Wednesday, May 04, 2016

TX: How Can I Bear Arms?

Donnie's former apartment complex

A week or two ago I wrote about how a former Marine fought off an attempted home invasion.  He managed to fire three shots, and it appeared that no one was hit.

As I visited a local gas station, I ran into Donnie again.  He is a large, powerful black man, he makes an impression.  We shook hands and I told him that the article had been published.  He had not seen it yet, because he is in the middle of a move.  He did not say; but I suspect it was a decision precipitated by the aborted home invasion.  He had lost my card in the packing shuffle.

He asked me: How can I bear arms?

I was openly carrying when I met him.  I was directly demonstrating the right to keep and bear arms when we met again.  I believe that prompted the question.

It was a simple, direct, question.  People who are immersed in the gun culture often fail to understand that people who are not so inclined do not know the intricacies and subtleties of what it takes to go about armed in today's society.

Donnie was trained as a Marine.  He knows how to use firearms.  But he is only a peripheral member of the gun culture.

I gave him another card and explained the requirements to obtain a carry permit in Texas.  I asked if he had access to the Internet. He said he did. I told him to do a search for concealed carry Texas. I said that he would need to take a class, pay about a hundred dollars, and then he could get the permit.  I asked if he had any felony or misdemeanor domestic violence convictions.  He said that he did not.

I hope that Donnie follows up on legally bearing arms in Texas.  There are some noteworthy exceptions, such as on your own property, in your car, and while hunting.  But to generally bear arms in Texas, you need a carry permit.

Bringing peaceful, responsible black people into the gun culture is a way of showing them that they are also protected by the Constitution.  Unfortunately, permit fees and classes disproportionately make it harder for people of limited means to obtain permits.  For a great many reasons, black people are disproportionately in the lower income brackets.   The Crime Prevention Research Center(pdf) has found that a $10 increase in permit fees decreases the number of permit holders by about one half of a percent of the adult population:

Each $10 increase in fees reduces the percent of adults with permits by about a half a percentage point.                           
There is a movement to bring Texas into the permitless or "Constitutional" carry club.  It has some backers in the legislature, and a fair number of activists supporting it.  It may take a while, but Texas is rolling back infringements on the Second Amendment that have been in place for a hundred and forty years.


©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch

4 comments:

ScienceABC123 said...

If you have to pay monies or get someone's permission then it's not a right. As such, all gun laws violate the 2nd Amendment.

Unknown said...

It is a LICENSE to carry, not a "permit". Texas is a shall issue state, so if you have no disqualifiers, such as a felony, you SHALL get the license. A "permit" is what anti-gun slave states like New York and Kalipornia give to their friends. And until Texas and the rest of the nation go "constitutional carry", I'll keep my license to carry.

Wireless.Phil said...

This was in the Washington Post yesterday.

Didn't shoot when he had the chance and paid with his life.

Good Samaritan killed outside Arlington Walgreens

WFAA.com-May 2, 2016

Good Samaritan killed outside Arlington Walgreens ... Monday outside a Walgreens when he tried to stop a gunman after a domestic shooting at about noon. ... "He's a father, protective by nature, and he thought he could help.
http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/two-women-shot-outside-walgreens-in-arlington/164716355

Anonymous said...

I'm jus5 glad I live in Arizona. No permit or license to carry any way you want to carry required and the cops can not stop you to check. Now stop and think do we have a federal constitution that includes the second amendment? would that not make it clear that we have the right to keep and bear arms as citizens of this nation anywhere we go? What state has the authority to deny you a federally guaranteed right. as a citizen of this country my rights go with me any where I am in this country. read the tenth amendment that re enforces the bill of rights. if the issue is covered in the federal constitution the states are bound to enforce it. separation of powers. it is a guaranteed right to all federal citizens states have nothing to say and no power to alter the federal constitution mandate. It makes no difference which state line I cross I am still an American citizen with the right to keep and bear arms anywhere I happen to be in this country.