by cleger » 11 Sep 2021, 11:19 am
First of all, congratulations on not having had this thread locked (yet?)
To the OP, I'd point out that "open carry without a permit" has been legal in my area (very far from Texas) for many years... as far as I know, it's always been legal in New Hampshire and Vermont. I suspect the same is true for other states, and so Texas isn't doing anything particularly novel here.
It's probably worth adding that New Hampshire and Vermont have the functional equivalent of "no gun laws." There is no restriction on the purchase, ownership, and carrying of weapons, except where and as prohibited, e.g. schools and courthouses, felons, "mental defectives," etc.
In my 56 years, this has not led to any outrages that I can recall. I think I know the reason for this.
Even though "open carry" is legal in New Hampshire and Vermont, in those same 56 years, I have seen someone actually do it precisely once, at a gas station in Nashua. I was filling my car, and watched from the pumps as a guy walked into the shop attached to the station wearing his pistol in one of those s**ty nylon flap holsters. It got my attention, because though I knew it was legal, I had never seen anyone actually do it. My immediate thoughts were "that asshole is going to frighten someone," and "what a ******."
As others have pointed out, the idea that one needs a gun to go anywhere is alien to me, and if I knew of such places, I would sooner stay out of them than go armed just because I can. As it is, there are no such places where I live. The corollary is that it's wrong to display weapons except in the appropriate context, and that sort of thing is not done here.
I expect that the people of Texas will behave otherwise. I know the place, having been there many times