Texas set to allow Open Carry of handguns

[Hellspont 1,468]

Texas is on the verge of its most dramatic overhaul of firearms regulations in two decades, as the House voted Friday to allow licensed gun owners to openly carry handguns.

Under the contentious proposal — tentatively approved on a 96-35 vote — Texans with the appropriate license would be able to carry handguns openly in a shoulder or belt holster. The Senate passed such a bill last month.

After a final vote next week — and once minor differences between the two chambers’ versions are ironed out — the measure would just need the OK from Gov. Greg Abbott. He has said he will sign any legislation “that expands Second Amendment rights.”

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20150417-texas-on-the-verge-of-allowing-open-carry-of-handguns.ece

 

Over 75% of the states in United States allow complete or some form of open carry most even without a license.

what do you all think of this? I am also really interested in people from outside the USA and their opinions on this?

[LePetitGAGABLover 21,234]

This country is more bi-polar than Britney.......

[420 1,042]

Good luck with that I guess. 

[PartySick 173,608]

Good! The world needs less Texans 

[Hellspont 1,468]

Good! The world needs less Texans 

​as a Texan myself, I agree  

 

[Bebe 17,289]

WTF Texas. 

American's can talk **** about safety and protection their entire lives, but walking around in a place where everybody is just going about their business with their own personal death machines openly flaunted in public must make you paranoid and scared.

Statistically, gun owners are more likely to use their gun against themselves or their family than on an intruder. This is madness.

No wonder so many American's want to buy a gun when you had a disagreement with the neighbour over cutting down a tree on Tuesday and now he is sitting on his front porch with a rifle on Friday. I mean fùck, that would get me paranoid.

I have had 2 experiences with guns in my entire life. Once I was out in the outback when I was 14 and I held a gun for the first time in my life and a little girl ran in front of me just as I was about to shoot and freaked me the **** out. The second time I was in a small shopping center in South Africa and guards walked around with AK47s in plain sight. Both negative experiences.

I feel a lot safer walking around in a city where nobody has guns.

[Hellspont 1,468]

WTF Texas. 

American's can talk **** about safety and protection their entire lives, but walking around in a place where everybody is just going about their business with their own personal death machines openly flaunted in public must make you paranoid and scared.

Statistically, gun owners are more likely to use their gun against themselves or their family than on an intruder. This is madness.

No wonder so many American's want to buy a gun when you had a disagreement with the neighbour over cutting down a tree on Tuesday and now he is sitting on his front porch with a rifle on Friday. I mean fùck, that would get me paranoid.

I have had 2 experiences with guns in my entire life. Once I was out in the outback when I was 14 and I held a gun for the first time in my life and a little girl ran in front of me just as I was about to shoot and freaked me the **** out. The second time I was in a small shopping center in South Africa and guards walked around with AK47s in plain sight. Both negative experiences.

I feel a lot safer walking around in a city where nobody has guns.

​I agree 100%, but this country is so deeply obsessed with the "right" to have guns that its impossible to come out of it. We think we have to have everything including weapons that we can flaunt around and its incredibly selfish and arrogant to think this nation needs guns when in other countries so many people die because of them, we should be an example that we as a huge and powerful nation can treat each other with trust and respect by not showing off our death machines.

[Higher 2,406]

Not surprised.  

[MJHolland 12,725]

Texas doesn't have a lot of crime. The state is extremely rural and they have an extremely low ration of urban inner city population to general population.

This new gun legislation probably won't effect any crime statistics coming from the state so I don't really care what Texas does. 

[MJHolland 12,725]

WTF Texas. 

American's can talk **** about safety and protection their entire lives, but walking around in a place where everybody is just going about their business with their own personal death machines openly flaunted in public must make you paranoid and scared.

Statistically, gun owners are more likely to use their gun against themselves or their family than on an intruder. This is madness.

No wonder so many American's want to buy a gun when you had a disagreement with the neighbour over cutting down a tree on Tuesday and now he is sitting on his front porch with a rifle on Friday. I mean fùck, that would get me paranoid.

I have had 2 experiences with guns in my entire life. Once I was out in the outback when I was 14 and I held a gun for the first time in my life and a little girl ran in front of me just as I was about to shoot and freaked me the **** out. The second time I was in a small shopping center in South Africa and guards walked around with AK47s in plain sight. Both negative experiences.

I feel a lot safer walking around in a city where nobody has guns.

Right but fact of the matter is, at least in America, there isn't a place where no one​ has a gun. Or more specifically a bad guy with a gun. That just doesn't exist. 

This will most likely be sensible legislation for Texas and will probably make it an even safer place to live. By and large they are a fairly safe state to begin with relative to all other states because they don't have a large number of inner cities where almost all gun violence in the U.S. occurs. The classic "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" philosophy actually breaks down pretty well in a wealthier states like Texas that has a massive agricultural industry and a surplus of labor jobs.

However that mentality and philosophy breaks down in most states where there is a large number of inner cities. Mixing guns and poverty is a HUGE no-no. 

As much as I want to pass sensible gun regulation in this country, I'm not going to bash Texas for passing open-carry initiatives that most of the country has already set in place.

[MJHolland 12,725]

​I agree 100%, but this country is so deeply obsessed with the "right" to have guns that its impossible to come out of it. We think we have to have everything including weapons that we can flaunt around and its incredibly selfish and arrogant to think this nation needs guns when in other countries so many people die because of them, we should be an example that we as a huge and powerful nation can treat each other with trust and respect by not showing off our death machines.

Excuse me but why did you put "right" in quotes?​

In the United States of American you have to equal right to own a gun the same way you have to right to free speech/press/assembly/petition/religion. 

I'm going to ask you a question and it really isn't mean to be condescending or patronizing but have you ever read the United States Constitution?

Well in my country, the U.S., we have this document called the Bill of Rights which makes up the first ten amendment to our Constitution which is the basic document that gives all citizens their basic rights and protections. From this document you might remember the second amendment to the document that my country is FOUNDED on, and that is the right to bear arms.

The Constitution IS the supreme law of the land whether you like it or agree with it and in this country people DO have the right to own guns.

[Hellspont 1,468]

Excuse me but why did you put "right" in quotes?​

In the United States of American you have to equal right to own a gun the same way you have to right to free speech/press/assembly/petition/religion. 

I'm going to ask you a question and it really isn't mean to be condescending or patronizing but have you ever read the United States Constitution?

Well in my country, the U.S., we have this document called the Bill of Rights which makes up the first ten amendment to our Constitution which is the basic document that gives all citizens their basic rights and protections. From this document you might remember the second amendment to the document that my country is FOUNDED on, and that is the right to bear arms.

The Constitution IS the supreme law of the land whether you like it or agree with it and in this country people DO have the right to own guns.

​sorry yes we have the right but people especially in the south get so in your face about it, I am just exhausted from all the whining, so maybe now that's it legal it will go away some

[MJHolland 12,725]

American's can talk **** about safety and protection their entire lives, but walking around in a place where everybody is just going about their business with their own personal death machines openly flaunted in public must make you paranoid and scared.

​Just playing devil's advocate here (because I'm a pretty big proponent of gun regulation in America when it is sensible), but would you rob a bank (assuming you're a bank robber) in Texas when you know over half of the Texan population carries guns on them at all times? Just a thought. 

[Bebe 17,289]

Right but fact of the matter is, at least in America, there isn't a place where no one​ has a gun. Or more specifically a bad guy with a gun. That just doesn't exist. 

This will most likely be sensible legislation for Texas and will probably make it an even safer place to live. By and large they are a fairly safe state to begin with relative to all other states because they don't have a large number of inner cities where almost all gun violence in the U.S. occurs. The classic "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" philosophy actually breaks down pretty well in a wealthier states like Texas that has a massive agricultural industry and a surplus of labor jobs.

However that mentality and philosophy breaks down in most states where there is a large number of inner cities. Mixing guns and poverty is a HUGE no-no. 

As much as I want to pass sensible gun regulation in this country, I'm not going to bash Texas for passing open-carry initiatives that most of the country has already set in place.

​"Right but fact of the matter is, at least in America, there isn't a place where no one​ has a gun." Yeah that's the overarching problem. America has this weird, disturbing fetish with guns. 

Like I said before: Statistically, gun owners are more likely to use their gun against themselves or their family than on an intruder. It's more than just good guy vs bad guy. 

If Texas has a low crime rate, it only makes the question bigger, why the hell does everyone need a gun? If you are more likely to shoot yourself or family than an intruder, then a gun isn't very good protection.

There is nothing sensible about having people walking around openly brandishing guns, that's not the sort of environment people should want to live in. To an outsider it makes America seem extremely paranoid. It's just not normal, or at least it shouldn't be.

[MJHolland 12,725]

​sorry yes we have the right but people especially in the south get so in your face about it, I am just exhausted from all the whining, so maybe now that's it legal it will go away some

​Well to be quite honest I think Constitutional right should be talked about publicly every day, especially when they are being infringed upon. That applies even more when the Constitution explicitly says you do have the right to something and then people start taking that away from you. 

Now granted I personally believe we should roll back a lot of gun ownership, people should still vocally question their government. That is what democracy is all about.

I'm just trying to empathize with gun rights activists here. They believe their constitutional right is literally being ripped from their hands and I don't blame them for getting passionate about it but we do need to have a rational discussion about it.

You probably wouldn't blame a gay person if they were passionate about being denied their constitutional right to marry, and in the same way these people feel this explicit and basic rights are being taken away from them so just put yourself in their shoes every once in a while.