Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 68% of Texans oppose open carry....

Newsmax:

A majority of Texas are opposed to laws that would allow people in the state to openly carry weapons with or without gun licenses, according to a new poll.

The University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll found that only 32 percent of Texas approved of open carry while the remainder, 68 percent, would either prefer no legal handguns in public or to keep the current laws allowing licensed carry of concealed handguns.

According to the poll, nearly 25 percent of respondents said Texans should never be allowed to carry handguns in public, while only 10 percent said they should always be allowed with no license required.

Nearly one in two Texans, 45 percent, would allow concealed handguns in public as long as the carriers were licensed, while another 22 percent would allow those with licenses to carry handguns openly, meaning that an overwhelming majority of 77 percent back the right for licensed gun owners to carry their guns in public, either openly or concealed.

"A lot of people are in the middle, and there are a lot of support around licenses," said Daron Shaw, co-director of the poll and a professor of government at UT-Austin. "If I’m from Connecticut, it might look like 50 degrees of crazy."

"This looks like people like the way things are now. If you’re a Republican, you could go further, though, as long as you talk about licensing or permitting."

The votes were more sharply distinct when tallied between Republicans and Democrats, and conservatives and moderate Republicans, according to the UT/Texas Tribune researchers.

Thirty percent of tea party types said Texans should always be allowed to carry without permits, while the "never be allowed" option was basically ignored by them.

Among Republicans in general, 6 percent said Texans should always be allowed to carry and 12 percent said never. Among Democrats, 45 percent said never and only 2 percent said always, the poll says.

In each group, more than 50 percent would allow public carry of handguns with permits.

Most Republicans and Democrats approved of concealed weapons while a majority of tea party voters favored open carry and also supported concealed carry.

"Half of Republicans want to stick with concealed. Unlicensed open carry is a starkly minority position, with only 10 percent of support," said Jim Henson, who heads the Texas Politics Project at UT-Austin and co-directs the poll.

"These numbers should dispel any mystery you might have seen over legislators who didn’t want to vote on this. You’ve got about a quarter in each party not toeing the party line. In the Republican Party, this is a clearly conservative issue."

The poll also revealed that 36 percent of the voters felt that the state’s current gun control laws should be stricter, while 22 percent believed they should be less strict, and 36 percent said they should be left alone.

"Texas as it stands right now is a pretty pro-guns state, and even though open carry may seem to be an anomaly, you still see Texans fairly comfortable with the status quo," Henson said.

Gotta say I prefer concealed carry...surprises are like gifts...tis better to give than to receive...

Tell'em (the 68%) to go to Bandera and go apoplectic.

I prefer concealed carry for my personal protection but it shouldn't be illegal to openly carry a firearm.

The best thing that open carry laws do is protect the person carrying concealed if their concealment fails. Most folks don't get this, and the NRA has always been opposed to OC - it doesn't bring them revenue.

Fruits of a corrupted tree.

Just another liberal lie.

So how would the poll tallys be if done away from Austin. In East Texas we want to carry without gov involvement.

As usual, they do not want to reveal WHO was polled, which makes it pretty meaningless.

I am a Texan, born and bred. Unrestricted, unlicensed open carry worries me, but licensed open carry does, also. Just don't see the need. Concealed carry I fully support, licensed, of course. As an aside, I do not have a CHL.

Open carry should be legal, because there are too many ways to get tripped up to violate the law, such as when you carry a firearm outside to your vehicle or when hunting and hiking.

In Colorado, I can open carry my sidearm when hunting, but if my coat covers it, I'm now carrying concealed and that's illegal without a permit. So I'm all for Constitutional carry.

That being said - wearing a sidearm on your hip, or worse, an AR slung over your shoulder "just because you can" is stupid.

If I worked in a gun store a convenience store or other high-value criminal target, I'd open carry all day, as a warning to anyone casing the joint.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I like Vermont's way the best. Carry openly or concealed, without a permit.

It's still just amazing to me that far left Vermont has much better gun laws than TX, and always has.

What part of "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" is so hard to comprehend?

Some folks need to learn what "Shall not be infringed" means.

In Texas, we can legally carry openly on our own property. We can have a gun in our home, our vehicle - including boats - and carrying between home and vehicle is OK, too. If you are a CHL holder, you DO have to keep it concealed.

Again, go to downtown Bandera. Those aren't cops packing cap pistolos. Brackettville may be another stop for you, too.

Yep. You have to consider the source. If it was a UT/TT poll, you can bet that most of the people polled live within 15 minutes of downtown Austin, which ain't really Texas...

The problem is, they still vote.

Fixt it for you....

UT lmao

This^

I open carry on and around my place most weekends. Beats the heck out of having to hide it under layers of clothing and hoping no one gets a peek at it if your jacket swings open.