rushcreek2
Regular Member
The Friday morning fatal shooting of an Austin police officer at Walmart is likely to severely handicap the Texas effort.
www.statesman.com/news
www.statesman.com/news
The Friday morning fatal shooting of an Austin police officer at Walmart is likely to severely handicap the Texas effort.
www.statesman.com/news
Open carry was not involved.
Yes it was, on the part of the officer.
Those against OC will say a tornado means no one should OC and some will say it means no one should CC either.:cuss::cuss:
Absolutely agreed. Heaven forbid people exercise rational objectivity in their rush to chase false security.
Texas Penal Code Section 46.035a (intentional failure to conceal a handgun while carrying under licensed authority) is a provision enacted in 1996 to govern the "Wild, Wild West" anarchy that was expected by some to accompany the issuance of CHL's to Texans.
Under present Texas law - beginning appropriately at the top with the Texas Constitution - every CITIZEN has the right to both keep, and bear arms in lawful defense of themselves or the State.
The word "CITIZEN" constitutes a distinction between the law-abiding, and the criminal. "To keep arms " is to retain custody of arms. "To bear" is to carry and employ arms if necessary in defense of self, or the State.
Texas decided in 1996 to relax its 125 year restriction on HABITUAL handgun carry through a licensing system intended to filter out persons deemed not to be conducting themselves in a citizenry fashion. OK - so here we are in 2012. Some 500,000 plus every citizens in Texas are now AUTHORIZED by the Texas Legislature to "wear" a handgun HABITUALLY for the purpose of lawful defense of themselves, or the State.
TPC Section 46.035a is inapplicable under any circumstances justifying the bearing of arms in lawful defense against deadly force. I would submit that given the documented presence of violent criminal activity in Texas in the form of murder, robbery, rape, kidnapping just to name a few those every citizens deemed trustworthy enough to be issued a license to "wear" a handgun should be allowed to determine the most appropriate manner of "wearing" commensurate with the responsibility of defending themselves against such threats.
People residing in other states are dismayed when learning that Texas places such restrictions upon the lawful carry of handguns.
I am making a prediction that Texas will not only repeal the Section 46.035a provision during the next Legislative session, but the enacted provisions will create the strongest state preemption for the right to carry in this nation.
I agree.
I don't know why it isn't clear to EVERYONE -- including the most dim-witted politicians (AND their airhead constituents that keep them in office) -- that renting or selling RIGHTS (such as the 2nd Amendment in the Bill of Rights) is illegal!
Otherwise, let's have the Poll Tax (which was declared unconstitutional in 1966) back and once again make people PAY to vote.
Is voting any more "serious" or "important" a right than the 2nd Amendment is?
Here is the name of the Texas Rep. that will introduce a bill in the 2013 Texas house. His name is Rep. Lavender, George District 1. Call his office @ (903) 791-0386 to show your support for this bill.
I just called and had a nice talk with his assistant. Please call or email your support.
Here is his link: http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/?district=1
Okay, while an argument can be made that an officer "open carries", by any functional connotation of "open carry" in practical use, officers are instead considered to exercise statutorily exempt carry. If we all had our way, they would, in fact and by convention, "carry" in exactly the way we do: Constitutional Carry. However, there is a statutory (rushcreek is going to bitch at me about this) context which creates a de facto understanding, whatever the strict language, that cops are granted an effective license to carry (it is, literally, an exemption to a restriction, but by conventional use it is a license). Put another way, while legally and strictly a cop carries as he pleases by virtue of no restrictive statute applying to him, the functional understanding is that cops get to carry by virtue of being cops, which is a de facto license.
In other words, cops don't "open carry", they "cop carry". Hopefully, soon, they'll simply "carry", like the rest of us.
How such a bill does not unanimously pass in a state like Texas is beyond me.