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bayouhazard wrote:My objection to 30.06 is the penalty. Carrying on 30.06 posted private property should have the same penalty as bringing a candy bar or breath mints into a movie theater with a sign prohibiting outside food and drinks.

Thank you, that's an excellent analogy!

I've been trying to tell people that when it comes to 30.06 and parking lot bills, etc., we must continue to respect private property rights, but the problem is the onerous enhanced penalty for trespass while armed. Your analogy is spot-on!

stevie_d_64 wrote:

KBCraig wrote:Solution: reduce the penalties. It works just fine in other states, where "no guns" signs are of no more importance than "shirt and shoes required" signs.

Kevin...Yer wanting to tinker with it anyway... That's cool...

If you're going to reduce the penalties, you might as well eliminate them, thus opening those doors of choice, right???

Squeezing the balloon at one end, might bring about the changes we want at the other end as well....

I don't want to squeeze the balloon. I want to pop the PC Chapter 46 balloon, and let the air out of the PC Chapter 30 balloon until it's limp and wrinkled.

This is quite unlike the "tinkering" I mentioned, where more and more (hot) air gets added to every balloon.

Example: how many times a year do we have someone here on the forum insist that carrying in a hospital is illegal? The legislature didn't let that air out of the balloon, they just added more air (way down at the bottom) saying "But only if they post a 30.06 notice!"

The best way to improve laws is to cut verbiage, not add it.

Too many people want to tinker with the Code, to fine-tune it for every possible situation. That's not the solution.

The solution is to slash massive sections of code. Instead of adding exceptions to the prohibitions, start eliminating prohibitions. I'd start with eliminating Chapter 46.

As for worries about 30.06 or other bans, the solution is once again a simple one: reduce the penalties to the point that violations meaningless. If they get told to leave, they should leave; if not, they should get a ticket and be escorted out. No loss of license, no Class A penalties.

I am a strong supporter of private property rights, to the point that I oppose "parking lot bills", and I even believe business owners should be free to discriminate against anyone they don't want in their business (including those who are carrying guns). The problem is that under Chapter 36, trespassing while carrying any kind of "deadly weapon" has greatly enhanced penalties, and for licensed individuals the consequences go beyond the criminal penalties.

Solution: reduce the penalties. It works just fine in other states, where "no guns" signs are of no more importance than "shirt and shoes required" signs.