Posted on 06/14/2013 9:38:42 AM PDT by EXCH54FE
If signed into law, a Texas bill would require that hotels that restrict the possession, storage or transporting of firearms to inform guests of such policies prior to checking in, reports the Houston Business Journal.
State Rep. Ryan Guillen, as well as other supporters of House Bill 333, point out that the bill will help to avoid any confusion for concealed carry permit holders. The bill would require hotels to clearly state their firearms policy both on their website and to future guests when confirming reservations.
Failure for hotels to comply with the proposed law would result in a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $100 fine.
HB 333 passed through both the House and the Senate last month and was sent to Texas Gov. Rick Perry to be signed. So far a total of 15 pro-gun bills have passed during this session, which apparently is a record number according to the Texas GOP.
Perry has until June 16 to veto the bill if he wishes, which is unlikely. The governor has vetoed only two bills this legislative session, the fewest since he has been in office. In addition, not a single piece of gun control legislation has passed in Texas during this session, which has included proposed restrictions for private firearm sales at gun shows, magazine bans and requiring drug testing for concealed handgun license applicants.
As one business owner in Arkansas, recently pointed out, “You either allow it or you don’t.” By making your firearms policy clear to potential customers, it not only encourages safe practices, but it helps customers to make better decisions on where to vote with their pocketbooks. And in the mostly gun-friendly Lone Star State, a hotel which publically announces that they do not allow firearms, will likely end up losing business, which could – or could not – be part of the motivation behind the proposed legislation.
Of course, if you are unsure about gun policies, you could always do what one man did while traveling to New York and go for the option – albeit, a bad one – of storing your firearm in the couch cushion of the hotel lobby.
Works for me.
I’ll respect their private property rights by taking my business elsewhere.
I’m against the government REQUIRING anything like this of small business. Gun rights or not.
Trouble is the hotels don’t communicate it. So if you reserve a room and get there only to find out they won’t allow you to keep your gun on premises then you lose your room and have to find another. The hotel would also keep your money.
If you stay anyway then you could be charged with armed trespass, usually a felony.
If the lodging business owner does not wish to ensure the safety of its guests, and does not feel that any lawsuits may come from this, then let them!
Me? I’ll take my money elsewhere.
Perhaps, it's me but, it's a concealed weapon for a reason. Unless they have metal detectors on the room doors, how will they know?
They’ll know if the housekeeper comes in the room and sees it. They’d also know if you had to use it.
So even if you used it legally, the fact you were committing armed trespass at the time would certainly complicate your defense against ‘Trayvon’ and Rev Jackson.
This sounds to me like another government solution to a non-problem and I would rather they stay out of it. I prefer having to enquire about hotel policies when booking a room to having the government stick its nose into private transactions.
It certainly wouldn't be out in the open.
They’d also know if you had to use it.
In which case, I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6, as the saying goes.
My thinking is only if I arrived at the hotel not knowing their policy. Had I known beforehand, I would definitely take my business elsewhere.
Just make sure you avoid the “gun free zone” hotels like the plague. Crime will rates predictably soar at those joints. Ringing the dinner bell for the predators...
“This sounds to me like another government solution to a non-problem “
It’s a problem if the hotel you choose takes away your second amendment right but didn’t tell you before you made the reservation. If the hotel stayed out of your business, there wouldn’t be a problem but they are the ones who inserted themselves to take away your second amendment right. The second amendment doesn’t say hotels are exempt from following that amendment. No business has the right to take away your constitutional rights.
Now criminals will know which motels and hotels don’t have guns.
The point is if a property owner asks you not to carry a weapon on THEIR property you should respect it. If they don’t want it then they should tell you up front.
Otherwise you are breaking the law.
I tend to keep my concealed weapon concealed when in doubt about whether an establishment allows it. If in a hotel, I carry it in its concealed state and do not leave it in the room or store it “for safety” (how inane would that be).
This sounds like a smart law, especially requiring notification to guests *in advance* of their making reservations.
Importantly, this covers both hotels and motels, and *maybe* tourist homes, tourist houses, tourist courts, lodging houses, inns, rooming houses and bed and breakfast establishments, which can include private homestays. These are covered by some Texas laws, but not others.
To make things more complicated, some of these other places use several reservation services, and are listed in books that in future will all need to indicate their gun policies, unless those policies are the same as state law.
(For those who travel a lot, I’ll throw in a plug for B&Bs, because often these cost a lot less and offer a lot more than even expensive hotels. A lot of them are just hobbies of people with big homes whose kids have moved out, so you are treated, in effect, as “company”.)
in Texas, you can legally travel with a weapon in your car without needing to get a concealed carry permit. So what does a hotel think we are going to do with such tools overnight? Leave them in the car where they can be stolen from the hotel parking lot?
I agree on one condition: the property owner takes the LEGAL responsibility of providing for my security. That’s how it was under Common Law and most tribal laws and customs, for that matter. If you post and I get hurt, the property owner is held legally responsible for denying my right to defend myself at his POB while not providing adequate protections.
While a hotel is a public accomodation, the owner still (for now) has control over certain aspects of his property. The second amendment does not prevent anyone from insisting you be unarmed on his private property so he is not taking away your rights but rather asserting his own.
I understand that hotels failing to disclose their policies can lead to frustration, financial loss, etc but I see that as a civil matter. If a hotel which fails to disclose that it will not permit you to bring a firearm onto it's property still charges you then you have every right to take up the matter in small claims court, or simply tell your CC company that any charges are illegitimate.
As we have seen time and again governmnet interference for something we like eventually gets turned on us. I for one would rather keep the gov. out and deal with the issue the way I would deal with any company that has provided a poor product or service.
If I am not in my room neither is my weapon. I do not get in public pools so I always have it on me. They will never know. I will carry anywhere I don’t have to pass through a metal detector.
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