Open carry in Texas ???

[BrianB]

I would second that Neverpanic1 !!!!

[GOANRA]

Nowadays, folks are subject to local 'gun-control' laws... none of which are Constitutionally legal [but too many judges don't want to hear that].



Some would get arrested for brandishing, inciting to riot, disturbing the peace, forms of assault, inciting terror, etc.



I got a call years ago in the Detroit area... guy was walking through a crowded Mall with a shotgun in his right hand, barrel facing downward. His actions were described as 'shopping'.



I arrived and began going through my quik-ref to the statutes.

No statutes applied, so I radioed my boss... waited, waited... he finally said it is a "DNR issue".

A conservation officer 'eventually' showed up, confused-looking, and I explained.

Bottom line; guy was a good citizen, but got a ticket for "hunting in a no hunting zone". LOL

Don't know if it held in court or if he just paid the little fine.



The pump SG was fully loaded and the citizen absolutely refused to give any explanation for carrying the thing.



Of course, a new law was soon born.

[BrianB]

Well good thing you were there and with a level head.



Hunting in a no hunting zone. That's funny.

[BrianB]

Just found this, perhaps anyone interested in open carry in Texas should sign it.



http://www.petitiononline.com/texasoc/petition.html

[neverenough]

Here is an interesting event related to the thread....Several years ago (a bunch?) I was on my way home from a visit with my parents, driving down a curvey, switchback, two lane mountain road.



It was dark and I knew the road well. A vehicle rapidly closed in behind me, glued to my ass and having a crap fit because I wasn't hauling ass. You know the situation. Eventually the vehicle jumped out to pass my ass, double yellow line into a tight right hand curve.



He made it passed me, but as he swerved back into his lane he lost it, fishtailing all over hell. While he was sideways in the approaching lane of traffic an oncoming vehicle rounded the curve...wrong place, wrong time.



Upon impact, the oncoming vehicle spun and slid over the embankment, while nimrods car ended up ass-ended into the guardrail ahead of me. I stopped (blocking the entire lane since there was little to no right of way). As I hopped out (slipping the old Smith Airweight into my back jean pocket as always the habit in these situations) to assist the people over the embankment, nimrod was frantically attempting to pull away from his fine piece of quality driving.



I immediately approached his car (drivers window down...or broken out?), firmly pressed the Smith to his temple and requested he shut the car off and then toss the keys onto the back seat....He nervously complied.



By now a few vehicles had approached this happy scene and were rendering assistance to the occupants of the vehicle over the bank...two or three people....



I stood by and kept watch over nimrod, trying not to inhale too much of the alcohol fumes reaking out his side window. Eventually LEO and medical began arriving, at which time I quickly explained to the first officer approaching me what was up.



Seemed all was well and I walked back to my car turning off my headlights and placing the Smith back on my seat under my hat.



It wasn't long before all attention of LEO's on scene suddenly turned their focus toward me!! Seems as though nimrod was also a crybaby....waaa...a gun....



So again to make a short story long....I was asked where the gun was, cuffed, searched and Marandised. I readily waived my right to silence and gave the officers a full and detailed chain of events.



An LEO asked, if nimrod had left the scene, did I think they would not have caught up with him? I stated I had no doubt you guys would have tracked him down but my concern was how many others may have been harmed in the mean time.



After several minutes of back and forth police radio traffic, I was removed from the patrol vehicle, uncuffed and released. The trusty old Smith was held onto though and a few days later, it was returned to me at work. To this day, the Smith has an officers badge number and initials scratched into the J-frame beneath the grips....



Eyes tired.......?



neverenough

[BrianB]

Wow, pretty bad scene neverenough. About the car that went over the embankment, do you know how they ended up? No one died or was severely hurt were they?



I had a somewhat similar situation except that the person didn't get in a wreck but instead, once they decided to stop tailgating and such and pass me on a double yellow, they then decide to stop in front of me and I see the driver side door open. Luck for probably both the driver and myself the passenger of his car decided to grab him by the waist and hold him in. I say lucky for both of us because my decision was if he started coming at me in my car I would just run him right over. At the same time the wife call the cops, give his license plate and we passed him since there was no traffic and never saw him again. Pretty sure he would have had to have been drunk for such a reaction as nothing else would explain his behavior.

[neverenough]

Hey BrianB....Since I was trying out the comfort of a patrol cruiser back seat, I missed some details of injurys....! An ambulance was loaded and left with lights and siren but I never had much of a chance to render assistance other than seeing that nimrod stayed "seated".



I think this again points out the extreme value of the 2nd Amendment....There can be a multitude of situations where having a weapon at hand can save lives...As in your encounter with the "crap for brains" driver, you would have protected your wife and yourself however you could....A handgun may have woke the driver up had he made it back to your car. (without a single round being fired) and...is much easier to carry than a vehicle!!



At any rate, you never know when that 2nd Amend can save your life or the lives of others.



neverenough

[Hotrod911]

Glad u got cleared from that mess. My wife and I both have our Concealed Carry Permits but I am also proud to say that Louisiana is and has always been a free open carry state! I hope Texas and many others will follow suit. As Goanra mentioned I also choose concealed becauce it is a huge advantage. A few years ago a man was walking through a popular outlet mall (strip mall) with a 1911 on his side, exposed. He didn't have a cc permit but just as the man with the shotgun (only slightly less conspicous LOL) he was shopping with his family and someone made the "he's got a gun" call, the man was arrested for disturbing the peace and was cuffed & hauled to lockup. After winning a slightly large lawsuit against the city pd in question, the same man can still be seen at the same location from time to time, carring his 1911 out in the open with no hassle. In Louisiana, the "disturbing the peace" charge can only stick if you are actually causing a scene and/or "brandishing" the weapon.

Hotrod

[SW-Insured]

[john118242]

sw great points but heres my view not saying urs is bad or anything at all just a simple point. i did a survey in my town in new hampshire a open carry state that ive only seen one person open carry and the question was would u attack the guy with a gun or the guy with nothing? and 99.9 percent said the guy without . the view of the gun simple deters the crime from happening i know many people who are yuong drug addicts criminals or what ever im young myself so ya they all said they stay away from the gun there lives worth more then that and note 3 of them were felons one of the felons said he could find a gun as easy as buying food so if a felons gunna get a gun its mostly not gunna be directly taken from a person in my opinion now new hampshire is low key not alot of crime . my home place of rochester new york is a different story most people will leave u alone if u have a gun some and i mean some will challenge the fact u have a gun but they dont need you to get s gun theres hundreds of illegal guns on the streets already