imported post
ProOCers!
Looks like Gun Owners of America is getting involved. I'd emailed them a couple weeks ago, and got this on the distribution list... hopefully it will motivate those who have('nt) signed the petition to putting a call into their representative!
********* From GOA *********
Texas Open Carry Bill Stalled!
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
Monday, February 16, 2009
Most states require no permit to carry a holstered handgun openly. Yet
incredibly, Texas is one of only 6 states to outright ban open carry!
Yes, that's right, law abiding Americans can "open carry"
without any
permit in Pittsburgh and Seattle, but not Dallas, Houston or West Texas.
Even the U.S. Supreme Court seemed to endorse open carry in the DC v.
Heller decision when it said that the right to "bear" arms means to
"carry" them. It doesn't take a law degree to figure out that open
carry is constitutionally protected and that Americans don't need no
stinkin' permit to carry openly.
Over 54,000 Texans have signed an online petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/texasoc/petition.html to decriminalize
open carry and, for some weeks now, Texas legislators meeting in Austin
have been waiting to receive a final draft of a bill from legislative
services to effect this change.
But now that the bill is drafted, some legislators seem to have gone
wobbly on introducing the bill. Some are concerned that open carry is
too controversial and may harm the chance of passage for other pro-gun
bills. If anything, the reverse is true. The more the merrier. Many
pro-Second Amendment bills help to show legislators that their voters
want to see freedom expanded in this area.
Self-imposed bill rationing makes no more sense than gun sale rationing.
The anti-gun forces don't play this way, so why should we?
The Texas legislature only meets once every two years, and there's no
reason to put off this open carry reform in Texas any longer.
ACTION: Please urge your state representative and senator to introduce
the Texas open carry bill.
You can use the pre-written letter below to help direct your comments to
your state representative and senator. To quickly identify your
*state* representative and senator -- and click on their websites to
send each a webform email message -- go to:
http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us
----- Pre-written letter -----
SUBJECT: Please introduce an open carry bill this session!
Dear Representative/Senator: [remember to use correct title for each]
Why does Texas still criminalize the open carry of holstered handguns?
There is no reason why Texans cannot carry openly when folks in
Pittsburgh and Seattle open carry at will, no permit required.
Representative Riddle already has one version of an open carry bill
drafted, and there may be other drafts on file with legislative
services.
I urge you to reject efforts to keep open gun carry in the closet in
Texas. Just as more freedom is good, more pro-gun bills are good too.
Its nonsense to think that open carry is so controversial that it will
KILL other less controversial bills like some sort of high tech smart
bomb.
Representative Riddle's bill draft is reportedly applicable only to
Concealed Handgun License holders. While I agree that Concealed Handgun
License holders should be able to open carry, I believe that all gun
owners should have the right to freely bear arms, no permit required, as
implied by the US Supreme Court in the recent DC v. Heller decision.
Besides, millions of Texans own handguns, yet only a few have Concealed
Handgun Licenses. And when a hurricane or other trouble comes, all
Texans deserve the right to open carry.
Over 54,000 Texans have signed an online petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/texasoc/petition.html to decriminalize
open carry. There is no reason to put off this "open carry"
reform for
two more years. Please INTRODUCE a bill to decriminalize open carry for
all Texans this session.
Please act quickly and tell me what you are going to do.
Sincerely,
****************************
Please do not reply directly to this message, as your reply will
bounce back as undeliverable.
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