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On December 6th, 2017, the US House of Representatives passed HB 38 – Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017.

2017 was the heaviest year for mass shootings in the great United States’s long history, coming in at 307 gun deaths for the year, So it’s great news that our legislature has taken steps to allow Concealed Carry permits from one state to be honored in another state.  Make sure you know the state you are traveling to has similar laws respecting Texas’s Concealed Carry Reciprocity.

It is a bit of a mystifying problem. Honestly, we want states’ rights. but would it be a tad ridiculous to apply for a new drivers’ license at every state you entered? Since the Constitution protects gun possession, this is a Federal issue. For those liberties of Concealed Carry, we are waving and chanting  “bon voyage” as this bill enters the Senate.

Our assessment of H.B. 38 is that is that it exists largely to ensure that every state will honor any Concealed Carry permit or right from any other state, creating a clean set of governance that is easy to comply with and enforce.  It standardizes whether states must accept the validity of carrying permits from another state. Currently, a confusing patchwork of laws exists that confuse gun owners and police, creating situations that turn law-abiding citizens into accidental criminals.

The bill’s net result will ensure that states are required to recognize the right to carry a firearm concealed by any person who possesses any Concealed Carry permit from any state or by any person who resides in a state where one can carry a concealed firearm legally without a permit.

Contact us if you have any questions 936-441-2999 Montgomery County criminal attorney

2018  is upon us, and Texas is in for some interesting news: Swords!

That’s right, you can carry knives and swords longer than 5.5″.  The Texas legislature saw fit to extend this freedom to the people of Texas.

We’re still scratching our heads a little about how the bill made it to law. But, after all, it’s Texas, Y’all.  The right to carry swords and the like is really fundamental to who we are.

When we think about the impact of this law, none of us are really getting the most out of it. I haven’t changed my life at all, and but I’m considering it. Think of the options we now have! Which saber goes well with black trousers? Does one bring a katana or gladiolus to brunch? As you can see, it really does pose socially awkward questions, but we will all learn together and extend the proper grace as I’m sure sword faux pas will abound.

What does that say about us to the other states? That we are a people who so value the freedom that we give people the liberty to potentially behave…well, stupidly.

In camp one, the general population can’t be trusted with anything, because people are stupid and we need to keep sharp objects out of their hands. In the other, we give people the power to mess things up. It goes back to the Constitution: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Some days, in Texas, those rights include a sword.

These rights are not carte blanche: You still can’t take the sword into bars, school sporting events etc., but we’re still excited about this simply because we like empowered people.

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Contact us if you have any questions 936-441-2999 Montgomery County criminal attorney