1) Not according to my concealed carry instructor.
2) Distinction without a difference.
3) It's a stupid, stupid concept from the get-go
Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
Posted on 11/17/2010 4:01:55 AM PST by marktwain
Recent Supreme Court decisions have reaffirmed that the Second Amendment is a personal right. But according to one group, there’s still one hurdle to clear before that right is fully enjoyed.
The right to keep and bear arms is pretty well understood by most of us, but there is one area that is not. And it’s a kind of arms bearing that we all know well…thanks to Hollywood.
That’s right…we’ve seen it in a thousand movies. The long walk, the holstered guns…the ultimate confrontation…
But that’s the movies, right? You couldn’t possibly carry that way in real life, right?
Now, in Texas, there a couple of ways you can carry a pistol. You can now carry it in your car. Or, if you have a license, you can carry it concealed on your person. But what if you could carry it out in the open?
John Pierce founded OpenCarry.org, and from him we found out an interesting and little known fact…
There are 43 of the 50 states where open carry is permissible in one form or another.
That’s right, in all but 7 states in the union, you can walk down the street, go into a coffee shop, go shopping all while wearing a gun on your hip. Interestingly, the 7 states that that expressly forbid it, are mostly in the South.
Of course in the real west, there were laws against open carrying in most Texas cities, but Pierce says that’s not the intent of the Constitution.
Pierce says that Governor Rick Perry has promised to sign an open carry bill if it lands on his desk.
He says though that although some legislators are friendly to the idea, no one has stepped forward to propose the bill.
1) Not according to my concealed carry instructor.
2) Distinction without a difference.
3) It's a stupid, stupid concept from the get-go
Well, yes and no.
The ultimate goal is to avoid getting killed by the police; the secondary goal is to avoid getting pulled out of your car, cuffed, and forced to sit on the curb while they rifle (pun!) through your car.
When I got pulled over last time, my weapon was cased, behind my seat. I just left it there, and signed for my citation. However, if the weapon is in plain view it is your best interst to conceal it from the police before he gets to your window.
I think the whole "Put your hands on the steering wheel and wiggle your fingers so as to show the officer you are unarmed and respectful of his desire for safety" goes a long way towards putting him at ease and avoiding any ramp up of conflict.
So yes, I guess I am advising you to break the law. I never thought of it in such harsh terms, but my opinion is that this is the best and safest way. Of course, if the officer asks if you have a weapon, don't lie, but in my experience it will never, ever come to that. I have never been asked if I have a gun in my car, nor has anyone I know.
I am a gun-owner, possessor of several CCW permits (though not in my own state, NJ!). I am also an NRA member.
However, I think that Texas has it right. It is better to carry concealed: then the criminal never knows exactly who is armed and who is not. Also, no one is frightened, and there will be fewer accidents based on misunderstandings.
Pistols should also require a permit obtained by demonstrating a clean record. This is only common sense. It is also very effective.
The best way to predict human behavior is to look at an individual’s past performance. It is not fool-proof (what is!), but it is better than anything else we have come up with. There also should be an age requirement. I favor 20 for women, 25 for men who have not be in the armed forces or the police (because the male brain is not mature until age 25, and males have just too much testosterone before then, and tend to get into fights). OK, so no one will pass that part, because it discriminates. The law should discriminate where appropriate, but we can’t always get the best law imaginable.
No fundamental right is absolute! The right to free speech has limitations (lots of them, if you think about it). Even the right to freedom of religion has limitations (no polygamy; no human sacrifice; no cannibalism, &c.).
If you carry any of the fundamental rights to an extreme, you end up with craziness, like the ACLU (on the left), or like people who can’t take an airport inspection (on the libertarian side).
This is why lawmakers should be reasonable people, and not wackos. It is also why the populace must have some common sense, which they very much lack nowadays (or else 0 would not be President).
As for NJ, their gun policy is simply not honestly administered. They are a “may issue” state, with a nice self-defense statement in the state’s constitution, but in practice they just arbitrarily deny carry permits. Connecticut has almost the same laws, and also is called a “may issue” state: but the difference is that they actually do issue carry permits, and I have one. So I live in NJ, obtained a CT permit, but cannot get one in my own state. Obviously something is wrong here!
Have you seen the video (available on youtube) of the lawyer instructing people to never say anything to the police? If a police officer were to ask you if you have a gun in your car, I can see 3 possible responses:
1) Lie and say "No".
2) Tell the truth and say "Yes".
3) Say "I need to speak to my attorney".
The correct responses (to all questions) is #3. The lawyer does an excellent job of demonstrating how fine, upstanding, law-abiding, honest citizens, in an effort to assist an officer in the pursuit of his duties, end up screwing themselves 6 ways to Sunday.
To all, know the law. Don't depend on your CHL instuctors word as to the particulars of the law.
My CHL instructor, who was a former LEO, was astounded by the lack of knowledge of the laws by other instructors when she was obtaining her instructor's license.
And when did cops evr ask if you had a weapon? For me: never.
Several years ago in Texas when I was rear-ended, I showed the officer my drivers license and when I pulled out my CHL and before I could say, as required by law, that I was not carrying he said, “I don’t care about that.”
I guess that he thought that I hadn’t already done something stupid I wasn’t likely to start then.
If you have a handgun in your car, it cannot be “in plain sight.”
Debbie Riddle? Miss Debbie Riddle, phone call at the white courtesy phone in the lobby...
I LIVED in The People’s Republic of Zoo Jersey for 35 years and left 2 years ago because of the oppressive firearms laws and my Conservative vote being worth squat.
Moved back to PA where I grew up . PA has great firearm laws and puts the citizen first .CCW permits are easy to get through just a federal check and a chat with the county sheriff. The drawback is no training involved . Some people who have never fired a weapon qualify for CCW and that can be a potentially deadly situaion.
Zoo Jersey just passed a law out of committee yesterday that allows the Demorats to get a list of all NRA members.Look into getting out of the hellhole called Jersey . You will feel much better .
Purchase of a hangun is easy as Federal check and out the door. No Permit, no State Police Check, no FID card. Pick the weapon you want and out the door in 10 minutes . SUNDAY INCLUDED!
You can even have the neat things such as folding stock,flash supressor, bayonet lug and/or bayonet on all the fun toys (AK,SKS,Mini14,AR’s etc )
“If you have a handgun in your car, it cannot be “in plain sight.”
What about traveling to and from the shooting range?
Needs to be in a case, or could probably be stored in the trunk, console glove box, etc. Doesn’t have to be locked.
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/80R/billtext/html/HB01815F.htm
I don't - Pennsylvania is one of the most gun-friendly states in the nation. Texas, despite its reputation, still suffers from laws intended to disenfranchise blacks but now used to disenfranchise everyone.
Can you patronize a restaurant that serves alcoholic beverages while carrying your firearm in Texas? You can in Pennsylvania. Do you have to take a state-sponsored training class to exercise your Constitutional right in Texas? You don't have to in Pennsylvania.
It is a relatively new law, or more accuratley, a clarification of an old law.
Texas law states that you may have a firearm in your vehicle "while traveling".
The thing is, that hazy description left a lot of grey area and confusion, because the law said in order to be considered "traveling", you had to be going from one county to another, and you could not be a "salesman" for some reason. There was a lot of room for police to harrass and arrest a person under that old law. There were other quieks in the old law too, and the new law clarified a lot of stuff.
One thing it says plainly is that the firearm must not be concealed in the vehicle. It must be in plain sight. This is not for CCL people, but rather everyone else. I assume a CCL person may conceal their weapon. I do not know what the rules are for a CCL person.
I don't really see how a training class, required only once but good for life (usually), somehow makes a person safe to carry a firearm.
There are many things that a potential concealed carrier should be proficient in. I don't think that the answer is limiting their rights until they can prove they are responsible enough to exercise them, however.
Besides, if it was such a big deal, we'd have "BLOOD IN THE STREETS" here in PA, compared to states that require training like Ohio. Why haven't we - other than the "training requirement" being pointless?
Huh?! Are you talking about Texas?
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/80R/billtext/html/HB01815F.HTM
Up until this election....dems were in control in the State House...now Republicans have majority in the house and senate...this could be the reason we’ve been unable to pass open carry...
Thank you for curing me of my ignorance. Some of it, at least.
That’s exactly what I do. The little they know about you...the better off you are. My son has a CCP and was after me to get one. I honestly don’t want the law to know I have one in my truck. My pistol pushes down between the 2 seats on my rt.,If get stopped I just push butt down to hide it....done deal.
I kept a pistol butt hanging outa rifle scabbard behind my seat yrs ago.One stopped me one time ,saw the butt hanging out there...asked me if I knew the gun laws of Texas. I said “yes”...he said have a safe trip.
But ,Today men there are some looney, screwy, young and dumb killers posing as LE. They will shoot you and never bat an eyelid. The less you say, the less they know about you.
I can truly say today...I DO NOT HAVE ONE, no not one cop I can call a friend...nor do I want one.
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