Saying Texas firearm laws are overly restrictive, a group of gun advocates is lobbying state lawmakers to permit wearing handguns in plain view.Y'know, if everybody just did it, what could they do about it?
Our problem is that nobody will--because they know they'd stand alone--and even be condemned by the majority of their fellow gun owners for making "us" all look bad.This isn't to put down the open carry activists--they're doing what they can with what they've got.
6 comments:
I have open-carried when I lived in places where it was "legal", and where I knew I wouldn't be killed for doing so. I would do it here in TX, but I have no desire to be a martyr. If I could get enough people in this town to join me.... but they are all government worshippers of the most loyal variety.
Talk about a catch 22...
I live in a state where open carry is perfectly legal, but few do so.
I carry openly at all times, wherever I go, and so far it's not been a problem. I'm making a statement and a lot more people here understand what I'm doing now than did when I started.
Sure wish I had some company, however. :)
Kent better not even think of it in Houston/Harris Cty, where the sheriff's office and hpd have (if you research deadly force complaints vs actions taken) licenses to kill. The lege 'clarified' the traveling exemptions a while back, but the clarifications, if I read right, apply only to transporting your weapon in your car.
The follow-on blurb after the article is "Gun Violence." I don't think the paper likes the idea of free people.
I would think you'd get more takers in Texas than you would in New Hampshire (to pick a place where I've heard of people open carrying to make a statement), just because of the warm weather.
For most instances except for the “only ones”, in Texas, the carrying of a handgun (open carry or concealed) is prohibited unless; one has a concealed carry license, or is on/in one’s own premises or vehicle, or on/in premises or a vehicle under one’s control. If one is in his own vehicle or in a vehicle under his control, the handgun must be concealed from “plain view”.
If a nitpicking “only one” gets into the picture, I’m not sure that a person who is riding in a friend’s vehicle or is on a friend’s premises would be exempt from the unlawful carrying statute. And, whether we choose to believe it or not, nitpicking “only ones” do exist and some get paid big bucks to nitpick. Read the US v. Hayes oral arguments. Most of the arguments deal with whether “element(s)” should have been plural or singular and the placement of commas.
Texans are not prohibited from open carry of long guns but one needs to be very careful of not doing anything that an "only one" could interpret as "reckless conduct" while carrying a long gun. And, even if one wasn't engaged in reckless conduct, the court would probably side with the "only one" unless there were other witnesses who could testify to one's actual actions. There's an old saying in Texas law enforcement; "You might beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride."
We Texans need an open carry law. I for one have signed onto the petition (#22555).
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