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I don't want to spawn a big open carry tactics discussion but only want to know if there is any appetite in the Legislature for open carry or some step towards it. Incrementalism seems to work well.

Charles, you mentioned ahwile back that you'd wanted to try to fix the misuse of your language "a building or part of a building" whereby one court or court office can render an entire building off limits. Is there a bill for this or is there some language in one of the other gun bills to do it?

SA-TX wrote:I don't want to spawn a big open carry tactics discussion but only want to know if there is any appetite in the Legislature for open carry or some step towards it. Incrementalism seems to work well.

An honest answer is I don't know, but there was no open-carry bill filed. Apparently no Rep. or Senator was approached about filing one, as their staff would usually contact TSRA to see if it was "our" bill. We never heard anything. I know there was a new open-carry organization created in Texas to push for legislation, but I guess they didn't have time to get organized and rolling for this session. It takes a lot of work to get such an organization operational.

SA-TX wrote:Charles, you mentioned awhile back that you'd wanted to try to fix the misuse of your language "a building or part of a building" whereby one court or court office can render an entire building off limits. Is there a bill for this or is there some language in one of the other gun bills to do it?

No, this was one of my concerns that we just couldn't get worked into the agenda this session. Castle Doctrine, Emergency Powers, Motorist Protection Act (car-carry) and employer parking lots (4 totally different bills on parking lots) are the major "projects" this session. There are also lesser known bills like military fees, CHL confidentiality, laser sights for hunting for vision impaired hunters and guns in foster homes that have to be worked. In addition to working on “our� legislation, we have to oppose bad bills. Usually this means working on killing the bills, but sometimes we work to fix select bills, when there is a very good reason. Examples of these are HB2112 (school property) and HB3635 (police stations).

As discussed in another thread, we always have more on our “To Do List� than can be done, so we prioritize. Obviously, some bills are going to draw more attention and/or opposition, so they take more time to work. The Texas Municipal League (TML) and the Texas Association of Counties (TAC) fought SB501 (limiting the use of TPC §30.06 by governmental agencies) like a Tiger and it was a bloody fight. They will fight just as hard to prevent clarifying the definition of “premises� and “school� so that bill will be a major project and there just wasn’t any time/room left for another major project. (It is one of my pet projects, if you haven’t guessed that already.) Hopefully we’ll be able to tackle it next session.

Chas.

I tried to get mine to write an OC bill. But, he told me that the time isn't right. He seemed afraid it would be a rallying point for anti-self defense types to gain real support from the fence setters. I disagree and urged him to at least talk to some people. He was less than enthused and I don't blame him because it was only a few months ago.

I think the only way we will be able to ever get OC passed is grassroots. Many of the more experienced don't want to even try or just don't like the idea. I don't see anyone organizing to fight for it. All I want is the option and would settle for it being tied to CHL (O/CHL) for now. However, I do agree that we really need to do away with some of the restrictions on CHL and we would have a harder time if we went for OC.

shootthesheet wrote:I don't see anyone organizing to fight for it. All I want is the option and would settle for it being tied to CHL (O/CHL) for now. However, I do agree that we really need to do away with some of the restrictions on CHL and we would have a harder time if we went for OC.

http://www.txcdl.org/

Disclaimer: This is not an endorsement from TEXASCHLForum!

Mr. Cotton may have more information of this organization.

I have been a member since the beginning and stand on my statement that I see nothing being done. Thank you for the link you provided.

shootthesheet wrote:I have been a member since the beginning and stand on my statement that I see nothing being done. Thank you for the link you provided.

Thanks for your information. I have watched this close. I have spoken to the President Gary Williams. He seems to be a good man. I do know he is in the process moving to Texas and I am assuming maybe they will get busy after he settles in.

carlson1 wrote:

shootthesheet wrote:I have been a member since the beginning and stand on my statement that I see nothing being done. Thank you for the link you provided.

Thanks for your information. I have watched this close. I have spoken to the President Gary Williams. He seems to be a good man. I do know he is in the process moving to Texas and I am assuming maybe they will get busy after he settles in.

That is good to know. Please keep us up to date.

Open Carry faces some big obstacles

First, it's not on the TSRA or the NRA list of good laws for Texas.

There is some legitimate concern that Open Carry will enrage the Anti-Gun folks and cause a backlash against CHL.

Second, there is a limit on the number of ‘gun’ bills that the legislature will consider. We aren’t the only folks that want some changes.

Third, every year some new issue pops up. This year there was the parking lot bill, the no retreat bill, and the no confiscations bill. The need for these three bills became apparent in other states.

Fourth, every year there are some clean up issues. This year there is the correction to the packing while Traveling in your vehicle correction. Last session it was extending CHL renewals for a full 5 years and blocking local governments from posting 30.06 signs.

Open Carry is a big change and it doesn’t have wide spread support among gun owners. Before we can get the law changed we are going to have to change attitudes. Maybe with a presentation at the 2008 TSRA convention.

shootthesheet wrote:I have been a member since the beginning and stand on my statement that I see nothing being done. Thank you for the link you provided.

I have spoken and written my state senator and representative regarding my (our) desire for open carry as have other members on this board.

I forwarded Gary my open carry testimonials as he requested in a recent newsletter. Gary's newsletter details what help he needs.

Shootthesheet, not knowing how active you are in the open carry quest, please share with us what you have done and your experiences.

Maybe opencarry.org would be a better venue.

Anygun

Not to mention that if you ran the numbers...Rough numbers from memory...

That its about 1% of the 250,000 or so CHL'ers in the State of Texas that would support, or not fight against, an open carry provision added into the law...Whenever it would be introduced...

Its not a big issue to the masses, of the few, here in Texas that have obtained the certification...

I threw this together based upon the average texasCHLforum.com membership that was about 60/40 split on the issue...60 being for the idea...(on this website)

Like most here agree, what we have going on this session is pretty darn good...Coupling what was accomplished from 2005...We've been fortunate...

I agree with Stevie in that the squeaky wheel gits the grease.

Most sheeple would not even know what open carry is. I would bet that if you were to open carery right now, were fairly clean cut and neat, most folks would assume you were LEO.

We need to squeak really loud to recover what we lost.

Anygun

One of the few reservations I have about the issue is that there would be an uninformed "expectation" that someone who doesn't know you, would "assume" you would intervene in a situation, just because they see a "gun"...

It could be a very uncomfortable situation to be put into...

But...As always, I look to the other states that have this provision, and I have just not seen a thing anywhere where there has been "expectations" or "assumptions" by the non-carrying citizenry...

A reminder...Those other states have either had the open carry provision all along or not...We are among those who do not...No state that I know of have been successful in passing a law that would change their status to allow this to become a choice...

BTW, I am still thinking we'd get a pass in some future session to allow us to store our firearms in a courthouse, before we'd get an open carry deal...

I was talking to a friend of mine from Flagstaff, AZ and I mentioned there was no open carry in Texas. He was floored that you couldn't open carry here. He's used to strapping his 357, going to Walmart to buy ammo, and then target shooting. That's the only time he carries his gun.

I'm ashamed that Texas is one of about only 5 states that has no open carry at all. Even California allows open carry in counties of less then 20,000 people. Yes PRK has a more lax gun law than Texas.

After living in Arizona for about 10 years, it becomes readily apparent that all the fears about open carry are just fears. Most people don't even exercise their freedom. When they do no one really notices.