Democratic Texas State Rep.Rafael Anchia failed in his bid Tuesday to exempt Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin from allowing licensed open carry. (Photo: Texas Tribune)
Guns dot com
A number of rural Democrats jumped ship in the final vote for a bill Monday to allow open carry in the Lone Star State that would include some of the largest cities in the country.
The easy 101-42 roll call, which picked up seven House Democrats, clears the bill to grant Texans with a concealed carry permit and sends it to the Senate for concurrence.
The final day of debate saw the defeat of a proposed opt-out that would have exempted Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin from the expanded carry rights measure. Urban lawmakers argued that the four metro areas, ranked among the dozen largest cities in the nation by population, should be treated differently.
“Rural open carry is different than densely populated open carry,” said Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, who proposed the amendment. “If you put this to a vote in big cities, I think people are going to say resoundingly no.”
Bill sponsors did not concur.
So soon Texas law for permit holders will soon be about the same as that haven of loose gun laws known as Minnesota, where permit holders haven't been required to conceal for over ten years.
ReplyDeleteThere should be a law.
DeleteWell, it looks like there will be a law for Texas. It just passed, open carry that is and with and an amendment that prevents LEOs from asking those that will decide to open carry if they have a license to carry just because or solely for carrying openly. All that's needed now is the governors signature, which he pledged to sign to become law 1/1/2016.
DeleteCrazy Texas legislators. Next, they'll be saying that there's no difference between rural and urban free speech .
ReplyDeleteTexas says yes to equality...good for them
ReplyDeleteThey really think the gun problem is the same in the the rural areas as in the big cities? With that kind of approach the problem will never get better.
ReplyDeleteJack, Mike has, in the past said that my practice of being routinely armed is unnecessary in the rural environment where I live, but would only be justified in an urban metro area where gangs might be an issue.
DeleteOf course, somehow, there seems to be the feeling that it should be the opposite now. I personally don't think this change willl have a big effect with the exception of there being fewer issues with permit holders getting in trouble for unintentional exposure of their pistol.
ss, I don't know if that's exactly what I said. I can recall saying it's unnecessary to carry, period.
DeleteI can recall saying it's unnecessary to carry, period.
DeleteBut how would that work? The gun isn't going to just follow along on it's own, you know.
So SS you DO think the gun problem is the same in big cities and rural areas?
Delete"So SS you DO think the gun problem is the same in big cities and rural areas? "
DeleteOf course the problems are different. In fact, I would argue that the higher crime rates found in the urban areas make carrying a firearm even more useful.
The problem is that government officials abused their discretionary powers in issuing carry permits to political cronies and friends, and not to people who might have a real need.
So that resulted in the passage of shall issue permits laws in the majority of the states in the union. The best one to decide when and if to carry a firearm for self defense is the individual.
Well, my idea is that since guns do more harm than good, it makes sense to restrict them more in urban areas.
Delete"Well, my idea is that since guns do more harm than good, it makes sense to restrict them more in urban areas."
DeleteThere isn't any consistent data that seems to show the effectiveness of that Mike. Whenever gun restrictions are shown to be ineffective in an area like a city or state the explanation becomes one of guns coming in from outside of the area of strict laws. Good examples of this are New Jersey, DC, and until recently Chicago.
Can you show any examples where such laws are effective?
All gun control laws are effective. Unfortunately, it's not possible to prove what WOULD have happened, or what MIGHT have happened if not for the laws we already have. We need more.
DeleteTexas democrats are tough as nails. These dumbfuck republicans will see their days end. And in not that much more time. Lot of good people in Texas.
ReplyDeleteWaiting to see Texas turn blue in 2016. Could happen.
And some of them were tough enough to vote Yea on this bill
Delete