Open Carry filed

Response from Rep King District 80

Dear Mr. *****:



Thank you for the recent correspondence regarding open carry legislation in Texas. I have always been a staunch supporter of the second amendment as contained in the Bill of Rights and I plan to carefully review each bill as they come before the Texas House. Your thoughts and opinions on this issue are very important to me and I always look forward to the calls and letters we receive from the constituents of District 80.



Our democracy depends on an active and informed citizenry to steer it in the right direction. That is why I welcome your input on this issue and many others in the future.



The opportunity to represent you in the Texas House of Representatives is an honor and a privilege that I take very seriously. Again, thank you for that opportunity and please feel to contact me anytime I may be of assistance.



Respectfully,

Tracy O. King

zekester said:

Dear Mr. *****:



Thank you for the recent correspondence regarding open carry legislation in Texas. I have always been a staunch supporter of the second amendment as contained in the Bill of Rights and I plan to carefully review each bill as they come before the Texas House. Your thoughts and opinions on this issue are very important to me and I always look forward to the calls and letters we receive from the constituents of District 80.



Our democracy depends on an active and informed citizenry to steer it in the right direction. That is why I welcome your input on this issue and many others in the future.



The opportunity to represent you in the Texas House of Representatives is an honor and a privilege that I take very seriously. Again, thank you for that opportunity and please feel to contact me anytime I may be of assistance.



Respectfully,

Tracy O. King

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Can't help but notice that he does not say if he will support the bill or not. Hopefully he and other reps will get the idea that this is a bill that way past the time it should have been law already.

I noticed that and sent an email for him to clarify.

Congressman King,

I appreciate your quick response, but you have not stated whether you support the bill, support Open Carry and are you willing to sponsor this bill?

I would ask you to read HB 700 and respond accordingly.

Thank you for you time in this matter.



I look forward to your response.

Anyone care to guess on when we can expect to see it pass or not pass this session?

tx-skydiver said:

Anyone care to guess on when we can expect to see it pass or not pass this session?

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Both Senate and House are out of session until Monday, so nothing is going to happen this week.

tejasx said:

Both Senate and House are out of session until Monday, so nothing is going to happen this week.

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Could it actually happen that fast? I assume that something like this would take months and months to reach decision.

tx-skydiver said:

Could it actually happen that fast? I assume that something like this would take months and months to reach decision.

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He didn't mean that it could pass this week if they weren't in session. He just meant that nothing will happen this week.

The realistic time frame for a clear conclusion to this issue is "the end of the legislative session". The bill was filed fairly far into the bill submission process, and it's not going to be anyone's top priority, particularly that ass-munch Joe Straus. If it passes, it will likely pass pretty late in the session. It's also possible it will make some progress through or even out of committee, and then never again be brought up for business, which would mean we'd wait until the end of the legislative session to know that it never got addressed. Be ready to wait a while for any sense of what's going to happen.

The 30.06 sign serves notice that CONCEALED handguns are not welcome. Why in the world then would any reasonable person not understand that the posting of such a sign would apply to any DISPLAYED handgun as well ?

Openly wearing a handgun is notorious, expositional, and as such is subject to a different protocal.

More support Authors and co-authors signing on

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=83R&Bill=HB700

Here is a copy of what I sent to my representatives. Also this is my virgin post. I have been lurking for a few years and finally decided to join the conversation since Texas may actually be serious about passing this.

"I am writing to ask you to support HB700. The proposed bill would allow open carry to all CHL holders. I believe this is a step in the right direction. Many misled people tend to think that open carry will scare the public. This has not proven to be true for the 44 other states that allow open carry. As of right now, California, New York, Illinois, Florida, and Arkansas are the only other states that do not allow some form of open carry. I am embarrassed to be in the same category as California, New York, and Illinois when it comes to gun restrictions. I hope our leadership of this great state feel the same way.

The 2006 FBI study "Violent Encounters: A Study of Felonious Assaults on Our Nation's Law Enforcement Officers" by Anthony Pinizzotto revealed that criminals carefully conceal their firearms, and they eschew the use of holsters. They concluded that citizens who prefer to open carry have extremely low odds of being someone with ill intent.

Open carry is given credit for deterring many crimes that would have occurred otherwise. Criminals would rather look for the low risk crimes they can commit. Examples of low risk assaults are on those who are elderly, those who are not paying attention to their surroundings, and those who appear to have low self esteem or low confidence. Similar to why mass murderers prefer to shoot people in gun free zones, the criminals prefer the better odds of success. There are very very few reports of criminals trying to take a weapon from a law abiding citizen that is open carrying. I truly believe that a criminal is more likely to approach a concealed handgun carrier because that criminal assumes they do not have a weapon on them.

I also support open carry because I constantly have to worry about if my weapon is printing (showing an outline). It is also very hot in the summer months and wearing the appropriate attire to conceal my carry pistol is dang near impossible.

And most important of all, The 2nd Amendment says the right of the people to keep and bear arms Shall Not Be Infringed. I think having to have a CHL to open carry is still infringing, but it is a step in the right direction to protect the rights our founding fathers guaranteed us.

I believe that when those who have been given the honor to represent the people of their state, they should wholeheartedly do whatever it takes to allow people to maintain their god given rights. When those who represent us feel it is their duty to be parents and decide what rights they can restrict, they have lost (or never knew) what the true calling of being a leader is.

Thank you for taking the time to read my email and I hope you have a good day."

I just got off the phone with Matt, J.M. Lozano's chief of staff. He said that he relayed my question regarding support for open carry in TX. Mr Lozano will vote YES when the bill comes up for a vote. I didn't think to ask what he was going to do to help get it to the floor but I'll wait a few days and call back to get that info. They seem very nice and helpful in that office so if anyone has other questions or comments I should be asking, post them up or PM me.

Bill had it's first reading and was referred to the Homeland Security and Public Safety...2-18

Position Member
Chair: Rep. Joseph Pickett
Vice Chair: Rep. Allen Fletcher
Members: Rep. Philip Cortez
Rep. Tony Dale
Rep. Dan Flynn
Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt
Rep. George Lavender
Rep. Kenneth Sheets
Rep. Ron Simmons

They have 53 bills as of now....alot to do with firearms.....look them over and write your emails!!

Just trying to do my part

02-21-2013

To: Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee Chairman and Members

From : zekester

Ref: HB700

Dear Committee,

As a Texan, a registered voter and a staunch advocate of the 2nd Amendment of the US constitution, it surprises me that the State of Texas is one of only a few States that do no allow some form of Open Carry.

Texas is currently in the same class as California, Illinois and Washington D.C. I find this appalling and disrespectful to the great citizens of Texas, who since 1836 have prided ourselves in the fact that we are Texans and knowing without the use of firearms, Texas would not be a State today.

Although I support HB700, the fact that we must have a “license” to exercise our rights as Texans and as American Citizens is contrary to the 2nd Amendment as it was conceived by our forefathers, and Sam Houston, who were smart enough to realize that the carrying of arms was essential to the freedom of this state and our country. Imagine if Colonel Travis was only able to have men who had a concealed carry permit to come to the aid of the Alamo. Did all these brave men die in vain?

Why does the Government tax law abiding citizens for a right granted by GOD and confirmed by the Constitution of the United States? We license vehicles because it is clearly a privilege, not a right. We do not tax newspapers for their right to print any and all things, true or not, because it is their right to do so.

I think HB700 is a flawed bill, but I do ask that you support HB700 and move it through your committee as soon as feasibly possible. It is not the perfect bill, but at least it is a step in the right direction.

I thank you for your time and your service to the great State of Texas.

I respectfully request you reply to this e-mail to inform me on your intentions in regards to HB700.

Zekester

It has occurred to me that "licensing" of the right actually began when the first governmental act of arms prohibition was tolerated by we the people. Once the people allowed the government to assert usurped power to regulate firearms in these United States of America under some pretext of "emergency"- we all became "licensed" to some degree by the very existence of a governmental restriction. In the case of Texas licensing authority resides in "power to regulate the wearing of arms..."even where "constitutional carry" exists - it is a result of the state government "licensing" the "unlicensed". We are all "licensed" to some extent whether we have a plastic card in our wallet or not.

According to most polls the majority of citizens favor "universal background checks" on gun acquisitions because they irrationally believe that this will keep guns out of criminal hands. This is just one more "stepping stone" towards total prohibition. All such prohibitive measures merely serve as stepping stones across the creek to the ultimate statist goal of total civilian disarmament.

If an individual cannot be trusted in the public square with a gun they should not be trusted in the public square at all.

I favor pushing back this travesty of "licensing" in one form or another all the way back to the original intent of the 2nd Amendment - if a person is living, and not behind bars, or suspended from a tree with a rope around their neck - their right to keep and bear arms should not be infringed - or "licensed".

Laws restricting rapid fire firearms ("machine guns"), shortened firearms ("sawed off shotguns"), noise abatement devices ( "silencers") or whatever the latest (mag- cap limits)"stepping stone" on the path to outright prohibition - are all unconstitutional.

Needless to say we the people have allowed our government institutions to assume the power to "administer" OUR constitutions, and thereby determine our rights. There is a good chance that the overreach we are now witnessing may well be the catalyst for a reset to the original intent of the 2A because the weapons laws on the books are never going to prevent crime - never have, and never will.

I think that ship has sailed, as you point out. I'm not sure the climate is right at this time, but a court challenge to the restriction of carry in the state is a better course. The State constitution says that the wearing of arms may be restricted "with a view to prevent crime", and there clearly is no established causal link between non-criminals carrying sidearms and an increase in crime.

True the ship is long out of port, but We the People can always call it back into port - monumental task though it may be.

If I'm not mistaken We the people once called the British fleet back into port.

Just as the prohibitionists endeavor to convince us that just one or two more enhancements of the government "license" will prevent all of the crime - we can attempt to educate in the opposite direction.

rushcreek2 said:

Just as the prohibitionists endeavor to convince us that just one or two more enhancements of the government "license" will prevent all of the crime - we can attempt to educate in the opposite direction.

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As though "government" was different from "us". This really upsets me, when it becomes us vs. government. The discussion needs to be "my side vs. your side", we decide what course to take, then we ask the government to do something. Leadership in the executive is fine, but what we often see is an executive forcing something, as a corporate CEO might do.

Sadly, although government is a necessary institution that "WE" created, like Frankenstein's creation it immediately turned on its creators.

We told our "creation" that it had to remain within it's established confines, obey our rules, and RESPECT US , but........being a creation of the human mind.......it was determined from the beginning to recognize NO HIGHER AUTHORITY than itself.

This is why our government must be bound, shackled, kept under constant guard....or rendered impotent.........for if left unrestrained it will destroy its creators

From Rep Lavender...

Dear Mr. Zekester –



Thank you for contacting the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety on HB 700.



Rep. Lavender appreciates your support for his open carry legislation. We agree that our bill doesn’t fix the problem but we believe that it takes us one step closer to what we inevitably want.



Continue to speak out on this issue.



Best regards,



Noah Gilliam

Legislative Director

Rep. George Lavender

Texas House District 1

noah.gilliam@house.state.tx.us



Capitol Office

Capitol Extension - E2.606

512.463.0692 phone

512.463.0902 fax



District Office

2600 Robison Rd., Ste. 190

Texarkana, Texas 75505

(Located on the Texarkana College

Campus in the Texas A & M - Aikin Bldg.)

903.791.0386 phone

903.791.0384 fax