“It’s a disgrace to the noble Lone Star Republic Of Texas that, when I visit there, I have to keep my gun burkha snugged around my body while walking the windswept parking lots of Amarillo in a way that I don’t when I’m walking through the Indiana hippie enclave of Broad Ripple, because in Texas it’s a crime if somebody accidentally sees my gun and here in Indiana the hippies can just piss off if they catch a glimpse of my heater.” – Tamara Keel
Fair point.
I predict we may begin to see some changes as far as TX gun laws are concerned. This is bc Oklahoma to the north now has open carry, as well as all state reciprocity. Hopefully TX is not to be outdone.
Q: Why is Oklahoma so windy? 😉
A:
Texas sucks and Kansas blows.
What keeps Texas from falling into the gulf of Mexico?
A: ok sucks
Yeah…. I brought my Florida CCW / EDC on a trip to Texas several months ago. Of course, I reviewed the laws before arriving. I was surprised to see that Texas is considerably more restrictive than Florida. “No guns” signs carry the weight of law (called a 30.06 sign). So, while visiting and going out to eat with friends was a bit unnerving, as I might have to return to the car (parked by a valet) should I see the 30.06 sign at the restaurant (and then come up with an excuse to my friends about why I need to go back to the car). Fortunately, I didn’t see a sign that night.
On another night, I went out to eat with my sister. That restaurant did have a sign prohibiting guns, but, it was not the legally required 30.06 sign, so I ignored it.
Texas also requires a driver to identify himself as CCW if pulled over, if I recall.
But, given Texas’ reputation for being gun friendly, I was surprised that Florida is so much better.
Texas’s reputation is just that: a reputation. Texas is to states what Marlboros are to cigarettes and Jack Daniels is to liquor. Promoted with a tough-guy image, but in actual fact, they’re sweet and preferred by girls.
Except even girls don’t like Texas’s CCW laws.
Yeah but we like Texas girls lol
Texas’s reputation is mostly a facade. They like to pretend they are pro gun, but they aren’t even an open carry state.
But wait, I thought Texas was the greatest state in the world? 😉
Right you are, we just have a few kinks (*cough* liberals *cough*) to get rid of 😉
Really? There hasn’t been a Democrat in the Governor’s Office since 1994, unless you count the guy serving the lunch counter. It has been a decade since Democrats had the majority in the legislature, and even then, they were conservative Democrats.
I don’t buy the story that the ACLU could curtail gun rights in Texas even if they wanted to. I think the Texas NRA needs to find a new boogeyman.
So what will it be? The local Sheriffs? Mexicans? The DHS? (Expect anti-immigrant response in 3…2…1…)
You have to be “intentionally failing to conceal” your gun. I agree that TX carry laws are stricter than others though. OC shouldn’t be too far away
“You have to be “intentionally failing to conceal” your gun. ”
True, but then you can get into murky areas of intent. Hopefully y’all in TX and FL can get this changed. We’re cheering for you!
(And then on to Constitutional Carry! 🙂 )
Even in states where accidentally “flashing” your weapon is not illegal, you are still at the mercy of whatever badge-wearing, gun-toting ape shows up after some stupid sheeple calls the po-po. Most of them have no clue what the state carry laws are, so they make them up on the spot to coincide with their personal views and preferences.
Indiana, hell. Try: Open Carry is the law of the land in the hippie meccas known as Woodstock and Bennington, Vermont, too!
Amen, Tamara. The concealed requirements are too strict here.
It’s a disgrace to the republic that The Bill of Rights is infringed. Shall not means exactly that.
Maybe someone from Texas can clarify, I have an out of state Texas permit and I recall from my class that the CHL instructors was constantly correcting people who think that an accidental flash or printing is going to land you in jail. I was also over at TexasGunTalk and they are saying the same. I believe the criteria is intentional or reckless. That said, Texas is filled with transplants from other states who want to make Texas their new liberal home. In CT, there is no law that says you must conceal and there is no law that says open carry is not permitted, but if some ahole calls the cops, depending on who you get on the call, you will either get a verbal beating or wind up in cuff — thankfully CT Judges have ruled that open carry is not illegal but hut you still need to go to court
I live in Lubbock Texas, My personal experience says that if you have an accidental flash or print through, and someone sees and calls the police, you will most likly be arrested. Only in Texas is it a class A misdemeanor if you reach down to pick up a quarter. Many police believe that if it is seen, you ment it to be seen.
From the Texas DPS FAQ’s
“Concealed” means that the weapon cannot be visible, and that its presence cannot be discernible through ordinary observation. It is a criminal offense for a license holder to carry a handgun in plain view, or to intentionally fail to conceal the weapon.
If I was to rank Florida’s statutes involving guns in order of their intelligence/importance, I think the “printing/flashing is not a crime” law would be about #2, right behind the state preemption section.
Some might consider the SYG/Castle laws as more important than both of those, but I don’t reasonably expect to and hope I never have to use the protections of SYG/Castle, while the other two cover situations I’m in every single day.
quit yer bitchin, i live in california.
Yup I would move, but no I am stuck here. Maybe Congressman Issa can save us!
When I was getting my Oregon CHL a Texas transplant commented on how much better Oregon gun laws. Who would have thought. We have open and concealed carry, and with a CHL the only places added to the federal list are state jails & courtrooms.
Washington is even better (naturally). The CPL is cheaper, there’s no training requirement, we have reciprocity with other states, plus all the open and concealed carry and lack of restricted places.
Now we just have to keep it that way, now that the Seattle leaders are in a tizzy.
We’d have reciprocity with more states if there was a training requirement.
For some reason, a bunch of other states seem to think a ‘test’ that consists of
“Are you a US Citizen?” (Y/N)
“Are you a felon?” (Y/N)
“Do you have any domestic violence convictions?” (Y/N)
“Do you have $60” (Y/N)
to be inadequate.
But in reality, why should it be inadequate? You’ve already covered all the legal disqualifiers.
Not being a citizen is not a disqualifier (generally speaking) it’s not being a legal resident. A green card holder can get a CCW in most states.
Yeah, being a citizen isn’t a requirement, but if you aren’t additional paperwork is necessary.
Eh, they all have their weird laws or exceptions. Oregon makes us pay $10 to the state cops for the background check on all purchases and is notoriously slow, even now with a website check system. Last year OHP testified before the legislature that it would cost them jobs and thus hurt the economy if the state repealed the fee and the dems shut down that bill.
You also can’t open carry in certain cities in Oregon without a CHL permit. The state constitution gives the state government control over gun laws but they’ve written in the exception for those 4-5 “big cities”.
Slow! Not in Jackson Co. From application to receipt of CHL in the mail: 7 days.
Wow, that is nice to hear. I meant the standard background check thru OSP when buying a gun. I’ve had them take 5mins or less and up to 20mins. The wait time to talk to someone I’ve heard can go up to 45mins+.
Gee, from watching reruns of Walker, Texas Ranger, I thought you could punch out a Texas Ranger, inside or outside of the bar, without consequences. Of course, you might get your ass kicked, but I never saw Walker arrest any of the people who tried to clean up the street with him.
Question: If I yell fire in a crowded theater, do I lose my right to freedom of speech?
Answer: No. That’s silly, you cannot take away someone’s right to freedom of speech.
Question: If I bend over in Texas to pick up a quarter and some libtard spots a bulge in my shirt and calls the police, can I lose my right to keep and bear arms?
Answer: Yes. If you are arrested and convicted on a gun related charge, you will lose your rtkba.
Why are these two scenarios not the same?
Meh, if you don’t lime it here get the hell out. I have never once in 20 years heard of someone who has a CHL in TX and was busted for absent minded brandishing. Find me cases of people in TX who have been fined or had their rights taken away for printing or having thier peice come out of hiding. In other news we had a man in Shiner beat his ranch hand to death for assualting his 4 year old daughter and he has been no billed by the jury.
so what you’re saying is Texas is awesome?
Yes, but more than that I am asking the people who claim to know of cases in Texas where someone has been seen printing or accidentally showing their weapon and have been prosecuted for it. Firearms are common across all of Texas, it is something you get used to growing up here. Kids learn to hunt here at a young age, and shooting ranges and gun stores are just as common as Churches and Starbucks. You aren’t going to find a more gun friendly culture across a wider area than Texas. TX will not likely become an open carry state and Texans, for the most part, don’t seem to want open carry so if you want open carry go to your back to your state or move to one that has it.
irock350,
“Yes, but more than that I am asking the people who claim to know of cases in Texas where someone has been seen printing or accidentally showing their weapon and have been prosecuted for it.”
“Oh, sure, Rosa Parks, that law is still on the books, but nobody hardly ever gets prosecuted for it anymore. Sit anywhere on the bus you want.”
Piss on that. Fix the busted law.
Tam,
It’s not busted, your confusing a Florida case with Texas law. Find me a Texas case where a CHL holder was busted for accidental printing, or flashing a heater. Guns aren’t a problem in TX no one cares if people print, we see it all the time. Generally people are gun friendly, my pastor organizes duck hunting trips, my company owns a deer lease. Again if you don’t like it here you’re welcome to get your Yankee ass across the state line and go back where came from.
irock350,
“Meh, if you don’t lime it here get the hell out.”
I limed it there plenty. I know I always put limes in my cervezas down in Terlingua.
And then I got the hell out back to where people couldn’t arrest me if some hippie got the vapors from a glimpse of my gat. 🙂
Fix your messed-up gun laws and I might move there. Love the people and the land; lots of my friends are there…
Last time I checked more people moved to Texas than any other state.
Hah. I don’t lime our bullshit prohibition on open carry in pretty much all but a few scenarios down here in FL, either. I like your attitude.
“Must be a yearning deep in human heart to stop other people from doing as they please. Rules, laws — always for other fellow. A murky part of us, something we had before we came down out of trees, and failed to shuck when we stood up.” – Robert Heinlein, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
I was born in NJ, escaped to PA over 25 years ago. I’ve been to Texas a few times back in the 1980’s, and to tell you the truth, I would EXPECT to see folks carrying firearms in TX. I saw folks back then carrying under a jacket, and often saw long guns in the rear window racks of pick-up trucks. I mean it IS TEXAS, I would be concerned if I didn’t see folks with firearms, and I sure as heck would not be calling the police if I saw someone accidently print or flash that they had a concealed handgun on them.
And no one does, people do not call the police for printing, the person who wrote the article saw a Florida case and lumped TX in there. TX doesn’t prosecute for this, and if they do no one can find a case of it.
irock, even in deep-blue Massachusetts — except incredibly hoplophobic Boston — nobody breaks anyone’s balls for printing. To be frank, I could duct tape a pistol to my head and nobody would notice. If I flashed in my community, the worst that would happen is a stern lecture from the local po-po advising me to cover my gat so they could go back to eating their donuts in peace.
Ralph,
Is it do-able to get a license to carry concealed in the Commonwealth? When I lived in western Mass., I figured it wasn’t worth even trying.
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