West Texas right to carry

[TexasBen317]

Wife and I moved from Houston to Alpine Texas, deep west Texas back in 83.
Always been an hunter and had rifles and shotguns and handguns..

So one day we are down at the Dairy Queen and a local cowboy pulls in with his PU and horse trailer with saddled horse and blue heeler in the bed of truck, Gun rack in back window, with couple guns in it.. Gets out and comes inside,, wearing a gun belt with a big A** pistol in it.. loving this.. as we begin to know more people out there finally found out that almost everyone in town shopping had come in off the ranch and still had their everyday dress on.. boots, jeans, jacket, cowboy hat and side arm,, loaded..!! Even saw a mounted cowboy on horse back in the drive through at the bank one day... Loved it out there!!

Bet the dammed Yankee's that moved there since ruined it by now..

I was hualing A** up a long highway one day, and saw Highway patrol coming up behind me.. Thought S**T!!,, ticket , he waved as he went by and saw him a the bar later that week and he just said, Don't get caught going that fast up in Odessa..

 

[Floppy_D]

Makes me miss Amarillo. I'd still be there, were it not for Uncle Same needing me elsewhere.

 

[peyton]

It is these kind of people that understand a firearm is a tool, just like the pair of pliers I carry for work. No need to get excited. Try that in San Antonio and it is off to the jail house!

 

[M2 Carbine]

Maybe we can get open carry passed soon.

 

[doubleh]

Can you even carry a pistol openly in Texas now? You could carry one in your home county when I moved from Texas but think I read somewhere that you can't carry one openly anywhere now. If so, just another reason I wouldn't consider moving back.

 

[waterhouse]

I've noticed in a couple rural diners (as recent as last week up by the Panhandle) I've been in that several old ranch type folks open carry a revolver.

I once asked one how that worked since we don't have open carry. It was explained to me that they had been doing it that way since the dawn of time and the local LEOs had no issues with it. Seemed like a nice change of pace.

 

[hank327]

There is no legal open carry in Texas. In fact concealed carry is still fairly new and it was a tough fight getting that passed. Now what long time local residents get away with in small out of the way places here is another thing entirely. It can be a mighty long way to Austin from some parts of Texas.

 

[english kanigit]

Heh, I might be from Kansas but western Texas is beginning to feel more like home...

I think the best thing was after I had my wreck (I fell asleep and went into a ditch @ 75mph between Roby and Snyder) I was laying beside the road about to pass out. As I'm talking to the nice Fisher Co sheriff's deputy I asked him if he would mind saving some items out of my vehicle for me. I told him I had a brand new laptop and described its bag, a shotgun and three pistols behind the seat and about 2500 rounds of ammo in the toolbox behind the cab.

"So do you like to hunt or something? ", says the nice deputy.

Me, "No, not particularly... "

Deputy, " "


Long story short they held my stuff until the next day. My parents came down to fetch my broken body for which I am duly grateful. Their first stop though was the sheriff's office. They didn't even have to show ID to collect the stuff, I think dad just gave 'em a description of my stuff. When he started griping about my dragging so much ammo along they sorta knew he was authorized to take possession of it.

Ek

 

[Owens]

It would be nice to have OC as an option. However, nothing on that will happen until 2009. They convene every other year.

Start composing those letters and compiling stats and proofs now for those letters to the state congress critters!

 

[ThomasT]

English,

You said you went to sleep? you weren't pulling a car on a trailer on I20 were you? my son was coming back from Midland and someone went to sleep pulling a car and crashed in the center median.

He has always wondered if the guy lived. He stopped to help until the law arrived and then took off.

That wasn't you was it? Glad you survived.

 

[Titan6]

I am told "The climate is not right to propose that right now" by even some of the most ardent pro gun state legislators. At least it was not last session. I hope that it will be some time soon.

 

[geojap]

Can you even carry a pistol openly in Texas now?

Only on your own property.

 

[Javelin]

Yeah I would have thought Texas of all states would have open carry... but was I surprised to find that its a different breed of legislature that makes it in office!

 

[Double Naught Spy]

West Texas right to carry

There might have been a traditional of open carry, but as noted, ain't no right to open carry in public.

I am out in Alpine, Fort Davis, Marfa for a few days at a time, a couple of times a year and I have never seen a single person open carrying.

 

[ilbob]

There is no legal open carry in Texas. In fact concealed carry is still fairly new and it was a tough fight getting that passed. Now what long time local residents get away with in small out of the way places here is another thing entirely. It can be a mighty long way to Austin from some parts of Texas.

Perhaps the LE officials there have made a choice to follow a higher law. God bless them. Would that many more would follow their fine example.

 

[mec]

A local doctor wrote a book about his experiences in 1890s central texas. He said that it was "Perfectly Legal" to carry a pistol but pliers were illegal.
At that time, routine carry of any handgun was illegal but it appears that the laws were selectively enforced.

 

[TexasRifleman]

but pliers were illegal.

They were never really illegal but if you didn't own a ranch and you had these on you, you were certainly an instant suspect of every cattle theft in your area.

routine carry of any handgun was illegal but it appears that the laws were selectively enforced.

Pretty much the same rule. If you owned or worked on a ranch no one said much. If you didn't, you were probably in trouble.

 

[MountainPeak]

I've been tweaking my Texas friends, for years, about their lack of open carry right. For a state, you would think would be gun friendly, they do have a few pretty restrictive laws.

 

[crebralfix]

I spent two and a half years in Alpine and never saw anyone carrying.

I always had my P220 on me though...I suspect there were quite a few guns under the seats of pickups...and no, they didn't bother locking their doors.

 

[TexasBen317]

let me point out that the experiences I related all happen back in 83,, I never said they had open carry laws,, just that out there, at that time, the people all knew each other and there was not a problem.. I am sure with the influx of other than Texans out there now, times have changed.

 

[Josh Aston]

Don't know about Alpine seeing as I've only passed through there. Seen a few people open carry in Iraan, did it myself as a kid. No one said anything, and the deputies didn't care, at most they might stop to check out your new gun. In the small towns people don't tend to care much what the law says, there's just right and wrong.