Texas weighs allowing open carry of handguns

[Jazzy]

Texas weighs allowing open carry of handguns

Long depicted as the rootin'-tootin' capital of American gun culture, Texas is one of the few states with an outright ban on the open carry of handguns.

That could change in 2015, with the Republican-dominated Legislature and Gov.-elect Greg Abbott expected to push for expanded gun rights.

"If open carry is good enough for Massachusetts, it's good enough for the state of Texas," Abbott said the day after his election last month.

And if Texas, which allows concealed handguns, embraces open carry — rolling back a 140-year ban — it would be the largest state to have done so.

Open carry drew wide support in the 2014 statewide election, and at least six bills have already been filed for the upcoming session, which starts in January. Abbott has already pledged to sign one into law if sent to his desk.

Texas allows the public display of long guns, such as rifles and shotguns, and open carry advocates have staged high-profile rallies at the Alamo and state Capitol. Concealed handguns are allowed inside the Capitol, where license holders can bypass metal detectors.

But Texas still insists handguns be kept out of sight.

Texas first banned the carrying of handguns "when the carpet-bagger government was very anxious about former Confederates and recently freed slaves carrying firearms," state Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said.

Overturning a century of law proved difficult, and a concealed weapons law failed several times until it finally passed in 1995 when Patterson, then a state senator, led the charge. Texas now has about 811,000 concealed handgun license holders, nearly equal the population of San Francisco.

Even among gun supporters in Texas, the idea of open carry was considered too radical when the concealed carry law passed. Since then, the Legislature has expanded gun rights incrementally. It made the licensing of concealed handguns easier and, during the last three sessions, held heated debates over concealed handguns on college campuses. Open carry backers believe these debates helped rally support to their cause and that an open carry law will pass.

Most of the open carry bills already filed for the upcoming session would still require a license. One, by Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, would eliminate the licensing requirement for concealed or open carry.

"The idea is we're going to return our Second Amendment rights," Stickland said. "I can't imagine what the citizens would do if they had to take a class or pay a fee to use their First Amendment rights."

Thoughts?

 

[Dee]

I'd love to see what happens when a black man open carries his legal firearm.

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

What will happen is I will know more then likely he is legally allowed to carry. It is the thugs that will never open carry.

 

[Dee]

What will happen is I will know more then likely he is legally allowed to carry. It is the thugs that will never open carry.

That's it, too. I have to wonder why Texas even hesitates about this point. They believe in the old adage; "An armed society is a polite society" so it is puzzling to me what they're waffling about.

What does a black man carrying have to do with the article?  I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm genuinely wondering where and how the black thing came into the discussion.  

It didn't.  I brought it up, simple as that.  We can either talk about it or you can ignore it--either way is fine by me.  In any case, I think it's a stupid idea to openly carry, but that's just my personal opinion. There've been a few instances where people were carrying and a dire situation broke out only to result in that person not utilizing their weapon out of fear/not being in the right position/at the right time. Sure, it's worked before, but it is not a fool-proof plan by any means and it seems to create more tension and fear as opposed to this understanding and open concept of carrying firearms out in the middle of public.

 

[+paradox]

What will happen is I will know more then likely he is legally allowed to carry. It is the thugs that will never open carry.

so all the thug cops never open carry?

the cops harass people for legally open carrying all the time, and not just the black folks...

everyone is scared of the cops now these days and wouldn't legally open carry because they don't want to get stopped and harassed by the cops or magically gets shot for "resisting arrest" or something...

 

[+paradox]

It didn't.  I brought it up, simple as that.  We can either talk about it or you can ignore it--either way is fine by me.  In any case, I think it's a stupid idea to openly carry, but that's just my personal opinion.  There've been a few instances where people were carrying and a dire situation broke out only to result in that person not utilizing their weapon out of fear/not being in the right position/at the right time.  Sure, it's worked before, but it is not a fool-proof plan by any means and it seems to create more tension and fear as opposed to this understanding and open concept of carrying firearms out in the middle of public.

Ok, ok, no need to get hyped up about it. I did say I wasn't trying to be difficult. I was confused for a minute about what gun laws in Texas had to do with race.  We can   talk about the topic - open carry in Texas - but I see no need to add race into the conversation. This thread isn't about race, so I don't get why it had to come up, that's all.

i'm sure it's nothing but classic and hilarious when the same people that find some way to make racism about anything and everything has now turned around and complained about something turning into racism when it actually has merit to make it relevant in this case...

a black male walking down the road legally open carrying, the police are all over him...

 

[Dee]

It didn't.  I brought it up, simple as that.  We can either talk about it or you can ignore it--either way is fine by me.  In any case, I think it's a stupid idea to openly carry, but that's just my personal opinion.  There've been a few instances where people were carrying and a dire situation broke out only to result in that person not utilizing their weapon out of fear/not being in the right position/at the right time.  Sure, it's worked before, but it is not a fool-proof plan by any means and it seems to create more tension and fear as opposed to this understanding and open concept of carrying firearms out in the middle of public.

Ok, ok, no need to get hyped up about it. I did say I wasn't trying to be difficult. I was confused for a minute about what gun laws in Texas had to do with race.  We can   talk about the topic - open carry in Texas - but I see no need to add race into the conversation. This thread isn't about race, so I don't get why it had to come up, that's all.

Who's getting hyped up? *shrug*

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

What will happen is I will know more then likely he is legally allowed to carry. It is the thugs that will never open carry.

so all the thug cops never open carry?

the cops harass people for legally open carrying all the time, and not just the black folks...

everyone is scared of the cops now these days and wouldn't legally open carry because they don't want to get stopped and harassed by the cops or magically gets shot for "resisting arrest" or something...

You are the one who thinks all cops are thugs not me.

Cops do it at times because people do not use the freedoms the have as much as they should so it looks suspicious in some states when it is done.

Not everyone just the ones who seem to think they are all bad. Hell I had to cops pointing guns at me last year because someone called the cops and thought I was breaking into a home. I come out of the home with two cops yelling at me to get my hands up. They acted professionally and we had a good laugh afterwards.

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

What will happen is I will know more then likely he is legally allowed to carry. It is the thugs that will never open carry.

so all the thug cops never open carry?

the cops harass people for legally open carrying all the time, and not just the black folks...

everyone is scared of the cops now these days and wouldn't legally open carry because they don't want to get stopped and harassed by the cops or magically gets shot for "resisting arrest" or something...

You are the one who thinks all cops are thugs not me.

Cops do it at times because people do not use the freedoms they have as much as they should so it looks suspicious in some states when it is done.

Not everyone just the ones who seem to think they are all bad. Hell I had to cops pointing guns at me last year because someone called the cops and thought I was breaking into a home. I come out of the home with two cops yelling at me to get my hands up. They acted professionally and we had a good laugh afterwards.