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I read some, but I must admit I read less than 1/2 of the posts in this thread. I saw a couple of people who were worried that open carry would cause many more businesses to post 30-06 signs. This could be compared right along side of the earlier people against concealed carry who said there would be blood in the streets... "Maybe everyone will post signs!" Maybe they won't. Otherwise I respond with the following: Those places will likely become targets of bad guys. After several bad guys prove this for us, we can make commercials letting the public (and at the same time business owners) know that bad guys go around looking for these signs because they know there is little chance of themselves being harmed. Once the general public has been made aware of this, many business owners will likely change their mind about keeping that sign there because they don't want to lose business! Scare tactics can be used in many different ways, sometimes against us sometimes to benefit us. Another thing that could be done would be for a non gun owner to send a letter to a place of business who has posted a sign, and say: "Well I was going to frequent your business today, but then I saw that sign in your window that welcomes bad guys... Sorry but I wont come back to your business unless I see that you have removed that Bad-Guy-Welcome-Sign". Just some things to think about.

I am for legal open carry both licensed or not, primarily because: I believe you should not need anyone's permission to carry a weapon to protect yourself, in the way you see fit, according to your current surroundings or threat levels. If the only way is licensed then I would be satisfied with that to start with. My other problem with a license is: Government is ever changing, always new people coming in with different view points, once there is a license, people can and will impose more and more rules that must be followed or met to continue to "Legally Protect Yourself". Think about that statement for a second... How would you feel if one day you were told for whatever reason they dreamed up that year, that it is now illegal to protect yourself? Some people will say "that will never happen". But what if an election comes and goes and we are left with a majority of pro gun control elected officials? What if many voters who voted for them didn't know they were against guns? Or worse yet didn't care! Sound familiar? I think the best thing we can "shoot for" :) in the coming years, is a Texas Constitutional Amendment that guarantees law abiding Texans the right to carry a "Weapon" openly or concealed without a license, unless you are a felon, or diagnosed by his/her own doctor to be incapable of safely owning a weapon, until he/she can demonstrate otherwise.

Having said that, I would in most cases still carry concealed for the element of surprise, but I would feel much better knowing that if I wanted to open carry, I could and would not be breaking the law.