Where did the push for open carry come from?

[txjustin]

It's about restoration of freedoms more than anything.

And yes I wrote every one of my reps multiple times about it.

THis and me too

[sharkhunter]

Until all the talk started about making it legal, I never knew it was illegal.
I grew up coon hunting. We all carried a .22 on our belt, we took it off if we went into a store ( most of the time) if we remembered.
Then here at the farm I carry a .45 LC revolver when Im in the pasture messing around.
If i needed gas in the ranger I drove to the store and bought some. It never entered my mind it could be against the law.

How could it be legal to hide a gun under my coat but not to have one out in the open.

just seemed silly to me and I guess to the local law enforcement around here as well.

I have stood out and visited with the local deputy several times, he never brought up the fact that I had a gun.
If he had I would have mentioned he had one on his belt the same as I did.
What makes him a better man than me?


It was just a silly law made for city people who are afraid of each other.
No one around here would consider me a threat nor do I consider my neighbors a danger to me.

X1000 it can't be said any better than this.

[calfroper_06]

Maybe some misread what I was aiming for. It doesn't bother me if someone was to open carry at any time. Just the people who rant about not having to show proper licenses to LEO when asked, and in which by law you have to show this as the Dutton/Huffines Amendment was removed before the law was passed.

[Bowyer]

Until Texas becomes a constitutional carry state, we will have a law that allows an officer to ask for your permit. I agree that it isn't right but it is the law.
If I open carry and am asked by leo for my permit, I will politely show it to them and show them the respect that they deserve.
Police officers don't make laws and should not be persecuted for enforcing the law.
You can either live with the law or actively do something to change it. Whining about it or creating a scene when asked to comply is a waste of time.

[gusman]

Agree with Buff & Atfulldraw...

[FIRETX12]

Until Texas becomes a constitutional carry state, we will have a law that allows an officer to ask for your permit. I agree that it isn't right but it is the law.
If I open carry and am asked by leo for my permit, I will politely show it to them and show them the respect that they deserve.
Police officers don't make laws and should not be persecuted for enforcing the law.
You can either live with the law or actively do something to change it. Whining about it or creating a scene when asked to comply is a waste of time.

This

[hopedale]

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
• Members use rare provision to force council meeting on pension

Good read.

[LFD2037]

Freedom
Constitutional Right
Founding Fathers
'Murica

[tvc184]

Agreed, Police have no reason to stop a person who has an open carry weapon simply to check to see if their legal.

I will disagree with that premise.

[flywise]

I will disagree with that premise.

Curious as to why?

[JW]

Curious as to why?

[LFD2037]

Because he's a cop!

[tvc184]

Curious as to why?

I believe that it is entirely legal to demand to see a license.

[tvc184]

.... unless your statement of "no reason" to check means, it might be legal but why do it.

[flywise]

.... unless your statement of "no reason" to check means, it might be legal but why do it.

More like,
unless a there is some probable cause why should a officer have the right to ask?

I understand completely that officers have a difficult job to do but As a law biding American citizen I have a right to not be bothered.
(i have already mentioned that I have no hand gun or CC and will likely not have either anytime soon)