Texas: Another Bogus Open Carry "Disorderly Conduct" Arrest

Gun Watch ^ | 27 January, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Michael Keoughan was exercising his right to bear arms in Texas last Wednesday (22 January).  He is part of a Texas group of second amendment supporters that demonstrate that the second amendment means something by legally carrying rifles slung across their back.   They openly state that they are educating people about their rights under the Texas and Federal Constitutions.

Before the Civil War (or War Between the States), Texas had a strong right to keep and bear arms clause in its constitution.  After the Confederacy lost the war, the reconstruction government created a new Texas constitution.  The new Texas constitution had a "soviet style" right to keep and bear arms.  That is, they listed the right, but made it irrelevant by saying that the legislature could ignore it when they thought they needed to stop crime.   The reconstruction legislature immediately made the bearing of arms illegal.

When the reconstruction government was kicked out, a new constitution was written and passed.  It reinstated the right to keep and bear arms, but failed to completely remove the legislature's ability to modify it.   They left in a phrase saying that the legislature could regulate the "wearing" of arms.  The legislature never removed the reconstruction ban on wearing pistols or large knives.

That is why the right of Texans to openly carry rifles and shotguns is protected by the constitution, but open carry of pistols and large knives is not.

Come and Take It, the second amendment group that Mr. Keoughan belongs to, aims to restore the right to openly carry pistols and other weapons to Texans.  It has held numerous open carry demonstrations around Texas, and is in the process of planning another for Andrews.    Mr. Keoughan was checking out the rout of their rally when he was arrested for openly carrying his rifle strapped to his back.   This is the second time that an Come And Take It member was arrested in Andrews for open carry.  The Police chief, Jones, was notified that the rally would be taking place, and still says that he will support it.

The ruse that the police used to arrest Mr. Keoughan was "disorderly conduct".  There is a provision in Texas law that defines disorderly conduct with a weapon as: 

“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.”

The problem for the police is that Mr. Keoughan and Come and Take It adamatly state that their actions are not "calculated to alarm" but are meant to educate.    It is difficult to argue their point when the vast majority of people that they meet on the street are not alarmed.  From newswest9.com:

"I had great interactions throughout the entire day until the police showed up," Keoughan said.

  Police Chief Jones disagrees:

"We didn't know who he was, had no clue but we started getting a mass number of phone calls," Chief Jones said. "By displaying the weapon, he caused undue alarm."

Some people were alarmed.  We do not know how many, or how alarmed, because from past experience with these events, the calls are often an inquiry asking if the open carry is legal, which is exactly the sort of education Come And Take It is attempting to achieve.

The Chief is wrong to presume that causing alarm is the same as "calculated to alarm".   If merely "causing alarm" were sufficient to arrest, then the entire constitutional guarantee of bearing arms in Texas could be voided by anyone claiming that they were "alarmed" by seeing someone bearing arms.

The quote in newswest9.com may be taken out of context, but he seems to imply that checking someone out is the same as arresting them:

"This is the issue that they don't want to address that we have to address," Chief Jones said. "When we get a call about a person with a gun, do we ignore it? Walking down the street? They're alluding to the fact that we don't have any right to make contact to them because they're not doing anything wrong. I beg to differ with them."

 No one is saying that the police cannot drive by someone that a citizen finds suspicious, or talk to them.   Police know that criminals almost never openly carry guns, and that those who are working to restore second amendment rights often do.   We can contrast what happened in Andrews with what recently happened in Fond du Lac Wisconsin:

“It was basically just a unique display of (the gun owners’) right to bear arms under the state’s open carry law and the U.S. Constitution,” Meyer said. “In a similar incident in Appleton, police engaged the individuals and caused additional turmoil. Our police observed them, making sure that they weren’t a threat to public safety.”

 It is difficult to square Chief Jones assurance that he supports the First, second,fourth and fifth amendments, with Mr. Keoughan's arrest:

 "I can't emphasize enough that we support their right," he said.

The police, after determining that Mr. Keoughan was exercising his rights, did not have to arrest him.   In fact, it appears that they arrested him without legal cause to do so.

The leading candidate for Governor,  Greg Abbot, has said that he supports legalizing open carry of handguns in Texas.

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

Most states allow legal open carry. The scenarios that you imagine do not take place. The regulation of open carry in the cowtowns was against cowboys ending cattle drives, and was a source of income for the towns, who levied a fine against the cowboys. Here is the current state of open carry:

[marktwain]

“But for the residents of the area, they have no idea if this maybe crazy fool is legally carrying or not.”

Your preconceptions are tripping you up.

[Paine in the Neck]

By the way I have owned guns hunted and gone target shooting since the early 1950's. I support the Second Amendment

You don't seem to know what the 2nd Amendment is for.

[3Fingas]

This is completely bogus. In Texas, it is legal to open carry a long arm. However, certain localities will arrest you for ‘disturbing the peace”. The charges never stick. It is just an intimidation tactic in more liberal areas like San Antonio. This is wrong. If it is legal on a state-wide basis, no city should be able to outlaw it. Hopefully, the next legislative session will fix this inconsistency.

For the record, I prefer concealed carry for a number of reasons. The main reason is that I do not want other people to know that I am carrying. I feel that this would give me the “tactical advantage” should I ever be put in the unfortunate situation where I would need to defend my life or the life of someone else

[Cyber Liberty]

I don’t see anything contorted about it. AP is a straight-out gun-grabber (except for his, though. He’s “special”).

[ConstantSkeptic]

What preconceptions????

Are you saying that the residents DID have an idea that this fool WAS legally carrying?

The residents who reported this idiot were the sane, responsible adults in this situation, protecting their families, their children.

Good Lord! Haven’t you any more sense than him? Would you strut around your town carrying your gun? After all, it’s legal. While you’re at it, carry on an open affair with your co-worker and don’t hide it from your wife. After all, it’s legal. What, your wife shouldn’t react???

As I said, just because you CAN do something, doesn’t mean that you SHOULD do something. The idiot openly carrying a gun obviously has no common sense. And I don’t trust people without common sense to use their gun in a responsible manner.

[Dead Corpse]

Agreed.

[marktwain]

“Are you saying that the residents DID have an idea that this fool WAS legally carrying?”

Yes. Out of the many he saw, I will bet that very few were “alarmed” or called the police.

“Good Lord! Haven’t you any more sense than him? Would you strut around your town carrying your gun? After all, it’s legal.”

Yes, I do it all the time. Except, I do not “strut” (there go your preconceptions again).

No one objects any more. I live in Arizona. We had to fight this battle 15 years ago, and we prevailed.

[Dead Corpse]

Let me get this straight... You HOPE the cops come and hassle someone doing something perfectly legal?

What other Rights do you want arbitrarily restricted?

[Dead Corpse]

No. More than likely it was some Bloomberg-sucking jackass wanting to harass a legal gun owner for daring to exercise his Rights.

Can’t have that. People might get the idea that they don’t need nearly as much government as government thinks they do...

And yes, I “strut” around town carrying a gun. Only gun hating idiots give crap...

[Bshaw]

“The residents who reported this idiot were the sane, responsible adults in this situation, protecting their families, their children.”

I see your comments and just cringe. Growing up in small town Iowa, small as in a town of 35,000, I used to take my .22 rifle at age 13, with a box of rounds and head out to the outskirts of town on foot with friends doing the same.

The only words we received from the “sane and responsible adults in the room,” were to be careful and to always know what was beyond what we were shooting at. Local cops would sometimes stop alongside us and ask what kind of rifles we were shooting. They might even offer up a, “Don’t do anything stupid boys.” Oh, and our high school had a shooting team, so I regularly took my rifle and ammunition to school.

You can commence with the smelling salts and changing your underwear now.

[Marcella]

“Unrestricted carrying is a bad policy.”

Your page doesn’t say in which state you live. Texans with concealed carry permits right now are carrying guns. They could take them out and kill people right now but that doesn’t happen. Open carry means they don’t have to keep them hidden anymore. If you think keeping guns concealed means safety and showing them means people will shoot each other at the drop of a hat, you are not thinking clearly. Perhaps it scares you to see a gun. If you are not from Texas then don’t come here if you don’t want to see a gun.

[Georgia Girl 2]

GA is “shall issue” as opposed to “may issue”.

Constitutional carry is currently in the legislature and has not yet come up for a vote.

[JRandomFreeper]

Pound sand, statist. You need to go to DU or North Korea, where they appreciate your strict gun-control stance.

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

I hope the police hassle you for speaking out every time you do something so foolish as to open your mouth.

Just because you have to right to speak your mind, doesn't mean you should do it.

/johnny

[marktwain]

Nice comment.

It is a learning curve. The statists have been indoctrinating us for so long, that people have forgotten that it was only 50 years ago that people openly carried long guns in New York City and were not hassled about it.

We have been undergoing indoctrination for a long time.

It takes a while to think things through.

[JRandomFreeper]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm not a physically large man. Concealed carry is physically uncomfortable for me in the best circumstances, and forget it in summer.

I need open carry to be able to carry in a comfortable manner.

/johnny

[Jane Long]

We need to turn Texas GOLD!

[cpdiii]

I support the Second Amendment

You do not.

[ConstantSkeptic]

Riiight. Because some strange man walking through the middle of town with a rifle slung to his back is exactly like local teenagers on the edge of town going out to shoot squirrels. /snark

BTW, I grew up in Iowa. 35,000 is NOT small town Iowa.