OK, before anyone starts screaming that we’re back in the old west, with everyone carrying whatever they want and gun fights in the streets, please watch the video. Yes, the attorney shown works for Texas Law Shield, a firm that specializes in defending their members in cases involving weapons, but they are still attorneys and point out several key points.
First, you must be licensed! I hold my CHL, and I am allowed to carry my weapon in many places, but not everywhere. My license, as of 1/1/16, will simply become a handgun license. I am researching if concealed carry will be affected, or if anyone with a license can carry openly or concealed. This does not remove the restrictions on CHL holders for locations either. The 30.06 law is still there, and 30.07 will address open carry.
Next, I can only carry a handgun and only in a belt or shoulder holster. I cannot walk the streets with an AR-15 on my shoulder or a shotgun slung on my back, period.
The implications for interacting with the Police are also addressed. There were amendments proposed that would make it so a Police Officer could not detain someone, or ask for their ID/License, solely on the fact that the person is openly carrying a weapon, both were defeated. I support that, as I don’t want just anyone able to carry and not be questioned. I am not a criminal, and have no record, so if I am asked for my ID, I will provide it, and I will obey all laws. If a Police Officer steps over the line, I will comply and call my lawyers, it’s that simple.
The crux of the matter is that there are 4 groups in this fight. The first simply doesn’t care, and won’t do more than watch. The second is my group, law abiding citizens who may or may not take advantage of this. I doubt I’ll openly carry much if at all, but will stay with my concealed option. Group three are the idiots trying to “make a point” by walking around with AR-15’s and the like, then getting upset when even questioned. I’d not be shocked to find out that group four, the liberals trying to ban all guns, had a hand in getting them to do this. Group three makes people like me look bad. To date, I have been openly visible with my handgun on my property (we have predators here, and they can’t all be scared away by noise), at the range, or when taking it for service or to the range.
Group four are the worst in my book. Not only do they actively shout that guns are the evil, not the people who use them, but they do not allow dissent. They actively work to undermine logic, as I can use a gun, rock, knife, baseball bat or my bare hands, to commit violence against another. They don’t want to hear it, because it shows that anything can be a weapon, and they’ve got a hard on for guns and anyone who disagrees with them is instantly a murderous psychopath who should be put away or put down. To achieve their goals, they not only lie and shout down anyone who doesn’t praise their intelligence, but they work to make people like me, who own firearms but use them responsibly and legally, look bad by encouraging the idiots among us to carry an AR-15 openly, and to then argue with police that “the second amendment is my license, you can’t stop me” or worse.
So, what do you think?