74novaman wrote:The idea that more guns=less crime has been repeatedly proven.Ziran wrote:This whole "the world will end if people start open carrying in Texas" reminds me far too much of "the streets will run with blood" when Florida CC was debated.
The world will not end.
Getting regular people used to the idea that regular people carry guns is pivotal in keeping the 2nd Amendment alive. Staying out of sight and out of mind will not accomplish this.
When the only people that have guns are criminals and government, pretty soon the government starts to act like criminals and criminals start to act like government.
That being said, Mr. Cotton has talked before about the advent of "no gun" signs after the CHL law was passed, and until 30.06 was passed in 97, those had meaning. Lots of stores put up "no guns" signs with no knowledge of the statistics, but the MSM message of "guns are bad, mmmkkkay" seems to get through to a lot of people.
The idea of "out of sight, out of mind" is a powerful one. There are plenty of people in Texas who aren't conservative, or moved here from places like California. Many of them may not even know about CHL laws. However, if they see someone open carrying, they'll begin to make a fuss. If it makes an impact on businesses, they'll begin to look for ways to legally prohibit carry. That will be mean MORE 30.06 signs.
So in that way, there is not only reason to believe OC might cause places to post 30.06, there is historical proof that businesses will post IF THE ISSUE COMES UP. This is the beauty of our CHL laws...it never comes up because no one ever sees it to complain.
I'd support OC, if there were 2 separate sign laws. Since those in the know have said we'd be stuck with one notification for both, I have no interest in my right to carry concealed being prohibited at places because someone else wanted to carry openly.
If a gunbusters sign could prohibit OC, but we still required 30.06 to prohibit CHL holders, I'd be okay with it. If its going to limit the freedoms I currently enjoy under CHL laws, then I'm not even interested. Period.
Well Put. I grew up, and live in, the DFW metroplex. I strongly agree that many people here would object to seeing openly carried firearms in their immediate vicinity. Out in the more rural areas, I don't think it would be a problem, but here in the big city, too many are just not going to be happy to see guns next to them at Walmart, the grocery store, the theater, etc. Right now, it is rare for me to have to disarm due to a 30.06 sign. I think that would change dramatically if open carry was passed. I can agree with the principle of it, but the reality is I think we would lose more than we would gain. Instead of being obsessed with open carry everywhere, I think if we were to pass it as an option outdoors, not inside buildings, then perhaps that would not be as intimidating to the non-gunners and it would remove the need for business owners to suddenly feel they had to put up 30.06 signs in order to make their more timid customers happy.
With it limited to the outdoors, you could OC while walking the dog, jogging, etc. As the non-gunners became more used to seeing people do this without incident, then perhaps later we could include buildings without an avalanche of 30.06 signs going up. We have to live in the real world.
