Texas to allow unlicensed carrying of handguns with no background checks

Ummm, I don’t think so. Maybe I’ve been missing it, but I don’t recall ever, ever seeing NRA or guns rights advocates speak out after the shooting of a Black person when the excuse given by the police is that they thought they had a gun. Or even when the person declared there was one in the car, and that they had a permit. Remember Philando Castile? The news was all over the angle of guns rights…not.

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Yes you probably could, sometimes my brain doesn’t work correctly, and I can’t get the thoughts out that I want to in a well phrased sentence, but it’s still true that cops don’t really need an excuse to shoot POC, and I’m not sure this will make anything worse than it is.

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It’s totally unrelated to this law, BECAUSE THE POLICE ARE ALREADY AUTHORIZED TO CARRY FIREARMS…

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Alternative title: “Texan cops worried about Antifa handing out free, easily concealable guns at protests”

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As a side note, since you’re new here you should be aware that on BoingBoing BBS, the above is not the get-out-of-jail-free card for making inappropriate statements that it is on social media and other forums. The moderation is more active here, so if you’re going to stick around please take some extra time to compose your thoughts before posting.

Back to the topic at hand…

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LOL…no.

That just means “I think he’s got a gun!” can get dialed to 11!

It’s a win win

/s

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I agree, the NRA/etc absolutely WON’T come to the defense of any minorities who are killed while (now) legally carrying peacefully (and as you said, they haven’t), but my point is that the media will no doubt make the case that police are justified in shooting at any non-white people because legally they MIGHT be carrying a weapon, and who knows what crimes those dark people are plotting?!

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Texas to allow unlicensed carrying of handguns with no background checks is stupid

I support concealed carry–but with a permit (so the cop can easily verify on the scene that it’s legal) and with a class or ideally a test requirement. (I consider all educational requirements to be taking the lazy route–what’s important is what you know, not how you came to know it.)

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If they would now de-criminalize weed, they will have dropped the pretense for the reason to conduct an invasive search and fishing expeditions of pulling people over for minor infractions.

This is a fleeting thought, but many cops are uneasy about this because to cops, policing in America is attractive precisely because they have no real responsibilities, face no real consequences, and enjoy what is, all told, not particularly dangerous work.

Oh no… how horrible that citizens have the same rights as the authorities. Won’t someone think of the poor police??

This law won’t make it significantly more dangerous for cops. It hasn’t been shown to in other states with Constitutional Carry. The reason is clear. Someone who is willing/wants to harm cops is already willing to carry a gun illegally (ETA - Fixed language). Someone who has no intention of hurting cops who is now carrying due to the new law will continue to not hurt cops.


That all said - anyone wanting to conceal carry should absolutely get a licenses for it. It will afford you further legal protections. It would also behoove you to take training classes and practice to the point you become proficient.

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Ah, I read your comment as kind of the opposite at first. Thanks for clarifying. And also, this really won’t be anything new, except the addition of the word “legally” into that sentence. :frowning:

This is an amazing phrase and I am hoping not to have to use it soon or often, but also looking forward to the first opportunity to get to use it.

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Open carry is perhaps preferable to concealed carry. At least you know who to be afraid of.

I’m cool with allowing any yahoo to own a gun and walk around with it, as long as we use the guns that were around when the 2nd Amendment was written. I’ve got little to fear from someone with a muzzle-loading black-powder long gun strapped to their back. Someone with a pistol full of hollow-points in their waistband? Different story. Not that I needed another reason never to step foot in Texas.

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They used to say, “Don’t mess with Texas.” Now the only thing you can say is, “Stay the hell out of Texas if you value your life.” Seriously, for the last 30 years my solution to that insane hellhole has been to surround it with a 100’ wall and rename it the Texas Penitentiary.

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Sure, because they were NOT ‘doing fine’ at all before this; so this law can’t possibly make things even worse…

(Narrator; it can and WILL.)

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Saves the cops the trouble of having to plant one on the corpse.

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Wait. Are cops not capable of being shot with legally held firearms? Because that doesn’t apply to civilians.

Cops will not be the primary victims of this, women will of course, but undoubtedly a copper will catch a bullet from someone who otherwise would not be armed but now has a way of expressing their annoyance legally. The expression may not be legal, but having the means to express it will be. It’s an avenue that wouldn’t be open otherwise.

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yes, this is also what maine has. i don’t agree with it, but it hasn’t led to any incidents that i’m aware of. certainly texas and maine are very different places.

And whatya want to bet they’ll use the subsequently increased murder rate to justify more draconian policing measures? (Hell, just the potential increase in concealed carry will be used to justify those.)

@Mindysan33

EVERYTHING

What’s amazing about this is literally everyone but the Republican legislators are against the idea - the cops, the majority of Texans…

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Doing what the voters want never seems to be their thing, does it. And yet they keep getting re-elected. I guess they know what works for them. Sigh.

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