“The Jefferson County Courthouse should be the safest place,” he said. “We have the largest concentration of law enforcement officers here to protect us.”
Yeah, but what about the parking lot?
“If they can bring guns into the courthouse, how can we stop them from going to other parts of the courthouse?” Wortham asked. “It would had been a slaughter and we would had made the national news. I don’t want that.”
Use the largest concentration of LEO's youre boasting about & relocate the metal detectors.
I'm with you on this one. Here's the thing none of these anti gun activists can seem to get through there head. Allowing a citizen that is legally able to carry, do so in certain places, doesn't automatically mean he is going to commit a crime. They seem to think that by purely allowing anyone legally able to hold a gun is going to use it for a heinous purpose. Take a CHL holder. Lets say walmart has a 30.06 sign. Guy needs some stuff so he leaves his gun in the car, and goes and buy's what he needs. No problem. Next day walmart takes down the 30.06 sign. Guy goes in to buy what he needs with his concealed gun. No issue. Few weeks later is jan 1. Guy goes in with his openly carried gun. Buys what he needs and leaves. No problem. In 0 of these situations did the legal aspect of what the law says in regards to gun carrying, have any consequence what so ever to that guys actions. However, if a different guy wanted to go shoot up the place, it wouldn't matter if there was no sign, a 30.06 sign, or a 30.07 sign. He would go in shooting. It doesn't matter if they are leo's there. It doesn't matter what the law says or doesn't say. They do not care about the law. The absolute only difference is, if those 2 folks go in on the same day, and it happens to be the day there is no 30.06 or 30.07 posted, there is a chance, albeit possibly small, that the law abiding citizen will be able to take action before innocent lives are lost. It may not play out that way. The CHL holder may be in the bathroom at the time, but even having a chance, no matter how small is better than no chance at all. I am sure people that have lost loved ones to incidents where there family was gunned down, and there was no one there to stop it, would give anything to have at least a 1% chance a CHL holder had also been there at the same time. I think the article also fails to realize how quickly life and death happens. Although a time frame wasn't given, the person pressed the button and numerous officers arrived. Lets say 30 seconds later. A suspect can cover 20ft with just a knife in only a few seconds, much less if they had a firearm. 30 seconds is an eternity when you are stuck in a room unarmed and someone is shooting at you.
Granted, it's late, I'm tired, I'm still recovering from a rough weekend, and the article seems (to me) a little confusing about who said what in regards to what buildings & offices.
But, are the judge, the DA and the sheriff saying that they currently do, and are proposing to continue to, prohibit license holders from carrying inside the non-court related parts of the courthouse? If so, aren't they opening themselves up to a daily fine for illegally posting and enforcing on non-prohibited government property? Or am I misunderstanding something?
He refers to the whole thing as the "courthouse" but from what I can tell he is referencing the entire building as he mentions the metal detectors at the entrance, which would imply the main building, not the court room itself.
This is exactly what the Governor addressed in his memo about multiuse buildings. And hopefully exactly what the AG will shortly issue an opinion on. If there are signs (or when), photograph and follow the process to report it.
NRA Life Member
My State Rep Hubert won't tell me his position on HB560. How about yours?
We have recently moved to a new town and found the town hall posted 30.06. Inside the building are the police department, town offices and a court room that also doubles as the town counsel chambers and polling location (we voted in November there). The entrance to the court room is the only place a metal detector is located.
I am presuming the building is posted due to having a court in the building, but since it is a more than just a court house, only the court room should be posted and the rest of the non-secured areas should not be posted. Is this correct? If so I will go take some photos and report the invalid posting of the building.
Translation: We dont respect this law and intend to ignore it as long as we can and hopefully, in a year or two there may be a new law we like better.
County judge Jeff Branick said although the attorney general has issued an opinion, the county’s current gun prohibition order is subject to change to [sic] due to possible judicial challenges to the open carry law, that Branick anticipates will happen.
“It may be a year or so before we have some real comfort about what the legislature intended and what the law in Texas is,” said Branick.
Jim Beaux wrote:Translation: We dont respect this law and intend to ignore it as long as we can and hopefully, in a year or two there may be a new law we like better.
County judge Jeff Branick said although the attorney general has issued an opinion, the county’s current gun prohibition order is subject to change to [sic] due to possible judicial challenges to the open carry law, that Branick anticipates will happen.
“It may be a year or so before we have some real comfort about what the legislature intended and what the law in Texas is,” said Branick.
The time stamp on the article is 2:50 PM, December 21, 2015. The AG released hi opinion after 5:00 PM, December 21. Let us see what Jefferson county does now that the AG says that they can't do what they are doing.
Revolver - An elegant weapon... for a more civilized age.
NRA Endowment Life Member
TSRA Life Member
Jim Beaux wrote:Translation: We dont respect this law and intend to ignore it as long as we can and hopefully, in a year or two there may be a new law we like better.
County judge Jeff Branick said although the attorney general has issued an opinion, the county’s current gun prohibition order is subject to change to [sic] due to possible judicial challenges to the open carry law, that Branick anticipates will happen.
“It may be a year or so before we have some real comfort about what the legislature intended and what the law in Texas is,” said Branick.
Just think how much of a fine will accumulate in that "year or so". Besides, why does he think he is entitled to "comfort about what the legislature intended"? Officials that openly and knowingly ignore the law should be removed from office.
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I hope some of these investigations and FINES by the AG against these other various government bodies start happening real soon. It boils my blood that some of these local government officials really seem to think (as shown by their actions - or lack thereof) that they are above the law.
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not "against" anybody. But when our elected government officials begin openly ignoring the law, there is serious trouble in our future. "We the people" have got to start putting our foot down before it is too late.
Think about what these officials are saying. They've read the law. They understand what it means. They don't like it. So they're going to "interpret" it as broadly as they think they can get away with until a court forces them to comply. They're not stupid. They know exactly what the law says.
The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. James Madison
NRA Life Member Texas Firearms Coalition member
thatguyoverthere wrote:I hope some of these investigations and FINES by the AG against these other various government bodies start happening real soon. It boils my blood that some of these local government officials really seem to think (as shown by their actions - or lack thereof) that they are above the law.
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not "against" anybody. But when our elected government officials begin openly ignoring the law, there is serious trouble in our future. "We the people" have got to start putting our foot down before it is too late.
The example that is set in Washington is emulated in many places.
The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. James Madison
NRA Life Member Texas Firearms Coalition member
