Texas Open Carry...Update

[moxie]

Here we are a full month into open carry in Texas and I've yet to see a single person doing it. I've repeatedly discussed with friends and they report the same. Nada!

In Fort Worth I did see a small printed sign on a doctor's office door saying that they had ordered the 30.07 signs prohibiting open carry in the office but hadn't received them yet. In the interim, anyone open carrying would be asked to leave. The main entrance to the building already had a 30.06 sign prohibiting concealed carry. One would think that if they don't want concealed carry they probably don't want open carry. Eh? Many of the hospitals and doctors' offices have had the 30.06 signs for years. They are about the only places where these signs are posted.

 

[hstrawn]

My "City" (Sun City Texas that is) has wording in the 'rules' that prohibit carrying of firearms (in any manner) in "Common Areas" but they have yet to post 30.06 or 30.07 signs for those areas/buildings (and say they will not post them). I know what I do but don't know for sure where I stand.

 

[3dots]

I've been looking also...not a single OC. It's just folks using common sense that's all.

 

[Lonestar57]

Unfortunately I'm seeing more and more places posting the 30.06 and 30.07 signs over the last month. Apparently these same places never had a problem with Concealed Carry for the past 21 years but the new Open Carry law coming in it caused the businesses to have to think about it and of course over react. Such a shame.

 

[SMSgt]

Their reasoning is if they are posting one, might as well post both. This will be the backlash of the OC passage. Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and Helen Keller could have seen that coming.

 

[Derosa]

^^^what he said is true from what I see in DFW. I attended mass at my religious service of choice and was informed that the Diocese in Ft. Worth had instituted a ban on conceal carry and open carry and had cited the state regulations. I view this as over reactionary measures and uncalled for at this junction. BTW - I have not seen one open carry. Just a bunch of common sense folks.

 

[murphydog]

What, no showdowns at high noon, blood running in the streets? Guess the naysayers were wrong. Again.

 

[onebilly43]

We have had open carry here in Virginia for many years now but you
see very few people doing it and that is usually during the summer months

 

[joe44va]

About the only time I see open carry in Virginia is with demonstrators near the state house/capital. We Civil War reenactors open carry during events, but that's a bit of a different situation.

 

[oljames3]

Here we are a full month into open carry in Texas and I've yet to see a single person doing it. I've repeatedly discussed with friends and they report the same. Nada!

In Fort Worth I did see a small printed sign on a doctor's office door saying that they had ordered the 30.07 signs prohibiting open carry in the office but hadn't received them yet. In the interim, anyone open carrying would be asked to leave. The main entrance to the building already had a 30.06 sign prohibiting concealed carry. One would think that if they don't want concealed carry they probably don't want open carry. Eh? Many of the hospitals and doctors' offices have had the 30.06 signs for years. They are about the only places where these signs are posted.

Yep. One month and Texas OC is essentially a non-issue. I've carried openly each day since May, 2013. Until this month, I had to go out of state to carry openly unless on my own property. I;'ve carried openly in AZ, CO, OK, NM. Now I can do so in my home state. I expect "sightings" to be as rare here as my experience shows them to be in surrounding OC states. I'm just pleased that I can quietly go about life carrying as I prefer.

As with most things in life, it comes down to which risks we are willing to manage and which benefits matter most to us. Y'all carry anyway you want to, legally. I'll continue to carry openly where I can, conceal as the situation dictates, disarming only as I must.

 

[RobzGuns]

As a bunch of us have been saying since the bills were being discussed (and ultimately passed), it's not that the majority of Texans WOULD Open Carry, it's about being able to, by law (like the majority of States have been able to, for quite a while).

And let's not forget... this is only Licensed Open Carry, not 'Constitutional Carry' (That's the Next step. )

 

[TeaDub]

IMO, Texas next "step" should be to change the penalties for the 30.06 and .07 signs. I much prefer the way GA did it. In my State, if you walk past a "no guns" sign and a store employee sees the weapon, they can ask you to leave. If you refuse, it is a Trespass issue rather than a weapons charge. Private property owners should be allowed to control who comes onto their land for whatever reason. It shouldn't be about the weapon, but the person. IMHO, of course.

It may prove difficult for Texas to do this after the fact.

 

[OFT II]

On January 1 I saw two deer hunters open carrying in Ozona. I haven't seen any one doing it since. I have yet to see my first 30.07 sign.

 

[Double-O-Dave]

I saw my first 30.07 sign yesterday posted on the front door of the local grocery store - a large chain store based out of San Antonio, TX. It didn't bother me as I was carrying concealed (Model 38 in a shoulder holster under a bulky long sleeved tee shirt, and a Model 638 in a pocket holster). Here in Austin, TX, with all of the wailing and moaning going on about the open carry law, I found it refreshing that the grocery store chain merely posted the signs and didn't add to the frenzy by making announcements to the media.

Oh, by the way, I didn't go crazy and start shooting anyone, nor did my handguns decide to come to life and start slaying the innocent masses.

Sadly though, my son reported that the local church has ordered 30.07 signs to post on their front doors, and the ministers are plenty worried about visitors openly carrying in the church.

Regards,

Dave

 

[Old cop]

onebilly43 is right, VA has been an open carry (OC) state for decades and yet very few are ever seen OC'ing. When someone is observed OC'ing LEOs are usually not far behind. My daughter is a 911 dispatcher and explains the law to callers but they insist on an officer being dispatched anyway.

 

[American1776]

onebilly43 is right, VA has been an open carry (OC) state for decades and yet very few are ever seen OC'ing. When someone is observed OC'ing LEOs are usually not far behind. My daughter is a 911 dispatcher and explains the law to callers but they insist on an officer being dispatched anyway.

Is this true in all parts of VA? I ask because I vacationed for a week with my family in the VA beach area. I OCed the entire time, at Colonial Williamsburg, into stores, into restaurants---everywhere. I personally did not have any LEO's 'not far behind', was never criticized by anyone. I DID have quite a few compliments at Williamsburg.

 

[moxie]

Sadly though, my son reported that the local church has ordered 30.07 signs to post on their front doors, and the ministers are plenty worried about visitors openly carrying in the church.

You can still carry concealed there, unless someone in authority there tells you not to. So, for 99.999% it's no big deal.

 

[Double-O-Dave]

You can still carry concealed there, unless someone in authority there tells you not to.

I can, and I do. I can and I do.

Regards,

Dave

 

[Capttjk1]

Unfortunately I'm seeing more and more places posting the 30.06 and 30.07 signs over the last month. Apparently these same places never had a problem with Concealed Carry for the past 21 years but the new Open Carry law coming in it caused the businesses to have to think about it and of course over react. Such a shame.

You are exactly right! Businesses that I have concealed carried into for years now have both signs (30.06 & 30.07). Total overreaction!!

I also think it's an overreaction when people in Texas make comments like in this thread opposing open carry. I lived in Arizona for 4 years when I attended college. Open carry has been legal there for a very long time. It was not at all uncommon to see people, especially in small towns exercise their rights and openly carry. It never created a problem, never made someone a target, or anything else. I liked seeing people open carry. I guess since I have experience with open carry I don't see it as a problem as many do here in Texas. I hope the views on this will change here in the lone star state and become more positive over time.

 

[DWalt]

I also have yet to see anyone carrying openly in San Antonio, which is exactly what I expected. I have noticed from news stories that a high number of private colleges have opted out of allowing open carry (which they can do, while state colleges cannot). The grounds for opting out are always stated as being "Guns are not compatible with a learning environment." Can someone explain that to me?