I didn't say my requirements trump anything. I simply have a different set or requirements. The 2nd Amendment doesn't say "...the right to keep and bear concealed arms shall not be infringed".
Texas gun laws are absurd. You can openly carry a rifle down the street - without a license - but you can't openly carry a pistol. You can drive down the street with a rifle sitting on the front seat, leaning against the window, but you can't have a pistol in plain view in the car.
Yes, you can concealed carry, but only if you pay the state for the *privilege* to do so.
In my eyes, those things do NOT make Texas a gun-rights-friendly state (one of just six states that doesn't have open-carry).
When approached during the last legislative session, both the NRA AND the TSRA (Texas State Rifle Association) refused to endorse a bid to get open carry passed. They were more concerned with campus carry and employer parking lot storage.
When either organization declares LOUDLY that constitutional carry is their primary goal, then I will consider becoming a member. I'm tired of taking "baby steps" in the fight to get our Constitutional 2nd Amendment rights back.
So then, we have verified that Texas has never had constitutional carry? Yes, I know Texas doesn't have open carry, Ohio does. And just that little concession doesn't mean squat, as many LEO's can't imagine that open carry could ever be legal, and they'll hassle you to death, maybe even run you in and try to charge you. All that does is cost you time and trouble, and nasty attitudes from those same cops the next time they see you on the street, because it REALLY makes them mad when it's proven they don't really know the law.
One advantage you enjoy in Texas over Ohio law is a concealed carry permit exempts you from filling out a Form 4473 to buy a firearm. You have to obtain a permit to concealed carry, so do we. Had that dreaded NRA not been around to "compromise" on gun issues in 1968, neither of us would be able to even own handguns.
And I'd agree with Ted Nugent on the need to obtain a state issued permit to allow me to carry a firearm for my self defense, the second amendment should be our concealed carry permit. But theory and reality are much different concepts.
The GOA may try to assure you that they'll get constitutional carry the law of the land across the US. They'll fail in their attempt. Love 'em or hate 'em, the NRA has a much more pragmatic approach to gun issues. They understand that finding a consensus among legislators takes giving on some issues to enjoy a victory in other issues. Neither party alone has the "juice" to pass laws that return rights we lost long ago immediately. We didn't lose the rights we had overnight, we'll not get them back overnight either.
I'd bet the residents of, oh, say Chicago, New York City or LA would love to see the gun rights you consider too little for your taste. You speak as if the parking lot laws, or campus carry are not important issues. Perhaps not for you, but for people who work in state where employers can demand that NO firearms are ever on their property in other states, it's huge. For college students who have concealed carry permits, campus carry is also huge. And given the level of crime against innocent victims we see on college campuses Nationwide, I tend to agree. For employees who have concealed carry permits, and work in areas not quite Mayberry when they arrive or depart from work, parking lot laws go a long way to protect these folks from violent crime.
Bottom line is, not everything you or I see as a priority is an area of immediate need to protect people from criminals. Myself, I feel concealed carry for all truck drivers should be a Nationwide accepted right. We go into areas of cities that are not quite real fun at any and all times of the day and night. We are usually in control of a loaded trailer that usually has cargo some folks would love to take from us. Yet, in the most dangerous areas of large urban areas, if we follow the laws, we're disarmed.