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.

Yep, its the UT paper... what would one expect from a commie liberal college.

That being said there sure are a few vocal idiot proponents that make it look bad for everyone.... but we are back to the shootouts in the street that folsk predicted with legal CHL... which never really happened....

It won't happen here either.

And I"ll never carry open in public either...

I like that.

Michigan requires a license to carry concealed, but open carry is legal in most places. Also, in a strange twist of laws, a CPL holder cannot carry concealed in a public school, but CAN open carry at those same schools with that same CPL.

IIRC, the states of Wyoming, Arizona, and Alaska have adopted Vermont's way of doing things.

South Dakota may well join them soon. I believe that Idaho is or has strongly considered it as well.

Pollsters such as this, can word the question and ask in the right area, and get just about any results they desire.

This is true.

Illinois' CC law leaves some to be desired in a lot of ways, but they have this covered.
The law reads that a pistol carried under CC License must be fully or mostly concealed.

I agree that any law that denies open carry is unconstitutional.
I also agree that those who carry openly in cities, to make a political point, are morons.

+1 !

Ed

I have been carrying Concealed since 1978. Perfectly legal to open carry here. I, and the Majority of Gun owners, much prefer not to draw unnecessary attention to themselves.

If one has to ask big brother for permission to conceal carry; then open carry should be an without question.

Living in Texas and having a CHL I would like to see the open carry be approved. I think it's a pain in the ass having to hide my CHL pistol in the different types of clothes I wear. Plus guessing whether or not someone has a gun is gamble, seeing people wearing guns would definately take the gamble away for a bad guy to do something stupid. But after some of the crap I've seen at Texas gun ranges, I still believe that a CHL class of some sort would need to be implemented for open carry. There's just too many people that don't know what the hell they are doing. That poll if done in liberal Austin doesn't suprise me one bit!

Never had an issue hiding the gun in TX.

But then I don't do shorts. And I don't swim, so I have my bases covered pretty well if not at home...

This. I don't believe the poll for one second.

^^^This^^^ And even if open carry should pass in TX, I'll still be carrying my handgun concealed.

As stated already, open carry would be good for when your
gun is exposed for a minute or ten.

When you consider that Pat f'kin' Leahy, Bernie freakin' Sanders, and Howard damn Dean can go to VT and carry open, concealed or however, but G.W.B., Ted Cruz, and Ron Paul can only carry in TX with a "mother-may-I" permit, and Lord help them if the weapon shows, that ought to tell you how f'ked up TX law on this subject actually is.

C

VT is an interesting place. They might be liberal, but they sure are anti-government. Odd, but reminds me of one of those four-quadrent charts.

Yeah, it is odd. My opinion doesn't mean squat, I'd like to carry for protection but it's just not worth the drama or political skin. I always carry in the truck but not on the person to avoid these jurisdictional complications. I feel like the anti's are winning with guys like me that just want life to be a little less complicated.

You ain't spent much time in VT.

You're right; they are winning with guys like you. No offense, but you've given over your rights because it might mean that you have to put forth an effort or that (heaven forbid) you might conceivably make someone uncomfortable at some point in time.

This comes as no intended insult to you; just a statement of fact.

Life, and liberty, are complicated.

i carry regardless of the law.

Not really interested in what Austin has to say. Or Dallas. Or Houston.

DeMoss was the family out of Virgina, they married into the hunter's here.

Well, that's your opinion, for what it's worth.

I find myself wanting to resist the tyranny but not really clear on how getting arrested over a technicality of legal carry helps anyone, including me or my family. If I thought it could help the cause, then maybe?? I believe this is how they win. Keep us concerned with our daily obligations, family, keeping our record clean, etc, and pretty soon we just cave in, one tiny piece at a time, without even agreeing to it.

It's not like we all decided to be milquetoast one day and let the world roll over us.

If there was a clear way to resist, that didn't end up with me losing all my rights or sitting in jail, don't you think I'd be there? The deck is stacked against us, especially when you factor in the need to take care of a family. If I was a single man I can see things playing out differently. If I'm making some false assumptions, I'd be open to hearing. Thanks Sean.

CCW is not impossible in OR, is it? If it isn't, why don't you at least give yourself that option?

Of course the deck is stacked against you; it's stacked against all of us. The question is whether or not we even bother to play a hand.

I've a family, too, and have done my level best to be able to care for them and take care of them. My wife does likewise.

A man picks and chooses his battles. Does not mean when the chips are down that I won't end up on the right side, just that not every day is the day for the big battles.

Why should we have to have a license to exercise a right that The Constituion says we have...?

Again, why do we need a license to exercise a right The Constitution says we have...? The criminals out there who are carrying a firearm on their person sure aren't "licensed".

Damn straight.

Which other rights that The Constitution acknowledges that we have require us to get a damn license to exercise that right...!

And I'm not really interested in what the law has to say about it. Period. I'm carryin', and I don't give a rats ass about the law on this issue.

I'd like to see a copy of the actual poll and the numbers for each answer. A summing of percentages may not actually mirror the overall feelings of the population. An old book titled "How to lie with statistics" furnishes some great examples

75% of those polled say that the book is inaccurate. 90% of them say there is no way to lie with statistics.

CORRECT! IT'S A FAR BROADER RIGHT THAN "NON-DENIAL". IT IMPLIES ALSO THAT GOVT CAN'T THROW UP ROADBLOCKS OF ANY SORT.

It's amazing that we have any rights left at all with all the anti-gunners on this ostensibly "gun site" alone. Unreal how many folks want to restrict their own natural rights.

Every time a Poll is brought up it is always to take something away from the people. A Poll can be twisted to say anything. Just depends on how you read the data.

Amen!

It does not IMPLY that government cannot throw up roadblocks - it states it very clearly.

arizona still has a CCW license which is handy when buying stuff at gun stores. Other than that and interstate travel, no. You can carry openly, or concealed without any restrictions except in bars school yards etc.
This was changed to this a few years ago and i don't see really a lot of open carry in the city, doesn't seem to have made much of a difference. For sure, there hasn't been a blood bath.
we have always had open carry, i was packing a pistol when i was 11 years old, no big deal.

You are losing your state, Texans. I suggest you fight , rather than dismiss.

I agree, but also don't believe it correct to punish people if their firearm prints or a lieberal catches a glimpse of it and tries to create an issue. Currently, in Iowa if a person has a permit they can carry concealed or open and printing is not an issue. It also covers weapons, not just handguns.

can an out of State person carry in these states ???
can a Canadian carry in these States??

norm

You need to look at Reciprocity.org

Printing or un intentional exposure in TX is ok now too. Used to be you had to be really careful, but they finally understood that if you were pretty much following the rules, that now and then things happened....

But.......... are there any LEGAL repercussions for the local yokel with a badge who decides to arrest you anyway?

We have had open carry in Louisiana. It was affirmed by LA Supreme Court in 1975. Louisiana has not yet turned into Dodge City on Saturday night, except for New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and maybe Shreveport, which always WERE Dodge City on Saturday night. We have always been able to crry a gun in our vehicles.

Old Governor Ann Richards wouldn't let Tx. have concealed
carry because there would be "blood in the streets up to
your knees". Bush beat her out, signed CC and there hasn't
been a Democrat hold a state-level position since 1998.
I personally believe the CCarry had alot to do with that.

No doubt that it caused that liberal lesbian bitch the Election. Bush said he would sign the CHL Law, and that was enough to carry the Election. He & Gov. Perry both did a lot to improve the TX CHL Law as long as they held office as TX Governors.

One of the last laws Perry signed before his term ran out protected TX CHL Holders from being charged with a crime if someone Inadvertently had their handgun showing, or if someone noticed their CHL weapon printing.