educate me about open carry

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I posted the "Arrested for Unlawful Carry of a Weapon in my vehicle" topic. As an update, I'm in the process of getting a laywer. I have a scheduled trial by jury date in December.

I've decided that an open carry law on the books would have changed the events that occurred (without paying a $120 CCW tax to the government) as I would have had the pistol on my person. It is also the only thing that can stop the possibility of future BS charges. That being said, I started looking into this possibility seriously. I've always been a fan of open carry from a "that would be cool" perspective. Not from a movie/cowboy point of view, but more about the possibility of people coming together and being heard enough to change a law of that magnitude. The more I look into the current state of politics, the more I realize that open carry is not only "cool," but necessary. Aw s**t, another right wing nut wants to carry a gun, right?! NO. A normal, working class person who identifies lies when they are told realizes that a movement like this reinforces the fact that the power lies with the people. So onto the point of the post.

I see that this forum, specifically Texas, is slow to get new topics. The views for the most popular posts are below 5K, if memory serves me right. I know that 2008 seemed promising with no results. Could somebody explain the long and the short of why this movement seems seasonal, for the lack of a better word? Please don't take offense to the statement, its only the observation of someone who is uneducated on the subject. It took an incident for me to seriously consider what yall have been serious about all along. I'd also like to know what I can do to promote the idea, beyond "tell all your friends." I already have due to the fact that most of my friends see any of my guns and ask "you got a permit for that?!" I'd like to hear from some of you guys that have been involved for a while, if you'll grant a noob the time . Thanks.

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Welcome to the forum! I think I remember your previous post; you are in Corpus, right? And your gun was basically concealed in your vehicle? (It helps a LOT if you put your location in your profile so that it shows up next to your name...) If you are the one I am thinking of, best of luck with your case! And out of curiosity, whos your attorney? Also, it might be in your best interest to keep any finer details of your case off the forums until the case is over, check with your attorney about that...

As to your 'concern' that the effort is 'stalled out', you are somewhat correct in that we made a HUGE push last year and now I think we are all kinda just taking a bit of a break while gearing up for the next push. The Texas Legislature only meets once every 2 years so the next really BIG push won't be until we are gearing up for 2011!
I think you will find that the level of new 'activity' in any of the state specific forums is kinda slow, for a couple of reasons...
1: many of the issues we face are nationwide and happen in the main section of the forum.
2: at least for Texas, we had a really good e-mail group going where we did lots of our discussion, planning, etc!

As for the continuing efforts: If you can in any way make it, we are having a get together/BBQ at RodBenders house in Elgin on Saturday! This will be the first of its kind here in Texas that I know of!

Also, Take the time to educate yourself on the finer points of the laws and have responses ready for the standard questions that most people will ask. Once you have a good understanding of the laws and are comfortable discussing the topic intelligently, don't stop with just your friends! If you see someone at Academy looking at their first handgun purchase, talk to them. If you meet someone at the local coffee shop and happen to get into a general conversation with them, bring it up! Talk to your co-workers.
Get to know the folks at your local Gun Store, Shooting Range, hunting supply store, etc and figure out what their stance is. These guys are likely to 'think' they know the laws, but don't always really know them! (See my post in the thread about OC Magazine) Many of these folks are also likely to be pro-CC only! But may be able to be massaged towards freedom over time!

Last year during our big push we had a number of different fliers, cards, etc that various members had created (mostly pointing towards our petition, but educational at the same time) You might be able to adapt one of those to work for your target audience!

Most importantly when talking to others REMEMBER that this is a sensitive subject with very strong opinions on both sides! So be NICE, Be Informative, Use Facts, Be Respectful, Be courteous, Be Nice! If you come across as pushy, rude, etc, it will only hurt the cause. If the people you talk to find you to be a Nice, Respectable, Intelligent, and Friendly person, that just so happens to want to carry a gun to protect themselves and potentially everyone else around them, they will come away with a better view! Many, Many times I have had people tell me that they would not have a problem with 'ME' carrying a gun, they are just worried about everybody else! The more people they meet like 'me' (us!) the more comfortable they will be seeing more people carrying, and eventually they will get the idea (truth!) that most of us 'crazy gun nuts' are really just average 'Joes' that there is nothing to be scared of!


I hope I was able to help answer your questions and inspire you to continue to promote the cause! I am in Corpus somewhat regularly, and would love to meet with you over a cup of coffee or at the range for a few rounds!

Edited to fix a sleepy mistake!

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Gator5713 the Texas legislture meets ever two years on odd numbered years so the next push will be in 2010 for the 2011 legislative session.

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CrossFire wrote:

Gator5713 the Texas legislture meets ever two years on odd numbered years so the next push will be in 2010 for the 2011 legislative session.

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Thanks... I knew something was wrong with that, but I was WAY too tired this morning to be trying to write all that intelligently! I hope it was at least somewhat intelligent! Need to go fix it now...

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Yes, thats me, now pistol-less until I get this caseover with.

Gator, Thanks for taking the time to peck out that response. Everything you said is exactly what I was thinking. Glad to know I'm not way off base. Looks like I need to do my homework when it comes to our legislature. As for a cup of coffee, sounds great. .223 is a little expensive to go plinking with these days. I've got a meeting tomorrow with a laywer, don't have one locked down yet. Your question about who my laywer is leads me to think you're in the profession, of have some ties to it. Any suggestions? As far as gearing up for the next big push, it sounds like promotion and support gaining needs to start now. A year goes by pretty quick andprint/video takes a while to get organized. Is there one person or a group of people that do graphics and make videos to promote this? Is making your own material a no-no? I'm interested because my brother and I are savy in the film/print media area. In the developement anyways, I don't own a copy store or a major production studio. If you knowwho isleading the charge on this stuff,let me know.

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botheyesonyou wrote:

Yes, thats me, now pistol-less until I get this caseover with.

Gator, Thanks for taking the time to peck out that response. Everything you said is exactly what I was thinking. Glad to know I'm not way off base. Looks like I need to do my homework when it comes to our legislature. As for a cup of coffee, sounds great. .223 is a little expensive to go plinking with these days. I've got a meeting tomorrow with a laywer, don't have one locked down yet. Your question about who my laywer is leads me to think you're in the profession, of have some ties to it. Any suggestions? As far as gearing up for the next big push, it sounds like promotion and support gaining needs to start now. A year goes by pretty quick andprint/video takes a while to get organized. Is there one person or a group of people that do graphics and make videos to promote this? Is making your own material a no-no? I'm interested because my brother and I are savy in the film/print media area. In the developement anyways, I don't own a copy store or a major production studio. If you knowwho isleading the charge on this stuff,let me know.

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I'm definitely NOT a lawyer, but I might be able to help lead you in the right direction... I'll PM you about that...

As for the rest of your post: Making your own material is pretty much how we ended up with the materials that we have. Someone has an idea, puts it out for discussion, makes a few revisions, then we print our own from there... Most of the images that are used around the sight and a lot of the pro carry stuff that you see floating around comes from 'Oleg Volk'. http://www.olegvolk.net/

As far as who is leading the charge...? Well, there is actually a thread about that at the moment... Ian was kind of our 'leader', but has since moved out of State... As for the rest of us, we are very passionate about the cause, and work together fairly well, but to an individual so far none of us really have the time to take on the 'primary leadership' role...

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sorry if you have been to court already. main things to know about going to court: the jury is supposed to decide how to interpret the law. this hearkens from the days of old where the 25 barons would be your jury. any US supreme court case is prcedent. sanford v. scott is a major one to look at. it deals with how one may possess a weapon. i would try typing the right to keep and bear arms into a search engine unless you have a black's law dictionary laying about. very informative book that one is. i was told on my case that most judges are anti-gun and almost none of the attorneys i talked to wanted to touch it. even when i gave them ussc precedent. about twenty i should think. if you get the wrong judge, they may try to override the jury if the jury sides with you. misprison of felony and treason come to mind. i would investigate the judge having control over the area (i can't recall the term) where you were stopped etc. if he/she has anti-gun or texas sovreignty issues, i would file for a change of venue. ah jurisdiction. anyway. was this after the new law was in affect? it may be a simple matter of bringing that up, or even castle doctrine. the texas constitution states explcitly that the state of texas is subject only to the constitution of the united states constitution. get a copy of both for your case building. it seems judges, da/prosecutors, and cops have no real system of checks and balances; they can screw us over like the sheep we are with little to no adverse consequences to themselves. i judge was justly charged with treason, yet he still presides over cases, i believe he was even found guilty. may you be blessed in this undertaking