Many good comments - a number of which deserve replies.
I like that I am one of only 829000 CHL holders and instructors in the state of Texas that can legally do so.
Interestingly, the Department of Public Safety is very much behind the CHL rules and anxiously awaits hitting 1 million CHL holders.
Now I don't have to worry if my gun peaks out on occasion while I conceal carry. Baby steps......
As I presume this writer knows, the peaking out of a concealed handgun is now not a problem, so open carry is not needed for that particular problem.
The right of the people to keep and bear arms was whittled away a little bit at a time over the course of 100-plus years, coming very close to cutting it off at the base of the tree more than once. I am happy to see rights restored, even if only in small measure and slowly over time.
True, and fair enough - and never forget that the right to keep and bear arms was whittled away quietly and slowly with little or no protest way back when because of racial discrimination. Almost all of the gun bans extant in the USofA have a racially biased component to them.
So, taking the right back is a step by step process - small doses is all we can ever hope for.
Following that thought, and somewhat out of order....
Strange to me, but I would have thought Texas, of all states, would have always had "open carry". ?
100 plus years ago the Texas intelligentsia made open or concealed carry illegal, with exceptions. I could write an essay on it but I simply refer you to my point above in re racial bias.
For Texas, or any where else; it is a damn shame we have to pass legislation to have our 2A rights !
All of our rights, under any rule of law in the Constitution/Bill of Rights, or elsewhere, are subject to a certain amount of restriction. The free exercise of rights is always coupled with respect for anyone on the other side of your free exercise. Free speech and religion, press and assembly, etc. None of those are without restrictions. The RKBA is no different. It is not unfettered, even in light of the "shall not be infringed" language. Legislation in abundance restricted the RKBA in a host of ways across the nation - therefore, it takes copious amounts of new, opposite legislation to fix it.
"You guys still need to get rid of that training requirement and bring down the cost for your license. Training? To practice a right? Also $140 to start and $70 to renew? Forget about it."
Personally, I have no argument with state fees because everything every state does requires fees - that's how they pay for the stuff that they do. If they were going to do it for free we wouldn't need any state governments because we couldn't afford them. No government almost sounds good, I know, but it's the important services provided that matter....
Can't speak for the other States, but in TX, most of the Class covers the Law and Legal issues. My class dealt a lot with 'Shoot, Don't Shoot' situations and the liability and even had an 'elective' (if you want to call it that) section covering 'Dressing to Conceal'. There was actually no Training, but there was a 'Proficiency' test. Rastoff's 2nd 'challenge' thread is basically the TX proficiency exam.
And everyone needs training, even to practice a right. You were trained in every other right that you practice. Someone trained you to say please and thank you and to not be rude and to not be libelous or slanderous. Someone trained you to not scream "FIRE!" in a crowded theater when there is no fire. Someone trained you to pray as you please and to allow everyone else to do the same, even if they pray very differently than you do, or not at all. Someone trained you to not be involved in street mobs when you assemble for good reason. Some of that training was informal, some of it was formal - but since schools do not train in the use of firearms, etc., you need training. And you need training to learn when it's legal to use the gun that the state is about to let you carry everywhere, concealed or not. Freedom is NOT free. You have to be taught to use freedom responsibly.
In the CHL case, however, and that's why I added the quote in re training; there is NO GUN TRAINING per se. No training to shoot - you better come to the class proficient because the test is for proficiency (I sent that Texas test to Rastoff, BTW). We train brains - and if you think people know their rights when it comes to self defense you're sadly mistaken. The myths that abound are almost scary!
I'm not sure why anyone would really want to open carry, unless it's the only way a citizen could be armed when out in public.
I can't understand what the great thrill is in revealing your armaments to the public, either. I know I won't be doing it.
But I don't think that's the case in Texas, is it?.
Until they pass open carry the rules in Texas are that without a CHL you cannot carry a handgun, period, except to and from your motor vehicle, where you can carry it concealed inside, or under certain other circumstances which are exceptions to the general ban on carrying any handgun.
About the only advantage of open carry I see...speaking of just my state...is when I'm carrying concealed and for some reason my sweatshirt or t-shirt rides up over my pistol and exposes it to view, I won't be breaking any laws.
That's true - but Texas recently passed a rule that got rid of the accidental revealing of a concealed weapon as a violation. So we don't need open carry for that purpose.
I just ordered my buscadero belt rig from El Paso Saddlery and 2 nickel plated SSA's from Colt's custom shop. I'm looking for the Hopalong Cassidy look!
The cowboy action shooters will love open carry. As a matter of fact, about 15 years ago, I went to a FONRA dinner with a bunch of CAS folks and we all dressed and, because it was on private property, some of us strapped on our double gun rigs with guns (unloaded, for safety) in the holsters. It was a hoot.
Keeps those cards and letters coming y'all!
. Its been years since and we're doing just fine.
