Gov Perry Supports Open Carry

[Shorts]

Group pushes Texas lawmakers for open-carry gun law | News for Austin, Texas | KVUE.com | Top Stories


[SIZE=+2]Group pushes Texas lawmakers for open-carry gun law

[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]06:25 PM CST on Monday, December 1, 2008

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[SIZE=-1]By JESSICA VESS
KVUE News[/SIZE]

You may be used to guns on the range, but are you ready for guns on the hip? According to online at opencarry.org , nearly 33,000 Texans have said "yes."


"It's called a Constitutional right -- not a privilege,” said Ian McCarthy, founder of the Texas open carry petition.


Each computerized signature on the petition is a sign of support for an open carry handgun policy in the state in which gun owners would be allowed to carry their weapons in plain sight. The petition is non-binding, and right now it has no sponsor in the Legislature.


"We shouldn't have to ask the state for permission to exercise that right," said McCarthy.


"I whole-heartedly support it; there's absolutely nothing wrong with that," said Lawrence Taylor, supporter of an open carry handgun law.
Despite public support, any change in gun laws will be up to the Texas Legislature. State lawmakers are not in session right now; however, representatives with opencarry.org say they have spoken with some who say they will push the green button -- voting yes.


Governor Rick Perry says he supports an open carry policy, but some law enforcement officials don't agree.



"It's extremely dangerous for the officers, it's dangerous for the citizens," said President of the Austin Police Association Lt. George Vanderhule.


On Tuesday, opencarry.org will launch a series of radio commercial ads dubbed Operation Lone Star Thunder.


“We believe that law abiding Texans should be free to exercise their rights,” said the commercial.


Opencarry.org hopes the message will change the minds of opponents. Advertisements will also hit the road. Austin Cab Company will have about a dozen taxis with posters supporting the policy change.


Texas is just one of six states that do not have an open carry gun law at all. Most other states have an open-carry law. Some of the states don’t even require gun owners to get a license.


"I don't like it because I don't like guns at all, I think they're dangerous," said Esther Vanhout, opponent.


According to the FBI violent crimes across the nation, including states with open carry laws has gone down over the past year, but those who oppose open-carry fear the law increases accidental shootings. Statistics for those shootings are not available.


For now, a formal open carry bill is not posted to go before the Legislature in its next session, but sources say there is a bill being drafted that should be ready by January.

 

[phatcyclist]

I would love to see this happen. Texas is a hot climate and wardrobes can't always facilitate concealed carry of anything more than a mouse gun or a derringer. I probably wouldn't open carry much, but I think it should be an option. I think that if there is a license required that CHL holders should be automatically allowed to do so.

 

[pxranger]

I used to open carry in Arizona. I miss that.

 

[ducksps]

typical view

"I don't like it because I don't like guns at all, I think they're dangerous," said Esther Vanhout, opponent.


No firearms education is the thing anti-gunners seem to have in common.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

"I don't like it because I don't like guns at all, I think they're dangerous," said Esther Vanhout, opponent.


No firearms education is the thing anti-gunners seem to have in common.

It's funny some of the morons that they quote to get a word in from the anti crowd. They'll take quotes from established and respected industry professionals and marginalize them as "nuts", but then they'll take some libtard off the street that has some idiotic input on the subject and they will give them equal time and/or more consideration. True journalism died a very long time ago.

 

[border bandit]

couple of questions about open carry.

I am one of the Tx CHL Instructors and I have wondered are they just going to let everybody just walk around with a gun on their hip? How
would you know if it is law abiding citizen ; a gang banger or Mexican cop. Whats to keep the last 2 I named from doing it? ..
border bandit

 

[Shorts]

I am one of the Tx CHL Instructors and I have wondered are they just going to let everybody just walk around with a gun on their hip? How
would you know if it is law abiding citizen ; a gang banger or Mexican cop. Whats to keep the last 2 I named from doing it? ..
border bandit

Well, I don't know what the final draft bill will be but unlicensed OC is the goal. And CC still remains a licensed affair.

...let me gather my thoughts here, grab some lunch and I'll get a coherent reply down

 

[RMD1960]

I do agree that it should be our "right" to open carry. However, I doubt I would ever do it. To me it takes away the "surprise element". When the bad guy enters the facility behind you, and sees a gun on your hip, he may just shoot you in the back to eliminate the risk of a confrontation from you. Police officers in uniform walk around every day with a great big "target" on their back. I would rather blend into the scenery than stand out like a sore thumb. Just my $.02 worth.

 

[Shorts]

The best way I could provide this reply is by the link itself. If you haven't had a chance, I encourage you to check out opencarry.org. There is much information and lots of threads that can help answer some questions you might have. It takes quite a bit of reading as the threads do get fairly extensive and lots of tangents are had...BUT, there is good information.

As I mentioned, unlicensed OC is the goal. There is one particular response that was laid out as to why unlicensed OC rather than licensed. It's a post by a member 'TFred' on OCDO this thread: TX open carry bill to be introduced with Gov. Perry's support! - Hot Topics - Open Carry Brigade - OpenCarry.org - Discussion Forum, on pg 7:

Open Carry: Should it be licensed?

As a resident of Virginia, I've read through this tread with some interest and support, but really no personal stake in the outcome of this campaign. One theme I've seen in a few posts is that some who are proponents of open carry are either not opposed to, or even in favor of licensing the practice, in a similar fashion to concealed carry. And to be complete, some wish to tie that to a "shall issue" directive (pending a satisfactory background check) to prevent the process from becoming arbitrary or subjective. All seemingly reasonable positions.

As you probably know, Virginia is a "Gold Star" open carry state, which means that in all cases, if you are allowed to legally own and posses a handgun, you may carry it openly (visibly) about your person. Just as with concealed carry, there are a few specific places where open carry is not allowed.

Living here, reading the news and personal stories of those living here in this open carry environment, please let me share with you why licensing open carry is not a good idea.

Despite the fact that open carry has always been legal in Virginia (simply because it has never been declared "illegal"), incidents regularly occur where this absolutely legal activity draws the attention and often illegal actions and reactions of law enforcement personnel and paranoid citizens.

Aside from legalizing the citizens' Constitutional right to bear arms in self defense, another goal of the open carry movement (in general, as I do not speak for opencarry.org) is to remove the anti-gun stigma held by the brainwashed masses, fostered and carefully cultivated by the liberal left of society.

Don't be fooled here, even once this campaign in Texas is successful, it will not be an easy road! After a little honeymoon-type publicity at the beginning, the "hey look I can wear a gun" stars will fade, and it will take years before the entrenched mind sets and paranoia begin to be replaced by the reluctant realization that we aren't really back in the wild, wild west after all. In real life terms, this means that many of the local and state law enforcement agencies and personnel will be reluctant to embrace this new situation, and will resist it to the best of (and sometimes even beyond) their legal ability. They will look for any excuse to intimidate and even harass citizens who are now legally openly carrying. It happens here in Virginia, where it's always been legal. It happens everywhere that open carry is legal. It will happen in Texas once open carry is legal.

To come back around to my point here... if a license is required to openly carry a firearm, then every person who is openly carrying a firearm becomes a subject to be stopped, identified, verified, questioned, delayed, intimidated, checked for outstanding warrants, humiliated, and all the other adjectives you can think of when you have been apprehended by a police officer despite having committed no crime.

Add in a little bit of leftover old-school thinking and you will have this sort of stuff being done disproportionately based on ethnicity. There are several well documented cases in Virginia of exactly that. It's costing unrepentant localities tens of thousands of dollars in lawsuit settlements.

Here in Virginia, we discuss these events regularly... so much so that we have the script memorized in case it happens to you:

Hello officer. Yes, it's a gun. No sir, no permit is required (thinking to oneself: you should know that by now). Sure, my name is ... and I live at .... Sir, am I being detained? Do you have a reason to suspect I have committed a crime or that I am about to commit a crime? Ok then, thanks, have a nice day.
​

These illegal stops happen far too often. We are making progress, but "Man With A Gun" calls still come in, and despite some progress in training (sometimes they actually try to determine if it's simply a citizen who is openly carrying) all too often law enforcement is dispatched at the bequest of brainwashed anti-gun citizens who describe near carnage just because they saw Joe (or maybe "Jane", as in Lebanon, PA!) and his holstered Glock in the checkout line at the grocery store.

If you support or even settle for "licensed" open carry in Texas, you will never get beyond the anti-gun mind set that says people who carry guns are criminals and must be treated as such. It flies in the very face of the Second Amendment and douses all the good efforts of what the open carry movement is all about.

For your consideration,

TFred

I am one of the Tx CHL Instructors and I have wondered are they just going to let everybody just walk around with a gun on their hip? How
would you know if it is law abiding citizen ; a gang banger or Mexican cop. Whats to keep the last 2 I named from doing it? ..
border bandit

To the first question, not everyone will be allowed to carry. The people who are still ineligible to possess a firearm are still ineligible from carrying a firearm, period.

As it stands now, we know that CHL holders (in kfriddile's post and TX law): have no felony convictions, no class A or B misdemeanors in the past five years, have passed both state and federal background checks, and are not chemically dependent or mentally incapable.

We know less about Average Joe who is not a CHL holder in Texas! Yet we don't worry about the weapons or intentions they possess. Why? There is no need to be concerned until they break a law. Once they have broken a law, its game over, take them in on the infraction and run them through the system.

What's to keep the gangbanger or mexican cop from OCing? Well, if either of these two are ineligible from posessing a firearm, they should have no firearm in the first place, right? It is already illegal for them to even possess a firearm if they are felons. Adding yet another law they will be in violation of does little to deter them from carrying regardless the method.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

I am one of the Tx CHL Instructors and I have wondered are they just going to let everybody just walk around with a gun on their hip? How
would you know if it is law abiding citizen ; a gang banger or Mexican cop. Whats to keep the last 2 I named from doing it? ..
border bandit

The problem is our legislators keep catering the laws to the lowest common denominator of society. In any other area or group, such as the military or a sports team for example, catering to the LCD usually results in sub par players or soldiers. The whole point with the OC movement is to get back to the "choice" part of carrying and let the law-abiding decide how they want to carry. Criminals and idiots will continue to commit acts of crime and idiocy regardless of the law. That's precisely why we call them criminals and idiots. The fears many had about concealed carry in this state as well as others have been proven to be largely unfounded. For example, in Texas, people with CHL's have accounted for less than 0.50% (that's right less than HALF of one percent!) of annual crimes in Texas, and a majority of those "crimes" were for non-violent and non-firearms related offenses (driving drunk, public intoxication, etc). The supposed blood baths in the streets never occurred as many wrung their hands about when CHL's were implemented in Texas. The same can be said for open carry. As with concealed carry and pretty much any subject for that matter, there are always exceptions to the rule and people that will still commit acts of idiocy. There is simply no way around this and no amount of legislation will ever change that entirely, so it's pointless to restrict the rights of the law-abiding to enact an exercise in futility.