texas open carry

[anygunanywhere]

Anygunanywhere wrote:

Common sense gun laws and reasonable restrictions will resolve the problem of bad guys carrying.

Will it? How has that worked so far?

Allow me to pull my tongue out of my cheek.

Maybe I should have turned sarcasm on.

Since you have just recently joined, I am one of the ones who believes in the literal reading of the second amendment. I think any laws or restriction against my 2A RKBA are unconstitutional. I am one who thinks that even so called private property rights infringe on my RKBA. What I have in my pockets is no one's business. What I pack is no one's business but my own. I do not believe in training requirements, licenses, limitations, restrictions, permissions, or anything. I even think that convicted felons who have served their time and completed all aspects of their sentence should have their 2A rights restored. Constitutional carry that so many want is too restricting for me.

Now that we have been properly introduced, resume the discussion.

The reasonable restrictions and common sense gun laws will never work.

Anygunanywhere

[Jusster]

Mamabearcali

I guess we just see things from a slightly different perspective. I wouldn’t be against open carry if it were to pass here in Texas and I’ll leave it at that. Thank you for your point of view.


Anygunanywhere:

Ok you got me…..I walked right into that one. Great introduction and you will not be forgotten


Jusster

[speedsix]

...NOLA's like Kalifornia...it don't count when you're talkin' 'bout Louisiana, USA...wholelotta folks end up face down in the streets there WITHOUT a gun...

...I lived in La only 20 years...but OCed from about 19 on...didn't go much south of Alec unless there was a big reason...it just wasn't a big deal...

North of Alec? You might as well of been a Yankee.
Yes, NOLA is very different from the rest of the state. I remember many people promoting a US border fence just south of I-10.

...the only reason they didn't is that the import fees would have made all that good cookin' too expensive for the rest of America!!!

[Keith B]

I grew up and lived in Missouri for 38 years. I even spent 4 years as a LEO. Missouri is an open carry state, but allows for municipalities to ban open carry by ordinance. Even in those towns were it is legal, you very rarely see it. And if you do, it is not wandering around Walmart or Target. You may see someone fueling their truck or out on their own property. What you will find it the smaller the town, the more likely you are to see it. Especially in rural farming towns, you may see one of the locals carrying in a café or quick stop, but it is not an issue there because everyone knows everyone else. If someone stops and is open carrying that is NOT a local, then the red flags will go up.

While a LEO back in the early 80's, i had two man with a gun calls on open carriers. One was at a quick stop, but the individual was gone before I arrived. The other was in a grocery store where a man was carrying a single action pistol in a cowboy rig. He was acting a little strange just wandering around the store. Store personnel had asked him to please take his pistol back to the vehicle as other shoppers were nervous about it. He said 'It's my pistol, you can't have it.' and kept wandering around. We received the call and I responded. When approached, he tried to walk away and ignore me, but I told him he either had to take his pistol out to the car or leave completely as the store did not want him carrying in there. The guy finally relented and just left. I made a point of following him out to his car and then followed at a distance to see where he went. He left town headed in the direction of the town where the registered owner of the car was from (I assume they were one in the same as I never got his ID.)

As a note, the owner of the store's son was the manager on duty that day. He was a big hunter and shooter, so he was not against someone carrying in the store, just concerned about the fact the guy was acting so strange. He (the manager) actually shot and killed two armed robbers about 2 years later as they were leaving the store. He spotted the robbers through the store window as he was walking up to the store, and ran back and got his mini-14 ranch rifle and shot them as they were trying to get into their car. Because of the laws in place at the time, there was a big question on whether he was justified on the shooting as they were fleeing, and it took over a year to get him acquitted. Don't know how much he ended up paying in legal fees.

But I digress, so bottom line, I would not be against open carry being legal in unincorporated parts of Texas (aka outside of the city limits), but anyone who thinks they are going to be able to strap on a gun and walk around Austin or Plano without causing a stir is delusional IMO.

[speedsix]

...reasonable and balanced...we've gone too long without seeing folks carrying in towns to expect it not to stir up a ruckus...but where they've "always done it"...it gets less reaction...

[Beiruty]

At least we can open carry while hunting and travelin with no new.open carry law

[steveincowtown]

IMHO, Open Carry is just not a big deal. We should have it, as it is a right that is afforded to us by the Constitution. If exercising this right makes someone else uncomfortable, that is just not my problem.

I am sure there were quite a few men uncomfortable with women's suffrage.

I am sure there were quite a few folks that at the time were uncomfortable with slavery being abolished.

I am sure some folks are uncomfortable with 18 years old's voting.

etc. etc.

At the end of the day, even with open carry, so few will practice it I just don't see it as being a big deal. Coming from VA, where open carry is legal and in theory practiced, I don't think I have seen more than a 1/2 dozen people OC'ing total...ever.

[mamabearCali]

These are all valid points that OC may cause a stir. However here in VA even in suburbs open carry is barely noticed. OC is not common, but neither is it uncommon. I see an OC-er one to two times a month.

Really this Is my experience, but just because something makes others sightly uncomfortable is not a reason to not do something if I see it is in my best interests to do so. Example, I wear my NRA hat all the time. If I am going out and it is not a formal day I have my NRA hat on. I know it makes others uncomfortable, they have told me so, but I wear it cause #1 I like the hat. #2 I like the organization #3 if it makes a theif or a potential attacker think twice about me as a a potential target it is worth the hat hair. Same with a gun.

Look y'all, people are uncomfortable with change or anything out of the ordinary. But people also get used to things as they see them again and again. My neighbors eyes bugged out the first time they saw me OCing, today if I don't have my gun n my hip they ask me where it is. When the neighborhood kids saw what they thought was a creepy guy on the street they ran to my house to get help (it was nothing--a poor fellow with a broken down car on his way home from work). I asked my son why the other kids ran past their own houses and came to mine it was because I they knew I had a gun. I am not sure what they thought I was going to do with it, but I am glad they felt like I would protect them if I could.

I say all this,not to say TX must have open carry, but to say that it is not usually a problem here in VA. If it would jeopardize what y'all have gotten by the sweat of your brow then baby steps. I am just trying to tell yall that where it's legal it does work just fine with very little drama.

[Keith B]

Example, I wear my NRA hat all the time. If I am going out and it is not a formal day I have my NRA hat on. I know it makes others uncomfortable, they have told me so, ...

Wearing an NRA hat in Texas doesn't make people nervous. It's when I wear my Al Quida hat that people get nervous, and that make ME nervous since I don't know who around me is carrying.

My neighbors eyes bugged out the first time they saw me OCing, today if I don't have my gun n my hip they ask me where it is. When the neighborhood kids saw what they thought was a creepy guy on the street they ran to my house to get help (it was nothing--a poor fellow with a broken down car on his way home from work). I asked my son why the other kids ran past their own houses and came to mine it was because I they knew I had a gun. I am not sure what they thought I was going to do with it, but I am glad they felt like I would protect them if I could.

These are people that know you. It will be totally different in Walmart with 100's of others that don't know you. And, while over time some people might get more accustomed to seeing it over time, there will always be those that won't know or will get frightened in the large cities.

I say all this,not to say TX must have open carry, but to say that it is not usually a problem here in VA. If it would jeopardize what y'all have gotten by the sweat of your brow then baby steps. I am just trying to tell yall that where it's legal it does work just fine with very little drama.

The big difference is the way folks were raised. Many around Missouri were raised with guns, hunting on public land, and open carry being allowed, so they were not as frightened by the sight of a gun in the smaller, more rural towns. Much like VA on the hunting and open carry. But, as you stated, they are still alarmed at first.

Texas, especially in the large metro areas, have many transplants from California, New York, etc. and have never even seen a gun, much less touched one. I just taught a lady who is 50 years old and a native Texan to shoot. Her Dad had lots of guns, but because there is little to no public land to hunt on, he never hunted or shot a lot, so she never got exposed to them, thus never had even fired a gun. She was very concerned about anyone with a gun until she married her current husband who owned a couple. Her previous husband was a native Texan also, but never owned a gun.

[speedsix]

...I have been digging to see how long it's been legal in VA to open carry...and haven't found it...


...in LA, it's been legal at least since 64 when I got there...and raised less eyebrows...TX has been a looooong time without it...so it would be novel, to say the least...

[steveincowtown]

...I have been digging to see how long it's been legal in VA to open carry...and haven't found it...

I am on the backside of 40, I can't remember a time when is wasn't. In fact OC'ing at the age of 18 was (and I believe still is) OK which seems incredibly contradictory since you can't purchase a handgun at this age.

Someone may prove me wrong here, but I don't believe it was ever made "legal" to OC in VA, as it was part of the VA constitution. I think the places where you can't carry have been made "illegal" over the years.

[speedsix]

...that's what happened in TX...I forget when but a looong time ago...I was shocked when I moved from LA and found I couldn't even carry a pistol in the car in "wild and wooly" TX...so I got a .20 ga pump, some 4" pvc pipe, and .....

[mamabearCali]

These are people that know you. It will be totally different in Walmart with 100's of others that don't know you. And, while over time some people might get more accustomed to seeing it over time, there will always be those that won't know or will get frightened in the large cities.

Unfortunatly I can't control what makes people nervous or uncomfortable. It bothers me that teens walk around with nearly no clothes on. I have to learn to look away. I have to teach my son to look away.

Texas, especially in the large metro areas, have many transplants from California, New York, etc. and have never even seen a gun, much less touched one. I just taught a lady who is 50 years old and a native Texan to shoot. Her Dad had lots of guns, but because there is little to no public land to hunt on, he never hunted or shot a lot, so she never got exposed to them, thus never had even fired a gun. She was very concerned about anyone with a gun until she married her current husband who owned a couple. Her previous husband was a native Texan also, but never owned a gun.

Here in VA we have bunches of transpalanted northeasterners that have the similar gun laws as CA. They learn that here in VA people are free to openly carry guns if they wish. Even the 911 dispatches are trained to train these yanks as they accostom themselves to VA life (a higher level of freedom). A MWAG call (from what I have been told by LEO friends) is usually handled at the point of 911 call ( is he doing anything that makes you think he will use his gun...etc.etc).

I am not trying to be argumentative or belligerant. Just trying to show that OC works fine, and if TX had it there would be few problems (especially if you gave a 90 minute training to the 911 operators on how to handle MWAG).

[Keith B]

Here in VA we have bunches of transpalanted northeasterners that have the similar gun laws as CA. They learn that here in VA people are free to openly carry guns if they wish. Even the 911 dispatches are trained to train these yanks as they accostom themselves to VA life (a higher level of freedom). A MWAG call (from what I have been told by LEO friends) is usually handled at the point of 911 call ( is he doing anything that makes you think he will use his gun...etc.etc).

I am not trying to be argumentative or belligerant. Just trying to show that OC works fine, and if TX had it there would be few problems (especially if you gave a 90 minute training to the 911 operators on how to handle MWAG).

We're just going to have to agree to disagree (partially). The biggest difference is that VA always has had it and Texas never has. Trying to educate all of the people all at once will be a major undertaking. Add to that the large amount of those who are here that don't have a firm (or any) concept of the English language and it would be a LONG road until the majority understand it is an accepted thing. And, yes, over time (a LONG time), it would get there.

One other factor to consider; VA has no city population over 425,000, with a total population of the state a little over 7 million. The Dallas/Fort Worth metro area has right at 7 million alone. Dallas, Houston and San Antonio cities alone are over 1 million each in population, with about 20 million total in the state.

So, think about trying to turn that ship to get it going in the direction you want when it has been steered on the same course for 150+ years.

EDIT TO ADD: And I know you're not being belligerent; this is just good friendly discussion.

[G.A. Heath]

In my opinion the time to start working on open carry for the next session was when the last one ended. The first thing that OC supporters should have done was start building support within the general public by educating them with a PR campaign. The second step would be to get support from other pro-gun organisations, which will be difficult considering the OC groups past behaviour. The next step would be to fix their OC bill so that it cleanly and efficiently reflects their goals and get it ready to be prefiled. And by now they should be scouting candidates in both parties primaries to determine which ones they can best work with.

Here's what I see has happened and will be happening:
1: Nothing has been done to educate, and get support from, the general public.
2: Once the primaries are concluded any democrat candidate who gets TSRA/NRA support will be attacked, some republican candidates with said support will also be attacked.
3: Any candidate who wins a seat that will not introduce and/or cosponsor their bill (even if they support a competing OC bill) will be labeled antigun no matter how pro-gun they are.
4: They will get a bill prefiled this session.
5: Unfortunately it will most likely be the same poorly written bill that we saw last session with minor changes.