The Lone Star State does not make it difficult for law-abiding citizens to carry a handgun—as long as the permit holder passes background checks and training requirements. But neither the state’s concealed carry permit holders nor it’s legal handgun owners can carry a handgun in plain view in public. And so the so-called open carry movement has targeted Texas for a bit of full-on legislative campaignin’. “It’s shocking that Texas, with its history of rugged individualism that the state symbolizes, doesn’t allow open carry,” said John Pierce, a co-founder of and spokesman for www.OpenCarry.org told star-telegram.com. “If the Legislature doesn’t approve an open-carry bill when it convenes in January, ‘then we’ll see them in 2013,’ Pierce said, referring to that session of the Legislature.” So how does Republican poster boy Governor Rick Perry come down on this one? Right down the middle, of course . . .
“The governor believes our concealed-carry law works for Texas and that a person ought to be able to carry their weapon with them anywhere in the state if they are licensed and have gone through the training,” Perry’s spokeswoman Allison Castle said. “He would be open to looking at any proposals lawmakers bring to the table regarding open carry. I suppose we’ve got what you could call a Texas open carry since you can hang your rifle in the window of your pickup truck.”