Open Carry is Coming to Texas

Gun Watch ^ | 7 February, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

For those who do not pay close attention to insider politics in Texas, both parties' likely candidates for governor have now endorsed the policy of restoring the legal open carry of sidearms to Texans.  The open carry of sidearms was banned by the  reconstruction government after the civil war (war between the states), when the reconstruction government effectively neutered the state constitutional guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms by writing a new constitution.

After the reconstruction governor was forced to flee the governors mansion (he lost the election, refused to concede, and an impromptu Texas militia was advancing on the mansion), the Texans rewrote the constitution again, but left in a clause that allowed the legislature to regulate the wearing of arms.  The legislature never repealed the reconstruction ban on wearing arms.  This left Texans with the right to openly carry long arms, but not sidearms.

Texans have been exercising that right as a means of pushing for restoring the open carry of sidearms in the state. 

Greg Abbot will almost certainly be the Republican candidate for governor of Texas this year.   He came out in favor of open carry over a year ago, and his support of open carry draws the most applause at campaign stops.  It is not clear exactly what open carry policy Attorney General Abbot would support as Governor.   It could be anything from the most common policy in the rest of the country, unrestricted open carry, to the less common but more restrictive policy of licensed open carry.  Texas is currently one of five or six states, depending on how you define it, that explicitly bans the open carry of sidearms.  Most people, given Texas' reputation as "gun friendly", find this surprising and inexplicable.

The Democrat Party's nearly certain candidate for governor, Wendy Davis, has been struggling lately with revelations that she has not been candid about her history.  Her campaign has made some poor choices lately.  While Davis has been doing well at raising money from the left, she faces an uphill battle in slightly right of center Texas.   Davis, who has an F rating from the NRA, is attempting to build some belated bridges to Texas gun owners.   Apparently in anticipation of a run for the governors mansion, Davis made some mildly "pro-gun" votes where it made no difference last year.    In January of this year, she promised to expand where concealed carry permit holders may carry handguns.  At the time, Bryan Preston of the PJTatler suggested that if she really wanted to distract voters from the contradictions in her origins story, she should come out in favor of open carry of handguns.

It appears that she has taken Mr. Preston's advice to heart.  From the AP article in Chron.com:

Rising Democratic star and gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis has joined her top Republican rival in supporting a proposed "open carry" law. It would allow people with concealed handgun licenses to wear a pistol on their hip, in full view, while in public.

While AP says the two candidates for governor support the same policies, that is not immediately clear.    In my Internet researches, I have only found that Greg Abbot says that he supports the restoration of open carry of handguns.   Wendy Davis says that she supports the open carry of handguns by people with concealed handgun licenses.    Perhaps Ms. Davis conversion to second amendment proponent will prompt Mr. Abbot to clarify his position.

In any case, with both governor candidates openly proclaiming that the time for Texans to reclaim their open carry rights has come, it seems likely that open carry of sidearms will pass the Texas legislature next session.


©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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[marktwain]

The restoration of open carry of sidearms is long overdue in Texas.

[fwdude]

YES!!!!

[Slyfox]

Open carry used to be a gun rack in your truck filled with rifles.

[alancarp]

Sorry to throw cold water on this fire, but if Wendy somehow gets elected, I’m not exactly confident that this portion of her platform will survive.

[basil]

Open carry is ok for those who want it.

I prefer to conceal and carry, because I wear dresses and skirts, and there are many of those garments which are not enhanced by a holstered guy.

I say we should have the choice to carry either way.

[basil]

LOL!

I meant to ay holstered GUN of course—

[marktwain]

“Sorry to throw cold water on this fire, but if Wendy somehow gets elected, I’m not exactly confident that this portion of her platform will survive.”

You have excellent political instincts. I doubt the MS Davis will get elected, however. Her campaign seems to be imploding. Still, leftist donors have deep pockets...

[Paine in the Neck]

The greatest obstacle to TX open carry has been “Republicans” David Dewhurst (yes, him) and Joe Straus.

[SpinnerWebb]

I think a guy should be able to dress how he pleases... ahem...

[Empireoftheatom48]

Democrat cities Like El Paso and Austin et al will probably ban it!

[rstrahan]

Only way it will get past the House is to get rid of Joe Strauss as Speaker. He’s not for open carry.

[RandallFlagg]

I prefer to conceal and carry, because I wear dresses and skirts

Oh, NOW you've done it!
Ol' Laz will be screaming into this thread hoping for pics in the next few minutes...

;-)

[mabarker1]

Sure You did;)

Never know when You’ll need Quickdraw McGraw.

[Sans-Culotte]

I say we should have the choice to carry either way.

If this ever comes about, I will still carry concealed. A plus would be that I would not have to worry so much if someone were to divine that I have a gun in my pocket.

I feel safer concealed. If my gun were in the open, a perp could grab it and shoot me before I knew what was happening. Also, if I were in a situation that called for me to use a gun, I'd rather the perp(s) not know I am armed; otherwise their first order of business might be to take me out immediately.

[Dead Corpse]

When Texas joined the Union, they signed on to the 2A being the Supreme Law of the Land, the laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

It’s fine if they want to double down in the Texas Constitution with the protection, but the “infringement” on how you may bear your armaments is unConstitutional on it’s face.

[Dead Corpse]

I'm pro-choice in this regard. ;-)

Open, concealed, long gun, pistol, machine gun, knife, heavy rock...

It's a personal choice and an individual Right.

[marktwain]

Unfortunately, it was “the union” who neutered the Texan’s protection of the right to keep and bear arms after the civil war. Texas courts explicitly protected the rights of freed slaves to bear arms in the brief period between when the reconstruction government took over and when they rewrote the Texas constitution.

Of course, one of the primary motivators for the 14th amendment was to protect 2nd amendment rights for freed slaves. That was effectively neutered by the Supreme Court, right up to the Heller decision.

[Fightin Whitey]

Is a holstered guy the same as a Trojan Warrior?

LOL...watch out with that twitchy typin’ finger..ha...

[kickstart]

All those years Chism was carrying openly was illegal!?

[Howie66]

Yep. The Queen of Baby Killers will “late term” that bill in a nano-second.