Pre '97 concealed carry.

[surferdaddy]

So this is likely a silly question, but, how did folks carry before there was legal concealed carry? I know people did, was there always a way to get some sort of permit? Did they just wing it? I truly don't know.

Thanks,
Surferdaddy

[thatguy]

Before Texas had CHL we carried at our own risk. I usually kept some shot up targets and range bag in the car so I could explain that I was on the way to gun range to shoot as state law allowed me to carry a gun to and from a gun range. We also had a traveling law but that was very subjective, dont get me started.

As far as actually carrying a gun on my person, I did not. While I had a the gun in a holster, that was more for safety reasons than carrying reasons. I am awed at the progress that has been made from the way it was to the way it is know.

Many thanks are in order to a whole lot of selfless people who devoted a whole lot of time and money for no other reason than it was the right thing to do, many of them are on this forum today.

[denwego]

I was 16 when the law went into effect, so I obviously never had any occasion to carry before a CHL was an option (unless you count my 18-21 years, and I didn't own a handgun before I was 21). But I've often talked with folks elder than myself, and two trends pop out. Firstly, there were a lot of folks who kept a rifle or shotgun in the car 24/7. It was (and still is) perfectly legal to keep one in a rack on the window, hidden under a towel, resting on the seat next to you, or kept in the trunk just-in-case. A couple I know also went the SBR/SBS route to make it even easier to handle in the car, since with the NFA paperwork you cut a shotgun down to the size of a pistol while not falling under the prohibitions of §46.02 at all.

The second one was... break the law. A CHL makes it legal to carry all the time virtually everywhere we go, and lots of the time I don't think about whether or not "today will be the day" because I'm going further from home than normal or into a new neighborhood. Before CHLs, many people weighed each situation and decided if carrying a pistol balanced the need to protect oneself versus the likelihood of being charged with UCW. More power to those people back in the day; we're all adults, and they decided staying alive was more important. Many cops understood this, as I've heard, and the 25-year-old woman jogging in the park with a .22 in her fanny pack back in 1993 was more likely to have a cop tell her "I tell my daughter to do the same thing" than get thrown on the pavement. But that's risk-reward... there were time where it was plainly more risky to carry and be punished than the off chance of needing it to save your life. So, most people didn't carry most of the time, but reserved the option in a bad situation.

[surferdaddy]

I couldn't agree with you all more about the courage of those whom risked ridicule, scrutiny and even political danger in order that we, the responsible few, might protect ourselves and our families. I didn't think that there was a pre '97 way in which to 'legally' carry, but I wasn't sure. It's amazing just how natural it feels to be armed, I never would have imagined. I can't even fathom the thought of being out with my family with out. being out with my family with out.

[texanron]

I had a shotgun that rode around with me for the longest before the MPA passed. I did not carry a concealed handgun on my person before obtaining my CHL.

[USA1]

I respectfully decline to answer this question on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

[surferdaddy]

Haha, I figured there would be a few responses like that. What's the statute of limitations?

[PUCKER]

Some folks may have carried under the "It's better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6" law/mantra....

I still remember a cop telling that to my dad when I was a kiddo...and that was in OHIO! Dad worked downtown Cleveland...not exactly a great place.

[Shinesintx]

I never carried a weapon on my self, but I always had one in my vehicle...hidden. Started doing this in 89 when I was 18. Dad gave a 357 and said dont do anything stupid. I never considered it breaking the law...ya just had to do, what ya needed to do, to be safe.

I think it was 92 or 93 when Dad gave me a Smith 4006 to carry in my car...he thought I needed more capacity than the six shooter. :)

[Shinesintx]

I respectfully decline to answer this question on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

I think we might be grandfathered...or at least the statute of limitations has run out.

[RockingRook]

A friend of mine is an ex-parole officer. When he found out I was going to the class for CCL he asked me
why did I feel I had he need to carry a weapon?

I told him because at 68 I no longer felt that I can take on the world without a little help.

He then told me usually what happens if a person is caught carrying without a license he is fined $800.
I said I like to follow the law and do things in a legal way. I had been carrying in my vehicle
but having 4 grand kids and going out to malls, kid places etc. I felt I needed a little more.

I took it my friend was telling me that many people carried but did not have a CCL. Because he was a parole officer before
'97 I guess he was talking about times pre-'97.

I know lots of people carried weapons but no one ever talked about it and if you went on your way not causing any
problems you were likely never to be caught. If the time came that you needed to use that weapon paying a fine, facing a judge
and whatever else was a lot better than being dead.

I really want to thank whoever they were that got us the right to carry and the CHL system we now have.
I also see that there are many states doing the same. With the situation in the world the way it is I think we
all should take advantage of our right to bear arms.

Without a doubt the NRA has played a big part in maintaining our 2nd Amendment rights. For that reason
I will always be a member and just recently bought a membership for a serviceman when I renewed my
membership. I think the more members we have the stronger will be their advocacy of the 2nd amendment.
Which is uniquely American.

Also I really like the mag. American Rifleman.

Chuck

[RPB]

I really want to thank whoever they were that got us the right to carry and the CHL system we now have.

Chuck

If you really want to

Two who had a bit to do with it:

I'm sure Jerry Patterson would appreciate your vote as he is running for LT Gov of Texas (He wrote the CHL law) http://www.votepatterson.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Authored the Texas Concealed Handgun Law and restored a constitutional right for law-abiding Texans.

And you could buy a book from Dr. Suzanna Gratia Hupp "From Luby's to the Legislature"
http://www.google.com/search?q=From+Lub ... egislature" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RHenriksen]

Jerry definitely has my vote! My understanding, though, was that Charles *wrote* the 1995 CHL bill, and Jerry then filed it in the Senate as the 'author' and was the point person pushing it through the legislative process - am I off base?

I really want to thank whoever they were that got us the right to carry and the CHL system we now have.

Chuck

If you really want to

Two who had a bit to do with it:

I'm sure Jerry Patterson would appreciate your vote as he is running for LT Gov of Texas (He wrote the CHL law) http://www.votepatterson.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And you could buy a book from Dr. Suzanna Gratia Hupp "From Luby's to the Legislature"
http://www.google.com/search?q=From+Lub ... egislature" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[johnson0317]

I have "From Luby's to the Legislature. Very compelling. She re-lives, at what I am sure is some personal cost, what happened the day her parents were murdered. She had left her gun in her car in order to be a good citizen. Do you ever wonder, at a time that it is legal, you should carry at all times that you can? Just ask her.

[apostate]

I used to... mmm... know a guy... who bought a hunting license every year and carried a 4" 357 out in the boonies. There is (was?) no closed season for rabbits, so he had an excuse (and the foundation of a defense) for carrying the 357 while hiking, etc. As it happens, he was (to his knowledge) never "made" so it was never an issue.

There were also stories of selective enforcement of the UCW law but that worked better for some people than others, pretty much by definition.