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Column - David Martin Davies: Pack your heat with pride, Texans

Renegade

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SAN ANTONIO - Texans with concealed handgun permits want to come out of the closet and wear their weapons in polite society. I'm calling it the "gun pride" movement and it's taking off like a bullet.

There are no state gun pride parades as of yet, but there is an online petition with over 20,000 names that's asking Texas lawmakers to let them bare their barrels. You can find the petition at http://www.opencarry.org.

According to the Web site, Texas is just one of six states that completely ban open carry.

The group behind the petition is asking for unlicensed open carry. That means anybody over 18 without a felony conviction can strut with a Smith & Wesson.

The Legislature approved the concealed-carry law in 1995. There were predictions that Texas would revert to the days of the Old West with daily gunfights, poor dental hygiene, and mothers naming their wild-eyed offspring Festus.

That didn't happen. Instead, we've witnessed the violent crime rate in the state continuously drop, according to the FBI's crime stats.

I don't know if there's a connection. So I blame video games for the decrease in violent crime.

Nevertheless, those dire forecasts of blood in the streets are being re-uttered as the debate over open carry heats up in Texas.

The accusation is that Texas gun slingers want to patrol the streets with their shooting irons strapped on their hips. These trigger happy yokels will be itching to unload at the slightest insult or doubt about their passive nature.

Pish-posh, I say. This is not about gunning down lilly-livered-sloppy-chop criminals. This is about fashion.

Supporters of open carry complain that Texas is too hot and humid for concealed carry. Who wants to wear a plaid sports coat in the heat just so they can pack heat?

It's not exactly a concealed weapon when you can pick out the gun enthusiast in a crowd because he's the one sweating bullets through his Sears suit at the county fair.

Also, when Texans do get the go-ahead to unveil their firearms, the sidearm is going to be the trendiest accessory since the baby bump.

How can you be seen in last year's Beretta at the rodeo? Just shoot me if you see me make such a fashion misfire!

I think we can look forward to pimping my pistol behavior. Fancy pearl-handled platinum-plated revolvers could be all the rage at the cotillion.

The folks in favor of open carry say it will make them more effective in shooting bad guys since they'll be quicker on the draw. They also argue that because the gun is in plain sight they will be walking deterrents to crime.

Those against the law change caution that having more guns in the open makes it easier for criminals to get them. And it increases the chances of accidental shootings.

Either way, I don't think passing open carry is going to change much in the streets of Texas. Guns are already a big part of our way of life.

Gun aficionados love to remind us that we've got a constitutional right to bare arms and they are ready to fight to defend that right.

I only wish they were just as equally passionate about protecting all the other rights in the Constitution.

David Martin Davies is the news director for Texas Public Radio and host of the syndicated program Texas Matters.


http://www.amarillo.com/stories/080808/opi_opin2.shtml
 

ilbob

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SIGguy229 wrote:
What a dick. :cuss:



Who says we don't support the other rights?
usually when they say that they are referring to rights that are not mentioned in the constitution and can only be considered rights by extreme stretches of logic such as abortion,"free"health care,and same sex marriage.
 

Task Force 16

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ilbob wrote:
SIGguy229 wrote:
What a dick. :cuss:



Who says we don't support the other rights?
usually when they say that they are referring to rights that are not mentioned in the constitution and can only be considered rights by extreme stretches of logic such as abortion,"free"health care,and same sex marriage.

I want my own F-16 Falcon. IT'S MY RIGHT!!!!! :cry:

;)
 

Phoenixphire

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ilbob wrote:
SIGguy229 wrote:
What a dick. :cuss:



Who says we don't support the other rights?
usually when they say that they are referring to rights that are not mentioned in the constitution and can only be considered rights by extreme stretches of logic such as abortion,"free"health care,and same sex marriage.
Well, one, abortion is an issue I am not going to discuss here. I see both sides of the arguement, and, frankly, I don't care one way or another. But I do disagree that it requires an "extreme stretch of logic" to see abortion as a private medical decision, to be made by the woman, her doctor, and her faith.

Same sex marriage is an equal rights issue. Two consenting adults can do whatever the hell they want, as far as I am concerned. All of the bullshit arguments made today against homosexual marriage, every single one - they were all made 40 years ago, against interracial marriage. And they are just as flawed today as they were then.

And as far as healthcare goes, the government shouldn't have their nose in that in any fashion, exception for fraud oversight. And that should be the purview of the states, not the federal government.

VOTE LIBERTARIAN!
 

rodbender

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I find it hard to believe that somepeople still don't get it. Without 2A being first and foremost, the other rights guaranteed by the Constitution, can go away very easily. Most people think that the BOR was numbered in the order of importance. Not so, they are numbered in the order of ratification. Idiots!?

I want a M1A2 Abrams, Apache, F-15, and a BAR.
 

KBCraig

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holeinhead wrote:
F-16? No way dude! Give me one of those sexy F-14s, or a shiny new F-22!
Since we're talking guns here, I want a big gun with a small airplane built around it: that's right, gimme an A-10 Warthog, baybee! :cool:
 

rodbender

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Renegade wrote:
I only wish they were just as equally passionate about protecting all the other rights in the Constitution.
WHAT!?!? Without 2A, the rest of the rights would probablybe history by now.
 

Citizen

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Renegade wrote:
SNIP I only wish they were just as equally passionate about protecting all the other rights in the Constitution.

Ugggh.

Well, he's certainly not giving me any reason to be particularly supportive of freedom of the press.
 

Liko81

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KBCraig wrote:
holeinhead wrote:
F-16? No way dude! Give me one of those sexy F-14s, or a shiny new F-22!
Since we're talking guns here, I want a big gun with a small airplane built around it: that's right, gimme an A-10 Warthog, baybee! :cool:

My kinda guy. That is one aircraftI would feel VERY safe flying. Only trouble is there aren't any GAU-8s on the NFA registers, so even though you can buy the A-10 (if you have 11 million dollars; damn glass cockpits and other upgrades increased the price by a factor of 25) you couldn't get the gun; lead ballast instead.

As to the OP, I can't tell if it's satire orsomeF-ed upattempt to say "yes, it really is all right to OC". Either way, what's wrong with this guy? Does he think every last OC advocate in Texas (all 25,000 of them)is related by blood? Does he really think we regard our firearms as a fashion statement?
 

t3rmin

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Calm down, folks. This is a very positive article. The "disarming" humorous style is apt to sway folks our way.

As for the last line, as a fellow generally GOP-voting conservative-libertarian, I agree.

It is generally the same group of us that promotes 2nd-amendment rights while being indifferent to or even supportive of tramplings of free speech, privacy, habeus corpus, etc. It's not fun to admit, but our own house IS in disorder. And we fall for violations of the other rights the same way antis fall for violations of 2nd amendment rights: safety/security. Safety is a tyrant's tool. But we think that only applies to the 2nd.

But that's not the main point. Let's not get too distracted.
 

eyesopened

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Renegade wrote:
Those against the law change caution that having more guns in the open makes it easier for criminals to get them. And it increases the chances of accidental shootings.
How does an OC pistol versus a CC one increase the chance of an accidental shooting? 'cause my shirt isn't covering it anymore, make the gun more dangerous?
 

rodbender

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eyesopened wrote:
Renegade wrote:
Those against the law change caution that having more guns in the open makes it easier for criminals to get them. And it increases the chances of accidental shootings.
How does an OC pistol versus a CC one increase the chance of an accidental shooting? 'cause my shirt isn't covering it anymore, make the gun more dangerous?
Sun shining on a gun can make it furious and start shooting for no reason at all. Don't you know they have a mind of their own?
 

MetalChris

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rodbender wrote:
eyesopened wrote:
Renegade wrote:
Those against the law change caution that having more guns in the open makes it easier for criminals to get them. And it increases the chances of accidental shootings.
How does an OC pistol versus a CC one increase the chance of an accidental shooting? 'cause my shirt isn't covering it anymore, make the gun more dangerous?
Sun shining on a gun can make it furious and start shooting for no reason at all. Don't you know they have a mind of their own?
I think the reason is he believes that the hot Texas sun shining directly on a gun might heat it up enough to cook off some rounds. :uhoh:
 

rodbender

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MetalChris wrote:
rodbender wrote:
eyesopened wrote:
Renegade wrote:
Those against the law change caution that having more guns in the open makes it easier for criminals to get them. And it increases the chances of accidental shootings.
How does an OC pistol versus a CC one increase the chance of an accidental shooting? 'cause my shirt isn't covering it anymore, make the gun more dangerous?
Sun shining on a gun can make it furious and start shooting for no reason at all. Don't you know they have a mind of their own?
I think the reason is he believes that the hot Texas sun shining directly on a gun might heat it up enough to cook off some rounds. :uhoh:
Nope, it's just the sun, not the heat.They like dark dank places. The sun shining on them make them get a whole different attitude.
 
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