CoffeeNut wrote:carlson1 wrote:I regret it passed because just like was proposed by myself and many we now have less places we can CC because they have all been educated about proper signage.
I would have rather seen off limit areas disappear.
So why the push for it? If groups like OCT did nothing but damage to the OC cause then why not let them be responsible for killing off OC? Why didn't the NRA and others push for better things rather than going for OC?
I'm not harping on you so please don't take it that way. I just see your sentiment on this forum, and I am starting to share it as well, so if we knew this was possible why did we push for OC?
Charles can answer this better than anyone, but I'll take a stab at it.
Two sessions ago OCT got an absolutely horrible OC bill introduced. The NRA and TSRA would not support it, because it eliminated 30.06 (among other things) and made things worse for everyone. So it died in committee. OCT then loudly proclaimed that NRA and TSRA had sabotaged the bill and were clearly anti-OC. That was false. NRA and TSRA have always been pro-OC, but there were other priorities that were of a higher precedence. (Eliminating or reducing the places that are off limits was very high on the list. So was campus carry.) The idea was to get improvements in CC first, then get OC through, because it would be a lot harder to roll back the other changes afterwards.
But OCT continued to stir the pot, prompting some national chains to publicly state that they would prefer their customers not carry in their stores. (All of us knew that meant nothing with regard to CC, and I'm pretty sure the chains knew that as well. It was a sop to the anti-gun crowd that OCT was getting stirred up and riled up.) Because of OCT we now have Moms Demand Action in Texas, and they routinely point to OCT as "proof" that people with guns are crazy and can't be trusted.
Last session OCT was planning to introduce another OC bill. (I'm pretty sure they did, but Charles can confirm that.) But the NRA and TSRA introduced one as well, because their hand had been forced by OCT. Either we got a good bill through or a bad bill through. That was the choice. Then OCT tried to poison the bill with the Dutton Amendment, which would have killed it. Why? Because for them it was all or nothing. It was only the furious behind the scenes work of the NRA and TSRA that salvaged that, and even then it was passed at the last possible moment in the session.
So now we have OC. Its impact is not yet known, but I believe it's going to be MUCH harder to get off limits places removed now. What's the legislature going to do? Say you can only CC at amusement parks? Sporting events? Racetracks? Bars? Can you imagine the outcry if they allow OC at those places?
It may still be doable. Charles has worked miracles before. But it's going to be much harder. And it may take much longer.
That is why you approach these issues like an adult, with a realistic understanding of the atmosphere within which you are working. Yes, this is Texas. But we have some of the largest cities in the country. And large cities are almost exclusively liberal and opposed to guns. Once OCT came busting through the door rearranging the furniture without even bothering to ask and loudly demanding their "rights" while threatening anyone who opposed them, the atmosphere for positive changes on our gun laws went decidedly negative. It's only because Charles, the NRA and the TSRA have worked diligently in the legislature for over 20 years building relationships, that we were able to accomplish what we did last session, despite the negative influence of OCT.
For those who point to other states that have OC and don't have problems, you can't compare other states to Texas. For one thing, some of those states have always had OC. It's never been illegal to openly carry a handgun in public. So all the recent CC improvements in those states are completely unrelated to OC. In Texas the two are tied together in the public's mind. They're all a part of the "gun nut" faction demanding their rights. Others have recently gotten OC or so-called "constitutional carry", but they don't have big cities like Texas does. Oklahoma's biggest city is OKC, which is barely bigger than Arlington, TX. Phoenix is bigger, but the state is mostly rural and has a long history of gun culture. Alaska? Do I really need to explain that?
Look at gun laws across the country. The more populous the state the stricter the laws. California? A nightmare for gun owners. New York? Same thing. Texas is a glaring exception to that. But we have to be realistic and realize who and what we're working with and what difficulties we have to overcome to get laws passed. In California or New York, OCT would be in jail. There would be no controversy. Frankly I now think "constitutional carry" is dead in Texas. There is no way it will get the votes in the legislature after what OCT has done. Maybe in another ten or twenty years, if OCT dies off. But not until then.
There's an old saying that you don't poop where you sleep. Well, that's exactly where OCT poops, and the stink is rising. (Mods, if that's too much, just remove it.)
