Police Open Carry of Long Gun not Illegal, but.....

[MasterOfNone]

To establish "calculated to alarm," wouldn't they need to prove intent? If the carrier says "I am carrying it in case I need it to protect myself," isn't there an obligation to show some other reason that is calculated to alarm?

[E.Marquez]

To establish "calculated to alarm," wouldn't they need to prove intent? If the carrier says "I am carrying it in case I need it to protect myself," isn't there an obligation to show some other reason that is calculated to alarm?

You mean at trial?.... perhaps depending on the judge.

At the time of contact? Nothing but the officers personal opinion of the law, your actions, your attitude and his desire / belief you need to be arrested / not arrested matter.

[LabRat]

Found this on a follow up search.
I don't vouch for the validity of the article...just passing on information.

http://excoplawstudent.wordpress.com/20 ... pen-carry/

[Charles L. Cotton]

They are pushing 42.01(8)

§ 42.01. DISORDERLY CONDUCT.
(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly:
....
(8) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm;

What they were saying is if he carried his long gun out in public and someone 'became alarmed' and called in they would consider it disorderly conduct and arrest him. This is one of those 'beat the rap but not the ride' deals. Anyone wants to be a test case can go to Little Elm.

I've been considering a bill to repeal TPC §42.01(a)(8) for exactly this reason. I guess it's time to do so. NOTE to the OP, please keep this video.

Chas.

[VMI77]

When I was a teenager I used to walk down my street carrying rifles and shotguns. Not once did anyone call the police. If a police car drove by the officer waved and didn't even stop. A great part of the liberal success with gun control is the denormalization of the open display and carrying of long guns.

[Beiruty]

They are pushing 42.01(8)

§ 42.01. DISORDERLY CONDUCT.
(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly:
....
(8) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm;

What they were saying is if he carried his long gun out in public and someone 'became alarmed' and called in they would consider it disorderly conduct and arrest him. This is one of those 'beat the rap but not the ride' deals. Anyone wants to be a test case can go to Little Elm.

I've been considering a bill to repeal TPC §42.01(a)(8) for exactly this reason. I guess it's time to do so. NOTE to the OP, please keep this video.

Chas.

[RogueUSMC]

When I was a teenager I used to walk down my street carrying rifles and shotguns. Not once did anyone call the police. If a police car drove by the officer waved and didn't even stop. A great part of the liberal success with gun control is the denormalization of the open display and carrying of long guns.

I remember as a kid, we would stop in at the hardware store with our guns and buy ammo on our way out to camp for a few days...nobody thought anything of it, they just wished us luck on whatever we were after.

We were 12 or 13 years old and we regularly took a Remington 700 and a little .22 with snake shot with us...this was in the early '80s. Things have changed so fast.

[EEllis]

When I was a teenager I used to walk down my street carrying rifles and shotguns. Not once did anyone call the police. If a police car drove by the officer waved and didn't even stop. A great part of the liberal success with gun control is the denormalization of the open display and carrying of long guns.

I remember as a kid, we would stop in at the hardware store with our guns and buy ammo on our way out to camp for a few days...nobody thought anything of it, they just wished us luck on whatever we were after.

We were 12 or 13 years old and we regularly took a Remington 700 and a little .22 with snake shot with us...this was in the early '80s. Things have changed so fast.

Depending on where you are you still wouldn't get much reaction. What we are talking about here is carrying a gun where there isn't any sporting use for one.

[Beiruty]

Let us see, is the 2nA right looked at differently in Charotte?
http://youtu.be/GSBE0-z1i2o" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[cb1000rider]

He has another video of him talking with the police chief and he said they do support the 2A and did talk to the officers.

That's good enough for me. Good guy police chief.



It's got to put LEOs in a tough position. They get a MWG call (even a long gun) and suddenly they have to deal with someone that that probably don't want to deal with. After all, they could be investigating crime. The choices are to educate the public who is calling in or find a charge to stick on the MWG and let the courts sort it out. Which way is easier?

And I understand the concept of "disturbing the peace" or "disorderly conduct" but LEOs should not be applying those charges to lawful behavior.

[cb1000rider]

When I was a teenager I used to walk down my street carrying rifles and shotguns. Not once did anyone call the police. If a police car drove by the officer waved and didn't even stop. A great part of the liberal success with gun control is the denormalization of the open display and carrying of long guns.

VM,
What kind of neighborhood was that? I did the same thing when I was a kid.. I carried firearms a few miles back and forth to a fishing pond, never had a lick of trouble.
But that neighborhood was "fairly rural".

That Little Elm neighborhood reminds me of Plano. Relatively dense homes, new construction... Suburban.

Legally, it shouldn't matter, but clearly it does to the PD.

[jmra]

Found this on a follow up search.
I don't vouch for the validity of the article...just passing on information.

http://excoplawstudent.wordpress.com/20 ... pen-carry/

Very interesting article. I thought I remembered a court ruling regarding the "disturbing the peace" angle but thought it was at the federal level so couldn't find it yesterday.

[bdickens]

Depending on where you are you still wouldn't get much reaction. What we are talking about here is carrying a gun where there isn't any sporting use for one.

The Second Amendment is not about "sporting uses."

[fickman]

One concern in a suburban area would be to make sure you know where the schools are and their distances from your route.

[nightmare69]

He has another video of him talking with the police chief and he said they do support the 2A and did talk to the officers.

That's good enough for me. Good guy police chief.



It's got to put LEOs in a tough position. They get a MWG call (even a long gun) and suddenly they have to deal with someone that that probably don't want to deal with. After all, they could be investigating crime. The choices are to educate the public who is calling in or find a charge to stick on the MWG and let the courts sort it out. Which way is easier?

And I understand the concept of "disturbing the peace" or "disorderly conduct" but LEOs should not be applying those charges to lawful behavior.

Some LEOs believe that if people are calling about MWG then that is causing alarm therefor reason to arrest you. Texas open carry laws are kinda potato anyway, the term *manner calculated to cause alarm* has alot of room for interpretation and depends on the LEO to determine. Either make open carry of long guns legal or illegal, not this "well its legal but....."