General 2015 Legislative Session Discussion

[anygunanywhere]

I really hope the TSRA gets behind one of these open carry bills and for the reasons of making it easier for law makers to get on board, taking the wind out of the OC show boaters sails, and common sense I would like to see any open carry bill have these amendments.
1: no openly carried firearm larger than .45 cal unless on your own property, hunting, or any other shooting activity. There is just no need to walk around with a S&W 500 hand cannon strapped to your leg for self defense.
2: no more than one openly carried handgun at a time on your person. We don't need people walking around like Hoot Gibson with 2 six shooters on their hips.
3:can carry no more than one extra clip or speed loader on your person while open carrying in the general public. we don't need people walking around with bullet belts across their chest just trying to show off or looking like the Lone Ranger

I would even be OK with having to openly display your state issued handgun license if you open carry a handgun ( on a lanyard around your neck, clipped on your pocket, or someway like that ) so that any person or LEO can see that you have passed a state and federal background check, been finger printed, and have met all other state requirements.

I know that I will get hammered on pretty hard about this, but I am not against anybody's freedoms it is just that open carry is my biggest wish from law makers in 2015 and I feel that these amendments could make it an easier pill to swallow for the ones that are still on the fence about open carry. We can always tweek the law later let's just get open carry passed first. This is the first time I have ever posted my opinion on this forum so please go easy but let the hammering begin.

Robert M.

You lost me at "1:" and confused me with "not against anybody's freedoms" because your post has everything to do with freedom. I think you meant magazine not clip.

[SewTexas]

HB 223 By: Guillen

I love this guy!! now it needs to be passed and add some sanity to the elementary schools

[74novaman]

Thanks for the summary.

x2.

Looking forward to getting some things done this session.

[MeMelYup]

I really hope the TSRA gets behind one of these open carry bills and for the reasons of making it easier for law makers to get on board, taking the wind out of the OC show boaters sails, and common sense I would like to see any open carry bill have these amendments.
1: no openly carried firearm larger than .45 cal unless on your own property, hunting, or any other shooting activity. There is just no need to walk around with a S&W 500 hand cannon strapped to your leg for self defense.
2: no more than one openly carried handgun at a time on your person. We don't need people walking around like Hoot Gibson with 2 six shooters on their hips.
3:can carry no more than one extra clip or speed loader on your person while open carrying in the general public. we don't need people walking around with bullet belts across their chest just trying to show off or looking like the Lone Ranger

I would even be OK with having to openly display your state issued handgun license if you open carry a handgun ( on a lanyard around your neck, clipped on your pocket, or someway like that ) so that any person or LEO can see that you have passed a state and federal background check, been finger printed, and have met all other state requirements.

I know that I will get hammered on pretty hard about this, but I am not against anybody's freedoms it is just that open carry is my biggest wish from law makers in 2015 and I feel that these amendments could make it an easier pill to swallow for the ones that are still on the fence about open carry. We can always tweek the law later let's just get open carry passed first. This is the first time I have ever posted my opinion on this forum so please go easy but let the hammering begin.

Robert M.

What is your reasoning behind 1, 2 and 3.
Why no firearm over 45? If a person wants to carry a 454 or a 50 it's their choice.
Why a stipulation in the law that you can only open carry one firearm at a time, someone may want to carry an additional one on the ankle or shoulder holster in addition to one on the hip.
I carry a spare 15 round magazine with my firearm which is a Glock 27, 9+1. I know many people that their magazine pouches are for 2 magazines so why limit to one magazine.

[Distinguished Rick]

I really hope the TSRA gets behind one of these open carry bills and for the reasons of making it easier for law makers to get on board, taking the wind out of the OC show boaters sails, and common sense I would like to see any open carry bill have these amendments.
1: no openly carried firearm larger than .45 cal unless on your own property, hunting, or any other shooting activity. There is just no need to walk around with a S&W 500 hand cannon strapped to your leg for self defense.
2: no more than one openly carried handgun at a time on your person. We don't need people walking around like Hoot Gibson with 2 six shooters on their hips.
3:can carry no more than one extra clip or speed loader on your person while open carrying in the general public. we don't need people walking around with bullet belts across their chest just trying to show off or looking like the Lone Ranger

I would even be OK with having to openly display your state issued handgun license if you open carry a handgun ( on a lanyard around your neck, clipped on your pocket, or someway like that ) so that any person or LEO can see that you have passed a state and federal background check, been finger printed, and have met all other state requirements.

I know that I will get hammered on pretty hard about this, but I am not against anybody's freedoms it is just that open carry is my biggest wish from law makers in 2015 and I feel that these amendments could make it an easier pill to swallow for the ones that are still on the fence about open carry. We can always tweek the law later let's just get open carry passed first. This is the first time I have ever posted my opinion on this forum so please go easy but let the hammering begin.

Robert M.

These types of guild lines impede our freedom of choice. I don't like anyone telling me what I can or cannot carry. That is my choice. If I feel I need 1 500 S&W then that's what I want to carry. I will not wear a lanyard around my neck for any reason. It has personnel information on it that is none of your business. I don't wear my drivers license around my neck when I drive so why would I do this with my CHL? And magazines, if I want 2 or 3 then I carry 2 or 3. If I am carrying a 1911 I might want more rounds than just 1 spare. Good thing your not politician.

[mojo84]

Dust Foot,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts however misguided I think they are. I do not need someone else determining and dictating what I need. In a free society, it is up to each of us to determine what we need.

[Jumping Frog]

... common sense I would like to see any open carry bill have these amendments.

...I know that I will get hammered on pretty hard about this, but I am not against anybody's freedoms ....

I don't even know how to say something without getting close to violating terms of service.

You sound just like the gun-banners who say, "I don't really want to take away all your guns ... just a little 'common sense'".

Baloney.

Your arguments sounds like you believe appeasement is a good strategy. Neville Chamberlain thought that too:



I disagree with every point you made in the strongest terms.

[Charlies.Contingency]

I really hope the TSRA gets behind one of these open carry bills and for the reasons of making it easier for law makers to get on board, taking the wind out of the OC show boaters sails, and common sense I would like to see any open carry bill have these amendments.
1: no openly carried firearm larger than .45 cal unless on your own property, hunting, or any other shooting activity. There is just no need to walk around with a S&W 500 hand cannon strapped to your leg for self defense.
2: no more than one openly carried handgun at a time on your person. We don't need people walking around like Hoot Gibson with 2 six shooters on their hips.
3:can carry no more than one extra clip or speed loader on your person while open carrying in the general public. we don't need people walking around with bullet belts across their chest just trying to show off or looking like the Lone Ranger

I would even be OK with having to openly display your state issued handgun license if you open carry a handgun ( on a lanyard around your neck, clipped on your pocket, or someway like that ) so that any person or LEO can see that you have passed a state and federal background check, been finger printed, and have met all other state requirements.

I know that I will get hammered on pretty hard about this, but I am not against anybody's freedoms it is just that open carry is my biggest wish from law makers in 2015 and I feel that these amendments could make it an easier pill to swallow for the ones that are still on the fence about open carry. We can always tweek the law later let's just get open carry passed first. This is the first time I have ever posted my opinion on this forum so please go easy but let the hammering begin.

Robert M.

No, no, and no. I disagree at least strongly to your opinions on the topic.

1. I can see where you're going with this, but we no little restrictions lead to big restrictions. Have you ever seen a bear? Have you ever seen a bear in Texas? I have, and I am very obliged to carry somethin larger than a .45auto next time I see one. (West Texas) This could lead to politics having the deciding choice on what firearms are legal to carry by caliber. Keep it like a CHL, it's our choice.

2. This can be bad depending on how it gets put in law. For security officers, they are limited to one open carry firearm on them. No backup pocket pistol in case there is a weapon failure. It's our choice whether or not we want to be prepared. If you want to open carry a handgun by itself, that's your CHOICE, just like it is your CHOICE, to open carry. We're about having a CHOICE here.

3. Now that is biased from somewhere deep. Next I'm sure to hear is a magazine Capacity limit for open carry, because there's no need for more than 10 "high power military grade killing bullets" per magazine. The standard mag pouches are two mag anyway. Who cares how many bullets I have? I DO! I don't need anybody telling me how many mags I can have, or how many bullets I can have in each mag, or what bullets I'm restricted to for open carry. If I want to carry To spare fifteen round mags of 175gr Hornady Critical Duty .40 S&W on my left hip, who's the extra mag going to offend?

I tried to be as nice as possible, and I am sorry if at any point I was offensive, but your commen truely came out like a left wing anti-gunner. I will not hold it against you in the future, as you may have just been expressing your thoughts and concerns at the time. I hope you understand my point of view. Restrictions aren't always bad, but they open the door for more restrictive laws. It they can't take away our rights in one bite, they'll take them away one nibble at a time until they're gone.

[gsansing]

Charles-

Any word on a bill that would drop the "Gun Free" zones for CHL holders?

Gari

[mr1337]

I really hope the TSRA gets behind one of these open carry bills and for the reasons of making it easier for law makers to get on board, taking the wind out of the OC show boaters sails, and common sense I would like to see any open carry bill have these amendments.
1: no openly carried firearm larger than .45 cal unless on your own property, hunting, or any other shooting activity. There is just no need to walk around with a S&W 500 hand cannon strapped to your leg for self defense.
2: no more than one openly carried handgun at a time on your person. We don't need people walking around like Hoot Gibson with 2 six shooters on their hips.
3:can carry no more than one extra clip or speed loader on your person while open carrying in the general public. we don't need people walking around with bullet belts across their chest just trying to show off or looking like the Lone Ranger

I would even be OK with having to openly display your state issued handgun license if you open carry a handgun ( on a lanyard around your neck, clipped on your pocket, or someway like that ) so that any person or LEO can see that you have passed a state and federal background check, been finger printed, and have met all other state requirements.

I know that I will get hammered on pretty hard about this, but I am not against anybody's freedoms it is just that open carry is my biggest wish from law makers in 2015 and I feel that these amendments could make it an easier pill to swallow for the ones that are still on the fence about open carry. We can always tweek the law later let's just get open carry passed first. This is the first time I have ever posted my opinion on this forum so please go easy but let the hammering begin.

Robert M.

I think you have 2015 confused with 1815. This isn't the wild west. No one is the Lone Ranger or Hoot Gibson. We're not going to have duels at high noon. And no one is going to be shooting up saloons.

I am not against anybody's freedoms

It seems like you're against a lot of freedoms. Your definition of the ideal open carry bill is one that caters to you, and only to you. Who is the government to say how many firearms can be openly carried, and how many magazines you're allowed to have? What's the difference between me open carrying a Glock 26 with 5 spare 10-round magazines, or the same Glock 26 with two 33-round magazines? It's roughly the same round count, but under your preference, the former would not be allowed.

We can't allow any of these types of changes to make it into legislature. Look at Colorado. 15 round limit for magazines. Even worse in NY and CA. Not saying that's going to be happening any time soon for Texas, but that's the type of stuff you get when you allow these seemingly trivial restrictions into our laws. Don't let it be limited because YOU don't like it, or you would prefer not to see people with more than one gun or magazine. This is as much about freedom and personal liberty as it is about the 2nd Amendment.

[Charlies.Contingency]

I think you have 2015 confused with 1815. This isn't the wild west. No one is the Lone Ranger or Hoot Gibson. We're not going to have duels at high noon. And no one is going to be shooting up the saloon.

Who is the government to say how many firearms can be openly carried, and how many magazines you're allowed to have? What's the difference between me open carrying a Glock 26 with 5 spare 10-round magazines, or the same Glock 26 with two 33-round magazines? It's roughly the same round count, but under your preference, the former would not be allowed.

We can't allow any of these types of changes to make it into legislature. Look at Colorado. 15 round limit for magazines. Even worse in NY and CA. Not saying that's going to be happening any time soon for Texas, but that's the type of stuff you get when you allow these seemingly trivial restrictions into our laws. Don't let it be limited because YOU don't like it, or you would prefer not to see people with more than one gun or magazine. This is as much about freedom and personal liberty as it is about the 2nd Amendment.

(Multiple snips)

[jimlongley]

I really hope the TSRA gets behind one of these open carry bills and for the reasons of making it easier for law makers to get on board, taking the wind out of the OC show boaters sails, and common sense I would like to see any open carry bill have these amendments.
1: no openly carried firearm larger than .45 cal unless on your own property, hunting, or any other shooting activity. There is just no need to walk around with a S&W 500 hand cannon strapped to your leg for self defense.
2: no more than one openly carried handgun at a time on your person. We don't need people walking around likeHoot Gibson with 2 six shooters on their hips.
3:can carry no more than one extra clip or speed loader on your person while open carrying in the general public. we don't need people walking around with bullet belts across their chest just trying to show off or looking like the Lone Ranger

I would even be OK with having to openly display your state issued handgun license if you open carry a handgun ( on a lanyard around your neck, clipped on your pocket, or someway like that ) so that any person or LEO can see that you have passed a state and federal background check, been finger printed, and have met all other state requirements.

I know that I will get hammered on pretty hard about this, but I am not against anybody's freedoms it is just that open carry is my biggest wish from law makers in 2015 and I feel that these amendments could make it an easier pill to swallow for the ones that are still on the fence about open carry. We can always tweek the law later let's just get open carry passed first. This is the first time I have ever posted my opinion on this forum so please go easy but let the hammering begin.

Robert M.

So far I see everyone being just about as easy as you deserve. You are welcome to your own opinions, but your lack of logic sounds just like the anti-rights nuts.

You dictate "no one needs" terms that draw lines where they don't need to be drawn and exemplify your choice by swinging into the sublime. I can just see the amendment that Wendy Davis would submit to such a bill:

1: Openly carried firearms larger than .22 rimfire will not be allowed because anything larger will scare people.

2: Because people don't need to walk around like Hoot Gibson (who actually only wore one gun most of the time, another poor choice of example) the only allowable open carry will be like that idiot on "Criminal Minds" who favors "Cross Crotch Carry".

3: In order to make the public more comfortable with open carry, all spare ammo will be retained in its original factory boxes.

I, and many others I am sure, agree that a .500 S&W is probably not the best choice for a carry gun, but there are people out there who feel the same way about any gun, .45 or smaller.

I also can't imagine too many people carrying more than one gun openly, but I know lots of people, including myself, who see no reason to limit themselves to just one concealed.

I have a real hard time imagining any logical reason for your number 3 except if you really expect people to go around with bandoliers of ammo strapped across their chests. Do you know how uncomfortable and inconvenient that is?

As far as open display of ID cards. why not just go to badges? Seriously, that is putting such ID at a high risk of being lost or stolen, better we should go back to the old precept of "innocent until proven guilty" and assume that anyone open carrying is doing so legally, and even limit the "stop and ask" powers of the police to those occasions when an illegal activity is observed.

And it also appears to me that you have no idea how the Texas legislature works. First of all, only meeting every two years makes "tweaking" laws impractical at best and nearly impossible most of the time.

Secondly, Texas laws are pretty much cast in stone, and once a law is passed it has a tendency to achieve a life of its own beyond the paper it is written on. I was talking to a LEO friend the other day, and he mentioned the time, recently, when his pastor asked him if he carried to church, and he stated that he had always disarmed before entering the church because that was the law. The PASTOR pointed out that the law had changed some years ago and actually asked him to go ahead and carry. My friend was truly unaware that the law had changed and even was surprised when I knew it had.

If you don't want to get hammered, don't walk around disguised as a nail.

[ffemt300]

I'm glad to see HB 223 in there. It's a shame we have to have a law to protect our children from "zero tolerance" school policies, but i like it nonetheless. I would like to see it provide for older children such as myself so that when I chew my grilled cheese sandwich into a rifle I dont get in trouble with my works firearm policy.

[Charles L. Cotton]

Charles-

Any word on a bill that would drop the "Gun Free" zones for CHL holders?

Gari

We can't change the federal "Gun Free School Zone" law, but CHL's are exempt from it anyway. The Texas "Weapon Free School Zone" law is not a stand alone crime. It just increases the penalty for commission of a crime within the zone. Since CHL's can carry handguns, then it has no impact on us unless we commit another crime while armed.

Chas.

[gljjt]

It seems like an awful lot of posts starting with "I am all for RKBA/2nd Amendment/CC/OC/etc, but..." followed by "reasonable", " common sense", etc. restrictions such as no caliber > .45 or required training or background check, etc, come from OPs with 1,2,3 posts. What's with that?