Posted on 01/27/2005 10:34:15 AM PST by neverdem
Licensed riders would be allowed to carry concealed handguns on board
A showdown about the right to carry concealed handguns on Metro trains and buses appears headed for a peaceful ending today.
Metro board members are expected to vote this afternoon to repeal the restriction, which has been in effect since 1995 after the Legislature voted to allow licensed owners to carry concealed handguns in most public places.
State Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, who wrote the legislation as a state senator, has been a vocal critic of bans such as those adopted by Metro and many other government entities in Texas in response to the "right-to-carry" law.
He, the Texas State Rifle Association and four licensed Harris County gun owners sued Metro in 2003, seeking to overturn the ban. Now that Metro is dropping its policy, he said, he plans to challenge similar restrictions in other cities, probably starting with Austin's Capital Metro.
"They implemented these when there was collective hysteria from detractors, who said there would be blood in the streets and shootouts at every four-way stop," Patterson said. "None of that proved true."
Though he and his fellow plaintiffs hailed Metro's move as a victory, all parties involved agreed that the practical effects on riders will be few.
Metro spokesman Ken Connaughton said transit officials don't expect any actual changes for riders.
Patterson said the ban was essentially unenforceable and that many Metro riders already carry pistols.
"It was a prohibition against undetectable conduct because, by law, it is required for it to be concealed, to begin with," he said. "I have carried my handgun on Metro buses on at least three occasions because I knew it to be an unlawful restriction."
Mixed feelings Some riders waiting at stops along the light rail line Wednesday expressed concerns about the change.
"I have seen arguments on buses, and this means that someone could be in the position to pull out their gun," said Terry Mulhern, 50, a frequent rider on the rail. "It could get very dangerous."
But Thomas Martin, a 34-year-old electrician, called the change a simple formality.
"There is nothing stopping someone from carrying a handgun onto a bus or train now — not a metal detector or even someone watching," he said. "And I don't see a problem."
Metro is one of many government agencies that adopted such bans, from the Texas Department of Public Safety to municipalities across the state, after lawmakers approved the "concealed carry" gun law in 1995. The law allowed businesses to ban weapons and local governments to restrict their presence from some public facilities, such as schools and courtrooms.
Metro adopted its ban in September 1995. Officials acknowledged that they might not be able to charge violators with a crime, but said they wanted to send a message to riders that guns were not welcome on Metro vehicles.
Connaughton said he did not know whether anyone had ever been told to leave a Metro train or bus for carrying a concealed handgun.
Similar bans were adopted in Austin and San Antonio, among other cities.
Dallas operates the largest transportation system in Texas without such a ban. A spokesman for Dallas Area Rapid Transit said board members chose not to adopt one because they believed it would be illegal.
The Legislature has made changes in the handgun law during the years. The most significant adjustment came in 2003, when local governments lost the ability to ban legally concealed weapons from their buildings.
Gov. Rick Perry signed into law a bill that barred local governments from using state criminal-trespass laws to keep licensed concealed-handgun owners from entering government buildings or offices such as city halls or council members' offices.
Metro cited that law as the impetus for reviewing its policy, although the transit authority never relied on trespass laws to enforce its ban.
Applies only to handguns The resolution on the board's agenda today would reduce the current prohibition on "the possession of handguns and other dangerous weapons" to a ban on "the possession of dangerous weapons" and the "unlawful carrying of a concealed handgun." Under the new policy, a concealed handgun will not be considered a "dangerous weapon."
James Knouse, 53, and his wife, Mary Ann, two of the four Harris County licensed gun owners who joined the lawsuit, welcomed the change.
Mary Ann Knouse, 51, uses a wheelchair and her husband walks with a cane. They said they did not ride Metro vehicles after the ban for fear that they would be targets.
"It is a dangerous world we live in, and they wanted to stop us from carrying our guns," James Knouse said. "We don't use Metro at all because of their policy, but we might now."
In addition to taking on transportation agencies, Patterson said he will challenge other local governments' restrictions. One possible target, he said, is the requirement that people who lawfully carry handguns into Houston City Hall wear red badges.
"Some folks ask me why I'm doing this," Patterson said. "The answer is, I'll quit when local governments quit ignoring the law."
roma.khanna@chron.com
Illustrates a paradox here, and a quandary faced by Texas gun-owners:
Unlicensed concealed carry, if caught (and that's a big "if") is only a misdemeanor offense, but if a person with a concealed-carry license carries in a prohibited place, THAT is a felony!
What Mr. Mulhern doesn't seem to realize is that people who carry firearms don't get into stupid, childish arguments with strangers.
Wow.
I love how they make it sound like handgun owners were planning on showing up at city hall and shooting it out.... peaceful ending indeed.
Such people should also have to hop on one leg. Jewish gun-carriers should have the option of wearing a yellow star instead of a red badge. All of these measures will make it much easier to identify those who insist on their right to keep and bear arms so that the eventual rounding-up and detentions can be facilitated.
Ping
Long Island Railroad...
We all know there has been a terrible, repeated problem with gun obsessed hunters. Every small town in Wisconsin, Colorado, Texas, Tennessee, etc., that caters to hunters has only done so once because the evil guns cause the otherwise innocent people to erupt in murderous rages, which only stop when they have exhausted their ammunition supply. In each case the small town has become a bullet pocked wasteland. We are only safe from violence in civilized places like Washington, D.C. and Chicago, Illinois, neither of which experienced any murders in the last ten years.
I hate it when someone says "...gun owners will be ALLOWED to carry..." What part of SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED do people not understand?
An armed society is a polite society.
"What Mr. Mulhern doesn't seem to realize is that people who carry firearms don't get into stupid, childish arguments with strangers."
True. Because my .45 trumps idiot blowhards I don't get too excited when I meet an idiot in public.
There is a calming assurance in having thirteen .45 hollow-points as your best friends.
I usually carry 24 - a Glock 30 with a Glock 21 spare mag.
BANG!
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