Open Carry is now the law in Texas
Open Carry is the law in Texas. The Houston Chronicle reports:
Texas is so gun-friendly that it is easier to get into the Capitol in Austin with a firearm than without one — licensed, gun-carrying lawmakers and members of the public have their own no-wait security lane, and the unarmed masses have to stand in line and slog through the metal detectors.
But on Friday, gun rights throughout the state expanded still more, as a new law took effect that allows certain Texans to wear their handguns in holsters on their hips — or in shoulder holsters, Dirty Harry-style — openly displaying the fact that they are armed as they work, shop, dine and go about their day.
The so-called open-carry law has set off a long-simmering debate over the limits of the Texas gun culture and has given gun rights advocates a hard-fought victory after they pushed for the expansion for years. Members of the pro-gun group Open Carry Texas gathered at noon Friday on the south steps of the Capitol for a gun-on-their-hips celebration.
“I think most people can expect Friday to be just like Thursday,” said C.J. Grisham, 41, a retired Army sergeant who formed Open Carry Texas in 2013. “I think everybody is overreacting.”
I tend to agree with Mr. Grisham on one issue, people are currently overreacting. The reality is that people should have been reacting for decades. After-all, Texas is one of the last states to make open carry legal. Granted that the most populous states still restrict open carry, however, most states allow it.
From a safety standpoint, walking with a weapon is simply dangerous because of human nature. I do not need to remind people that most folks with guns hurt or kill themselves or loved ones as opposed to some intruder or attacker. The reality is that most people won’t open carry. The reality is most people do not want guns in public settings. They do not want guns where they eat and shop.
These laws were not requested by popular demand. They were demanded by NRA induced faux freedom seekers. NRA owned politicians simply put the population at risk for their own gain. But that is not new. They hurt Americans by allowing insurance companies and drug companies to pilfer us. They allow oil companies and chemical companies to pollute and sicken us. This ill only change when we organize on specific causes and force action.
The open carry law could be used as an activist template to mobilize for an implicit defeat of the law even if it stays on the books. If every citizen pledges to only shop or support institutions that actively prohibit guns in their establishments, the law is effectively moot.
That mobilization becomes a movement. That movement can effectively throw all NRA owned politicians out the door in 2016. So let’s use open carry along with the reality of gun touting people hurting Americans to nip this cancer in the butt.