Posted on 01/30/2015 4:38:32 AM PST by marktwain
Open carry activists at the State Capitol in Austin.
The movement to restore open carry to Texas has heated up in the last year and a half. It arguably accelerated with C.J. Grisham being accosted by a police officer in rural Bell County. An army veteran whose family owns thousands of acres in Bell county, Grisham was eventually convicted of "interfering with police duties" after a second jury trial. He is paying a $2,000 fine. On the installment plan. In nickles. The results are still under appeal. Many who have watched the video of the event think the police officer is the one who should have been reprimanded. The video went viral, and Grisham's zeal for open carry has blossomed into thousands of armed Texans marching to demand their second amendment rights. Charges against nearly all open carriers have been dropped.
Those thousands of activists across the state have been busy. A number of Republicans have been primaried, and even the Democrat governor candidate could not hang onto her senate seat. She was replaced by a staunch pro constitution Republican. The new Governor, the Lt. Governor, and many, many legislators have all said that they support open carry. There is some question about what kind of open carry will come from the legislature. Governor Abbot has said that he will sign whatever open carry bill comes his way, either licensed open carry, which 13 states have, or constitutional carry, which 5 states have. Not mentioned was unlicensed open carry, where a license is required for concealed carry, but not for open carry. 31 states have that arrangement. Texas is one of only six states that ban the open carry of modern handguns in most public spaces.
It was with some interest that I read the article in the texasobserver.org. titled "Open Carry Activists Rally at Capitol.
The article made a passing reference to how open carry came to be restricted in Texas. It was born of the reconstruction government after the War Between the States, or Civil War, if you prefer.
It notes that the activists have learned effective political theater. In this case, putting bananas in empty holsters to make a point. It is a powerful image that attracts the eye.
Texas is one of six states that doesnt allow open carry of handguns, although it does permit the open carry of long-guns and antique handguns made before 1899. Thirty-one states currently allow open carry without a permit and 13 require a permit.
Sterling Lands, a bishop with Family Life International Fellowship in Austin and the lone black face in the crowd of demonstrators, had a reason for supporting open carry that wasnt articulated by the speakers. He believes that restrictive gun laws in Texas were created as a response to the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War, and that current gun laws are discriminatory.
The idea was to make certain that blacks were never able to rise up in any type of an armed revolt, Lands said.Representative Jonathan Stickland who authored the bill, spoke to and demonstrated with the open carry activists. He showed his commitment to constitutional carry, with the threat of primary opposition:
Stickland is also committed to getting constitutional carry legislation passed, promising that he will offer an amendment on any gun-related bill, no matter what my colleagues say.
We will force the vote, Stickland said. And if they have the gall to vote against this bill then we will replace them in the next primary.Looking at this from a Republican representative's eyes, in a purely Machiavellian approach, it is hard to see much in the way of downsides to passing Constitutional carry, while there are many positives.
One huge obstacle to passage of an open carry bill has just been surmounted: the state senate’s rule that any new bill required a 2/3 majority for introduction.
The requirement was just removed, allowing a simple majority to introduce a bill.
There are currently 4 open-carry bills pending introduction in the coming legislative session, running the gamut from pure “Constitutional” carry to laws that would merely permit CCW-holders to also carry open.
Well, good ol’ Dan Patrick says passing constitutional carry is not a priority for him.
How to overcome Speaker of the Texas House Joe Straus, who has fended off gun liberty for years now?
For all intents and purposes, Joe Straus is a leftwing Democrat. The Democrats do not run against him in his election to the House, and he is elected speaker with just a small number of liberal Republican votes, with all the rest of his support coming from Democrats.
He refuses to let any open carry bill be voted on, though it would pass by a huge margin. He refuses to let any campus carry bill be voted on, either. He refuses to let any anti-abortion laws be voted on as well.
The Wall Street Journal describes him as “The Harry Reid of Texas”.
He was once again elected to be Speaker of the Texas House on January 13 of this year. And Texas has neither an Initiative nor a Referendum process in their law.
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