@Tex Dennis OK, but if yer spoilin' fer a fight, it's "no go!". I cannot agree with you more. I also know that you have pride in your State, and are loyal to gun ownership. Thus, I can only hope you did not vote for Governess Anne Richards. She vetoed Concealed Carry. For those unaware of the reason for my dissection here, it results from a hiorrible incident in Texas, in which a lady Doctor who always carried her handgun in her purse, left it in the car when she met her aged parents at a Luby's Cafeteria for lunch. During their meal, a lunatic entered the premises and began shooting people. The Dr. lost both her folks in the carnage. She stated later that had she disobeyed the displayed "No Weapons" sign, she was certain she could have taken the guy out. She later testified before Congress about Gun Ownership. I believe her name was Dr. Grazia-Hupp. This is all from memory, now I will seek some source material: "Hupp and her parents were having lunch at the Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen in 1991 when a mass shooting took place. The gunman, George Hennard, shot 44 people in all, killing 24 of them, including himself. The fatally wounded included both of Hupp's parents. Hupp later expressed regret about deciding to remove her gun from her purse and lock it in her car, lest she risk possibly running afoul of the state's concealed weapons laws; during the shootings, she reached for her weapon but then remembered that it was "a hundred feet [30 m] away in my car."[6] Her father, Al Gratia, feeling he "needed to do something", tried to rush the gunman and was fatally shot in the chest instead. Hupp, eventually seeing an escape through a broken window (broken by the shoulder of another fleeing victim), grabbed her mother by the shirt telling her "Come on, we have to go now!" As Hupp moved toward the only escape, she believed her mother to be following her, only to find out later that Ursula had also been killed." See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanna_Hupp#Surviving_the_Luby's_shooting,_subsequent_activism Luby's Massacre: See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luby's_shooting
No way I voted for Ann Richards she even vetoed a non binding vote just to see if residents wasted LTC, when it finally happened it was either 93 or 97% in favor, Fyi I was at the Luby's the following Sunday for investigations for a few days. Richards either lost or was 2nd as the largest loss of a Governor's race we ever had. I am about as pro carry as you can get period. The Texas term was the bag lady. She was a doomed lady candidate here. Her statement of not while I am governor of Texas, well that came very true.
@Ken Anderson That is so heartening! I fail to understand how, given the fact that the residents of Texas own more firearms than any other state, even PER CAPITA, how such a "peoples' zealot" was elected. I've read stats claiming that 40 million handguns are owned there. More than any state, not surprising given the state's size, though. The article claimed many residents, as "collectors", each owned hundreds of firearms! Collecting is one thing, but self-defense is yet another. Should then, legislators limit individuals to but one gun? After all, those owning great numbers of firearms provide the basis for robberies contributing to greatly increased numbers of guns in the hands of criminals! (intentionally facetious). "I had the honor of voting against Ann Richards too." @Ken Anderson Was that before or after her vetoing the propositions? As I understood it, she voted down more than one proposal aimed ( no pun) at self-defense protection of her constituents. A true-blue sit-aside to Nancy Pelosi. Frank
I know many as said collectors every one has a huge safe for storage, mine is 1800 lbs empty from an old post office, I think most in that category would have very good storage for them. Last week a good friend of mine and competitive shooter also was doing an inventory and came up with over $10000 just in revolvers alone not counting all the rest. We have an out of business bank not far from here that rents space in the vault there for storage.
Frank, being an Arizonan, you have the advantage of "open carry" in your state. My brother-in -law lives in Chandler, and whenever he visits my California High Desert home, he leaves his irons in the trunk of his car. California should dump its ridiculous "sanctuary state" status and allow open carry, like Arizona, Texas, and a few other States. Maybe this will have a chance to happen when we get rid of Governor Jerry Brown this fall! Hal
While I appreciate "open carry" laws, most people would feel silly walking around carrying in an open holster. Plus, even in open carry states, people call the police and the police feel obligated to respond, and there are a lot of businesses that won't let you in. So very few people actually open carry. I prefer what Maine did a couple of years ago, which is to allow anyone to conceal carry without a permit required. Carrying a concealed weapon is only disallowed now for those who are not allowed to own a weapon, such as those who have been convicted of certain crimes, the mentally ill, etc. Now if we could get the DSM to classify all registered Democrats as mentally ill, we'd all be safer.
@Ken Anderson, Alaska is similar in the concealed carry department--anyone can carry either open or concealed if you are legally allowed to own a firearm. We seldom see open carry, however, as @Tex Dennis said above. I think other than in the wilderness or the range, I have only seen it a couple times. Interestingly, I attended a wedding on Saturday where the father of the bride was a cop. He carried his service weapon on his waist, and when he removed his coat, which was most of the time there, he was carrying open...but he was a policeman, after all. Fisherfolks here carry .44 Mags or .357 Mags for bear protection, but usually in a chest holster for access when in waders. Many cops and ex-cops carry in ankle holsters when not in uniform and no one knows they are armed.
I live in a very pro gun state and area, I carry most all the time as do most here, also when working here (rural area) or walking my dogs I sometimes open carry. Though not to often, we have very low crime here and those involved in crime know that we do not tolerate it, citizens nor police, the last 3 home breakins I am aware of have resulted in dead bad guys with no other injuries, most of which was during Katrina when the displaced people invaded out small town, lots of trouble started instantly when we got enough of it we stopped it, they got the word and left. Some evicted by force from motels giving them free stay to help.
Used to be CCP concealed carry permit Now called LTC license to carry either concealed or not where permitted by law
@Tex Dennis Unless I'm mistaken, Texas had a rather ridiculous hassle going on awhile back, as Open Carry was still not legal, but CC was, with permit. It seemed ridiculous to me to allow CC, and disallow open carry. As far as I'm concerned: Open Carry is both good & bad. It informs the potential thief that you have a weapon he might be able to grab from behind you; it also, though, shows the impression clearly that the carrier won't tolerate serious mischief. Concealed eliminates both of those considerations, as as far as I can see, one drawback to concealed exists: it makes for longer response time and difficulty in getting the weapon "at the ready". Frank
@Frank Sanoica, Open Carry makes one a target. If a bad guy is going to shoot people, he will try to take out those who have guns visible first, since he/she KNOWS that person is armed. With Concealed Carry, it is not obvious who or how many folks will shoot back. Like I said earlier, people here use Open Carry mostly for wildlife defense. If a bear hesitates to attack you because he sees a weapon, so much the better. The bear cannot shoot you first.
I think Texas was trying to overcome the old stereotype of Texas being a place where people carried their sixguns on their hip, so that they could get into gunfights on streetcorners.