The Return Of The Wild West?

"Don't take your guns to town son
Leave your guns at home Bill
Don't take your guns to town"

- Don't Take Your Guns To Town - Johnny Cash

January 1, 2016 will be a day marked in Texas history as it will be the return of open carry for handguns.  Not since the 1800's has the populace legally been allowed to do this.  Texas was a much different place then, filled with outlaws, Comanche, and other assorted ruffians and undesirables.

Texas has always been a state that has been splendidly different from all the others in the Union, especially when it comes to gun laws.  You may remember from watching the national news, if not seeing them up close and personal in Austin or the Metroplex, the Texans campaigning for open carry with long guns(rifles or shotguns) slung on their shoulders.  Some people were made to feel uncomfortable in traffic, restaurants, and the capital building seeing non-badge wearing folks with AR-15s and AK-47s.

Carrying or displaying these long guns openly is totally legal in Texas while it is illegal, at least up until the new year, to do the same with handguns.  Handguns have to be concealed and the owner is required to have a Concealed Carry Permit, which requires a written test, shooting test, and a  background check to get.  Open carry will still require the owner to have a concealed permit.

My concerns about this are twofold: making the firearm non-fan citizenry feel uncomfortable with seeing armed people around them and gun owners becoming targets for criminals.  I remember hearing how much people were put off by the actions of some of the open carry proponents when they took their guns into restaurants and aggressively followed a man who had contrarian opinions to theirs.  I feel that it was a matter of just because you could do something did not mean that you had to.

I feel that people who open carry will be targeted by others.  Open carriers could be attacked by criminals who try to get their firearm(s) either by attacking them or robbing their home.  More likely, however, is that they will be targeted by other people's ridicule.  I feel that it will be an argument they will have to make over and over again.  Texans really do like to speak their minds, after all.

It remains to be seen what good or bad will come from this new law.  There is the potential that this could be a crime deterrent - that this could lead to what the mainstream media refers to as "the one good guy" phenomenon.  On the flip-side, this new law could lead to more gunfights and people being shot because it is harder to determine just who the "good guy" is.