Here’s Looking at Texas!

Texas continues to move to Open Carry:

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.

By the anti-gun Media. Really New Hampshire and Vermont are the capitals of American Gun Culture. Texas didn’t even get concealed carry until 1996!

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.

Sorry Governor Elect, while Open Carry is 100% legal in Massachusetts, it is ONLY legal by A) A May-issue permit that can be restricted at will by police. So even if you have a Mass “License To Carry” many towns still only issue “Target and Hunting Only” restricted LTCs to residents. Open carry is NOT “Target and Hunting”, and unless the person is on duty as a security guard, their “Employment Purposes Only” Restriction won’t allow open carry to the grocery store or walking the dog either. And B) These permits have been revoked on the grounds of “Showing Bad Judgement” for people who have ACCIDENTALLY exposed their 100% legally carried firearm. Still his point is that in Massachusetts you won’t face criminal charges for open carry, and in Texas you will.

Large urban areas have traditionally had the strictest controls on weapons in public because of concerns over guns in crowds and crime control, said UCLA law professor Adam Winkler, author of “Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America.” He said it’s “pretty surprising” that Texas still has an open carry ban that dates to the 1870s.

“We’ve been regulating guns in the interest of public safety, even in places like Texas, since the founding,” Winkler said. “The battle over open carry of guns in public remains one of the most heated in the gun debate today.”

Yep, and we’ve seen SO MANY problems with open carry in the states that allow it. Of course Winkler is an anti-freedom zealot, so it’s expected for him to misrepresent the truth.

Open carry opponents, such as Moms Demand Action for Gun Safety in America, say carrying guns on the street is less about gun rights than intimidation.

“There is no way to know … if that person is a threat to moms and our children,” said Claire Elizabeth, who heads the group’s Texas chapter.

More of the same. Also a bit of irony that the Bloomberg group that has taken ZERO action against known violent criminals illegally carrying weapons in any fashion, and concentrates all their efforts on turning people who are lawfully and safely owning and carrying guns into criminals, are claiming that all lawfully armed people are somehow nefarious. Who’s trying to intimidate who here?

Despite the early momentum, there are no guarantees open carry will pass. Bills to allow concealed handguns on college campus appeared to have widespread support in 2009, 2011 and 2013, but were derailed by objections from universities and law enforcement.

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.”

What a great take-away. Here’s to REAL common sense, Texas!