We're surrounded by states with less restrictive open carry, so hopefully it'll get more traction this time.
Yeah, as a gun owner this is just embarrassing. I told a cop in NM about Texas' open carry stance and he dropped his head an inch, raised his eyebrows, and said "Really?" He had a look in his eye like he was curious but doubted whether I had the facts straight.
It would be cool to get Texas as an open carry AND unlicensed carry state. TX, AZ and NM would be the "Gun belt" of America!