Texas going open carry? Invite your friends over, pour a couple drinks, have a seat together in the living room for a general, but more serious discussion about stuff in general.

[Vanyl]

Interesting. I wondered. So as long as it stays in your home/on your property, you can have it without any license or training? And if you discharge it? Still ok?

[DMoney]

That is correct. You can legally have it in your house, or in your car, without any licenses or training. You can legally discharge it from your home or from your car. As long as it's covered by one of the fine lines of protecting yourself or others from harm.

[Vanyl]

I find that interesting. Here, you are required 10 hours of instruction, a written exam and a technical exam (required 80% on each with no critical violations) for use of long guns and then an additional course of equal length, 10 hours, and additional written and technical exams for the restricted firearms (hand guns, mostly, but includes some long guns). Then you have to apply proving you've successfully completed both for your license and I presume background check. You're also obligated to indicate any spouses/partners as the government is obligated to notify them of your intended gun licensing.

It's also person specific. They presented an example in our first class that if say a police officer or other armed forces service person dies and they have a gun in the home, it becomes illegal for it to be there, including for the spouses to handle the gun for the purposes of disposing of it or storing it as a memory. They encourage military spouses/partners to also undergo training and licensing to avoid issues if one passes away and so they know how to safely handle weapons in the home.

[DMoney]

Honestly, I wish they would require more training and testing here. I understand it's one of our rights, but I feel that we should be able to prove that we are qualified enough to own a gun.

[Vanyl]

The biggest issue I ran into when discussing situations like the Aurora movie theatre shooting is the issue about fighting guns with guns. One person I discussed it with said if he'd had his gun with him, ie. been allowed to have it in the theatre, he could have ended things sooner. I responded that wouldn't it just add more bullets to the fray and possibly injuring more people. Our discussion boiled down to skill with the weapon. If someone was really well trained and had good aim, a gun in a gun fight would have helped. If they didn't, it would have escalated things in a bad way.

The downside to our training is... we never fire a gun. I can load, unload, and handle a gun safely. I've never fired one and yet I can legally purchase a long gun and will be able to legally own a hand gun without ever firing one. It is an issue which my instructor raised a few times in class and it is definitely a discrepancy in the training. We're not even allowed to touch the trigger of the disabled guns except when demonstrating proper range protocol. Touching the trigger or trigger guard while loading, unloading, or carrying the weapon, even when it is unloaded, is an automatic penalty on the technical exam. I think you can only do it 5 times before you've lost enough points to not pass.

[Pam]

I think to buy a gun, they do a background check, but that's it. But to be licensed to Carry, whether it be concealed or open carry, you will still have to be licensed, and to be licensed, you have to show that you know how to use a gun, and have decent shooting and aiming skills.

I can't wait to do my CHL, I just have to find a gun that qualifies for the test that I can use. I have 3 guns, all .22s, so I can't use any of them. Anything bigger than that, I don't like the "boom" ( I don't know how to describe it...the shockwave, I guess.)

I don't know how I feel about Open Carry. I know my hubby wants to be able to open carry, but I feel like that might make him a target. Bad guys will try to get rid of him first...or Cops pulling him over or stopping him or whatever, to make sure that he is licensed. And then I also just don't want anyone to have easier access to the gun, since they can see it there.

[DMoney]

Put to be licensed to Carry, whether it be concealed or open carry, you will still have to be licensed, and to be licensed, you have to show that you know how to use a gun, and have decent shooting and aiming skills.

I don't know about that being "decent" shooting and aiming skills, I'd say more of a "minimal" skill. It's actually really easy to pass the shooting part of the test, and most first time shooters pass.

I don't know how I feel about Open Carry. I know my hubby wants to be able to open carry, but I feel like that might make him a target.

I too want to be able to open carry, but it's something I would be very selective about, and won't be doing it much. I'm still just not quite sure how the general reactions will be from everyone else, and if it would really be worth it.

[Neo]

I don't like the "boom" ( I don't know how to describe it...the shockwave, I guess.)

That's called the "kick," if you meant the physical...the sound is a shockwave, yeah.

I've shot some of [wizard]'s and his friends guns. One of them has a handcannon, and I just can't stand the kick from them. I feel like I'm going to drop it every time.

[Pam]

I don't like the "boom" ( I don't know how to describe it...the shockwave, I guess.)

That's called the "kick," if you meant the physical...the sound is a shockwave, yeah.

I've shot some of [wizard]'s and his friends guns. One of them has a handcannon, and I just can't stand the kick from them. I feel like I'm going to drop it every time.

No, not the kick. I don't mind that part. I can handle that part. You just have to have the right hold and stance and keep your arms straight but bent just enough, and locked in place. What I don't like is the physical shockwave. It hits me in the chest, and it hurts. Especially if we are at an indoor range, then I feel like it bounces off of everything and is much harder. I can't explain the way it feels to me, but it hits me physically and emotionally. I'd rather just stick to my guns.