Posted on 07/26/2008 4:54:09 AM PDT by marktwain
Imagine walking down the street and next to someone with a gun strapped to their hip. It's an image a group of Texans are hoping to turn into reality and they're gaining support by the thousands every day.
KVUE's Jessica Vess reports 07/24/2008
“This is a basic right,” said former state Legislator, Suzanna Hupp.
In Texas you can fire a gun, you can buy a gun, and you can walk around with a gun, but only if you have a concealed carry permit and the gun is out of sight.
“I feel safer. My home should it be breached, I can take care of it. Should somebody try to take my car, they'll be taken care of too. That's the way it should be,” said gun owner Charles Minter.
However, that’s not how it always works.
“Criminals by their very definition ignore the laws,” said Hupp.
In 1991 a gunman drove his truck into a Luby's restaurant in Killeen, TX. He got out and opened fire.
“That was before we were allowed to carry in the state of Texas,” said Hupp.
Hupp was there with her parents.
“He killed 23 people, including my parents. So I've been fairly angry since that time,” said Hupp.
In 1991 Texas didn't allow people to carry a gun.
“The only thing the regulations did was prevent people like me from being able to protect myself and my family. That's the only thing gun laws and gun control do. They prevent good people from protecting themselves and their families,” said Hupp.
Hupp helped pass the current concealed carry law in the mid 90's.
“It wasn't blood and chaos in the streets when we enacted the concealed carry,” said Hupp.
Now she wants more.
“We should allow people to carry. That means in their pocket, in their purse, on their forehead, on their hip. I don't care how they carry. If they can legally own a gun I think they should be able to carry it in public,” said Hupp.
She's not alone. An open carry petition online is gaining popularity by the thousands every day. More than 21,000 people have already signed the petition online.
“I couldn't have foreseen all the support that I've gained,” said petition creator, Ian McCarthy.
McCarthy posted the online petition in October last year.
“In Texas we're proud of all of our rights especially when it comes to gun rights,” said McCarthy.
McCarthy's petition will likely go to state lawmakers in the next session along with a proposal to enact an open carry policy in Texas.
“We're hoping for unlicensed, open carry,” said McCarthy.
The group is asking for a open carry law like what's already seen in at least ten states in the U.S. Those ten states allow open carry without a license. Another 12 states allow open carry but with a license.
Texas is just one of six states on record that completely bans open carry. However, to some the idea of seeing people with guns, doesn't sit well. Even some gun owners are worried an open carry policy could lead to more crime.
“It might just turn into the wild, wild west,” said Minter.
Those Wild West images where it seemed like everyone had a gun.
Guns in Texas though are pretty much kept to the range.
“I come here to shoot. I don't carry around on the street,” said gun owner, Steven Cui.
Cui is one of many gun owners that think owning a firearm is a privilege, not a right.
“If it's open then everybody's going to be walking around with a gun now. I think it's only for the cops and people that are licensed,” said gun owner, Kyle Ramirez.
Others worry open carry will get out of hand.
“You don't want to use a gun just because somebody called you or your mother a bad name. You only want to use a gun when you're in fear for your life,” said gun owner, and owner of the Astro Shooting Range in Florence, TX, L.E. Williams.
“People don't know what they're doing,” added firearms trainer Mike Nellis.
Nellis is a former state officer and now is a firearms trainer for the Texas Department of Public Safety. He supports gun rights; he even had a gun strapped to his belt the entire time we talked, but you couldn't tell by looking at him that he was armed. Nellis says that's the advantage of concealed carry.
“I think if it's going to require having a license and have requirements and there's no difference between that and a concealed carry law you might as well go to a concealed carry license,” said Nellis.
However, for Hupp and the thousands of others who have signed the online open carry petition, the issue boils down to one thing: our Bill of Rights.
“I believe that they will pass it. This time around I think that it will pass,” said Hupp.
State lawmakers are not yet saying how they will vote on the issue.
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They must dig hard to come up with people willing to make statements such as this!
Same old argument almost verbatim every time a gun control law is relaxed and it NEVER happens. 22 states today have some form of "open carry" and there is no "wild , wild west" shootouts. What idiot would think Texas having an open carry provision would make it that way???? Texas was supposed to have blood in the streets when "everybody" could carry concealed. It still ain't happenin'!
Show off your custom holster ping.
This looks like a BBQ gun post to me.
This is a dumb statement- the law in Texas provides for use of deadly force in preventing loss life whether it be yours or another's, to stop crimes in progress or prevent loss of property/ end tresspass (with certain provisions) among others: http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/PE/content/htm/pe.002.00.000009.00.htm
Carrying concealed or open should make no difference to the law. However, it should be a personal choice. Some say they do not want a bad guy to know they are armed so as to make them the initial target of wrongdoings. Some say visible open carry would discourage a bad guy from initiating wrongdoings knowing a good gun is nearby so the argument goes on and both are valid.
Still, the choice should be that of the legal firearm owning citizen.
I agree and go one step further. Being armed and certified proficient should be a prerequisite to boarding any commercial transportation.
We also have open carry and zero problems with it. If its not a problem in MI there is no reasonable argument against it for TX!
With Pres. Osama already selected, liebrals think somebody gives a [bleep] of goin back to the good ol days...yuk
What part of "Constitutional Right" do these idiots not understand...?
Also, I have no problem with proper training, in fact, I'd like to see everyone get firearms training each time they renew their driver's license.... My point is even the left wing loonies would get an understanding of this RIGHT and may even be converted....
Flame away.....
Just imagine a criminal person setting next to yo with a hidden gun waiting to rob you.
I pick the Texan with a gun not a reporter.
WTF!!!!! Open carry or not, I want to see MI enact a law that requires a 70% passing grade on newspaper reporters before they can exercise the "right" of free speech!!!
Obviously, we all have our crosses to bear - you have Debbie Stabenow and her philandering husband, hehehehehe!
Another one that doesn't know how to read. It's a RIGHT idiot, so move aside while the rest of us practice our rights under the Constitution.
While law enforcement is certainly an honorable and (should be) trustworthy profession, I sure have seen my share of gun-totin' idiots enforcing the law. I've seen them mishandle weapons, shooting holes in ceilings, one sheriff accidentally discharged his weapon TWICE in his office during one term, another sent a round through the wall at his office at the International Airport where he was Chief of that force. Weapons discharged in police cruisers (through the roof, blowing the light bar bracket off) give me a break people.
Yet, non, I repeat NON of my non-LEO friends have discharged any gun anywhere other than on a range, hunting and other appropriate venues. Let's get off this crap that only LEOs are "qualified" to arm themselves.
Why stop there....how about a 70% or better grade on a Religious test?
WTF!!!!! Open carry or not, I want to see MI enact a law that requires a 70% passing grade on newspaper reporters before they can exercise the "right" of free speech!!!
Why stop there....how about a 70% or better grade on a Religious test before one can attend a church, mosque or synagogue?
>That is only for the CCW. You don’t need any test to purchase or open carry. Just the background check.<
You must be reasonably young. I remember buying a Chief Special and walking out the door with it in the box. Nobody, I mean nobody in government knew that I had bought a handgun and I cannot think of any good reason for them to know that information today. The clerk didn’t know my name, where I lived or anything about me except that I was hopefully going to be a steady customer.
THAT is how it should be!
I’m not that young and I also bought guns when there was no instant background check.
There is now and it takes 30 sec.
I love guns in the hands of good people. It makes bad people nervous. And the neat thing about open carry is that it doesn’t preclude concealed carry. The crook might see the openly carried guns, but then he has to wonder how many concealed ones are there as well. What a conundrum for the feeble mind of a criminal.
Why should government know that you had bought a handgun? I cannot think of any good reason for them to know that information?
Yes, people who make statements like “it might just turn into the wild, wild west” are the same people who don’t mind people being killed, they just don’t like to see it. So, it is ok for people to be killed in their homes by an armed intruder, or it is ok to kill a baby behind a closed door and call it abortion, but it is not ok if the person sees the killing.
That is the only difference that I can see with people who make the statement above.
JoMa
You have self-hating Jews, self-hating Americans (ie liberals) and now you have self-hating gun-owners.
What these gun-owners don't seem to realize is that how they characterize other people, other gun-owners, the liberals will apply to them.
Nellis says 'people don't know what they're doing' -- ah, applies to him. Another guy says gun ownership is a privilege (I guess he hadn't heard about the Supreme Court ruling) and that only license-holders ought to have a gun. What makes him think, he's going to be among the license holders? Dumb*ss!
Arizona had open carry when I was there last, though that may ahve changed since the law changed to allow concealed carr.
But at least through the early ‘90s, open carry was common, not in downtown Phoenix or Tucson but on the streets of most small towns, Sierra Vista, Huachuca City, and, yes, Tombstone, where my sister went to high school.
I don’t recall it being a problem, but I do recall a polite society - exactly as Mr. Heinlein said.
It’s going to be over 102 degrees here today - feels like that right now - and I’d like to know how to conceal my P-14: under a jacket?
Riiiiight...
Hupp didn't "help", she was instrumental in passing the legislation.
Using a different PC with no access to holster pics. :>(
Just color me a btter Christian clinging to my guns.
BZZZT! Wrong answer.
Hupp was helpful; Jerry Patterson was instrumental; George W. Bush signed it.
Without Hupp and Lubys it never would have happened at least not for several more years.
They don’t have to dig hard at all. Just go to the local police station and ask around. They’ll edit out those who think it should be legal.
Then ask the local politicians. “ONOEZ BLOOD RUNNING IN THE STREETS OMG!”
It’s very one-sided.
I remember buying a Chief Special and walking out the door with it in the box. Nobody, I mean nobody in government knew that I had bought a handgun and I cannot think of any good reason for them to know that information today. The clerk didn’t know my name, where I lived or anything about me except that I was hopefully going to be a steady customer.
THAT is how it should be!
##
You’re right!!!!
Have you ever worn a pair of bib overalls with just a T shirt on? You would be surprised at what a guy or a gal can tuck into them overalls without advertising to the world what you’re doing.
Without to much ingenuity at all you can figure out how to hang a leather belt and a holster inside the overalls. Think rivets, buttons or snaps and you’ll be off to a good start.
Guns and BBQ are always appropriate!
The opponents of guns say that if everyone carries, we'll have blood-in-the-streets chaos.
Oddly enough, I have a group of friends who tend to throw parties and cook-outs at gun ranges where
there is present more cumulative firepower than is possessed by some third world countries.
Interestingly, no one ever gets blown away.
Didn’t one of the judges in US vs. Emerson state the between himself and one of the other judges on the case they had “enough guns to start a revolution in a third-world country”?
The so-called “wild West” was really pretty calm, and law-abiding, compared to our more “civilized” society today.
Street crime here is nonexistent as many citizens have full auto open carry. Talk about trying a hold up in a cop bar!
When some wacko goes ballistic, he is down and out within a few minutes, no street barricades and long negotiations with a SWAT team. The citizenry is the SWAT team.
Consequently, even in a war zone, the open carry statistics tell the truth. You are more likely to be killed in a 7-ll in Chicago at night than in Jerusalem in the middle of a Jihad war.
“I’d rather not open carry in a city. It’s asking to have my gun stolen. I’d rather the thug didn’t know if I was carrying or not.”
Bingo!
.......said gun owner, Kyle Ramirez.”
Sarah Brady owns a gun. Diane Feinstein owns a gun. Chucky Schumer owns a gun.
Kyle Ramirez’s comments on what is or isn’t constitutional is as valid as those other socialist losers that ignore the 2nd amendment.
Carry what ya want where ya want and if you commit a crime you go to jail for the crime not for what you were driving or wearing or using to conduct criminal activity.
But that’s just my opinion .......Stay safe !
ping
What are the firearms laws there?
It seemed just about everyone was armed several years ago but not so much today.
The leftist government in charge is now taking guns away from citizens and giving guns to the Palestinians.
Go figure.
As an American and not a Jew I am just here on foreign visas and logicaly they do not give guns to tourists.
Tourists might have difficulty telling the difference between an Arab and a Jew. -grin-
I bet it is not the Jews Omert is worried about. Just his sorry arse and the stray Jihadi that might be brought to justice.
Arizona is still open-carry, statewide. Cities, counties, etc., cannot pre-empt state law.
Tombstone attempted to restrict carry - they lost in court. Other cities have attempted to restrict carry - also lost.
Carry is only restricted in the usual places, federal property, courthouses, schools, etc. Private property owners can prohibit carry within their establishments. Also, no carry in any place that ‘serves’ alcohol.
All in all, a very liberal state wrt gun laws, but it could be better.
Indeed, it was. The myth of "the Wild West" is largely the product of the fiction written about it, during the day, cheap fiction at that. The reality is that because folks were able to exercise their rights largely unimpeded, the "Wild West" as actually even tamer than the "Tame East" of its day...
the infowarrior
the 'only cops should have guns' mentality on display...
you go to jail for the crime not for what you were driving or wearing or using to conduct criminal activity
agreed, but first we have to redefine the word 'crime' in the lawyerspeak dictionary...
I’m going to wear my gun on my forehead.
This bill will pass....... Same blood in the streets rant preceeded the CHL issues !
And we’re all still alive.....:o)
In fact MORE of us are still alive !
If such passes I will be able to wear my 1911A1 BBQ and Sunday go to meeting gun in my custom El Paso Saddlery pancake holster again !
Texans will be able to tuck their shirts in again and not look like a bunch of displaced baggy shirt salesmen.
< sarcasm> My only wonder is .....if I open carry will my Texas CHL get me busted for brandishment ? < /sarcasm> ...........:o)
Stay safe ,,,,,,,,woof !
SHAME! .....and waste all the long elegant leg space??
People though should open carry however they want, as you say!!!
Here in Vermont, which is full of wangety-tong lefties, we can open carry anytime.
I usually conceal carry, but every oncet and a while put on the Ruger Super Black Hawk 44 mag with 7.5 inch barrel in a Bianchi cross draw holster/belt just to go to the Village Store.No one says anything!
But I am sure you would get a few comments carrying on your forehead! ( LOL).
( I know you were sarc-ing!).
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