[Blackhawk]

Editorial: New handgun law dangerously dumb

San Antonio Express-News

Web Posted : 08/01/2003 12:00 AM

A new law that goes into effect Sept. 1 bars local governments from banning legally concealed handguns on government property.
It allows anyone with a valid handgun permit to carry a gun into City Hall, the state Capitol or a public library.

In today's climate, that is outrageous.

The 1995 law allowing concealed handguns specifically bans concealed weapons from schools, school events, courts, hospitals, churches, bars, sporting events, governmental meetings and amusement parks.

Many cities and counties have bolstered the limits by posting signs barring guns in their buildings. The new law strips cities and counties of that right.

State Sen. Kenneth Armbrister, D-Victoria, who authored the legislation, tells the Houston Chronicle that the bill was intended to reduce the confusion for licensed gun owners.

Armbrister contends that the 218,000 licensed gun-carrying Texans were forced to deal with a patchwork of local rules regarding their weapons.

This is a bad law that could have serious repercussions on the safety of Texans.

Allowing guns in public places is courting disaster. The shootings of New York City Councilman James Davis and three women at a local real estate office last week illustrate how easy it is for a deadly situation to develop.

In each of those cases, the shooters were men whom nobody would have suspected of such crimes.

In the past decade, such random acts of violence have resulted in metal detectors at the entrance of many public buildings.

There are still a few places like City Hall, where the council members' offices are located, and the state Capitol where people can still come and go as they please.

The new law means that anyone with a permit will be able to walk in with a gun.

There are no guarantees a sign will keep weapons out of a building, but why invite them in?


08/01/2003

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Found this at http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=132&xlc=1033475 The ignorance is chilling....

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Edit: Added (TX) to the title.

[Moparmike]

There are no guarantees a sign will keep weapons out of a building, but why invite them in? So *** is the point of having signs anywhere? *** is the point in having laws if these signs that quote the law in the first place do NOTHING to prevent the possession of firearms by law-abiding and criminal elements alike? :banghead:

I want to scream at the ignorance of people like that. Why would someone logically argue themselves into a hole that proves them wrong? What is worse is that the person who wrote the article would have no friggin clue as to what I mean, and would say that they argued against CHL well.:rolleyes: :cuss: :fire:

[Standing Wolf]

...bars local governments from banning legally concealed handguns on government property...

Baloney! Government property is our property. We pay for it. It belongs to the people, not some mysterious aristocratic entity above the people.

[P95Carry]

Mike and Wolf ... you pretty much wrapped that up.!:)

[sm]

Yep you guys nailed it.

New handgun law dangerously dumb
Then again any gun law is dumb in the first place.
No gun laws at all and then no need to distinguish 'old' from 'new'.
BG's would hate to see the playing field leveled, I bet.

[Moparmike]

I will fourth the "thumbs up" to Wolf.

Thanks P95Carry and re1973. Humility aside, I surprise myself when my steam venting comes across tactfully and coherently:) . A lack of horse sense just sets me off sometimes.:mad:

[P95Carry]

Mike .... there are times when :cuss: :cuss: :cuss: is only way to go ....... :p

[Travis McGee]

What a frikkin' moron? What will it take for these idiots to grasp the simple fact that murderous lunatics LOVE designated gun-free zones, that posting gun-free zones draws maniacs like catnip draws cats?

[Blackhawk]

Many cities and counties have bolstered the limits by posting signs barring guns in their buildings. The new law strips cities and counties of that right.The "cities and counties" took it upon themselves to post the signs. They never had any right to do so due to the supremacy of the state law over cities and counties. IOW, then NEVER had the right to post the signs, so all the new law did is make it clear to them that they never did.

I believe they were posting the signs on busses, etc. Great! A perp rides the bus until he sees a likely target on, assured that the target isn't packing. When the target gets off, the perp follows and commits a felony against the target in confidence that he won't encounter a gun -- except his own illegally carried one....

With the new law, perps can't be confident that their targets aren't armed, which is the main deterrence of the CHL law in the first place... exactly as intended by the Legislature in 1995.

[Art Eatman]

I wrote the following:

"Editor:

Are you aware that all holders of a CHL pass the same criminal background check as your police? Your deputies? Are you aware that as far as demographics we are generally older and more mature than your police? Why, then, are you afraid of us? We are your doctors, your engineers, your plumbers, your school teachers...

We are held to a higher standard than you as to our behavior, insofar as the law is concerned--yet that does not bother us. We are more willing than you to be accountable for the consequences of our decisions and actions. Have you, yourself, had any training at all at crisis management and the avoidance of violence? In the de-escalation of a potentially dangerous situation? We have.

I suggest you reconsider just wherein lies "dumbness".

Sincerely yours,

Art Eatman
Terlingua, Texas"

They're gonna publish it.

:), Art

[Stinger]

The new law means that anyone with a permit will be able to walk in with a gun.

That's not the guy/gal we should be worried about.


Good replies everyone!!!

Stinger

[Deepdiver]

Like the famous gentleman, John Wayne, once said,

"Life is tough, but it is REALLY tough when you are STUPID!"

...I suspect that the guy that wrote that San Antonio Express-News editorial has a REALLY tough time getting through life!!

I imagine that his idea of personal defense is to wear a sign around his neck that says "Please Don't Do Anything Bad To Me" ..ought to make him feel real safe!

[OF]

Good one Art!

[Master Blaster]

Government only has responsibilities, PEOPLE have RIGHTS and responsibilities.

Only people have rights
Governments have no rights.

End of story.

[Partisan Ranger]

"The shootings of New York City Councilman James Davis and three women at a local real estate office last week illustrate how easy it is for a deadly situation to develop."

:scrutiny: , no, more like :barf:

The ignorance is jaw-dropping. I just drooled on my keyboard. Is this guy aware that Davis' murderer ILLEGALLY brought a handgun into City Hall? Funny, those tightest-in-the-nation gun laws seem to have had little effect on this criminal savage. What freaking difference does it make if you make carrying in a government place illegal? Do you seriously think that will stop a criminal? It didn't in NYC.

[Duncan Idaho]

Copy that Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Partisan...over

:D :D :D

[TarpleyG]

The shootings of New York City Councilman James Davis and three women at a local real estate office last week illustrate how easy it is for a deadly situation to develop.
Question--did either of these offenders have a permit to carry? I don't think they did but I could be wrong. In fact, had someone else been carrying, it may have been a different headline.

GT

[HBK]

Davis was carrying, but couldn't get his gun out before he was shot.