Open Carry, HB 910 Substitute, in Texas Senate now

Gun Watch ^ | 23 May, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

HB 910, the Texas licensed open carry bill, passed the House by 2/3 margins.  The bill went through the Senate State Affairs Committee, where the Dutton amendment was stripped from it.   Now, being debated on the floor of the full Senate, the debate is whether to put the Dutton amendment back in.   The Dutton amendment specifies that peace officers may not detain open carriers simply to ask if they have a license, but must have probable cause to suspect criminal activity, just like they need for any Terry stop.   The amendment is designed to protect open carriers from police harassment.  Here is the text of the amendment:

CERTAIN INVESTIGATORY STOPS AND INQUIRIES PROHIBITED.   A peace officer may not make an investigatory stop or other temporary detention to inquire as to whether a person possesses a handgun license solely because the person is carrying a partially or wholly visible handgun carried in a shoulder or belt holster.

The second amendment supporters of open carry, represented by C.J. Grisham, have said that the amendment is not important, because of precedent that guards against this type of stop in any case.   Others say that it is useful, because it will prevent the flood of lawsuits that will be required to enforce the judicial rulings in Texas.

A potential advantage for bringing the Dutton amendment back, is that the bill can be restored to a duplicate of the House Bill 910.  Then it does not have to go back to the House for a vote.   It can be engrossed after the Senate third vote and sent to Governor Abbott for signature.  The progress of the bill is being followed closely, with knowledgeable debate on procedure and fine points, on Texasguntalk.com.

The Senate has now postponed debate until 6pm, an hour and a half from now.

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

[marktwain]

Open carry is going to pass, unless the disarmist find a way to derail it.

[Redbob]

"Open carry is going to pass, unless the disarmist John Strauss find a way to derail it."

There.
Fixed

[lormand]

Last year, I took my daughter and friend to the Bob Bullock museum in Austin to see Stevie Ray Vaughn's #1 guitar and other musical artifacts. I decided to walk another few blocks and show them the capital of Texas.

While walking up, I realized I was concealing my sidearm (legally) and balked at entering the premise. Then I remembered reading somewhere here on Freerepublic that CHL holders where allowed entry into the capital. Sure enough, there was a special line just for people like me to give my ID to the State Trooper, who then lets me in without having to go thru the metal detector.

[Redbob]

We’ve GOT to find a way to get rid of John Strauss, if it means defeating every pubbie that voted for him for Speaker in the primaries.

Let’s start with getting rid of Denton’s Myra Crownover.
Her husband was a good man, but she’s dumber than a box of rocks.

[txrefugee]

Straus retained his leader’s post because 68 Democrats and 17 Republicans voted for him. What is the matter with these phony GOP Senators?

[marktwain]

I think you mean GOP Representatives, since Straus is in the House.

[TheZMan]

Postponed?

[TheZMan]

Ah, half-hearted, psychotic, obviously democrat, filibuster. Nice.

[marktwain]

You nailed it. I watched the “Republican” Joan Huffman, from Houston, do an elongated, utterly misleading song and dance. She sounds much more like a “liberal fascist” than a Republican.

She is proposing an amendment to the amendment 9. Her amendment should be shot down easily.

If amendment 9 passes, and no other amendments, and the bill passes, all of which seems likely, then the bill has one more read, becomes engrossed, and is sent to Governor Abbot. That is why amendment 9 is so crucial.

It essentially says “game over” this bill will pass!

[TheZMan]

Correct. I wonder how long they’ll play games to keep it from passing.

[TheZMan]

http://tlcsenate.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=5&event_id=929

[TheZMan]

Debating amendment 10 (amendment to 9) now. Enhances penalties for unlawful open carry.

[TheZMan]

Just passed the Senate. On to the Governor.

[Windflier]

Just passed the Senate. On to the Governor.

Hope that's the case, finally. This bill's been bouncing around like a ping pong ball.

Do you know if the bill passed with the Dutton Amendment attached (no police stop for open carry without probable cause), or no?

[JimSp]

I experienced that yesterday. Pretty cool.

[JimSp]

Saw that live. I didn’t know who she was and was looking through all the Dems on the state senate page to find out who she was. Then to my surprise I found her among the Republicans.

[TheZMan]

It passed *with* the Dutton amendment (9).

[Windflier]

It passed *with* the Dutton amendment (9).

Thank you.