TexasCHLforum.com

austin wrote:Here is another approach.

Are firms that Prohibit CHL persons from entering putting themselves at greater risk than those who don't?

On a purely actuarial basis it would seem that if crimes go down by half when there is CCW, then it would stand to reason that locations that prohibit CCW are higher risk areas and must pay for a rider to prohibit CHL.

Furthermore, by prohibiting CCW, is the firm not creating a known dangerous situation by disarming people?

I suspect that the statistics compiled by DPS comparing crime committed by CHL'ers with total crime could be used to argue that case.

I have actually gone so far as to instruct my family to file suit against my employer in the event that I am killed in a criminal attack while travelling to and from work. My employer bans guns from its premesis AND parking facilities. Since we're in an office park, there is no other place to park EXCEPT the company facility. So in the unlikely event that I am attacked while travelling to and from work - unarmed (due to my following company policy), I want my estate to hold the company financially responsible.

I realize that this would be a tough suit to win, but that's what good lawyers are for I guess.

AG-EE wrote:I will write a letter to him, as well as my reps.

When you write your letter, make sure to urge Gov. Perry to speak to Rep. Woolley (Chair of the House Calendars Committee) and get her to schedule SB534 for a vote on the House floor.

This is the bill allowing employees with CHL's to keep handguns in their locked vehicles in company parking lots without being subject to being fired.

Passed the Senate, passed the House LE Committee, now sitting in Calendars dying a slow death, unless Rep. Woolley allows it out.

tornado wrote:This is generating lots of water cooler discussions today, obviously. Lots of "Oh, no -- they'll shoot everyone!"

Anybody have any newer direct comparison than this?

An Analysis Of The Arrest Rate Of Texas Concealed Handgun License Holders As Compared To The Arrest Rate Of The Entire Texas Population 1996 - 1998, Revised to include 1999 and 2000 data

Here's a link to the DPS page where you can access stats on conviction rates of CHL holders.

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administra ... vrates.htm

If you pull up the page for 2005, you will see that CHL's are convicted at rates that are a small fraction of the overall population. There are 267,000 CHL holders in TX. This is about 2% of the total number of adults. This means that for any crime where the % of TOTAL convictions of CHL's was less than 2% is a crime that CHL's commit LESS OFTEN than the general population.

This includes almost all crimes, and certainly all the most violent ones.

TX CHL holders are peaceable law-abiding citizens. These stats PROVE IT. Any THINKING person who honestly considers the facts should have no problem with the idea of CHL's carrying guns in any public place (including "public accommodations such as most businesses).

People who talk about drunken hotheads shooting it out are just ignorant of the fact that people like that can't get CHL's, and that many of them carry illegally already. And they are also don't grasp the fact that if a CHL holder wanted to go into a day care center and shoot it up, THEY COULD DO IT RIGHT NOW IF THEY WANTED TO because there is nothing to stop them.

The next time you're talking with one of these unthinking fools, ask them this. Would they feel safe getting on an airplane if there were no metal detector, no x-ray machine, and no baggage screeening of any kind - just a sign posted at the jetway entrance saying, "It is a federal felony to carry a firearm aboard this aircraft"?

I've tried this a few times today, and the typical response is nervous laughter.

Then I ask them why someone should feel safe on a college campus, workplace, or wherever, that has no security, just because the premesis is posted with a sign banning guns?

Try it and see what happens.

I don't agree with some things he has proposed in the past, but there's not the slightest doubt that Gov. Perry has been one of the best friends that Texas gun owners have ever had.

He has never failed to sign a pro gun rights bill. And he has done everything possible to establish reciprocity with as many states as possible.

His position on this issue (getting rid of gun-free zones) shows a degree of common sense and candor that is very rare among politicians these days.

In my mind, his stock just went WAY up.