Texas & Concealed Handguns: Lone Star State Becoming Wimpy

• You can carry in churches and hospitals as long as a sign according to penal code 30.06 is not posted. They are excluded in the penal code. Sec. 46.035 (i) Subsections (b)(4), (b)(5), (b)(6), and (c) do not apply if the actor was not given effective notice under Section 30.06.

• 3. You can't tale a concealed handgun into a hospital or nursing home. We guess those slow-moving or even inert targets are not considered sporting This is only true if a sign according to penal code 30.06 is displayed. (i) Subsections (b)(4), (b)(5), (b)(6), and (c) do not apply if the actor was not given effective notice under Section 30.06.

• Dude says: "where someone so desperate for their next high will approach you." End the war on drugs and this won't be a problem. By the way, dude, real men fight with there hands. If the assailant has a gun? Take it away, that's what I've always done.

• In case anyone thinks I favor carrying guns in bars, you're mistaken. My point was that Connelly went far beyond the bar thing and his anti-gun bias showed through and through. I am a strong supporter of CHl. I do believe that when confronted with a life and death situation, it could enable an about-to-become victim to survive while 'rehabilitating' (if you get my drift) a worthless crook. As for being frightened, that's a big crock of shit. I was among the first Texans to get a CHL. I did not bother to renew my license because I rarely ever bothred to carry my any of my guns. As for those bars, the police agency I worked for had a strict policy for being armed off-duty. When you go to a bar, you will leave your gun locked up in the trunk of your car.

• *don't

• No, he's prepared. You choose to be a victim, we doesn't. If you are ever accosted, be sure to defend yourself with your Iphone 4G and let us know how that worked out for ya...

• OOOH!!!! BIG SCARY WORLD!!!! says: You sound pretty damned frightened to me, Dude. More frightened than most, in fact. ------------------------------- You are not saying anything new. It's a common tactic of the anti's to call CHL folks and gun owners frightened or paranoid. I would tend to argue people like you are the paranoid or frightened ones. It's as though you don't trust yourself enough to own a firearm or be capable of using it in a crisis. Paranoia is an irrational fear. Fear of criminals is not irrational because it's based in reality. However, fear of EVERYBODY, your neighbor, your SELF-- that is the height of paranoia. I've already pointed out that honest people with background checks, who get a license to carry a gun are not the people you need to worry about. The difference with people like me and, probably, people like you is I would never demand you own a gun, no more than I want people out there demanding or writing laws that say I can't or shouldn't. My issues with a "story" like the one above is it's a jab at the wrong group. If you want a pointed story with real meaning, then why not write about or promoting an agenda that mandates longer prison terms for the illegal use of a firearm. Don't go after regular people who understand that there just aren't enough police officers be every where all the time. So until I can convince Chuck Norris to hang out with me all the time, you can call me frightened if you want. .

• Thanks Dude!

• You sound pretty damned frightened to me, Dude. More frightened than most, in fact.

• Anonymous Wrote: "This suggests a causal relationship between getting a CHL and not committing a crime, which is...odd." ------------------------------------ I can understand why you think what I wrote seems odd. I should have researched my point and referenced what made me say what I did about the 2%. I threw that number out confident even though my number was wrong, but that the point could be substantiated. My point was to respond to the original argument that anti-gun folks threw out when Texas was working towards approving their concealed carry laws back in the 90s - and that was the street with be covered in blood of the innocents by a new Wild West mentality. It was just not true, and no matter how the Violence Policy, or Brady folks spin it, the blood never came and the Wild West actually became the "Mild West." These numbers are old statistics but they are to show the immediate benefits Texans saw in the first few years of CHL. "In the early 1990s, Texas' serious crime rate was 38 percent above the national average. Since then serious crime in Texas has dropped 50 percent faster than for the nation as a whole. For example, during the 1990s Texas' murder rate dropped 52 percent compared to 33 percent nationally, and the rape rate fell by 22 percent compared to 16 percent nationally." Even more to my original point, about CHL-ers are significantly less likely to commit crime, even though now armed with a firearm: Licensees were 5.7 times less likely to be arrested for violent offenses than the general public - 127 per 100,000 population versus 730 per 100,000. "Licensees were 14 times less likely to be arrested for nonviolent offenses than the general public - 386 per 100,000 population versus 5,212 per 100,000." The Non-Violent Crime statistic backs my earlier comments about licensees carrying passively. We tend to just back down from situations because we know AVOIDING is the best defense. Sometimes people just try to bully or escalate to feed their own egos, we recognize this and we just don't let them get that chance with us. I think this quote by former Harris County District Attorney (at the time) sums it up best: "I . . . [felt] that such legislation . . . present[ed] a clear and present danger to law-abiding citizens by placing more handguns on our streets. Boy was I wrong. Our experience in Harris County, and indeed statewide, has proven my initial fears absolutely groundless."

• "cwize wrote: If we had OPEN carry (I mean, why make the criminals guess if you're going to protect yourself or not?)" I'm not a fan of open carry, especially thinking it will thwart crime because criminals will rethink committing a crime if they see an armed man/woman. I know if I were an armed criminal I would just put myself in a situation to take you out first, and then carry out my intended crime. But, I will say I am certainly for it, and would never want to limit it as an option for people who are more comfortable carrying openly. For me tactics are as important as crisis-moment accuracy. So I like the idea of a potential criminal not knowing exactly what lurks ahead for them. I wish more citizens were licensed to carry so that more criminals woke up each morning knowing today is they day they could die on the job.

• I don't want to get into a pissing contest about what parking lots are more dangerous than others.. But on to your reply comments about Church Parking lots, I'm not saying they are a hot bed of violence. But, if you're the one and only person to get attacked in a parking lot of an off limits location then for that person it matters. I did a quick Google search of "Church Parking Lot Crime" and the following headlines came up on the first page: Smash and grab from church parking lot Senior citizen arrested in abduction try Churchgoers Leave Service To Find Cars Broken Into Ohio pastor seeks state help after 2nd homicide ----------------------------------- As far as the "Scared as Mice" comment. It's actually just the opposite. I can't speak for other CHL'ers, but in my case, I just think I'm taking my safety, and those I care about, seriously. Crime is often random, and a matter of opportunity. You can't predict what neighborhood, convenience store, gas station, Wal-Mart parking lot, etc., where someone so desperate for their next high will approach you. My original thought when I posted what I did before was more about hospital workers. There is a large percentage of females working in the health care industry. They often work odd-shift hours and find themselves walking to their cars during darkness. It's in parking lots where a lot of crimes of opportunity are carried out. I say females only because they tend to be more vulnerable, but I certainly don't discount the crime potential against males in health care. I remember for a while there was even a website devoted to Walmart crime, which always included parking lot crime. To me, the right thing to do is allow honest, trained and qualified citizens the right to defend their safety. Trust them to do the right thing, based on their training, and punish those who abuse their rights at the expense of others. The answer is not to deny a right, based out of fear of what may happen. By far, the other people I know, or have experienced, with a CHL are not aggressive and they never want to have to deal with the self-defense use of their firearm. We passively carry, and go on about our business. I'm the first person to advocate punishing anyone who gets a CHL and then abuses it by being irresponsible and brandishing it public (for example). Concealed means concealed, and it should only ever be seen by someone who you determine needs to be shot in order to stop a crime against you or someone else in your vicinity. All I ever ask of the public, especially those who are indifferent to it all is just not try to change public policy that interfere with my right to defend myself out in the public. I, in turn, promise to take my carrying a firearm and the potential use of it very seriously. This means considering the potential pathway of any round that is dispensed, and where it could land, either by missing the target or if it passes through. I also promise to wait as long as possible to fully determine if I feel the situation, or confrontation, could escalate to a point where I could be injured or killed. I think if you took the time to talk to other folks who "carry" you would learn that most of us would honor this same promise. There will always be people who skew a chance for a 100% statistic of doing the right thing, but that's the price of liberty. Anonymous Responded: .....BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS THAT CHURCH PARKING LOTS ARE A HOTBED OF CRIME!!! CHL holders must be the most frightened little mice in the world. .......

• WTF! Most people who find the need to "carry" are intoxicated without taking any substance -- intoxicated by proximity to their "weapon."

• "CHL holders must be the most frightened little mice in the world." What the hell do we have to be scared of? We're packin' heat!

• One correction: Texas does allow firearms in bars if they're part of a genuine historical reenactment performed in accordance with TABC rules (see section 46.15(i) of the Texas Penal code, added in 2005).

• Why bother, it's the internet, there is no point.

• JHC- Actually, I was not referring to this particular blog when I addressed my comments to Mr. Connelly. Of course firearms and alcohol don't mix. I am tired of Mr. Connelly's blatant attempts to portray anyone that is not a liberal as a gun-toting, bible clutching, right wing nut jobs as he so often calls them. gg- Why are turning this into an issue of sexual preference?

• "In fact, there a many statistics that show anyone who gets a CHL moves to the Top 2% (or better) of people likely to not use a firearm in a crime." This suggests a causal relationship between getting a CHL and not committing a crime, which is...odd.

• Guns in bars? Seriously, what the fuck? How is that a good idea? And God forbid you don't think it's a good idea, then you're some queer from up North.

• BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS THAT CHURCH PARKING LOTS ARE A HOTBED OF CRIME!!! CHL holders must be the most frightened little mice in the world.

• There is no doubt the bias is showing through, but one of the areas that does need to be address for sure is the churches and hospitals. It is not always the facility you are visiting that is the problem, it's the walk to and from the parking lots where you are most likely to encounter the need for self defense. As for alcohol and guns, I have no problem having a Plan B for this. When I know I am going to places where I can't carry, I always have a small can of pepper spray on me. Sometimes you just have to compromise. The anti-gun folks know, or should know, the Wild West doesn't happen when you arm honest law abiding citizens. In fact, there a many statistics that show anyone who gets a CHL moves to the Top 2% (or better) of people likely to not use a firearm in a crime.

• Early, Are you honestly suggesting that "firearms and alcohol don't mix" is a "liberal" idea?

• Cool people picked on me in high school, too!!

• The Rich Man has no actual basis for his bias. He is just repeating what the "cool" people around him say. He also has no editorial skills. But that has nothing to do with those "cool" people.

• sounds more "anti-stupidity" than "anti-gun", Howie.

• Connelly, I am sure Vermont has plenty of room for one more bleeding-heart liberal seeing as how you hate Texas so much. Let me know, I'll spring for the U-Haul...

• Your anti-gun bias is showing through and through!

• That Beretta 92FS in the photo? I have that one. But I don't carry it. Too hard to conceal. I have a smaller gun for that. If we had OPEN carry (I mean, why make the criminals guess if you're going to protect yourself or not?), I'd have the Beretta on my hip. Or I might go ahead and get that XD45 I've been wanting...

• Speaking of idiocy...

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