What are you doing...right now...to get open carry in Texas?

I don't see much activity here. I hope there is another board where people are talking and sharing legislative information.

We're following your progress here in Oklahoma, but I don't see any... where is the discussion? If someone isn't following the legislation and talking about it, contacting key legislators at appropriate times, then how do you expect to ever get what you want?

End of rant... someone point me to where the discussion is, please?

Really? Thanks for visiting the Texas forum. I'm not sure your tone will attract the kind of attention you want.

Some of us are watching and talking, in real life, to real people, instead of spending our time with online mental masturbation. Sorry we can't accommodate your voyeuristic needs.

(Yeah, I know I sound like a ... whatever, but you sounded a bit too preachy for a visitor.)

Seriously, the nature of our legislative session means it takes a while to get things done. You are correct that hanging out and doing nothing usually gets no results. But talking about it on an Internet forum that isn't very well trafficked by those in this state is not anything that will help us. It's preaching to the choir.

Great. Now that you're finished lecturing me about my tone, how about answering my question by pointing me to the forum that is well trafficked?

And, yes..you do sound like a ...whatever. Online mental masturbation? cute. How many times have you visited your State Capitol this year?

As I said, there may be other forums, but the real work is person to person. This state is a big place, and one person visiting isn't nearly as effective as a hundred different phone calls and emails. I have personally contacted my reps in both houses regarding HB700 (open carry). I will make personal visits later in the session, when I am in Austin on business, or when they are in their home districts.

One problem we do have is that a very vocal CC advocate won't let OC be discussed on his very popular forums. There isn't a great ground swell in the state for OC. Since it has been illegal here for 140 years, and all people get is "CC is good enough", there is much apathy.

People are comfortable with out if sight is out of mind. "If they don't see the gun, they won't be afraid if the gun, and they will leave me alone." Even the strong CC advocates think there is something fundamentally wrong with people having to see a gun.

(My last trip to lobby in DC was organized by a non-profit... And fell during a recess. Bad, bad planning by the organizers, but explains the hotel discount they got.)

The Texas State Rifle Association, with the NRA's support, actively works to defeat Open Carry in Texas. Oh sure, they say they'd support a reasonable bill that didn't hurt Concealed Carry, and doesn't take attention away from SUPER VITAL IMPORTANT ISSUES like Campus Carry (seriously, who is the ****ing half-mongoloid cretin who thought that was the most important thing to address?), and so on and so forth. The reality, however, is that they will always have pet issues that are "more important" and "more achievable" than Open Carry, and they will fight against Open Carry because they think that helps their pet issues.

The largest supposedly gun rights establishments in the state are hostile to Open Carry. I'm pretty discouraged after what happened two years ago. Oh, and the same self-serving half-Democrat is Speaker again, so I don't see much chance of Open Carry being scheduled for business.

Okiebryan - unfortunately Texas simply ain't Oklahoma. But Texans( and THIS Coloradoan) THANK YOU for your hard work to get licensed handgun carry in Oklahoma. Texans ( as you should well know) are not about to be outdown by Okie's.

The legislative process down there is "unique" - to be charitable.

The secret to legislative success in the Texas Legislature has always been the "invisible hand".

Good illustrations for this phenomena might be the legacy of LBJ, and that peculiar nuance under Texas law whereby the "every citizen" down in Texas has never really been subject to the general handgun restrictions of Section 46.02 when "traveling" which is a rather popular practice in the expansive Lone Star Republic.

I think Texans will get it done this go around, and a large part of the impetus for that is due to the hard work you Okie's did last year.

rushcreek2 said:

The secret to legislative success in the Texas Legislature has always been the "invisible hand".

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This reminds me of another forum visitor we had, from Utah, who insisted that all we had to do was get rid of a few legislators who didn't vote our way, and that would take care of it.

Ignoring the fact that it's almost impossible to turn out an incumbent, there are no single-issue districts in Texas. Whatever the old guy was worrying about instead of pushing OC, the new guy will be too.

And of course, there will be invisible guiding hands at work, too.

Thanks for the information. Where are these popular message boards that don't allow talk of open carry? I'd like to see for myself.

We did most of our best work (and still are in this year's legislative session) with Facebook. It's a great way to generate large numbers of very issue specific emails and phone calls. Is there a FB page for Texas that is similar to ours? (www.facebook.com/opencarryok)

I want to do what I can to help. I've made myself available for media in Texas, and I've done an interview or two. The Ft Worth Star Telegram article was pretty decent. I lived in Texas for awhile back in the early 90s (1989-1994) in Lubbock and later in Galveston County. I was never interested in Texas politics at the time, but I did think you had a gorgeous Capitol building.

So, what can my group of 2500 open carry okies do to help?

This is where most of us are.

http://www.texasguntalk.com/forums/gun-legislation/41722-83-r-hb-700-open-carry-bill.html

There's also texas chl forum, but the guy that runs it is very anti-open carry, and pretty hostile to anyone who brings it up.

The right of every citizen in Texas to keep & bear arms in defense of themselves shall not be infringed.....so long as they have the State's permission if they choose to be armed with a handgun, and they hide that dang thing well enough so that any robber, rapist, car-jacker or such will think they are helpless.

Young lady was assaulted, kidnaped in the Walmart parking lot across the street from Cowboy Stadium in Arlington last evening, and then raped.

Arlington PD have the scumbag in jail fortunately.

Were citizens like myself allowed by the State of Texas to open carry in such locations - which I occassionally frequent - these scumbags would be rendered just a bit less comfortable, and less likely to prey upon their supposed helpless victims

okiebryan said:

I don't see much activity here. I hope there is another board where people are talking and sharing legislative information.

We're following your progress here in Oklahoma, but I don't see any... where is the discussion? If someone isn't following the legislation and talking about it, contacting key legislators at appropriate times, then how do you expect to ever get what you want?

End of rant... someone point me to where the discussion is, please?

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Well there ar eplenty of Supporters but its hard to get our voice out, I made an open carry for texas youtube channel with all new updates so everyone would know the status of the bill. The youtube name is texas4opencarry , same as this name.

Texas4opencarry said:

Well there ar eplenty of Supporters but its hard to get our voice out, I made an open carry for texas youtube channel with all new updates so everyone would know the status of the bill. The youtube name is texas4opencarry , same as this name.

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Welcome to OCDO - appreciate seeing you here!

Always nice to provide a direct link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Texas4opencarry

Planning to travel to Austin from Houston Thursday March 14th for the House Committee public hearing. Hope to testify on two open carry bills and college campus carry bills.

IMHO, OC in Texas ought to start with A) a revised "right to bear arms" in their constitution "Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defense of himself or the State; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime" since the "right" is actually a privilege or B) the state's highest court's recognition that the "right" is actually a privilege.

Just my 2 cents.

okiebryan said:

We did most of our best work (and still are in this year's legislative session) with Facebook. It's a great way to generate large numbers of very issue specific emails and phone calls. Is there a FB page for Texas that is similar to ours? (www.facebook.com/opencarryok)

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We have https://www.facebook.com/TexasOC here in Texas, btw.

sarcasam

Members of the forum,

If you will accept input from a dammyankee trapped in the peoples republic of Illinois,. I would suggest that the written word does not lend itself to the subtle nuances of inflection and timing that aid in our understanding of sarcasam. The posters early on in this thread seem to have percieved hostility in the postings and responded in kind. I too am interested in Texas getting OC as I hope to retire there come the end of the year. But I believe the Texas legislature only meets for six months in a two year period. (correct me if I am wrong) With a part time legislature, there is finite time available for passing of laws. Perhaps the good people of Texas realize this and can only effect change when the legislature is in session.

To the individual from Oklahoma, I commend your state for enacting OC. It was a suprise when I read it, but a delightful one indeed.

And just to give you a sample of how difficult changing legislative minds can be, we here in the state of Illinois have a court decision mandating the allowance of carry outside the home. The Seventh circuit gave the legislature 180 days to draft a law. Yet our politicians continue to stall, in hopes the outcome can be changed. Hop over to the Illinoiscarry.com site and you can get all the theatre and drama you could possibly want. And see the legislative process and how slow it does not work.

Thank you.

Hb 700

Someone alluded to the NRA as not backing OC in Texas. I refer you to the item below from the NRA website.

House Bill 700 by Representative George Lavender (R-Texarkana) would allow a person with a Texas concealed handgun license to have the option of carrying concealed or openly holstered. Expect a committee substitute to create a sign for use by private property owners not wishing to restrict those carrying concealed.

dumpnpump said:

Someone alluded to the NRA as not backing OC in Texas. I refer you to the item below from the NRA website.

House Bill 700 by Representative George Lavender (R-Texarkana) would allow a person with a Texas concealed handgun license to have the option of carrying concealed or openly holstered. Expect a committee substitute to create a sign for use by private property owners not wishing to restrict those carrying concealed.

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Reporting on an issue and supporting it are entirely different matters. Have never seen the NRA come out strong to promote, defend, or encourage OC - quite to the contrary.

Well, the full time lobbyist for TSRA got up yesterday and testified on behalf of the OC bill. That certainly looks like support to me.

From the author's staff:
==============================
Good Morning –

The hearing yesterday went very smoothly. We had many passionate individuals along with Alice Tripp from the Texas State Rifle Association testify in favor for HB 700 “Open Carry”

We laid out our Committee Substitute to address concerns with “dual points of resistance” and Section 30.06 signage.

Now you may carry your handgun in any type of holster. Also, we created a different sign to allow property owners to ban open carry at their discretion. For clarification, Section 30.06 still bans concealed carry and 30.07 bans open carry. Therefore, if a property owner wants to ban both types of carry, her or she will have to post both signs.

Only one person testified against the bill. Thankfully, her testimony was incoherent and not very strong.

We look forward to your continued support as we move forward in the process. Please contact Chairman Joe Pickett to voice your support.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact don’t hesitate to email or call.

Best regards,

Noah Gilliam
Legislative Director
Rep. George Lavender
Texas House District 1
noah.gilliam@house.state.tx.us

Separate signs? Wow, more than I'd dared to hope for. And with the damned TSRA behind it this year too.