Open Carry is Coming to Texas

Gun Watch ^ | 7 February, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

For those who do not pay close attention to insider politics in Texas, both parties' likely candidates for governor have now endorsed the policy of restoring the legal open carry of sidearms to Texans.  The open carry of sidearms was banned by the  reconstruction government after the civil war (war between the states), when the reconstruction government effectively neutered the state constitutional guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms by writing a new constitution.

After the reconstruction governor was forced to flee the governors mansion (he lost the election, refused to concede, and an impromptu Texas militia was advancing on the mansion), the Texans rewrote the constitution again, but left in a clause that allowed the legislature to regulate the wearing of arms.  The legislature never repealed the reconstruction ban on wearing arms.  This left Texans with the right to openly carry long arms, but not sidearms.

Texans have been exercising that right as a means of pushing for restoring the open carry of sidearms in the state. 

Greg Abbot will almost certainly be the Republican candidate for governor of Texas this year.   He came out in favor of open carry over a year ago, and his support of open carry draws the most applause at campaign stops.  It is not clear exactly what open carry policy Attorney General Abbot would support as Governor.   It could be anything from the most common policy in the rest of the country, unrestricted open carry, to the less common but more restrictive policy of licensed open carry.  Texas is currently one of five or six states, depending on how you define it, that explicitly bans the open carry of sidearms.  Most people, given Texas' reputation as "gun friendly", find this surprising and inexplicable.

The Democrat Party's nearly certain candidate for governor, Wendy Davis, has been struggling lately with revelations that she has not been candid about her history.  Her campaign has made some poor choices lately.  While Davis has been doing well at raising money from the left, she faces an uphill battle in slightly right of center Texas.   Davis, who has an F rating from the NRA, is attempting to build some belated bridges to Texas gun owners.   Apparently in anticipation of a run for the governors mansion, Davis made some mildly "pro-gun" votes where it made no difference last year.    In January of this year, she promised to expand where concealed carry permit holders may carry handguns.  At the time, Bryan Preston of the PJTatler suggested that if she really wanted to distract voters from the contradictions in her origins story, she should come out in favor of open carry of handguns.

It appears that she has taken Mr. Preston's advice to heart.  From the AP article in Chron.com:

Rising Democratic star and gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis has joined her top Republican rival in supporting a proposed "open carry" law. It would allow people with concealed handgun licenses to wear a pistol on their hip, in full view, while in public.

While AP says the two candidates for governor support the same policies, that is not immediately clear.    In my Internet researches, I have only found that Greg Abbot says that he supports the restoration of open carry of handguns.   Wendy Davis says that she supports the open carry of handguns by people with concealed handgun licenses.    Perhaps Ms. Davis conversion to second amendment proponent will prompt Mr. Abbot to clarify his position.

In any case, with both governor candidates openly proclaiming that the time for Texans to reclaim their open carry rights has come, it seems likely that open carry of sidearms will pass the Texas legislature next session.


©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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[ForAmerica]

Oh hell yea!

[marktwain]

There were some exceptions in the law for carrying while “traveling”. I expect that the law was rather selectively enforced.

[RebelTXRose]

We are working on it! - (removing Strauss as Speaker!)

[basil]

Nope—ole Laz knows me, and I’m very sure he doesn’t want a photo—LOL!

[servantboy777]

Bout freakin time.

Let the rapist, muggers, robbers, carjackers see what the obstacle is before them.....perhaps they'll think their life is worth more than thirty bucks.

[servantboy777]

Pretty sure you’d have the choice.

[Howie66]

I completely understand your reasoning and agree. Shouldn’t we have a choice?

[jda]

Open, concealed, long gun, pistol, machine gun, knife, heavy rock... It's a personal choice and an individual Right.

I agree that it's a personal choice and individual right, but we also have the right NOT to open carry AR-15's into restaurants and grocery stores - it's a right, not a mandate, and any right can be misused.

[Starstruck]

The greatest obstacle to TX open carry has been “Republicans” David Dewhurst (yes, him) and Joe Straus.

Republican Governors used to give us the same problem in Kansas when it came to concealed carry. Finally we were able to elect a state congress with enough conservative votes to override the veto of none other than democrat Kathleen Sebelius.

[DaveA37]

I loved the “old west” ways where anyone could (and did) carry out in the open. Might stop a lot of those “knock out” game playing idiots from even considering it.

[Cyber Liberty]

I find the current state of Open Carry in TX to be a bit of a mystery. At the moment, the rule is exactly the same as in California, right? No open-carry, period?

[PubliusMM]

Couldn’t agree more, marktwain.

Texas is destined to be a very big part of the salvation of America. Open carry of sidearms is a good first step.

[Texicanus]

Thanks. What you say makes sense. Given choices, most will probably choose concealed over open carry for the reasons you have stated.

Personally, Open carry is like a beautiful woman who openly displays her nakeness rather than conceals her beauty for special someone. It’s the mystery angle. Does he carry or doesn’t he? Bad guys want to know and only you know for sure.

[marktwain]

“I find the current state of Open Carry in TX to be a bit of a mystery. At the moment, the rule is exactly the same as in California, right? No open-carry, period?”

It is a bit more complicated than that. California recently banned unloaded open carry of long guns, for example, while open carry of long guns is protected by the Texas Constitution. There are links in the article that give much of the back story, if you are interested:

http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2013/08/txcome-and-take-it-means-to-restore.html

[Dead Corpse]

I agree that it's a personal choice and individual right, but...

May as well just admit to yourself that you are FOR some forms of "gun control" then.

If a business doesn't want me to carry in their "open to the public" establishments... They need to put up a sign with their insult clearly stated so I can spend my money elsewhere.

[nanetteclaret]

As long as you can draw as fast as The Texan.

[jda]

I think it would be better for us gun owners to control ourselves (i.e., choose not open carry rifles in places where the public could be unnecessarily alarmed, thus giving gun ownership a bad image), than put certain establishments in a tough position such that they put up signs or, worse yet, the government impose restrictions.

[Dead Corpse]

You are free to sit in the back of the bus...

[jda]

Yes, and I am also free to carry concealed when open carry of a rifle would be unwarranted and unnecessary, but doing so would certainly emphasize the fact that I had the right, and most assuredly make a positive statement regarding gun ownership and gun owners.

[Zippo44]

All you knuckleheads downthread with your usual moronic parroting of the “tactical risks” of open carry need to understand what this is about. This is not an issue of strapping on yore sixgun and swaggering into the local saloon. This is about a CHL holder bending down to pick up a can of peas at the local grocery store in Austin, Houston, Dallas (or some smaller pocket of Demorat control) and having some bedwetting hoplophobe run to the next aisle and call 911 to report a “gun carrying maniac about to kill us all”.

The way the law stands, that CHL holder, if he is lucky enough not to be riddled with gunfire by the responding JBTs, will almost certainly lose his CHL. He might even wind up doing hard time for it. The point to open carry in Texas is so a concealed firearm accidentally displayed doesn’t ruin a CHL holder’s life.

You may now resume your chest pounding proclamations of “I’d never carry right out in the open cause that might let some varmint get the drop on me”.