My wife just completed her CHL (concealed handgun license)
class today and it made me think about how Texas doesn’t allow “open carry,” or
visibly carry a firearm in public. In
fact, there’s only 7 states left that don’t allow it these days and Texas is one
of them, sharing this spot light with liberal states like California. Since Texas is one of the most pro second
amendment states out there, I found it odd that they still haven’t passed a
bill in support of open carry, so I decided to do a little research. Supposedly there’s a bill in the works right
now to allow Texas to become an “open carry” state, but it would only allow
people with concealed handgun licenses to open carry, which to me, defeats the
purpose. I just recently moved from the
state of Virginia, and their “open carry” law allows anyone who owns a gun to
open carry, which I completely agree with.
What’s the point in owning a gun if you can’t carry it with you to
protect yourself?
Some people would
argue that carrying a gun in plane sight is like showing all you cards at a
poker game, while others look at it as a deterrent, scaring attackers away just
from the sight of the weapon. Either
way, if it were allowed, at least you would have the option to carry if you
wanted to. Even the Texas’s constitution
states that, “Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the
lawful defense of himself or the State; but the Legislature shall have power,
by law, to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime.” I’m not sure how concealing guns from “view”
prevents crimes, if anything it should be the other way around. If someone was going to try to steal a person’s
wallet, and they had a choice between a guy with a gun, and an unarmed person,
they would choose the latter. Hopefully
Texas will pass the “open carry” law and allow it to apply to everyone, until
then I guess Texas will have gunless cowboys.
1 comment:
To our Gun-less Cowboys, I must agree, it seems a little less like Texas for us not to be able to wear our firearms at our sides. I had to really contemplate the multitude of consequences for and against the “open carry” option and I seem to be at an impasse. Personally, I don’t think people wearing their guns out in public would make me feel safe at all. I also think that the knowledge of a weapon in close range would deter would be criminals from an attempted act of robbery, or anything that could cause harm to another person. My fear would be those individuals who would see a firearm as a taunt. You could say a challenge of sport. The probability that one would be more inclined to engage with another person carrying a weapon seems like only a matter of time in our lovely cowboy country. Although, I do think it would be more safe to only allow those with a CHL license, but then again the possibilities are so endless to the damage that could be done, I am glad I don’t have to be the one to decide which way I would lean in the end.
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