Tuesday, May 19, 2015

TX: Open Carry Passed out of Senate Committee, Amended



Early reports from observers at the Senate State Affairs committee in Texas have written that HB 910, the licensed open carry bill, has been passed and sent to the whole Senate.  From Texasguntalk.com:

Texas Gun Legislation - 2015 84th Session Game on, they're back. Substitute approved.
 It appears that the Dutton Amendment, which would prohibit police from stopping open carriers without probable cause, has been stripped out
They removed the cop stop amendment. That's why they called it HB 910 Substitute.
 The Senate might be able to pass an amendment returning HB 910 to the form passed by the House. If it does that, then it would go to the Governor.   I believe that on the third read, an amendment has to have 2/3 of the votes to pass.  There might well be enough votes in the Senate to obtain that 2/3 majority.

Here is the amendment that was stripped from the House bill in the Senate State Affairs committee:
CERTAIN INVESTIGATORY STOPS AND INQUIRIES PROHIBITED.   A peace officer may not make an investigatory stop or other temporary detention to inquire as to whether a person possesses a handgun license solely because the person is carrying a partially or wholly visible handgun carried in a shoulder or belt holster.
This is actually very close to what currently exists in Constitutional law.  I doubt that it will make much difference over the long run.   In the short run, it would normalize open carry a bit more quickly.

The official votes on from the committee have not been posted yet.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Get rid of the permit and the permit process and they have no legal reason to stop you A guaranteed constitutional right can not be taxed licensed or regulated in any form or it is not a right. The federal government is tasked with guaranteeing our constitutional rights. All state laws that infringe on any of our federally guaranteed rights are unconstitutional and therefore void.