Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Texans: Are you ready for ‘Constitutional Carry,’ the unlicensed carry of handguns?

Missed a 4'x8' target at 3 meters! LMFAO. I once worked at a commercial tourist oriented range for a number of years and have seen thousands of novice shooters hit a standard sized paper target at 7 yards w/ about 2 minutes of instruction, complete misses happened but were comparatively rare. I taught and qualified about 45,000 CCW students over 9 years and shooting instruction was limited to lecture and demonstration. I don't recall ever seeing anyone miss a B-27 target at 3 yards.

Few people shoot handguns well. Fewer have ever fired a shot while being shot at but many feel free to comment.



mike r

lvmiker,

Pardon me for pointing out that the new shooters that you mention were intelligent enough to get help, rather than being too foolish & arrogant to ask for coaching. Just buying a firearm doesn't make you a competent shooter.


Sincerely, DarlaG

You are pardoned and thanks for pointing that out, your vast experience is telling.



mike r

You need to become acquainted with Fireball’s wife.

lvmiker,

As I said in post # 133275, I'm not only a recent "Tex-Anne by adoption" but also a "new shooter" of just less than 2 years of being a shooter (and hopefully, a soon to be bird-hunter). - "Barely competent" describes my level of knowledge but at least I can qualify on the TX CHL range test, which is a bit better than several of my classmates are.

At least I wasn't foolish enough to try a new skill without asking for help, so I'm far ahead of the "can't hit the side of a barn" from inside of the structure people.

Sincerely, DarlaG

Darla,

Where is "DH" these days?

lol

rockinbbar,

Bouncing from one volunteer gig with TP&WD to another. - What little that he's been at home this week was mostly spent eating/bathing/asleep.
(6AM-9PM Mon-Sun is a killer.)

Sincerely, DarlaG

I am far less concerned about the relative marksmanship of a person carrying than I am them understanding the safety issues involved with carry and the basic legal issues of self defense and carry. I have done a couple of the required CCW classes now in a couple of the northeastern states and while they all covered very basic gun handling and enough marksman ship to hit a human silhouette at 7 yds ( for most students) none seemed to have any help on how to carry a weapon safely, how to present it or return it to a holster etc.

In a similar fashion none of the courses covered any of the legal aspects of self defense or any pointers on avoiding those situations in the first place.

That said I don't see what a state needs to regulate any of this for permission to carry. After all no one made me take a class when I bought my chain saw or my sxs, yet I seemed competent to lean enough not hurt myself with those implements.

this whole topic is kind of funny to me in a way. i have been carrying a gun, off and on, since i was about 11. long time ago in arizona that was not unusual. since then i carried with a badge for a while, which meant legal anywhere in the state, a time without a badge, and maybe the legality was overlooked, then when ccw came along i had that.
They have changed the rules, but i can remember taking some renewal classes, with people waving loaded firearms around the classroom. even after pointing that out to the instructor he didn't do anything about it. i remember a 80-90 year old man having trouble racking a makarov, and hitting the target at 5 yards, he passed. instructor asked me to rack the gun for him.
i remember old folks on the firing linge with their oxygen bottles hooked up.
I can also remember law enforcement officers that couldn't hit a barn if they were inside it.
I personally have issues with incompetent and maybe disturbed people being able to do this. but i don't know how you completely avoid this, for every one that fits that discription, the ten thousand that don't shouldn't be burden without the ability to protect them selves.
Something i through the years have told people, was something i had to come to grips with before i put on a badge. Was I willing to intentionally shoot to kill in certan situations? this is a difficult question when you think about it, as i am a catholic and taking life is never an answer.
One should consider that before packing something that could just cause trouble.

There seems to be no national standard for concealed carry rules or training and few would want the feds involved. In Nevada it is required to have 8 hours of classroom training and to pass a written test and a shooting qual. I considered the day a success if the students understood the use of deadly force and the 4 rules of firearms safety. I know of zero competent instructors that allow any ammunition or loaded firearms into the classroom area.

I have never, to my knowledge, had a former student be arrested for inappropriate or illegal use of a firearm in Nevada.


mike r

I believe that i should be able to carry as long as i don't or have not done anything BAD.

I know that folks are saying that all of the so called bad guys will also carry but they have to guess who is.

I LOVE Texas! God, guns and country. That is why I recently bought a house there and will be moving soon--can't wait. Also look forward to meeting up with some of the great Texans that post on this forum.
R

We have Constitutional carry here in Kansas. You will see people carrying open just about everywhere sooner or later. People who open carry in public are a whole 'nother thread, actually think it's been done here a time or two. It's their right no matter how bad of a shot they are or what their reasoning is.

Can't be much worse than how bad folks drive at high speed though, something I witness every single day.

Lately the minority left here are saying that CC has resulted in more crime with shootings than ever before. The cause being that so many guns are getting stolen out of vehicles and then used in crimes. 700 last year in Wichita (not a huge place). All these newbie gun owners and users are leaving their weapons in the car!

With freedom comes responsibility, some people just aren't up to that.

Glynn,

We Texicans have a saying, that may be appropriate here relative to the leftists' complaint: Even a blind hog sometimes finds an acorn.

If you want to keep your valuables from being stolen (including your firearms), don't leave them unsecured in vehicles.
(Especially during the holiday shopping period, car burglary is one of the most common crimes. - It seems every day that our local police department has announcements on TV/radio that warn people about leaving Christmas presents in even locked cars & numerous reports of local people, who lost all of their presents to a criminal.)

Tex was a LEO for well over 2 decades & says that generally the safest place for your licensed handgun is ON your person, IN your holster, ready to use for lawful self-defense & secure from being stolen by a criminal.
(One of the things that really irritates my hubby is that, after over 2 decades of carrying a handgun each duty day on post, that he, since retirement, cannot enter the local military facilities W/O returning home to secure his licensed 9mm pistol. Having to do that task is needless, often inconvenient & silly. - Even firearms that are secured in a locked handgun container are prohibited on US military installations.)

Sincerely, DarlaG

The felons that want to carry guns will carry anyway. So you don't agree that the right to keep and bear arms shouldn't be infringed (restricted).

"I've personally seen any number of "shooters" on ranges completely miss a 4x8 foot sheet of plywood from 3M, with all the ammo from their "SD handgun".

Good chance it was their first time shooting a pistol. You should have offered to help them, that's what I do. Would you allow one of those "shooters" to take a shot at you? Even if a person isn't a good shot the bad guy doesn't know that.

"I would prefer to see them strike the Prohibitive laws form the books rather than pass a law that allows Constitutional Carry."

That should happen nationwide!

"void all such State prohibitions that forbid felons carrying weapons. - This is called : Unintended consequences:

Felons will always carry weapons no matter what the law says or what the threat is of being punished if they get caught.

"since retirement, cannot enter the local military facilities W/O returning home to secure his licensed 9mm pistol."

Sure he can I've done it many times, it's just not legal according to military law. I'm more offended by the fact the active military personal can't be armed on their own facility.