flintknapper wrote:Are our legislators not smarter than this? Why in the world would they make Siamese twins of it?
A simple solution that would address everyone's concerns would be to require a 6" X 6" sticker (ghostbuster style) with the letters "OC" on it to be displayed.
That would be very workable and it makes sense to gun owners who want to carry, either openly or concealed. However, the vast majority of our pro-gun legislators are not active shooters, nor do they carry a gun for self-defense. The business lobby is extremely strong, as shown by their ability to kill parking lot bills for two sessions. They will scream for a one-sign-fits-all to prohibit guns on private property and the legislature will agree with them, in all likelihood. Otherwise, businesses will have to post the big ugly 30.06 sign and something else. If we ever get open-carry, I would argue for two different signs, with no specifics for the sign to prohibit open-carry. In other words, the ghost-buster signs would work for open-carry, but a 30.06 sign would be required to prohibit concealed-carry. Unfortunately, my argument will most likely fail for the reasons I've stated. Business and the business lobby will argue that it's absurd to require the posting of two signs and they will win that argument.
I assure you, I'm already working on ways to implement open-carry, if it becomes a TSRA project, but I see a lot of hazards. I've said this before, I agree with Stephen that TPC Ch. 46 should be repealed in its entirety, but I won't live to see it. It will take more years to accomplish than I have left. This will probably surprise most folks, since I oppose open-carry, but if it passes, I think it should be unlicensed open-carry. Otherwise, LEOs will have probable cause to stop everyone carrying openly to see if they have a CHL. In my view, this would serve to increase the negative backlash from the general public, by fostering the idea that anyone carrying a gun is a threat, until the police confirm otherwise. That is not a message we want to send.
Were you here in Texas in the 1995 to 1997 time frame? If so, then you must remember the near panic that came with the then-new CHL statute and the proliferation of generic "no-gun" signs.
flintknapper wrote:I was....and I remember how quickly those signs came down as well. The fact is....there aren't all that many places that are posted today. I don't know if the same thing would hold true for open carry, but I feel that citizens and businesses would quickly get over their unfounded fears about it. Much would depend upon how well the subject was presented and to what degree the public is educated beforehand.
The generic no-guns signs didn't start coming down until we passed
HB2909 in 1997 (effective 9/1/97) that established TPC §30.06. The now famous 30.06 sign is big, it's ugly and most businesses don't want that thing on their doors. That's why we see so few of them and why we see some that have the proper language, but don't meet the size requirements and/or don't have the required Spanish version. The establishment of TPC §30.06 was very result-oriented and it has worked great. The panic ended not because we educated anyone, but because people don't see us carrying our guns.
Chas.