More on Open Carry

Legislation to allow open carry will be introduced during the next legislative session here in Texas. I honestly do not think it will get much traction this time around as the main push will be on campus carry and on legislation that would allow folks to have their legally owned firearm locked up in their private automobile while at work.

That being said, I hope that I am wrong and that open carry legislation gets a serious look this time around. The Cowtown Cop offers his opinion from a cop's perspective with "Open carry in the State of Texas".

Georgia recently passed HB 89 which allows expanded the number of places an individual can carry a firearm to include restaurants that sell alcohol. If I understand correctly, a permit holder in Georgia has the option of open or concealed carry. The bill was effective as of July 1st and once again the anti's hysterical rhetoric is proven false.

A report from the front lines in Atlanta from Creative Loafing.

By Andisheh Nouraee

Gun-toting in Georgia

How I learned to stop worrying and love carrying my gun in Georgia

The author starts out by expressing many of the same ideas that we see on gun boards and news commentary, that openly carrying firearms in public is a bad idea.

...I've had handguns for target shooting since I was a kid, but never carried one for self-defense. After the robbery, I applied for a permit so I could carry a gun without breaking the law. And even before the license arrived, I started to carry my gun from my driveway to my front door, which is legal; I was scared the guy would keep his promise and come back for me.

As it turned out he was arrested a couple of weeks later, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

When my permit arrived in the mail, I stuck it in my wallet and pretty much forgot about it. I didn't start carrying a weapon. He was in jail and I moved to a less transitional neighborhood. I felt safe again.

Nearly everyone I spend time with regularly has a visceral and fearful reaction to guns. Having so many gun-dreading friends and acquaintances has taught me to keep guns where no one will ever see them. Carrying a gun in public seemed like peeing in the sink of a public restroom. Not illegal, but definitely a first-degree jerk move.

I was also afraid of the reaction of strangers. I would hate to be the subject of this 911 call: "Hello, police, I'm at the Publix on North Decatur Road and there's a swarthy bald man here with a gun. He's headed for the Lean Cuisine."

So, although I had a permit, I was less than thrilled that the General Assembly passed H.B. 89 in April. The new law would give licensed firearms permit holders the right to legally carry guns into places that used to be off-limits: city and state parks, public transportation, and restaurants that serve alcohol.

It seemed to me that the law encouraged colossal dickheadedness by legalizing behavior – carrying guns openly in public – that makes people nervous.

The author goes on to describe how experience proved his notions to be unfounded, and decides to experiment a bit with open carry to see for himself how others react to a "man with a gun."

What happens when a Middle Eastern-looking man and a young black man walk into a LongHorn with loaded pistols on their belts?

You will have to head on over there to read the rest. his article is well worth your time. It gives some insight into the minds of new gun owners and those who have made the decision to legally carry a firearm for the first time.