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Very interesting - college carry efforts may be getting boost from open carry movement!
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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16163.html
Grassroots group petitions to allow unconcealed gun
By ROBERTO A. CERVANTES - DAILY TEXAN | 12/3/08 10:51 AM EST Text Size:
A grass-roots website is seeking to make Texas an “open carry” state, allowing citizens to wear unconcealed handguns.
Texas is among only five states in the nation — New York, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina — that does not permit the unconcealed carrying of a handgun. The site, Opencarry.org, has similar petitions in every state but New York.
Mike Stollenwerk, co-founder of the website, said it may come as a shock that a state as “pro-gun” as Texas has such restrictive laws on unconcealed handguns.
“In most states, you don’t need a permit,” he said. “Those outlying states, Texas is one of them, which is odd because it is so pro-gun. Certainly, there is some room for reform. We would like to go all the way.”
Opencarry.org hopes the passage of a law permitting unconcealed handguns will be swift when state representatives convene in Austin for a new legislative session in January.
Gov. Rick Perry has signaled his support for a possible bill if it comes across his desk, according to various news reports.
University of Texas Student Government was supposed to vote on a resolution that would support the existing handgun ban on Texas college campuses at their Tuesday meeting, but all legislation was tabled by SG President Keshav Rajagopalan after he told representatives to “do their homework.”
Justin Stein, a representative from the College of Liberal Arts who co-sponsored the resolution, said he hopes Texas lawmakers listen to student voices across the state before altering any handgun laws in the coming session.
A chief of staff of an unnamed state legislator told the organization that a bill was already being drafted for the new year but does not know who will be sponsoring it, Stollenwerk said.
Stollenwerk said the organization’s main grievance is that the state’s unconcealed gun ban is an unnecessary government intrusion into the private lives of Texans.
“The argument is, there is no reason for this government restriction,” he said. “More freedom is good. It is kind of hard to have a [Second Amendment] constitutional right that’s broad, yet the only right you have is to conceal.”
The organization launched a full-scale advertising campaign to win over public support, targeting major Texas cities.
“We have billboards in San Antonio and Houston, cabs in Austin,” he said. “We have ads running on six radio stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for just over two weeks.”
Their radio advertisements urge supporters to sign an online petition to Texas lawmakers, calling “for state preemption of all handgun laws concerning open carry in Texas.” As of press time, the Web site had attracted more than 38,000 signatures.
Dick Doak, manager of Heritage Firearms in Austin, said the affect on gun sales if the law passes would be positive but said much still depends on how the provision is written.
“Anything that promotes sales of guns will help business,” he said. “It all depends on how they write [the law].”
Doak said his customers are not too concerned with the concealed carry law in place now, but, he said, “open carry would be nice.”
Roberto A. Cervantes reports for the Daily Texan, a student publication at the University of Texas. The Daily Texan is a Campus Politico partner.
Very interesting - college carry efforts may be getting boost from open carry movement!
--
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16163.html
Grassroots group petitions to allow unconcealed gun
By ROBERTO A. CERVANTES - DAILY TEXAN | 12/3/08 10:51 AM EST Text Size:
A grass-roots website is seeking to make Texas an “open carry” state, allowing citizens to wear unconcealed handguns.
Texas is among only five states in the nation — New York, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina — that does not permit the unconcealed carrying of a handgun. The site, Opencarry.org, has similar petitions in every state but New York.
Mike Stollenwerk, co-founder of the website, said it may come as a shock that a state as “pro-gun” as Texas has such restrictive laws on unconcealed handguns.
“In most states, you don’t need a permit,” he said. “Those outlying states, Texas is one of them, which is odd because it is so pro-gun. Certainly, there is some room for reform. We would like to go all the way.”
Opencarry.org hopes the passage of a law permitting unconcealed handguns will be swift when state representatives convene in Austin for a new legislative session in January.
Gov. Rick Perry has signaled his support for a possible bill if it comes across his desk, according to various news reports.
University of Texas Student Government was supposed to vote on a resolution that would support the existing handgun ban on Texas college campuses at their Tuesday meeting, but all legislation was tabled by SG President Keshav Rajagopalan after he told representatives to “do their homework.”
Justin Stein, a representative from the College of Liberal Arts who co-sponsored the resolution, said he hopes Texas lawmakers listen to student voices across the state before altering any handgun laws in the coming session.
A chief of staff of an unnamed state legislator told the organization that a bill was already being drafted for the new year but does not know who will be sponsoring it, Stollenwerk said.
Stollenwerk said the organization’s main grievance is that the state’s unconcealed gun ban is an unnecessary government intrusion into the private lives of Texans.
“The argument is, there is no reason for this government restriction,” he said. “More freedom is good. It is kind of hard to have a [Second Amendment] constitutional right that’s broad, yet the only right you have is to conceal.”
The organization launched a full-scale advertising campaign to win over public support, targeting major Texas cities.
“We have billboards in San Antonio and Houston, cabs in Austin,” he said. “We have ads running on six radio stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for just over two weeks.”
Their radio advertisements urge supporters to sign an online petition to Texas lawmakers, calling “for state preemption of all handgun laws concerning open carry in Texas.” As of press time, the Web site had attracted more than 38,000 signatures.
Dick Doak, manager of Heritage Firearms in Austin, said the affect on gun sales if the law passes would be positive but said much still depends on how the provision is written.
“Anything that promotes sales of guns will help business,” he said. “It all depends on how they write [the law].”
Doak said his customers are not too concerned with the concealed carry law in place now, but, he said, “open carry would be nice.”
Roberto A. Cervantes reports for the Daily Texan, a student publication at the University of Texas. The Daily Texan is a Campus Politico partner.