Let me guess, you’re one of those “I own guns and I’m a 2A supporter but I believe in reasonable restrictions on gun rights.” SmhI completely agree with Oldgringo here. Whataburger, HEB, Target, and many others with these policies appear to me to be saying we're ok with being agnostic to concealed carry. Doesn't seem that inconvenient to plan for this and just put your shirt over your holster when you go into one of these places. I have never been a fan of the 'lets educate the public' tactics of open carry. The public - even my liberal friends - seems to be mostly ok with Concealed Carry as it's not in their face.
In one breath, you say arguing statistics will get us nowhere, but literally in your next paragraph you state that “we should showcase the success of the CHL/LTC program....” by what, using statistics? You’re circling yourself in an endless loop here.We're fighting a perception problem, and no amount of rational discussion with statistics is going to convince the headline obsessed/political opportunistic class what the reality is. Statistically there is a 0% chance (well, more like 0.002% you are going to be impacted by terrorism and look at what where we are with TSA and overhead introduced with no-fly lists etc.
See above comment about using CHL/LTC statistics of how we’re being good little boys and girls. As for the “horse trading” I believe most on this board would agree with this statement: Texans will not give one inch to the Dems, especially not open carry of rifles which is deeply engrained in Texas history as a God given right to those who reside in this great state. We will certainly not give an inch with regards to any of the hard fought freedoms we have won back from the state.I just saw the TX Dems are pressing our Gov for a special session on gun violence. It may not happen, but the stage is being set for some serious attempts at legislative 'solutions'. My opinion at this point in time is we deal with the world the way it is and showcase the success of the CHL/LTC program and the complete absence of criminal activity by licensees. Maybe we can actually gain a little for the LTC folks by horse trading expanding Concealed Carry in return for what seems to be the inevitability of at least open carry restrictions -- specifically open carry Rifles.
The only way to ensure that a firearm has been legally transferred via a government mandated background check is for said government to operate and maintain a firearm registry that is linked to each firearm. Plain and simple, no two ways about it. Another keen forum member already hit on this. And throwing out military creds as that somehow makes you more knowledgeable on the subject of firearms and civilian ownership. Dan Crenshaw, is that you?As for background checks, LTC folks have that covered as we voluntarily submit to them every 5 years. I can't get too upset by expanding background checks since I have voluntarily done so 3 times here in TX (and multiple times in the military with security clearances.). If i have to pay $25 to get give my son a gun, so be it - maybe we negotiate for a sales tax credit or something to offset.
Welfare checks are already used and have been used across the country, this is the first step in the legal process of a court determining whether an individual is of sound mental capacity to own firearms. As another forum member stated, red flag laws are simply a way to stifle armed opposition by slowly whittling away at the populace who raise concerns against ideals which they do not share.I"m also ok trying increase awareness so that folks feel empowered to make a phone call on somebody they think shouldn't' have access to a gun so the Police can do a welfare check. I'm not settled on the idea of "red flag' laws, but I personally would definitely call the police if somebody i knew with access to firearms was behaving significantly out of the norm.
Well at least we all know which side of the line in the sand you stand on. Thanks for sharing but better men will rise to the cause if needed.Seems to be we're better off coming up with some constructive suggestions rather than being in defensive retreat.We're not going to like where this ends up if all we play is the 'shall not infringe' card.