ArcherAndShooter
New member
I just wrote my state rep with some ideas for improving CHL law in TX, and thought I'd share them here in case anyone else down here thinks they are good (or bad) ideas and wants to contact their state reps and senators.
It's not too early to get these kinds on things on legislators' minds - the agenda for the session gets set early, and our concerns can get easily lost in the "big" issues that have heavy political and media interest.
Anyway, here's what I wrote...
Dear Rep. xxxxx,
I would like to offer two suggestions for an improvement to Texas' concealed handgun laws for your consideration for the next session of the legislature.
My first suggestion is that the law require any public or private entertainment venue, if they (the venue operators) elect to prohibit concealed carry under section 30.06, include some kind of noticee of that in their advertising and on the face of tickets sold to the event.
This would prevent the situation arising where a CHL holder arrives at an event (such as the Houston Rodeo or other concert-type event) on public transportation, and finds only upon arrival that the venue is "posted 30.06".
In such a case, the would-be concertgoer is stuck - they cannot return to their car to lock up their handgun because their car is at the far end of a shuttle bus run or light-rail line. They cannot enter the venue and attend the concert for which they paid the ticket price. They are stuck between obeying the law (which I believe most would do) and forfeiting their tickets and the planned enjoyment of the event.
The advance notice would not have to be the full 30.06 language required in the on-site signs. A simple logo and the words "this event posted under sec. 30.06" would be a perfectly clear signal to CHL holders, who would then be able to choose whether to skip the event or to attend, knowing before they left home that they would have to leave their weapon at home. (The logo should NOT be a silhouette of a handgun with the "circle and slash", since so many people erroneously post this on businesses in the belief that it has legal effect. To use that symbol here would only increase that confustion.)
My second suggestion would be to repeal the provision allowing employers to forbid CHL holders among their employees from carrying concealed handguns at work, if the employer does not also post the workplace under section 30.06. Why should they be able to forbid employees, who they know well, the right to carry, if they are willing to let any member of the public enter the premises armed?
I do not see this as an issue of property rights but of equal treatment. If an employer wishes to have a weapons-free workplace, then they should comply with the notification requirements of section 30.06 and forbid all handguns. Employers who wish might be exempted from this requirement if they have affirmative security in place such as armed guards controlling access to elevators, as is so common in office buildings these days. A receptionist, or a simple electronic card-key is NOT sufficient, as it is no real security. How easy is it for someone to wait outside a door and walk in with an employee who does not know them but believes they "forgot their pass at home this morning"?
I would be happy to discuss these further with you and any of your colleagues who would also be interested at your convenience.
Respectfully,
It's not too early to get these kinds on things on legislators' minds - the agenda for the session gets set early, and our concerns can get easily lost in the "big" issues that have heavy political and media interest.
Anyway, here's what I wrote...
Dear Rep. xxxxx,
I would like to offer two suggestions for an improvement to Texas' concealed handgun laws for your consideration for the next session of the legislature.
My first suggestion is that the law require any public or private entertainment venue, if they (the venue operators) elect to prohibit concealed carry under section 30.06, include some kind of noticee of that in their advertising and on the face of tickets sold to the event.
This would prevent the situation arising where a CHL holder arrives at an event (such as the Houston Rodeo or other concert-type event) on public transportation, and finds only upon arrival that the venue is "posted 30.06".
In such a case, the would-be concertgoer is stuck - they cannot return to their car to lock up their handgun because their car is at the far end of a shuttle bus run or light-rail line. They cannot enter the venue and attend the concert for which they paid the ticket price. They are stuck between obeying the law (which I believe most would do) and forfeiting their tickets and the planned enjoyment of the event.
The advance notice would not have to be the full 30.06 language required in the on-site signs. A simple logo and the words "this event posted under sec. 30.06" would be a perfectly clear signal to CHL holders, who would then be able to choose whether to skip the event or to attend, knowing before they left home that they would have to leave their weapon at home. (The logo should NOT be a silhouette of a handgun with the "circle and slash", since so many people erroneously post this on businesses in the belief that it has legal effect. To use that symbol here would only increase that confustion.)
My second suggestion would be to repeal the provision allowing employers to forbid CHL holders among their employees from carrying concealed handguns at work, if the employer does not also post the workplace under section 30.06. Why should they be able to forbid employees, who they know well, the right to carry, if they are willing to let any member of the public enter the premises armed?
I do not see this as an issue of property rights but of equal treatment. If an employer wishes to have a weapons-free workplace, then they should comply with the notification requirements of section 30.06 and forbid all handguns. Employers who wish might be exempted from this requirement if they have affirmative security in place such as armed guards controlling access to elevators, as is so common in office buildings these days. A receptionist, or a simple electronic card-key is NOT sufficient, as it is no real security. How easy is it for someone to wait outside a door and walk in with an employee who does not know them but believes they "forgot their pass at home this morning"?
I would be happy to discuss these further with you and any of your colleagues who would also be interested at your convenience.
Respectfully,