Most might subscribe to the baby step mentality and it may be the way OC eventually becomes legal in Texas, but I am an absolutist and would like to flush all of the "power brokers" down the drain for not following the obvious literal language of the 2A.SA-TX wrote: If everyone thought it was a constitutional right like we do, this discussion would be moot. Unfortunately, that's not the case.
U.S. Supreme Court:
McDonald is a good start but at the moment its holding is only that keeping a gun in your house can't be infringed by a state. That's a far cry from public open carry.
Texas Judicial branch:
The Texas Supreme Court is on record from the mid-1980's (with former Chief Justice Tom Phillips, R, writing the opinion) as saying that a) the 2A doesn't apply to the states and that b) Texas' restrictions on wearning arms were lawful. Even with McDonald they would only be required to change part (a) since Texas doesn't restrict possession at home (except for felons, perhaps).
Texas Legislative branch:
Even with a very strong pro-2A legislature & a member that agreed to sponsor it in the House, there hasn't yet been ANY open carry bill introduced and there is no guarantee that there will be. Heck, we are fighting tooth and nail just to get campus carry and employer parking lots. Look at all of the other unnecessary restrictions on concealed carry (voting locations, pro and college sporting events, court offices, etc.) never mind OC.
Texas Governor:
Yes .380 packing Governor Perry has been largely apathetic on open carry. On an episode of Tom Gresham's GunTalk radio program last year he said that he prefers concealed carry. Only when Gresham questioned why each Texan shouldn't be able to make that decision did the governor allow that if the legislature wanted to look at open carry that he'd consider it.
Gun carrying Texans:
Yep. Sad but true. Many members of this site aren't in favor of legal OC for one reason or another, as has been pointed out by the polls and lively discussion every time it comes up.
The bottom line is that all of the power brokers don't view the 2A like we do. Thus, if we could get it passed by initially agreeing to do something that any wise OCer will do anyway -- use a holster with some form of retention -- it seems to me like a good deal. As in the past, once the doomsday predictions don't come true the restrictions can be removed with little opposition later. In a perfect world, we'd have constitutional carry. Until then, I'll keep working for incremental changes that move us more in that direction.
SA-TX
Anygunanywhere