Yep, today it starts. I’ll be strapping one on and heading into town in about an hour, not expecting it to be much of a big deal really.
I was talking to a friend a few days ago, he said he expected to see a few people call police soon as they saw a guy walking around with a gun on, but that would die dpwn soon as the public in general got used to it. I don’t expect even that, we’ve had open carry for permit holders for a couple of years now, we’ll just see a few more people carrying.
This thread from yesterday had some good comments
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3990640/posts
And I posted a couple of good links to the law itself, and a FAQ about it that may be of interest to Texans. I plan to look over their online firearm safety course, but don’t have a lot of time this morning, I want to make it to Academy before all the .380 runs out, or 22 mag if they get any of either...finally started to see some .380 the past couple of weeks, but it doesn’t last long.
Mixed feelings about it, mainly on the open carry side. When open carry was authorized a few years back turning CHL into LTC nitwits came out of the woodwork showboating around in obvious manners that made me cringe. Just not a good look for firearm folk. And the holsters, just terrible stuff, rarely saw a good one especially a retention holster on anyone. After a while the new evidently wore off and it's been some time since I've seen consistent open carry in public, at least in my area. May vary where you live. Open carry mania is liable to start up all over again but problematic this time around since a lot of characters will think they can just throw one on and go wherever, which will get them into legal issues - worse in some jurisdictions than others - and start gumming up the works for the LTC people who on the whole have been more diligent about trying to do everything right. Again not a good look, and open for harassment.
The thing I liked about going from strict concealed to LTC is in the event of an "oopsie" - accidental exposure - there's now a legal buffer when before it was a straight violation of law. Lefty maggots used to go "CHL hunting" when they were out and about in public, looking for printing under clothing, slip ups and what have you so they could call in and report them. It was no joke, I saw their discussions on internet forums about the best ways on how detect a concealed carry and what to say when calling in. Am just gonna keep my eyes and ears open and see how this develops.