Modest Open Carry Reform Close to Passage in Texas

Gun Watch ^ | 20 April, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

The massive efforts of the Texas open carry advocates, with thousands of open carry marches all over the state, seem to be about to pay off.  While second amendment enthusiasts may not get everything that they wish, they will have instituted a modest reform that moves Texas toward a return to the strong protections of a right to bear arms that it was born with.  Like the American revolution, the Texas revolution started with a distant government ignoring the rights of the people with an attempt to disarm them.    The original Texas declaration of rights of 1836 and the constitution of 1845 had strong right to keep and bear arms protections.  From the 1836 declaration of rights:

"Every citizen shall have the right to bear arms in defence of himself and the republic."

 and the 1845 Texas Constitution:

 "Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defence of himself and the State."

Licensed open carry removes some of the infringements on those rights that Texas accumulated after the Civil War, or War of Northern Aggression, if you prefer.


The licensed open carry statute in the House, passed with 96 votes for and 35 against, 1 voting present.  From state.tx.vote(pdf):

CSHB 910, as amended, was passed to engrossment by (Record 279):

96 Yeas, 35 Nays, 1 Present, not voting. Yeas — Anderson, C.; Anderson, R.; Ashby; Aycock; Bell; Bohac; Bonnen,D.; Bonnen, G.; Burkett; Burns; Burrows; Button; Capriglione; Cook; Craddick; Crownover; Cyrier; Dale; Darby; Davis, S.; Elkins; Faircloth; Fallon; Fletcher; Flynn; Frank; Frullo; Galindo; Geren; Goldman; Gonzales; Guillen; Harless; Huberty; Hughes; Hunter; Isaac; Kacal; Keffer; Keough; King, P.; King, S.; King, T.; Klick; Koop; Krause; Kuempel; Landgraf; Larson; Laubenberg; Longoria; Lozano; Metcalf; Meyer; Miller, D.; Miller, R.; Moody; Morrison; Murphy; Murr; Otto; Parker; Paul; Pena; Phelan; Phillips; Pickett; Raney; Raymond; Riddle; Rinaldi; Sanford; Schaefer; Schofield; Schubert; Shaheen; Sheets; Sheffield; Simmons; Simpson; Smith; Spitzer; Springer; Stephenson; Stickland; Thompson, E.; Tinderholt; Turner, E.S.; VanDeaver; Villalba; White, J.; White,M.; Workman; Wray; Zedler; Zerwas.

Nays — Allen; Alonzo; Anchia; Bernal; Blanco; Canales; Coleman; Collier; Davis, Y.; Deshotel; Dutton; Farias; Farrar; Giddings; Guerra; Howard; Israel; Johnson; Lucio; Martinez; Miles; Munoz; Naishtat; Nevarez; Reynolds; Rodriguez, E.; Rodriguez, J.; Romero; Rose; Thompson, S.; Turner, C.; Turner,S.; Vo; Walle; Wu.

Present, not voting — Mr. Speaker(C).
Absent, Excused — Alvarado; Clardy; Farney; Gonzalez; Gutierrez;
Hernandez; Herrero; King, K.; Leach; Marquez; Martinez Fischer; Oliveira; Paddie; Price; Smithee.  

Absent — Dukes; McClendon.

Most of the proposed amendments to the bill were tables (failed).  Here are the amendments that were proposed:

 Amendment 1 - withdrawn (change nursing home to nursing facilit)

Amendment 2  - Tabled (require a Texas CHL if a Texas domicile established)

Amendment 3 - Tabled (Pictogram of Handgun vs 3006 sign)

Amendment 4 -  Tabled (Extra restraints on holsters)

Amendment 5 - Tabled (requirement to conspicuously display CHL)

Amendment 6 - Tabled (requirement for liability insurance)

Amendment 7 - Tabled (CHL to cover other weapons 72-53)

Amendment 8 - Tabled (City of over 1,000,000 to be able to ban open carry)

Amendment 9 - Passed (Amended Amendment 8 to 750,000)  no real effect, as amendment 8 was tabled.

Amendment 10 -  Tabled (requirement to collect data on crimes involving handguns)

Amendment 11 - Withdrawn (Campus Carry, not considered germane to this legislation)

Amendment 12 - Tabled (only one magazine or clip allowed to be carried per handgun)

Amendment 13 - Adopted (change of wording, home to facility, essentially amendment 1)

Amendment 14 - Tabled (tighten reciprocity requirements)

Amendment 15 - Tabled (active defense; not clear as to purpose)

Amendment 16 - Tabled (enables detention and disarmament of handgun carriers to determine if they have a CHL)

Amendment 17 - Withdrawn (exempted school board members to allow carry for them in schools)

Amendment 18 - Adopted 98-2 (Max $200 fine for carry handgun  in prohibited area with 3006 sign, unless proof shown that they were asked to leave and did not, then it would become a misdemeanor)

 It is interesting to note, that while numerous amendments from the Democrates were allowed to be voted on and defeated, the amendment by representative Strickland, that would have make the bill into a constitutional carry bill, was not allowed to be voted on by the full house. 

There are a few issues that need to be worked out with the Senate.  It is expected that no substantive changes will be introduced, and the bill will be sent to Governor Abbot essentially as passed by the House.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

The efforts of tens of thousands of open carriers in Texas are about to pay off.

[dp0622]

I wholeheartedly and proudly support my southern brethren. I live New YORKUSSR. I wonder what the heck I would do if sanity came and we were allowed to buy guns with no permits or training? Am I gong to get killed on this board for thinking maybe a training course is a good requirement? It’s a hypothetical in this pathetic city but just wondering.

[marktwain]

It is not possible to detect a difference in accidental or criminal deaths between states that require training and those that do not

This is likely because most defensive uses do not involve actually shooting someone.

The vast majority of defensive uses merely involve showing the ability to use deadly force. That almost always defuses the situation with the criminal running away. It is why so few open carriers are attacked.

[Nachoman]

I’m a second amendment supporter, but I don’t have a problem requiring training to carry a firearm in public. Carrying a gun in public has far more safety, security and legal ramifications than keeping a gun in your home for self defense.

[dp0622]

What kills me living here is that if I carry or own a gun I will go to jail. But by not carrying one, when martial law kicks in, I will be sitting here waiting for you guys to come free us. Not a good feeling.
But here is where my family and job is. Plus I HATE the heat lol

[marktwain]

Maine, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska all have much more second amendment friendly states, and are as cool as New York...

But practical consideration are important, and we need people “behind the lines”. Of course, that often proves to be dangerous...

[dp0622]

All true what you said. And I cant lie. I live on Staten Island, which is VERY conservative, and I work in Manhattan. I love the contrast of being in one of the busiest places in the world during the day and coming home to sanity at the end of the day. The other boroughs call us rednecks and guineas, lol, I don’t care. WE don’t want them coming. My neighbors own glocks, the neighborhoods are safe, and if Obama’s sons come wandering in and cause trouble, the shadier elements of my ethnicity make sure they don’t come back.

[trebb]

I’m a second amendment supporter, but I don’t have a problem requiring training to carry a firearm in public. Carrying a gun in public has far more safety, security and legal ramifications than keeping a gun in your home for self defense.

I got my training from my Dad. When I was older, he got with a shop teacher at my school and started a gun club that included NRA safety videos (pre-super 8 reel-to-reel) and slide shows (in the old carousels). Some probably wouldn't be allowed today as they showed pics of a guy in a pick up with a slug in the middle of his forehead 9a idiot "hunter" had stepped into the road and fire at a deer crossing it - the truck was just cresting the hill when the guy shot)/a guy with his brains on the ground because he used his gi=un and a walking stick and when the butt hit the ground it took off a good portion of his skull, and a naked guy in a fork in a tree - he had evidently climbed up to get a view, fell and got wedged in the fork and then struggled so hard to get out that he ended up w/o clothes. That was some serious training about what happens when one is unsafe. Then, I benefited from "personal lessons" like a literal kick in the ass when I started to field strip a 1911 w/o checking it for ammo (I was 10 and he had just showed me how to do it - I never touched another weapon over the last 52 years w/o checking it).

Many have traning that far surpasses the training that one must pay for and take time for - that should be considered.