Where did the push for open carry come from?

[Kevin]

I know a lot of guys with CC, but none of them really cares about the new OC law. Even the most hardcore gun enthusiasts I know will still CC. Was this pushed for by gun manufacturers hoping to push sales? NRA? I'm just curious really.

[Pushbutton2]

That's a great question!

I'm in for the discussion

[Black Ice]

I know a lot of guys with CC, but none of them really cares about the new OC law. Even the most hardcore gun enthusiasts I know will still CC. Was this pushed for by gun manufacturers hoping to push sales? NRA? I'm just curious really.

Of all states Texas should have been an open carry state a long time ago. To me it's a non issue and I always just thought it was weird that Texas wasn't an open carry state.

[Kevin]

Of all states Texas should have been an open carry state a long time ago. To me it's a non issue and I always just thought it was weird that Texas wasn't an open carry state.

So did you campaign for it?

[Black Ice]

So did you campaign for it?

Naw. Don't live there just think it was a master of time before Texas became open carry because it was just crazy that they weren't.

[Speedgoat]

It's because of the NRA and inadvertent showing of concealed weapons.

[JRL]

The NRA was indeed the driving force

[JW]

[Bowyer]

Open carry in Texas is a response to Obama's gun grabbing attempts and second ammendment infringements.
I wasn't out on the street campaigning for open carry, and won't be carrying openly, but I did write my local Rep and express my fear of loosing my right to defend myself and family.
The amount of CCL being sold also was a driving force that let the Texas government understand the climate.
Open carry is not so much about being able to carry openly as it is about restoration of our rights.
Texas had some of the most strict gun laws for a long time.

[Jspradley]

Have we had blood on the streets yet?? I'm afraid to leave my house today!

[Jmh05]

1) what Bowyer said. 2) when Texas is (was) lumped in with New York and Cali as one of the few states to not allow open carry...to me it was just principal.

[flywise]

The better question is, when did we transition from anyone could carry any time they wanted to you could only carry if the Gov. said you could?
I have not done anything other than been a good citizen to the US and yet I have to ask permission,take a class,and notify the police if I want to carry. Seems *** backwards if you as me.

AUSTIN - For most Americans, Texas conjures images of gun-toting vaqueros, cowboys wielding six-shooters and epic battles over independence and secession. Gun manufacturers Colt, Mossberg and Magpul call the Lone Star State home, and a concealed carry license grants you a fast-pass into the state Capitol.
All the more surprising, then, that Texas was the first state to ban its citizens from carrying handguns, a restriction that remained on the books for 125 years. Now, 20 years after the Texas Legislature OK'd the carrying of concealed handguns with a license, some lawmakers want to make it legal to carry holstered weapons in plain sight.
With the Legislature set to convene next month, lawmakers and historians are taking a look back at the law and its troubling Reconstruction-era origins.
"One of the noticeable goals was to ensure that black people did not shoot back to the guys in the white hoods," said Clayton Cramer, an author and historian who has written extensively on the selective enforcement of early gun laws. "A great many of the southern states relied on the fact that they could enforce these laws fairly arbitrarily."
In the years before the Civil War, Texas placed no restrictions on the possession of firearms. In fact, the Texas Constitution of 1845 established the absolute right for every citizen "to keep and bear arms, in the lawful defense of himself and the State." The open carrying of "long guns" - rifles and shotguns - remains legal. Until the mid-1860s, a prohibition on dueling was Texas' only restriction on firearms.
While other Southern and Confederate states made it illegal for blacks to possess arms, in Texas, slaves often could be seen toting firearms alongside their owners, especially in rural areas.
"While many southern states outlawed slaves possessing firearms, Texas was a little more liberal on that. And I don't think it was because we were nobler," said former Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a gun enthusiast, collector and history buff. "I think it was because we had a frontier and we had people who wanted to kill us on that frontier."
That all changed in 1871, however, when the Legislature first outlawed the carrying of pistols outside of the home: "If any person in this state shall carry on or about his person, saddle, or in his saddle-bags, any pistol … he shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars," or around $2,000 today.
The law, which did not apply to travelers or any "frontier county … liable to incursions by hostile Indians," was passed by a Republican Legislature eager to ensure the Reconstruction government could disarm remaining Confederate sympathizers and other citizens who disagreed with the newly acquired rights of freed slaves.
Why then, when southern Democrats regained power, didn't they abolish the handgun ban from the books? Why did they instead continue to increase the fee ¬- to $500 by 1918 - and even make it an imprisonable offense in 1889?
"This way they could arrest black people," said Stephen Halbrook, a lawyer and noted authority on the history of gun policy in Texas and across the nation. "Whoever was in power could selectively enforce those laws against those they didn't like. There has always been a lot of racism in the way these kinds of laws have been enforced."
HOUSTON
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[AntlerCollector]

Flywise, interesting read. Thanks

[PappaJ]

A group called Texas Carry has claimed responsibility in our local papers for the big push.

[fishingsetx]

I didnt campaign in the streets but i did write several letters to my reps in austin. Restoring gun rights was and is very important, but the main reason i supported it was because OC is much more comfortable!

I wont be walking around with a 44 mag strapped to my hip, but now i can at least carry OWB without worrying about the muzzle sticking out from below my untucked t-shirt! I can also draw much quicker if it is ever needed OWB. My CC is a tiny single stack 9mm and if i am going to conceal it under an untucked shirt, the only place it is concealed and comfortable enough to wear for more than a few mins is IWB in the small of my back due to my dunlap disease[emoji2] . This doesnt lend itself to easily accessing it! Now i can choose to comfortably carry a larger, more accurate handgun and be able to access it much much easier.