Recent Entries
Original Fort Worth Gun Show
Sep 7, 2008 Events 3 Comments
Visitors to the Original Fort Worth Gun Show enjoy a huge selection of firearms, ammunition, shooting supplies and knives. Dealers have “direct from the factory” guns as well as pre-owned and collectibles. At the show visitors can buy, sell or trade. The gun show is more than just guns, a wide array of ammo, scopes, clips, reloading supplies and other accessories can be found. There are concealed carry permit instructors from whom you can purchase an off-site approved course. Knife dealers, custom knife makers, knife-making supplies, personal defense items, militaria, cammo and western clothing are all available. You may bring your gun to the show - it must be unloaded, including concealed carry permit holders (the show is posted as such in accordance with Texas laws) checked by the Fort Worth Police Officers at the entrance, and tied with a plastic tie. At the Original Fort Worth Gun Show you can find just about everything related to hunting and shooting, and a whole lot more! To learn more click here
Texas Concealed Gun Laws Loosen
Sep 7, 2008 CHL "Concealed Handgun License, Gun Rights 2 Comments
Have a gun? Feel free to travel.
By Glenna Whitley
An amendment to Texas’ so-called “traveling rule” regarding concealed handguns went into effect September 1 with hardly anyone noticing, though it comes close to gutting the law requiring Texans to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
House Bill 1815, championed by both the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, clarified the 2005 statute allowing residents to carry a concealed weapon for protection while “traveling” in a private vehicle without a concealed weapon permit.Most district attorneys and police agencies around the state have construed the definition of traveling narrowly.
According to a study by Scott Henson, with the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, 13 county or district attorneys—including those in Houston and Fort Worth—instructed officers to quiz motorists found in possession of weapons about their travel plans or simply arrest them, seize the weapon and let the prosecutors sort it out. The questioning could get ridiculous: Visiting Grandma in another county was OK; getting groceries was not OK.
The burden fell on the motorist to prove he was “traveling” and thus allowed to carry a concealed gun without a permit.
The new law, the first bill Governor Rick Perry signed from the last session of the Legislature, now allows gun owners without a permit to carry a concealed gun both “to and from” their premises and their vehicles. Guns can be carried in cars with a few restrictions: They must be hidden from plain view, and the owner cannot be involved in criminal activity or a criminal street gang or otherwise prohibited by law from carrying a weapon.
In other words, if you’re caught carrying a concealed pistol on the street and don’t have a permit, tell the cop you’re walking between your car and your home, either getting ready to travel somewhere or coming home. The burden now falls on the police officer to prove you are not really “traveling,” which Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins says is virtually impossible.
“If you read the new statute, it essentially does away with the concealed handgun law,” Watkins says. As of September 1, his office no longer accepted most UCW (unlawfully carrying a weapon) charges that involved the “traveling” issue and dismissed pending cases.
“Actually we didn’t really have a choice,” Watkins says. “The law had changed, and some of the individuals could have fallen under the old statute, but it would be an unfair standard if we prosecuted them. And it’s impossible now for us to prove those charges when we get them. Now it makes it the responsibility of the state to disprove that a person is on their way to or from their car, and that’s pretty difficult to prove. It does a disservice to law enforcement. They have to prove this person was not on their way to somewhere. Why should they even bother [to arrest them]? I see it as a possibility for a lot of individuals with criminal intent to be carrying weapons.”
The change has some police officers grumbling.
“It’s insane,” says one Dallas officer, who asked not to be named. “They basically destroyed the concealed gun law. We’re letting drug dealers with Glocks under the seat go and say have a nice day. In the past we could have charged them at least with a weapons violation and confiscated the gun. Texas is wide open now. It’s a huge story. This has just gone under everyone’s radar.”
Though felons are prohibited from carrying a concealed weapon, the officer says most police officers can’t do thorough criminal background checks during traffic stops.
The officer says that Dallas patrol cops have received no information or training on the change in the law. A call to the Dallas police media office prompted puzzlement. “No one’s told us,” says Sergeant Gil Cerda. “We have yet to receive a legal briefing on that.”
The Mesquite Police Department has informed its officers about the change, says a department spokesman, as has the Plano Police Department. Rick McDonald, public information officer for Plano, says that the change in the law may be more far-reaching than its supporters intended.
“It’s a law for honest people and good citizens to stand their ground,” McDonald says. “Now you can defend yourself in a carjacking. You don’t have to retreat.”
He says the Dallas Observer is the first media outlet to ask him about the change.
“Some of the smaller agencies may not know about this,” McDonald says. Because Plano P.D. has an in-house lawyer who keeps officers up to speed on legal issues, most Plano officers have already had in-service training on this and other new laws, McDonald says. (The last session of the Texas Legislature was good for gun owners. The so-called “castle doctrine” was also modified and now gives citizens more leeway in the use of deadly force to protect one’s home or place of business. It also limits the ability of criminals to sue for damages.)
“There’s a lot more to this concealed weapon thing,” McDonald says. “I work some off-duty at a church, and they have posted ‘no gun’ signs. A lot more employers need to be brought up to speed. I expect more employers and businesses to come out with rules” limiting possession of firearms on the premises.
Another unintended consequence, says McDonald, is the likelihood that more weapons, stuck in glove compartments or under seats, will be stolen from cars.The ramifications will take a while to percolate through the system. But the bottom line is: “If you’ve got a car,” says a Dallas officer, “you can carry a gun.”
Of course, convincing a cop you were walking directly between your car and home when you’re parked 20 miles from your house may be a stretch. Try telling them you’re just extremely health-conscious.
Democrats Go After Gun Politics
Sep 5, 2008 Gun Rights 2 Comments
8/29/2008 -
Stepping gingerly back into the thicket of gun politics, some Democrats are offering up a few proposals to make them less on the defensive on an issue that many claim cost former Vice President Al Gore and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the presidency.
Read About It: National Journal
Obama’s gun ban rhetoric
Sep 5, 2008 Gun Rights 2 Comments
8/29/2008 -
Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign just won’t let the gun issue rest. Mr. Obama and his campaign surrogates continue to assure gun owners that he is on their side. Yet, despite all the Democratic claims to the contrary, Mr. Obama is undoubtedly the most anti-gun candidate ever nominated by a major party for president.
Read About It: Washington Times
Strong Majority of Voters Disagree With Barack Obama on Second Amendment
Sep 5, 2008 Gun Rights 2 Comments
9/2/2008 -
A strong majority of likely voters disagree with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on firearms and self-defense related issues, according to a just-released ATI-News/Zogby poll.
Palin May Be NRA’s Best Ammo
Sep 5, 2008 Gun Rights 3 Comments
9/4/2008 -
By now, millions of Americans have seen photos of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin testing weapons while visiting members of the Alaska National Guard in Kuwait. But it wouldn’t be surprising if millions more in battleground states get to see similar pictures soon — plus appearances by Palin herself — in states where gun rights are a big issue.
Obama: ‘I’m Not Going to Take Your Guns Away’
Sep 5, 2008 Gun Rights 2 Comments
9/5/2008 -
“If you’ve got a gun in your house, I’m not taking it,’’ Obama said. But the Illinois senator could still see skeptics in the crowd, particularly on the faces of several men at the back of the room.So he tried again. “Even if I want to take them away, I don’t have the votes in Congress,’’ he said.
Guns at church, college next on Georgia lawmakers’ agenda
Aug 27, 2008 Gun Rights 1 Comment
The move comes on the heels of House Bill 89, which became law on July 1 and lets people with firearms licenses to carry guns into state parks, restaurants that serve alcohol and on mass transit.
Lawmakers could next push legislation allowing license holders to take their guns to church, or even onto college campuses.
“I personally feel there are a lot of restrictions that should not be there,” said Senate Majority Whip Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg), chairman of a Senate committee that began studying the state’s gun laws Tuesday.
“People who get these [carry] permits are extremely law-abiding citizens,” Seabaugh said. “Those who have no regard for the law are carrying guns anyway.”
Seabaugh’s committee met the day after a federal judge rejected a motion to allow those with carry licenses to take firearms into non-secure areas of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
City officials have declared the airport a gun-free zone. That led to the lawsuit by gun-rights group GeorgiaCarry.org and state Rep. Timothy Bearden (R-Villa Rica), sponsor of House Bill 89.
The lawsuit is moving forward. U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Shoob’s ruling only addressed whether those with permits could carry guns into the airport while the lawsuit makes its way through court.
Seabaugh said state firearms laws are confusing, especially parts banning guns in or near public gatherings.
GeorgiaCarry.org President Ed Stone and Bearden spoke before the committee, made up of five senators, all of whom supported House Bill 89. The front row of the meeting room was filled with men wearing orange and black buttons that read “Guns save lives.”
Alice Johnson of Georgians for Gun Safety said the meeting lacked objectivity.
“We don’t disagree there should be some comprehensive changes,” she said after the meeting, “but what we saw was only one side having the chance to express themselves.
“Firearms on college campuses and schools, those are some very serious issues.”
Stone told the committee “there is no reason for disarming an adult attending educational facilities.”
Bearden sponsored a bill this year, which didn’t gain traction in the House, that would have allowed people to carry guns onto college campuses. Last year, discussion of allowing guns on campuses was stalled by the Virginia Tech shootings, which occurred during the 2007 session.
Committee member Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), said after the meeting that he supported allowing permitted guns on campuses but recognized lawmakers may face a constitutional roadblock.
Georgia’s public universities are independently governed by the Board of Regents. Because that independence is built into the Georgia Constitution, the General Assembly may not be able to easily force a change on campuses.
University System lobbyists attended the committee meeting. University System spokesman John Millsaps later said the Regents support the current ban.
Guns in churches may be an easier change for legislators to make.
Coweta County Sheriff Mike Yeager told the committee that permit-holders generally aren’t lawbreakers.
“We don’t have the problems from the people who take the time to get the [carry] license,” he said. “Those are the ones we don’t worry about too much.”
But Johnson, the gun safety advocate, questioned how police officers would know the difference if faced with someone carrying a weapon.
“The idea that somehow law enforcement can make a distinction between someone who is intending to commit harm and someone who is intending to defend other people, that’s a false distinction,” she said. “That’s not something law enforcement can figure out on the front end.”
— Staff writer Andrea Jones contributed to this article.
Welcome To KeepYourGuns.com
Aug 27, 2008 Gun Rights 1 Comment
Hello,
I came up with this website idea so that we could promote the communication of Gun Rights in a blog based environment. I encourage you to sign up and post your views, comments, and oppinions based on your thoughts of what gun rights and the 2nd ammendment mean to you.
Malcom Chakery
