming anytime soon, so open carry is the alternative.

Unlicensed is the key...

[anygunanywhere]

You can talk about it at this website among friends.

http://texasopencarry.com/

Anygunanywhere

[frankie_the_yankee]

I have no problem with legalizing open carry (though I would seldom do it myself) but I would not favor unlicensed open carry.

I think unlicensed open carry makes it too easy for criminals and other disqualified persons to "blend in" on the street. Criminal records and records containing other disqualifying information are not readily available to the cop on patrol who might want or need to check someone out. That is one of the main purposes of the background check requirement for getting a license.

Having a license is strong evidence showing that the person passed the background check at some time in the past, and so can be presumed to be a qualified person.

Beyond all that, unlicensed open carry would draw little or no political support from what I can tell. I see no groundswell in the general community beating the drums for it. So I would say it would have almost no chance of passage.

But we might get licensed open carry someday.

[agbullet2k1]

I have no problem with legalizing open carry (though I would seldom do it myself) but I would not favor unlicensed open carry.

I think unlicensed open carry makes it too easy for criminals and other disqualified persons to "blend in" on the street. Criminal records and records containing other disqualifying information are not readily available to the cop on patrol who might want or need to check someone out. That is one of the main purposes of the background check requirement for getting a license.

Having a license is strong evidence showing that the person passed the background check at some time in the past, and so can be presumed to be a qualified person.

Beyond all that, unlicensed open carry would draw little or no political support from what I can tell. I see no groundswell in the general community beating the drums for it. So I would say it would have almost no chance of passage.

But we might get licensed open carry someday.

And I'll take one more whack at the horse. To me, unlicensed pretty much means untrained. I don't want joe blow going out not knowing the laws or even how to shoot correctly. I see enough total idiots at the range to know that they'd all carry with this method, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere within bullet travel of them. I'd like to see licensed OC, but realistically, it will never happen due to the obsene number of "man with gun" calls the already overloaded police force would have to deal with. And honestly, is it really that hard to conceal?

[melkor41]

You mean that "if you are going to start shooting, shoot me first" sign on your hip?

Yes, that's the one. If the risk is unacceptable to you, then you shouldn't be carrying openly. The open carry would only be used by those who are serious about protecting those that need protecting, at the cost of increased risk to themselves. For me, it's a suitable risk.

Are you inellegable for a CHL? Just asking... I would figure if you were "serious about protecting those that need protecting" you would become a CHL and carry concealed since your no use to us dead

[DoubleJ]

I see no tactical advantage of open carry to protect myself or others.

I don't either, but I don't see unlicensed concealed carry coming anytime soon, so open carry is the alternative.

Unlicensed is the key...

I think you'll find a few good debates on the subject. Frank and coulple others have brought up some interesting points in those other threads. enjoy.

[drw]

Are you inellegable for a CHL? Just asking... I would figure if you were "serious about protecting those that need protecting" you would become a CHL and carry concealed since your no use to us dead

Definitely eligible for a CHL, and my wife and I are both considering getting it.

My thought process is, though, that if unlicensed open carry were allowed, then we would have more LAC's carrying than we do now, and as a result we as a society would be much safer.