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TX:Come and Take It means to Restore Open Carry Protections
Gun Watch ^ | 24 August, 2013 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 08/23/2013 1:52:36 PM PDT by marktwain



Some people may not know that the Texas revolution for independence against dictatorial rule, like the American revolution, started with an attempt to disarm the citizens.

When the upstart government of Santa Anna, who had taken over the Mexican state in a coup, tried to take a small cannon that the citizens of Gonzales, Texas had for defense against hostile indians, the citizens put into English the famous Greek phrase of the Spartans,  Molon Labe and said:

Come and take it!


One of the flags at the recent open carry demonstration in Kingwood, a Houston suburb

It has been taken as the moniker in Kingwood, Texas by an open carry group determined to restore and defend their rights under the Second Amendment and the Texas Constitution.  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."

Texas sided with the Confederacy in the War between the States, or Civil War, if you prefer.  They lost, and the carpetbagger government created a new Texas Constitution in 1869.    That Constitution gutted the right to keep and bear arms.

 "Every person shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defense of himself or the state, under such regulations as the legislature may prescribe."

 In 1872  and 1873, Texas voted out the carpetbagger government.  The governor begged the federal government for troops to keep him in power, but none were sent.  He fled the governor's mansion as an impromptu militia of armed citizens advanced on it.

The post reconstruction Texas approved of a new Constitution in 1876.  It had stronger protection of the right to keep and bear arms , but left in a crucial loophole for the legislature.  It provided that the legislature could regulate the wearing of arms with respect to fighting crime.
"Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defence of himself or the State; but the Legislature shall have power by law to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime."
The legislature did not repeal the reconstruction ban on the carrying of arms, and the courts refused to invalidate the law under the 1876 Constitution.   The law was widely used to disarm former slaves and others out of favor with the local authorities.   Democrats would control Texas for over a century.

With the Republican revolution of 1994, after decades of abuse of the prohibition on bearing arms on the person, the legislature passed a restrictive shall issue concealed carry law, which has been incrementally improved.

In 2007 Texas codified "travel" to mean any time you were in your vehicle.  Texans could now carry a handgun in their vehicles without a permit, but the handgun had to be concealed.

Texas is only one of six states that forbids the open carry of handguns.



The open carry movement in Texas, wishing to have the freedoms that 44 other states enjoy, has started to demonstrate the open carry of rifles and shotguns, because they are not allowed to open carry handguns.


Notice the "Come and Take It" flag in black and white, and the banner

Oklahoma has recently restored the right to carry handguns openly to "shall issue" permit holders.  An open carry demonstration is  scheduled for  Arkansas to enforce a change in the law.    Numerous settlements have been gained from police departments who abuse open carry rights in Washington, Michigan, Wisconsin, VirginiaPennsylvania, and others.

California is the only fish to be swimming upstream against this tide.   It banned open carry of even unloaded handguns in 2011 and rifles and shotguns in 2012.  The laws are being challenged in the courts.

More demonstrations are being planned for Texas in the coming months.  Many Texas legislators are sympathetic.
 
What will happen in the next legislative session remains to be seen.


 ©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

Link to Gun Watch


TOPICS: Government; History; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: banglist; comeandtakeit; guncontrol; opencarry; secondamendment; tx
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Texas is fighting to take back freedoms taken from them during reconstruction.
1 posted on 08/23/2013 1:52:36 PM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain

Wish I was still in Texas.


2 posted on 08/23/2013 1:55:38 PM PDT by Dead Corpse (I will not comply.)
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To: marktwain
Thank you for that article, marktwain! I didn't know the whole story.
3 posted on 08/23/2013 2:10:28 PM PDT by Standing Wolf (No tyrant should ever be allowed to die of natural causes.)
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To: marktwain
What will happen in the next legislative session remains to be seen.

Not really. This movement has been going for at least the past 3 sessions (including this one), and isn't going to make any headway in Texas.
4 posted on 08/23/2013 2:13:33 PM PDT by TexasGunLover ("Either you're with us or you're with the terrorists."-- President George W. Bush)
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To: Standing Wolf
You are welcome. I ferreted out most of it by myself over the years, but the Article by Stephen P. Halbrook is complete, scholarly, and well documented with extensive footnotes.

I highly recommend it.

5 posted on 08/23/2013 2:15:54 PM PDT by marktwain (The MSM must die for the Republic to live. Long live the new media!)
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To: Dead Corpse

I’m a 7th generation Texan, and live in Texas.

I’m all for open carry, but want to have the right to chose how I carry. There are times that I prefer to carry concealed..........


6 posted on 08/23/2013 2:42:32 PM PDT by basil (2ASisters.org)
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To: basil

Yes M’am. It is your Right, it should be your choice.


7 posted on 08/23/2013 5:58:42 PM PDT by Dead Corpse (I will not comply.)
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To: marktwain; waterhill; ixtl; Windflier
Thanks for posting....

We Texans need to work harder to get open carry passed so you at least have the option. Some days I get tired of IWB (inside the waistband), especially in the summer.

I finally just got rid of a bad heat rash, that lasted for a couple of weeks, that was shaped in the perfect outline of my Milt Sparks VM2 holster. LOL!

8 posted on 08/24/2013 8:57:43 AM PDT by Envisioning (It's the Jihad, stupid......)
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To: basil

You already have that right. What you don’t have is a government that respects that right.


9 posted on 08/24/2013 9:03:57 AM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: El Gato; Eaker; hocndoc; Squantos; SwinneySwitch; MeekOneGOP; weegee; EQAndyBuzz; 2ndDivisionVet; ..
Come And Take It ping



10 posted on 08/24/2013 10:07:30 AM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: marktwain

Restore?

Has Texas ever had open carry?


11 posted on 08/24/2013 10:08:54 AM PDT by mylife (Ted Cruz understands the law, and he does not fear the unlawful.)
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To: marktwain

bump


12 posted on 08/24/2013 10:37:14 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( ==> sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: Windflier

Thanks for the ping!


13 posted on 08/24/2013 10:43:16 AM PDT by Jane Long (While Marxists continue the fundamental transformation of the USA, progressive RINOs stay silent.)
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To: mylife; All

“Has Texas ever had open carry?”

If you read the article, they had it up until 1869. In the linked reference, they said that even slaves were not barred from carrying weapons before 1869, and that there was massive vote fraud and force used in the carpetbagger elections.

The Constitution of 1876 was supposed to fix the problem form 1869, but left in enough of a loophole for the legislature and courts to effectively nullify the right for arms worn on the person for over a hundred years.


14 posted on 08/24/2013 10:49:50 AM PDT by marktwain (The MSM must die for the Republic to live. Long live the new media!)
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To: marktwain
Sec. 46.15. NONAPPLICABILITY.

(b) Section 46.02 does not apply to a person who:

(4) is engaging in lawful hunting, fishing, or other sporting activity on the immediate premises where the activity is conducted, or is en route between the premises and the actor's residence, if the weapon is a type commonly used in the activity;

Many hunters open carry between home and the place of hunting. A handgun seems appropriate when hunting, because of the threat of rattle snakes, hogs, etc. Will that hold with law enforcement in all counties? I doubt it. Locally, I am sure it is OK.

15 posted on 08/24/2013 11:03:51 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
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To: mylife
Has Texas ever had open carry?

It's been awhile...

16 posted on 08/24/2013 11:07:56 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( ==> sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: Texas Fossil

I am sure that the law has been very selectively enforced for more than a hundred years.


17 posted on 08/24/2013 11:08:52 AM PDT by marktwain (The MSM must die for the Republic to live. Long live the new media!)
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To: marktwain

Yep. I could open carry where I live and get into no trouble.

But my family has lived here since 1889. My brother was briefly married to the sister of the local constable. The constable and my brother have been friends since grade school.

The local constable is a bigger gun nut than anyone in my family. hee hee hee

But he is a good law man. He is low key and gets the job done. He does not harass the locals. That is as it should be.


18 posted on 08/24/2013 12:02:22 PM PDT by Texas Fossil
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To: marktwain

Rep Lavender’s HB 700 for open carry had 25 sponsors and co-sponsors but died. It will continue to die without going to Calendars so long as Straus controls Calendars.

One of the biggest setbacks to open carry is that TSRA won’t endorse it. They’ll tell you they don’t oppose it, but demanding it as a gutcheck on endorsement would go a long way to enable it. That they haven’t done.

Here are your Representatives in the Lege that are stand up on open carry:

Lavender | Paddie | White | Larson | Burkett
Coauthor: Bonnen, Dennis | Bonnen, Greg | Capriglione | Cook | Fallon | Flynn | Gooden | Hughes | King, Phil | King, Susan | Krause | Laubenberg | Leach | Miller, Rick | Phillips | Simmons | Thompson, Ed | Toth

The biggest advantage of Open Carry is that it eliminates inadvertant reveal being a crime, making concealed carry more practical.

In addition AZ has a law for defensive display which allows the display of a handgun to ward off its need for use. Right now, if you pull it out, it had better be to use it, or you’re committing a felony. I’d like to see a version of AZ’s defensive display in an open carry law.


19 posted on 08/24/2013 3:20:14 PM PDT by ziravan (Not Guilty.)
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To: Windflier

Thanks for the Ping....

Something might happen next session if Strauss is removed since this has been up for several sessions now.

I just believe that we need to be given a choice whether to carry open or concealed.

I am going to look pretty bad a$$ if I have 3 pistols strapped on the outside showing......just saying


20 posted on 08/24/2013 5:52:15 PM PDT by eartick (Been to the line in the sand and liked it)
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