To the best of my ability I write about my experience of the Universe Past, Present and Future
Friday, January 1, 2016
Gun-Friendly Texas Is Getting Even Friendlier
The main problem I can see with this is Terrorists can open carry too.
However, my first reaction was: "The Wild West is returning to Texas."
I was thinking how in 1985 when I visited New Delhi how uncomfortable I felt in an underground mall there when Plain clothed guards walked by carrying loaded Kalashnikovs in their arms. When you aren't expecting something like this it can be very unnerving. Another thing then in 1985 and 1986 was the double barreled shotguns Bank Guards carried then in India. In other words, if someone there was going to rob a bank they were sure to die in a double barreled shotgun blast. I think it spoke to the fact then that 60 percent of people in India could not read or write because there was no pubic education there then.
C.J. Grisham, 41, a retired
Army sergeant who formed Open Carry Texas in 2013, plans to carry two
semiautomatic pistols at the group's celebration of the state's
open-carry law on Friday.Credit
Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times
HOUSTON
— Texas is so gun-friendly that it is easier to get into the Capitol
in Austin with a firearm than without one — licensed, gun-carrying
lawmakers and members of the public have their own no-wait security
lane, and the unarmed masses have to stand in line and slog through the
metal detectors.
But
on Friday, gun rights throughout the state expanded still more, as a
new law took effect that allows certain Texans to wear their handguns in
holsters on their hips — or in shoulder holsters, Dirty Harry-style —
openly displaying the fact that they are armed as they work, shop, dine
and go about their day.
The
so-called open-carry law has set off a long-simmering debate over the
limits of the Texas gun culture and has given gun rights advocates a
hard-fought victory after they pushed for the expansion for years.
Members of the pro-gun group Open Carry Texas
were to gather at noon Friday on the south steps of the Capitol for a
gun-on-their-hips celebration before walking down Congress Avenue. Other
groups plan to display their weaponry at events in Houston, Dallas and
other cities.
Photo
Stickers on one of the
Grishams' cars indicate their pro-gun positions. Open carry
supporters say more public weapons will help deter would-be criminals.Credit
Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times
“I
think most people can expect Friday to be just like Thursday,” said C.
J. Grisham, 41, a retired Army sergeant who formed Open Carry Texas in
2013. He says he plans to carry two semiautomatic pistols at the Capitol
rally, and gave his 13-year-old daughter a pink .22-caliber rifle for
her 12th birthday. “I think everybody is overreacting.”
More
than 40 states allow some form of open carry. But Texas will become the
most populous open-carry state, and the public nature of the debate and
vote has produced measures of elation, anxiety and confusion over the
new law.
The mixed emotions have prompted law enforcement agencies to hold public meetings and release informational videos to help put some residents at ease, particularly in the wake of high-profile mass shootings.
Open-carry
supporters say more public weapons will help deter would-be criminals.
Opponents say that police officers will have a hard time separating the
good guys from the bad, and that there is no evidence that open-carry
states are safer.
The
change directly affects only a small fraction of Texans — 925,000 men
and women with active state-issued licenses to carry a concealed
firearm, close to 4 percent of the state’s 27.4 million residents. Only
those with a concealed-handgun permit are allowed to open carry, and all
of them must submit their fingerprints and pass a criminal background
check.
Texans
do not need a state license to buy a handgun but must meet the federal
qualifications. If Texas gun owners want to carry their handguns outside
their home, they must apply for a license through the Texas Department
of Public Safety, be at least 21 and complete training courses and a
written examination.
Photo
Mr. Grisham gave his 13-year-old daughter, Hannah, a pink .22-caliber rifle for her 12th birthday.Credit
Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times
State
lawmakers and gun rights advocates have played down the effect of the
new law, saying that they believe that the majority of those licensed to
carry a firearm will choose to keep it concealed. Even the author of
the law, State Representative Larry Phillips, Republican Sherman, said
he did not plan on routinely wearing his handgun on his hip.
“I
don’t think you’re going to see a major change,” Mr. Phillips said.
“Most people I talk to say they’re going to conceal carry.”
Tim
Vasquez, the chief of police in the West Texas city of San Angelo and
the president of the Texas Police Chiefs Association, said police
officials were bracing for “a huge learning curve” as they begin
enforcing the law.
“Most
of us do support concealed, but we also understand that open carry
creates a whole new set of problems,” Chief Vasquez said. “If our
officers see someone with an open carry, they do have the ability to
stop and identify whether that person is permitted or not.”
Gun
rights will advance again in August, when students and faculty members
at Texas universities will be allowed to carry concealed handguns on
campus, although openly carrying them is prohibited.
The
new open-carry law allows businesses to ban the visible wearing of
handguns, by posting signs with specific required wording in English and
Spanish. Merchants and restaurant owners have been busy in recent weeks
deciding what to do, and gun rights advocates have vowed not to spend
money anywhere that bans open carry.
Photo
Open-carry supporters say the laws help promote safety.Credit
Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times
One pro-gun website, Texas3006.com,
has been keeping track of the businesses that have posted signs and
created a “Wall of Shame” for those with the most entries (at the top of
the list was the Sprouts grocery chain).
Opponents of open carry have publicized their own lists, including the national group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which applauded H-E-B grocery stores, the Chuy’s Tex-Mex restaurant chain and others for banning open carry.
“We
feel customers and employees will feel safer when people are not openly
walking around with guns,” said Anna Kehde, the Texas chapter leader of
Moms Demand Action. “It’s hard to tell who is a responsible gun owner
and who is someone I should seek cover from.”
Certain
places are off-limits to concealed and unconcealed handguns under Texas
law in most cases, including sporting events, amusement parks, bars,
courts, governmental meetings and places of worship.
The
law has brought renewed attention to the state’s licensed gun carriers,
and questions of who will and who will not open carry. John Wittman, a
spokesman for Gov. Greg Abbott, a longtime proponent of gun rights who
signed the bill into law in June, declined to comment when asked whether
the governor would openly carry. A spokesman for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick,
who also has a concealed-carry license, said Mr. Patrick did not plan on
openly carrying.
For
many pro-gun Texans, the arrival of open carry is not enough. Many of
them did not support the open-carry bill but instead called for
legislation for what they called “constitutional carry” — allowing
Texans to display and wear their handguns regardless of whether they
were licensed to carry a concealed firearm because, they argued, the
Second Amendment gives them the right to do so. They are urging the
passage of a constitutional-carry bill in the next session of the
Legislature.
The
new law is anticlimactic for one other reason. Texas has no prohibition
on the open carrying of rifles, shotguns and other long guns, a right
that gun owners have taken advantage of in recent years by showing up at
open-carry rallies and other events with loaded AR-15s and other
military-style rifles strapped across their backs.
Manny Fernandez reported from Houston, and David Montgomery from Austin, Tex.
A version of this article appears in print on January 1, 2016, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Texas Becomes Gun-Friendlier With New Law. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe
Dec 30, 2015 · HOUSTON — Texas is so gun-friendly that it is easier to get into the Capitol in Austin with a firearm than without one — licensed, gun-carrying ...
Aug 29, 2013 · Already a gun-friendly state, Texas is taking steps to be even cozier for concealed handgun license holders, through a slate of gun-related laws taking ...
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